people who recognized his radiance and sanctity. The sublime countenance of the beggar yogi, his spontaneous outbursts—ecstatic song, chanting of the name of God, and blessing of all who were drawn to him—began to capture the hearts of seekers. By 1980 he had become widely recog- nized by countless numbers of people, including the American spiritual teacher Lee LOZOWICK, who became an ardent disciple. In 1994 the Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram at Tiruvannamalai was built by his devotees. Dressed in the ragged shawls and stained dhotis of a beg- Yogi Ramsuratkumar (1918–2001), enlightened gar, with nothing but a country palm fan and beggar yogi of South India (Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram, coconut bowl, Yogi Ramsuratkumar gave DARSHAN Tiruvannamalai) twice a day in the temple of his ashram from 1994 through 2001. He did not teach by linear dis- into the MANTRA, Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram; course, but through transmission of divine pres- after a week of repeating the mantra, Ramsurat ence, instructing his disciples to repeat the name was permanently cast into a state of God-intoxica- of God, using his name, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, as tion. Referring to this permanent annihilation of a mantra to invoke divine blessings. His vision of his personal identity in the divine, he often said, the unity of all life was often given in his words “In 1952 Ramdas killed this beggar; this beggar is “My Father alone exists! There is nothing else, no more.” nobody else—past, present, future—here, there, Swami Ramdas sent Ramsurat Kunwar away everywhere, anywhere! from Anandashram, telling him, “You cannot live Today, darshan, chanting, Vedic rituals, and in the ashram. . . . Remember, under a big tree, celebrations are regularly observed at the Yogi another big tree cannot grow. Go and beg.” A Ramsuratkumar Ashram. The mahasamadhi divine madness similar to that of Sri CHAITANYA (tomb) of Yogi Ramsuratkumar is housed there. had taken over Ramsurat Kunwar, and at the cost Farther south, a temple complex dedicated to of great personal anguish, he was compelled to Yogi Ramsuratkumar is situated near the ocean at enter the life of a wandering mendicant beggar. Kanya Kumari in the small village of Kanimadam. For seven years (1952–59) he traveled throughout Completed in 1993, this temple conducts daily India, finally arriving in 1959 at the foot of holy BHAJANS, worship, and Vedic rituals. Mount Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai, where he Lee Lozowick has established ashrams in the lived for the remainder of his life. United States, France, and India where the name Ramsurat would often visit Ramanashram, of Yogi Ramsuratkumar is chanted. the ashram of Ramana Maharshi. One of Ramana Yogi Ramsuratkumar died on February 20, Maharshi’s senior disciples, T. K. Sundaresan 2001. Iyer, recognized the divine state of the unusual 40-year-old beggar and gave him the name Yogi Further reading: Vijayalakshmi, Waves of Love (Tiru- Ramsuratkumar. For many years Yogi Ramsurat- vannamalai: Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram, 2002); M. kumar was a “hidden saint,” living on the streets Young, As It Is: A Year on the Road with a Tantric of Tiruvannamalai and subsisting entirely on the Teacher (Prescott, Ariz: Hohm Press, 2000); ———,