Born in 1966 as Rakesh Javeri in a well-to-do Jain family of Mumbai, the founder of the Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, Gujarat, Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji’s spiritual inclinations were evident since early childhood. He began engaging in philosophical talks from the age of four. At age eight, he encountered a book containing a picture of Shrimad Rajchandraji. Upon beholding the image, he slipped into a trance for three continuous days and attained a high spiritual state. By 1977, he had begun leading seekers on the path of liberation through satsangs. By then people had started acknowledging him as a spiritual leader and started calling him ‘Gurudev’.
Between 1984 and 1988, Rakeshji started studying all types of religious texts, practicing yoga and learning Indian classical music, logic, astrology etc. He observed silence for 18 hours a day and travelled extensively. At some point during this phase, he decided to pursue formal higher education. To achieve this, he enrolled for a B.A. degree graduating in 1988; obtaining a three-year bachelor’s degree in only three months. He then went on to get a Master’s in Philosophy. In 1998, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Mumbai for his doctoral studies on Shri Atmasiddhi, a spiritual work composed by Shrimad Rajchandraji.
To view the entire article Click Here
