Biography
Muz Murray is a world-travelling mystic master with an international reputation, having given guidance for many years in his “SHARING THE QUEST” workshops—on Mantra Yoga, Mystical Awakening, Massage and Meditation—in the UK and Europe. He follows the way of the Universal Mystic—the Path of the Heart—embracing the essence of all traditions, but is attached to none.
Although endowed with the saffron robe and spiritual name of “Ramana Baba” in India, he sees himself neither as a ‘Swami’ nor a ‘New Age’ teacher, inclining rather to the notion of a ‘No Age’—seeking the teachings suitable for any age of the world, through attunement to the eternal verities. Thus his ‘Way of Unlearning’ is a simple “Sharing of the Inner Quest” warmly appreciated by those who seek trustworthy guidance without bondage to any form of cultism.
In his early twenties (during seven years of vagabondage around the world) an unlooked-for experience of spiritual awakening—known as ‘Cosmic Consciousness’—suddenly occurred, which was to transform the course of his life and consequently the lives of many others. Some months after this ‘Cosmic Initiation’ he came into contact with a spiritual Master who gave him his first ‘temporal initiation’ into a mantric form of meditation called Shabda Yoga (or the Mystical Sound Current.) This was later followed by association with masters of many traditions and subsequent initiations into many forms of arduous spiritual practice and esoteric experience.
In consequence, he became the Founder of a mystical community in London, known as “Gandalf’s Garden” which produced a world-distributed esoteric magazine of the same name. The magazine and work of this community became a spiritual inspiration to many thousands in Britain and on the Continent during the ‘Flower-Power’ Era of the late Sixties and early Seventies. The centre hosted Gurus and teachers of every tradition from all over the world and pioneered the spirit of ‘spiritual cross-fertilisation’ between isolated esoteric groups, which resulted in many more universally-minded centres blossoming in its wake in several countries.
In 1972, Muz undertook a three-year pilgrimage to India and Nepal, travelling as a sadhu or mendicant monk. Besides following many spiritual disciplines, he deepened his investigations into Mantra (the Yoga of Sound) with Sufi (Dervish), Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Tibetan Masters.
On returning to Europe, while giving workshops in dynamic mantra, he also spent several years working with leading psychotherapists in modern regression techniques and founded “The Inner Garden”—a Healing, Retreat and Growth Centre in Suffolk, where individual therapy treatment was combined with spiritual guidance (as featured on BBC television in “Still Crazy After All These Years”). At the same time he became a founder-member of “The Open Centre” (a psychotherapists’ collective) at the Community Health Foundation in London, where he led Mantra and Psychotherapy intensives for three years.
In 1980, after entering into the state of Samadhi (or the ‘God-Conscious’ condition) he removed himself to a hideaway in southern France for the next few years, consolidating his inner experience and writing his spiritual guide to survival in the modern world—Sharing the Quest (Element Books).
After nearly 40 years of offering Mantra and Advaita Workshops around the world and taking students on teaching trips to India, he is now leading a quieter life working on his books in the hills of Portugal.
Background Details
Born in England on 15th March 1940. Studied for 5 years at Coventry College of Art and previously gained recognition as an artist and poet. For ten years he was also known as a theatrical designer and Art Director in films and as an actor, songwriter and singer. As a mystic he has also been several times a Television and Radio Broadcaster (and scriptwriter for BBC Radio 4).
His writings frequently appeared as a regular column in the British journal Yoga Today and in many international esoteric magazines, having been translated into French, Spanish (Latin America), German, Italian and Dutch.
He has also produced several cassettes and CDs on the study of Mantra, Yoga Nidra, Agni Hotra, and other esoteric subjects.
His background details are also subject to biographical record in The Marquis Who’s Who of the World 2000 edition.
