Neelam & Her Lineage
About Neelam
Neelam is a deeply loving Awakened spiritual teacher who directly transmits the True experience of Presence, our True Nature. She is a direct disciple of H.W.L Poonja, affectionately known as Papaji (see bio below). Neelam’s teachings on the role of the nervous system in Awakening and Freedom are the “missing link” of non-duality and of our quest for Spiritual Awakening and Freedom.
Neelam embodies, transmits, and teaches with deep discrimination and tenderness and invites her students to know Presence directly and to meet everything which arises in life—whether it is internal experience or external events—with acceptance that leads us to rest in Presence and to live an embodied life from Presence, our True Nature. She also incorporates her deep knowledge of the nervous system and trauma in the way she teaches, including sensation-based trauma-informed Self-Inquiry.
Neelam is a native of Poland, living in New Mexico, who has been giving Satsang internationally since 1995. She is a skilled group facilitator, has a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Poland, and studied Tai Chi extensively. She speaks four languages and has given Satsangs (Sitting in Truth) throughout the United States, Canada, France, the UK, India, Poland, France, and Germany. For almost 30 years she has taught thousands of students in countless Satsangs, including online programs, weekend retreats, and holding intensives and long term programs for those who wish to dive into “The Fire of Truth”.
Neelam has written two books, Awakening and the Elements Necessary for Awakening and Invitation to Awakening, Pointers to Your True Self.
A more in depth description of Neelam’s early journey of Awakening is available in the book Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom by Rita Marie Robinson.
You can read Neelam’s story of meeting Papaji in Roslyn Moore’s book, Meeting Papaji.
In her own words…
It was a deep love of Truth and a strong desire for Awakening and Freedom that brought me to the feet of my Guru Papaji (H.W.L. Poonja) in Lucknow in 1994. This extraordinary and life-changing meeting resulted in my growing in Trust and eventually in a profound spiritual Awakening. With Papaji’s blessing I began sitting with students in Satsang in 1995.
Over the years of being Present to what arises within and of being Present to what arises within you, my students, I noticed a need for an addition to the way I was teaching that included the understanding and experience of the Nervous System and Trauma in order to help students to realize and embody the Truth of Being.
In my teaching I guide you to recognize and follow your Desire for Truth, that leads to Awakening and Freedom, and I guide you into the Direct Experience of Presence which is the fundamental recognition of our True Nature. I also help you address and grow the capacity of your Nervous System to Be Here and experience what arises including many expanded as well as challenging states and trauma.
Growing your capacity to Be Here is the Missing Link to Awakening and is essential for a more sustained and permanent resting in our True Nature.
Spiritual Awakening and Freedom are the True Purpose of our Life and my teaching continues to be guided by my own direct experience of that, and deeply rooted in my Love for Papaji and his teacher Ramana Maharishi, whose timeless presence is effortlessly available Here. I live in New Mexico near Santa Fe with my rescue cat named Kitty.
– Neelam
About Papaji,
Neelam’s Teacher
Hari Wansch Lal Poonja (H.W.L. Poonja), more affectionately known as Papaji, was born in Western Punjab, to Parmanand and Yamuna Devi on October 13, 1910, out of their deep desire to see God. The family already had one Saint, Papaji’s mother’s brother, Swami Rama Tirtha.
Hari Lal’s childhood was different from most, in the way that at the age of eight, while visiting relatives in Lahore, he had a direct experience of Self, which lasted for three days. Wanting to regain this experience of Peace and Bliss, Papaji’s mother encouraged him to devote his life to Krishna, who would give him this Liberation. Papaji’s spiritual life continued throughout his childhood, marriage, and fatherhood, into his Army Officer career.
Yet his desire for God was not quenched, so he resigned his post and went searching across India for someone who could show him God. His search brought him back to his house, disillusioned. Until, one day, a Sadhu appeared at his door. Papaji asked the Sadhu if he could show him God or direct him to someone who could, and the Sadhu told him that there was a Saint in Tiruvannamalai who could show him God.
Within the next few days, Papaji went to see this Saint, Sri Ramana Maharshi, and during his second visit, after hearing the Maharshi tell him not to look for things that come and go, but to look for what is permanent, and under the Maharshi’s silent gaze, Papaji became permanently and irreversibly established in the Self.
