Amala Bhakta Prabhu
"After reading scriptural accounts of Lord Krishna's life and receiving many spiritual benefits from them, I felt that the general public could similarly benefit if it received this little-known story in the form of an easy-to-read novel, which would not only be informative and astonishing, but also entertaining and uplifting," says author, monk, and yogi Amal Bhakta. "The Supreme Mystic shows a side of God's personality—the playful, romantic, informal side—that most Westerners know little about."
Amal Bhakta was born in New York City and attended New York University. He moved to Santa Monica, California in 1954 and worked in motion pictures for three years. Then, after an epiphany, he embarked on a journey to find the true purpose of life. On discovering it, he returned to New York in 1957 to study and then later teach the science of ashtanga yoga. In 1963 he directed a yoga center, gradually building it up from a few regular students to about 400. He also lectured regularly, wrote articles on yoga in national magazines, occasionally demonstrated yoga exercises on TV, and counseled students privately. Although he taught some spiritual knowledge, his chief interest was in showing people how to achieve a healthy body and a serene mind.
In 1976, wanting to deepen his realization of the Divine, he moved to West Los Angeles to study various aspects of Bhakti yoga (the yoga of love and devotion to God) under the famous A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. From this highly advanced teacher, Bhakta was initiated into techniques that enabled him to attain and maintain inner peace, joy, and strength continuously—even under the most trying conditions. He also became an expert in explaining some of India's ancient classics, such as the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata, with a view to helping people acquire virtue, wisdom, self-knowledge, and God-realization.
Bhakta still resides in Los Angeles, teaching, counseling, and lecturing regularly at a bhakti yoga center. He has also narrated and produced about 275 audiocassettes, dramatic and non-dramatic, of books and stories for Krishna Productions. He is committed to writing books about India's divine incarnations and saints to assist people in finding ideal persons to model their lives around. Having been to India several times, Bhakta manages to look about twenty years younger than he is due to his healthy lifestyle and diet.
