Hi, my name is Paul Mason though some call me Premanand on account of that morning that I was out walking by a river in Indian and an Indian ascetic made himself known to me and gave me my 'sannyasi' name. This website was launched in 2004 in order to bring some of my writings to a wider readership.
According to my birth certificate I was born on 11th June 1952 and my mother tells me that from the window of Nelson Hospital, Kingston, Surrey she could see a cherry tree and also that I arrived just in time for breakfast.
I attended Roehampton Church School and later a grammar school, Westminster City School, but discovered that I much preferred not to go to school at all. I have worked through many different jobs including stints in engineering, building, information, printing, graphics studio and darkroom photographic work, but my main interests have remained just two, music and being happy!
In 1970 I hitch-hiked through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, before arriving in India - the trip was a fascinating education. Being in India it seemed only natural to make a visit to the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi where I hoped to get a cup of hot chocolate and discuss philosphy with him. There I learned Transcendental Meditation and found this technique effective in pointing a way to enjoy a peace within and enjoy an appetite for life that had not usually been attainable other than with the use of stimulants.
As my interest in meditation endured I sought out information about the source of the teaching of meditation, which raised questions relating to the Maharishi's guru, Swami Brahmanand Saraswati. I discovered that he has been highly revered by many and, happilly, that he often recounted his own real life events to reinforce his spiritual teaching - thus he offered up his own autobiography. Though his guru encouraged openess the Maharishi has not been forthcoming with biographical information about himself. However, Swami Brahmananda's teaching inspired and assisted me to embark on the project that culminated in the publishing in 1994 by Element Books of 'The Maharishi -The Biography of the Man Who Gave Transcendental Meditation to the World'. it has met with popular acclaim and been republished in paperback by Evolution Publishing. In response to requests for an update of this work, the text has been totally revised, new material added, and an extra chapter offered, detailing Maharishi's latter years. The revamped biography, with over 90 photos, has been published under a new title, 'Maharishi Mahesh Yogi -The Biography of the Man Who Gave Transcendental Meditation to the World'.
This ground-breaking biography of Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi - the ONLY one of its kind -
telling the story of Maharishi and the spread of Transcendental Meditation,
is
now available by popular demand,
in a new, revised, re-invigorated, expanded,
up-to-date illustrated paperback version.
Another new publication is the illustrated version, with revised text, of Mala: A String of Unexpected Meetings, an account of an inspirational trip to Rishikesh, in India, with 48 colour photos.
Click here if you wish to view list of some of my favourite books/films/music recordings.
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On this website (www.paulmason.info)
'Via Rishikesh': En Route to Chittavrittinirodha (my account of hitch-hiking to India in 1970), is set for publication on June 11th 2020.
'Via Rishikesh' also includes a description of the time spent in Rishikesh where I learned the TM style of meditation in the basement of the Maharishi's residence on his ashramin the foothills of the Himalayas. Via Rishikesh also contains the fruits of my research and exploration into meditation,and outlines the authentic age old practice of Yoga Meditation.
A visit to India in 2005 took a very dramatic twist and I was asked to write it up. The account has been uploaded in rough as 'Kathy's Story'.Gradually, during my research, various quotations attributed to Swami Brahmanand Saraswati have come to light. Some of these have been translated from Hindi into English. These quotations are included in a three volume book I have produced entitled:-
'LIFE
& TEACHINGS OF
SWAMI BRAHMANANDA SARASWATI
SHANKARACHARYA OF JYOTIRMATH (1941-1953)
by
PAUL MASON'
high resolution pdf files have also been produced & are now available at the low price of £9 or £22 for the three books.
The three Hindi books on Guru Dev are now available as pdfs at:- http://www.paulmason.info/booksetc.html
'Roots Of TM: The Transcendental Meditation Of Guru Dev & Maharishi Mahesh Yogi' was launched 2nd June 2015, and is available from booksellers, including Amazon.com
Donovan
& Paul Mason, St. Ives, Cornwall
autographed artwork
by Donovan, on 'Jai Guru Dev'
guitar,
- available to purchase from
your bookseller, or from:-
Amazon USA https://www.amazon.com/Via-Rishikesh-En-Route-Chittavrittinirodha/dp/0956222870
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Via-Rishikesh-En-Route-Chittavrittinirodha/dp/0956222870
Amazon Canada https://www.amazon.ca/Via-Rishikesh-En-Route-Chittavrittinirodha/dp/0956222870/
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