The Irish Swami: From Roman Catholicism to eastern philosophy, Justin O'Brien ‹ now Swami Jaidev ‹ has sought the essence of mysticism
ST. PAUL, Minn. Justin O'Brien has
become a swami, a spiritual leader in an ancient Eastern philosophy
known as Bharati, and he thinks he might be the first or the only
Irish swami in the world. Of course, appearances mean nothing, or
very little, to a swami, the title generally used for Hindu religious
teachers or any learned person. But there is the matter of the
saffron robes, colored as fire to signify the swami's promises
to followers. Saffron is a symbol of a fire that
will consume all attachments to the world, O'Brien said,
as he sat in his well-stocked library. A swami approaches
the world without those attachments and yet, we are all encouraged
to enjoy and use the world. But fire also warms, and therefore
we must open to people and be kind and compassionate. And finally,
fire illuminates, therefore we should study and learn and teach
pass on all we know. O'Brien, 67, has taken a religious name,
Swami Jaidev, which means God's Victory in Sanskrit, the language
that undergirds his philosophy. His ordination into the world
of swamis culminates a lifelong search for the essence of mysticism. A graduate of Catholic schools and the University
of Notre Dame, O'Brien joined a Dominican Catholic monastery in
Berkeley, Calif., after military service and a three-year stint
as a stockbroker. I'll tell you what shook me,
O'Brien said. The guy sitting across from me had three heart
bypasses. The guy on the other side only had half a stomach. So,
I did the only intelligent thing I could do, I joined a monastery. O'Brien went into the monastery hoping to
discover a mystical path. I couldn't find it, O'Brien
said. So I made a list and I went around to every monk.
I did interviews, and they all told me to relax they patronized
me. I was very disappointed, and I became a rebel. So they decided
to throw me out. They voted me out of the monastery. But that was the push O'Brien needed to
move beyond the religion of his childhood. In the next few years,
he earned degrees in religious studies and completed a doctorate
at Nijmegen University in the Netherlands. He also fell in love with Theresa King and
married. And he met and became a devoted follower
of Swami Rama, a well-known leader of the Bharati philosophy in
the United States. King says her 33-year association with O'Brien
has revealed a man of many gifts. He's highly intuitive, and he is a
healer, King said. He's been blessed with quite a
bit. Swami Rama gave him powers. I also think he was born with
a couple of talents and then when he met Swami Rama, those talents
and powers were boosted. Swami Rama, an Eastern mystic and founder
of the Himalayan International Institute in Honesdale, Pa., became
well known in religious and philosophical circles when he was
tested by physicians and scientists for supernatural powers. O'Brien,
who has written extensively on the topic, says the results of
those tests proved that Swami Rama could drastically alter his
heart beat and blood pressure. He stopped his heart by making it
beat three-hundred times a minute which stopped the process that
moves the blood through the brain. They also put him on a bio-feedback
device, and he fell asleep and yet he was completely aware of
his surroundings. When they asked what happened he said,
`My body went to sleep, but my mind stayed awake,' O'Brien
said. He wanted to show that the mind truly is something
beyond the brain. They also asked him about cancer,
O'Brien said. Swami Rama said, `What do you see.' A mole
popped up on his arm and then another on his other arm. One was
benign, and the other was malignant. Then he made them disappear and he did that
22 times. His relationship with the mystic led to
new personal growth and work. Swami Rama called me in one day when
I was teaching at Loyola University in Chicago, and he told me
that I could always remain a university professor but I would
never grow as a human being. Theresa and I decided to completely
give ourselves to Swami Rama's philosophy. We founded a center
in Glenville, Ill., and then in 1977 we founded the center in
the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania where Swami Rama taught until
his death in 1996. O'Brien and King then were sent to foreign
ports, to Japan to initiate the World Conference on Peace and
to London to work at the Marylebone Clinic in London and teach
wellness and spirituality at the University of London Medical
School. In 1988, at the invitation of Charles Bates,
another teacher and devotee of Swami Rama, O'Brien and King moved
to St. Paul to resume their teaching mission. O'Brien became a
professor at the College of St. Catherine and an adjunct teacher
at St. Mary's College. King began creating a publishing business,
Yes Publishers International, that develops books on self transformation
of the body, mind and spirit. In time the three friends O'Brien,
Bates and King initiated the Alpha Institute that offers
classes in Hatha yoga, wellness, meditation and spirituality. Michelle Crane, 31, a three-year student
at the Alpha Institute, said before she met O'Brien, she was working
too many hours and not taking care of herself. My management style is much more focused,
Crane said. I make decisions more readily. And in my relationships,
personal or professional, I'm a lot more calm with people. I know
what they need because I'm healthier. Crane said the secret is to absorb all that
O'Brien teaches and practice it without reserve. If I practice my hatha yoga positions,
do my breathing and the nutrition, my stress goes down and my
creativity goes up. Now O'Brien, or Swami Jaidev as he will
be named in the future, will continue teaching the precepts of
Bharati to his students. His admission into the highest levels
of philosophical leadership took place this year, when Swami Hari
Harananda journeyed from India to St. Paul to ordain him. Now we must ask, `What are the frontiers
of the mind?' Swami Jaidev said. We do know there
is more wisdom in human nature than we ever dreamed.
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For July 13, 2000