About A. Nagraj (In Brief)
Shree A. Nagraj is the propounder of the Worldview of Harmonious Coexistence. He was born on January 14, 1920, in Agrahar, a small village in the Hasan district of Karnataka, India, into a family of renowned Vedic scholars. From an early age, he had a great appreciation for his families hard work/labour and the service they dedicated to the society, yet questions arose in his mind regarding logical inconsistencies within the Vedanta philosophy. His teachers, elders and well known scholars of the time were unable to provide him with satisfying answers and suggested that he would find his answers in the state of Samadhi (a meditative state that culminates in the practice of absolute concentration). In 1950 he and his family went to Amarkantak (Madhya Pradesh, India) to pursue this. He attained Samadhi in 1970, only to realize that no answers emerged in this state. He then went on to practice an improvised version of Sanyam (a meditative step beyond Samadhi). It was during this state that he realized the inherent order of the existence. He found that the entire existence coexists in a harmonious system and that there is an inherent harmony from the atomic to cosmic level. When human beings understand this coexistence, we too can participate harmoniously within it. From his realization, a new philosophy emerged called Madhyasth Darshan (Worldview of Harmonious Coexistence). His realization has been documented in a set of twelve books. Over the years a while spectrum of people have been introduced to this knowledge system. From 1950-2016, Shree A. Nagraj lived in his intergenerational family in Amarkantak. His living was a great inspiration to thousands of people from around the world. He, with the support of his family, lived his life devoted to sharing and living this understanding. Their home was always open to those who sought to understand. A. Nagraj ji passed away on March 5, 2016. Many centres based on this philosophy have been established as well as thousands of colleges and universities across the world have implemented courses based on this philosophy.
– About A. Nagraj (In Detail)
Shri Agrahar Nagraj Sharma was was born on January 14, 1920 in the village of Agrahar, in the Hassan Dist of Karnataka, in the Southern part of India. His family belonged to the ‘sanketi’ community, and were revered at that time for their scholarship, service and hard work.
From the age of five, young Nagraj had questions regarding the respect that people in the village bestowed on his family. He was informed that for many generations his family had produced scholars who taught the vedas and this was their source of respect.
As a young child, Nagraj had a great acceptance for his families hard work and service yet he didn’t show any interest in studying the Vedic scriptures from his family tradition. He received very minimal formal schooling as he preferred to be home with his mother who was an expert in ayurveda and astrology. His family was hoping that he too would be come a great scholar of the vedas. Nagraj had many questions regarding particular inconsistencies he found in the vedas. The vedas expressed that god is truth and the world is an illusion/unreal. He questioned-How could the world that has arisen from the ultimate truth (brahman) be false/an illusion? Mango trees, give birth to mangos, lemon trees give birth to lemons so truth should give rise to truth (not illusion). During his late teens, Nagraj began studying the scriptures as he was told that he will find all of his answers there. After reading the vedas thoroughly with the guidance of his uncle (a renowned vedic scholar), he was able to recite the entire vedas yet he still felt that there were major inconsistencies in the scriptures that his family held in utmost esteem.
Other questions emerged in his mind, such as: Why is there is a difference in what his elders said and how they were living? While India was soon to gain Independence in 1946, he asked: what is the definition of National Character? Pained by these questions he visited many learned vedic scholars of the time, including Sri Ramana Maharishi and Sri Chandrashekhar Bharati of Sringeri amongst others.
They told him the only way to get answers was in the state of Samadhi (a meditative state that culminates in the practice of absolute concentration). Based on their assurance, he decided to attempt to achieve Samadhi, in which the ‘unknown is said to become known’. His wife, Shrimati Nagratna dedicated to join him in this journey along with their children. Although the tradition in India was that in order to achieve samadhi, one has to leave ones family, Nagraj pursued his journey towards samadhi alongside his family. At the age of 30, Nagraj and his wife arrived in the then remote, dense, tiger-filled forests of Amarkantak in 1949.
He performed rigorous sadhana (meditative practice) between 1949 and 1968 using the Agama tantra upasana method. After 18 years of rigorous practice (12-14 hours a day), in 1968 he experienced the state of samadhi. When he found that in the state of samadhi his questions were not answered, he went on to perform an advanced stage called sanyam using a self improvised method. As a result, he realized the fundamental order of the existence. He found that the entire existence coexists in a harmonious system and that there is an innate harmony from the atomic to cosmic level. When human beings understand this coexistence, we too can participate harmoniously within it. All of his questions were answered, and more. He presented ‘Madhyasth Darshan’ (Worldview of Harmonious Coexistence) as a new philosophy and introduced a new model of education-‘Consciousness Development through Value-Based Education’ so that this understanding can become available to everyone.
Accepting that what he ‘discovered’ belongs to the entire human race, from 1975-2005 he wrote 12 books that express his realization. He has presented this as an Alternative to Materialism & Idealism (Spiritualism, Theism, etc).
Since 1980, many people came in touch with Sri Nagraj and spent substantial amount of time trying to understand from him and found that he was able to resolve all questions. These efforts slowly took the shape of many programs to share this understanding and introduce it in schools, colleges, universities and institutions. 7-day introductory workshops were initiated in order to make this understanding available to the public. Many centres have now been established based on this philosophy and it has been introduced into thousands of colleges and universities as well as many schools for children.
Shri Nagraj lived in Amarkantak from 1950 to 2016 with his wife, children and grandchildren. An accomplished Ayurvedic (traditional Indian medicine) practitioner, he didn’t take any financial assistance from anyone. He supported his family and many others through agriculture, dairy and making medicine.
All programs and courses initiated under his guidance are offered free of charge. All of his efforts were to establish this understanding in others – just as a seed replicates itself; so the vision of an Undivided Human Society and Harmonious Global Systems can be evidenced on this planet
He passed away on March 5, 2016. His life is an inspiring example of a human being who has made a tremendous contribution to humanity. We all strive to live as he did and establish a tradition of humanity, in harmony with each other and with the planet.
– Biography (English)
– Biography (Hindi)
– Biography (English – Children’s version)