Hanumatpresaka Swami
Hanumatpresaka Swami is a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru and a spiritual leader for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He is known as a Vaishnava scholar, continuously traveling, lecturing on classical Indian literature and philosophy. He is the founder and General Secretary of NIOS, the North American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies, and Visiting Professor with IECOO, the Institute for Oriental and Occidental Classical Studies, Ricardo Palma University, Lima, Peru. He is also a member of the faculty at Bhaktivedanta College where he teaches on the subject of the text Bhaktirasamrita-sindhu. The Hindu Studies scholar, Radhika Ramana Dasa is a disciple of his.
Hanumatpreshaka Swami was born on January 12, 1948 on the island of Guam and grew up in California. After finishing Encina High School in 1966, he entered the University of California, Davis, graduating in 1970 with a first place prize in Psychology and minor studies in Biology and Electrical Engineering. He then began Doctoral studies at Northwestern University in Chicago while also participating in the famous "Second City" improvisational theater troupe. Soon he became convinced that Western knowledge was lacking much that might be augmented by Oriental wisdom. His mentor, Donald T. Campbell, President of the American Psychology Association, agreed so he then headed East obtaining a black belt in Okinawan karate, and then receiving initiation and taking vows as a brahmacari, novice monk, from A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1974. He continued in this Indian tradition taking vows as a sannyasin in 1984, and becoming an initiating guru in 1994.
Since 1990 Hanumatpresaka Swami has also developed a program of global lecturing and travel. This has included work as associate director of the “Bhaktivedanta Institute” which organized two “World Congresses for the Synthesis of Science and Religion”, Bombay, 1985, Kolkatta, 1997. These included participation of Nobel Laureates such as George Wald, Charles Townes, Sir John Eccles, Arch-Bishop Paulos Mar Gregorios, the Dalai Lama and many others. In March 1999 Hanumatpresaka Swami was the Chief Guest for the University of Calcutta's critical seminar on "National Seminar on Science and Technology in Ancient India". In November 2004 and July 2005 he was principal speaker at the "National Conference on Psychotherapy", Cesar Vallejo University, Tujillo, Peru.
With San Marcos University, the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere, NIOS was a co-organizer for the “Bharatiya Sanskriti: A Festival of Classical Indian Culture”. The Festival was produced in Lima from 2005-2007. Sponsors and participants included many prominent universities, Ambassador of India and renowned scholars from four continents.
His name, 'Hanumat Preṣaka' is in Sanskrit and it means 'One who sent Hanuman as a messenger', i.e. Lord Rama".Footnotes
