About the Author

Gaudapada, having touched the highest peaks of realization, saw that the ultimate Reality can neither be born nor die, and with the support of the Principle-Narayana was able to reveal for the first time to human beings the Teaching already present in the Shruti: Ajativada, the doctrine of 'Non-generation', and the Asparshayoga, the yoga of 'No-support or no-relation.' In order to enounce the Ajativada and the Asparshayoga Gaudapada chose to comment the Mandukya Upanishad. This Upanishad deals with the three states of Being (Virat, Hiranyagarbha, Ishvara) and the Fourth state (Turiya) which represents the absolute Reality. Because of its doctrine and philosophy, it is the most meaningful and profound Upanishad of the Advaita Vedanta and represents by itself the very foundation of metaphysical realization. The Mukti Upanishad says: 'If the goal is the attainment of the supreme Truth, the Mandukya Upanishad is altogether sufficient.' Raphael having attained a synthesis of Knowledge (with which eclecticism or syncretism are not to be confused) aims at 'presenting' the Universal Tradition in its many Eastern and Western expressions. He has spent a substantial number of years writing and publishing books on spiritual experience, and his works include commentaries on the Qabbalah, Hermeticism and Alchemy. He has also commented on and compared the Orphic Tradition with the works of Plato, Parmenides and Plotinus. Furthermore, Raphael is the author of several books on the pathway of non-duality (Advaita), which he has translated from the original Sanskrit, offering commentaries on a number of key Vedantic texts. After more than sixty years of teaching, both oral and written, Raphael has withdrawn into mahasamadhi.