Born in New York, USA. Devamrita Swami started life in an environment conducive to the contemplation of the divine. After completing his studies at Yale University he felt unable to pursue a materialistic life, but his Dean firmly asserted, “You are a Yale man; you will influence the world.” Shortly afterwards Devamrita Swami received Srila Prabhupada’s books and made a thorough study of them before joining the temple in 1972.
Devamrita Swami took initiation in 1974 from Srila Prabhupada and devoted his life to sharing his guru’s teachings, distributing his books and serving at the BBT. In 1982 Devamrita Swami took sannyas initiation and in 2002 began serving as an initiating spiritual master in ISKCON.
His background in the BBT, especially as chief manager and his difficult years sharing Krishna consciousness in the former Communist Eastern Block countries gave him experience in spiritual leadership that led to his future in the GBC.
A member of ISKCON’s governing body since 2001 he has occupied the responsible posts of GBC vice chairman and later, chairman. His current regional responsibilities include Australia and New Zealand, as well as South Africa, Brazil and the Gita-nagari Farm Project in Pennsylvania. Beyond those areas of spiritual leadership, he travels far and wide, especially in North America, Europe and India.
An author published by the BBT, he has to date written Searching for Vedic India and Perfect Escape. One of Devamrita Swami’s areas of expertise is to facilitate contemporary settings for Western audiences to approach bhakti yoga. He enjoys challenging Indian students and professionals to penetrate the veil of religious belief/religious myth; and advocates spiritually based economics, sustainability and environmentalism.
Devamrita Swami’s home base of operations is Australia and New Zealand.