Bhagavan Das (भगवान दास) (born Kermit Michael Riggs in Laguna Beach, California on May 17, 1945) and also known by the name Anagorika Dharma Sara within the Buddhist community, is a Western Yogi who lived for six years in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. He is a singer and teacher.

Biography

Bhagavan Das, or Baba as he is affectionately known by devotees and friends, is a Bhakti Yogi, Shakta Tantra adept, and traveling teacher of Nada Yoga. As a young man he was the first Western initiate/devotee of the late Hindu saint Neem Karoli Baba, as well as the first American to meet Kalu Rinpoche of the Shangpa Kargyupas lineage. He has received Vajra Yogini initiation from His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje of the Karma Kagyu lineage and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the 11th Trungpa Tulku. During the almost seven years he spent years as a wandering ascetic in India and Nepal he received numerous intiations and teachings from living saints and sages including Swami Chaitanya Prakashananda Tirtha, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Sri Anandamoyi Ma, and Tarthang Tulku of the Dudjom Rinpoche lineage. Bhagavan Das is perhaps most widely known for being the individual who guided renowned spiritual teacher Ram Dass, also known as Dr. Richard Alpert, throughout India, eventually introducing him to his guru. As a young man Bhagavan Das shot to fame in the west after being featured in Ram Dass' spiritual classic Be Here Now. Now, at age 62, he travels widely throughout the world as an ecstatic performer of traditional and non-traditional Indian bhajans and kirtans, and is the author of an autobiography, It's Here Now (Are You?).

Works

Books

• It's Here Now (Are You?): A Spiritual Memoir ISBN 0-7679-0009-X

Music

• AH, 1972
• Love, Serve, Remember, 1973
• Swaha, Bhagavan Das and Amazing Grace (Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Ram Dass et al.)
• Bhagavan Das - Kailash Kirtan (Starchild Productions)
• Bhagavan Das - Harbin Kirtan (Starchild Productions)
• Bhagavan Das - Kumari Puja (Starchild Productions)
• The Sunset Kirtan Concert - Volumes One, Two & Three (Recorded Live, NYC)
• Now (Produced by Mike D. of the Beastie Boys)
• Mt. Vision - Journey to the Inner Temple (with Jay Yarnall)
• Holy Ghost Sessions (with Richard Sales)
• Kali Puja Live 1&2 (with Krishna Das, Jai Uttal et al.)''
• Churning the Night Sea, 2007

Radio Plays

• The Fourth Tower of Inverness, Bhagavan Das's singing is the voice of Lotus Jukebox.

Video

• Eclipse Puja (with Jay Yarnall)
• What is Yoga? (with David Life, Sharon Ganon, and Willem Dafoe)
• In Search of the Divine (3 Part TV/Video Series from "A Better World' with Mitchell Jay Rabin)
• Woodstock Now featuring Bhagavan Das (VHS video, directed by Meil J. Colligan) 2002 Ganesha Films

Interviews/Talks

• In the Spirit, 1975 (with Lex Hixon)
• Global Voices Radio, 1994 (with Paul Nelson)
• Shakti, The Breath and the Word, 1994 Dharmaware (Lecture Recorded Live, Woodstock NY)
• New Realities 1996 Manhattan Neighborhood Network (with Alan Steinfeld)
• Live with Swami Virato, 2005, Virato Radio (with Swami Virato)
• Down the Rabbit Hole, 2006, Concordia Foundation (with Paula Gloria)
• Nardwaur Radio, 2006, 101.9 CITR FM (with Nardwaur)

External links

• Bhagavan Das Official Website
• Bhagavan Das International Archive (Archivist, Ganapathi Das)
• Sri Baba Neem Karoli Maharaj
• Starchild Productions: 3 Bhagavan Das Live Kirtan CDs from the Harbin years.
• Bhagavan Das' Myspace page
• The Dharma and Cult of Bhagavan Das: an extended interview of Bhagavan Das