Papaji continued to work and support his family, who were now in Madras, and visit the Maharshi on weekends, until the time of the partition of India, when the Maharshi told him to go and take the rest of his family out of the Punjab, which was soon to become Pakistan. That was the last time he saw his Master in form.
Papaji moved his extended family to Lucknow, and continued to work to support them, while seeing devotees who came to him. After finishing with his family duties, Papaji went to live on the banks of his beloved Ganga, and also traveled to see devotees in all parts of India. In the late 1960s when westerners were traveling to India in search of spiritual awakening, they discovered Papaji, and he began traveling all over the world, wherever he was invited to give Satsang. Papaji’s message was always clear:
No vessel to empty; no mirror to break!
In the late 1980sPapaji again settled back in his family home in Lucknow, and westerners began visiting his home to see him. By 1990, Papaji moved into his daughter-in-law’s house, and by 1991, as the Satsangs out-grew his house, they were moved to Satsang Bhawan.
To talk about what it is that has attracted thousands upon thousands of seekers to come to be with Papaji, is to cross into the realm of the unspeakable. And that is precisely what it is, the unspeakable experience of one’s ow , n true Self. Papaji’s every look, every movement, every breath, every glance, every word, comes from, and is a direct expression of, That Self, and can direct all who truly want Freedom back to that unspeakable, unknowable Self. To meet him in any form, is to dissolve into total, unconditional Love, which all are searching for, and to face directly who we really are. His Grace, which showers unconditionally on all alike, continues to expand and deepen the Peace, Love and Bliss that many find as the expression of this awareness of Self. Papaji’s teachings are simple:
Keep Quiet! Don’t stir a thought. Look within.
There, you will find your own True Nature, where it has always been!
Papaji made himself as available as possible to his devotees, sharing meals, birthdays, weddings and more, and giving Satsang five days a week. All were always welcome.
Papaji left his body on September 6th, 1997, and his Grace was felt with great magnitude, as hundreds reported having a deep and alive experiences of his Presence. As his Self, that Self, merged into the Self, it lit the whole universe
as its substratum and revealed it as the dream that it is. Papaji is alive, as the Self that you truly are, ever Present. Here. Now.
You can read Neelam’s story of meeting Papaji in Roslyn Moore’s book, Meeting Papaji.
More details about Papaji can be found at:
https://avadhuta.com
About Ramana,
Papaji’s Teacher
The following text is respectfully quoted from www.ramana-maharshi.org
Throughout the history of mankind spiritual giants have appeared on very rare occasions to exemplify the Highest Truth, guiding followers by their conduct in every moment of their lives; Sri Ramana Maharshi was such a giant. Unique in our time, he perfectly embodied the ultimate truth of Self-realisation, or complete immersion in God.
Known as the Sage of Arunachala, he spoke very little and wrote even less. He preferred to communicate through the power of Silence, a silence so deep and profound that it stilled the minds of those ardent seekers who were attracted to Him from all over the world.
His highest teaching of ‘Self-inquiry’ was understood in the infinite silence of his presence. Through this silence, countless numbers of devotees and visitors experienced the pure bliss of True Being. That same experience of perfect peace is still available to sincere souls who turn to him and practice his teachings with devotion.
This act of perfect grace can be experienced anywhere, but it is especially palpable at his Ashram in South India at the foot of the holy Arunachala Hill, a hill that has attracted saints and sages for thousands of years. The Maharshi’s teaching of ‘Self-Inquiry’ (Pure Advaita) is simplicity itself, requiring no outward formalities, no outer change of life, only a simple change in ‘point of view’ and a sustained effort on the part of the seeker. The goal is no heaven after death or a faraway ideal, but rather the removal of the ignorance that prevents us from knowing that we are eternally One with our Source, the Supreme Self, or God. It is an experience than can be had NOW! All that is required is a sincere effort, which earns us the necessary grace.
On his deathbed the Maharshi told his grieving devotees, “You say I am going away, but where can I go? I am always here. You give too much importance to the body.”
His promise of a ‘continued presence’ is daily being experienced by numerous admirers and devotees from around the world, and it is that experience of ‘continued presence’ that has inspired many to devote themselves to the path of peace and love.
More details about Ramana can be found at https://www.satsangbhavan.org
This is Neelam’s Lineage and the direct teachings that she shares freely with YOU!
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