Jeff V. Poole, M.S. - DETAILED BIOGRAPHY

From an early age I’ve been a seeker. In a flash of intuition around the age of four I recall telling my parents my life would be different than others around me. The knowingness that came in that instant emerged from unbounded silence and conveyed a glimpse of my future life and purpose. Then as experiences often do, it faded into my subconsciousness lying dormant until the right circumstance would rekindle its message in my memory.

That circumstance occurred for me at 19 when my memory was violently jogged from being pitched out of a moving car and bounced into an empty field fracturing my 5th lumbar spinal vertebrae. During the 30 days of fear and uncertainty that followed, I recuperating in the hospital from partial paralysis that left me unable to function from the waist down. I could do nothing but hopefully await the return of any mobility. Meanwhile my mind repeatedly revisited the events of the accident recalling scenes & some amazing experiences that I remembered related to being projected out of my physical body. I experienced something other than what we would say was normal on that fateful, karmic day - I knew I could tap this realm again in a natural way without external stimuli. And I realized how fortunate I was to even be alive, however, I recalled being presented with a choice in those fleeting yet somehow infinite moments. I had a sense that I could decide to check-out of life and pass over in death, or return to waking consciousness and make life truly great and full of purpose by tapping that infinite realm of silence that I had experienced. This was a major tipping point in my life, and it required much discipline through ongoing physical therapy sessions that helped restore spinal mobility and also led me to yoga. At that same time I was reading Parmahansa Yogananda's, Autobiography of a Yogi, and was fascinated by the incredible stories linked to saints who meditated. I just knew that this was to be my destiny to meditate and I soon became extremely eager to learn all about meditation. My father who watched this transformation with loving compassion for my situation did not hesitate in joining me in that journey once I told him that meditation interested me. So, we learned to meditate together.

Profound experiences within the silent meditations compelled me even more to intensely study and learn everything possible about meditation, and within week’s of discharge from the hospital, I enrolled in an academy in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains to begin my studies which would include years of in-depth silent meditation practice in retreat settings. For more than twelve years I was under the tutelage of realized Vedic Masters honing my practice. I traveled through India, Europe, and the US, gaining this knowledge and personal experience which ensured the ability to effectively and skillfully teach this art of ancient effortless meditation to peoples of all ages. For over 33 years, I’ve continued to teach meditation to thousands of individuals worldwide.

The knowledge and understanding of Vedic wisdom I have absorbed includes Ayurveda, Vastu, Jyotisha, Puja (sacred ceremonies), Yagyas, and sacred Sanskrit chanting. After completing in-depth study and research into consciousness in New Delhi, India while attending a month-long International Conference on Vedic Studies that was presented by Vedic lineage holders who were experts in the various branches of Vedic knowledge, I received an honorary M.S. in Vedic Studies from Maharishi International University, at Maharishi Nagar, in Noida, India. Prior to this I had completed a B.S. in Speech Communications & Education, and have since engaged in over two years of postgraduate study toward an as yet unachieved MS in Computer Science.

Described by business colleagues as a corporate mystic, I’m also an accomplished high-tech marketing and sales executive, with over 27 years experience directing sales and marketing initiatives for many industry-leading software, hardware and services companies.

Presently, I contribute my technical, business and spiritual talents to Shruti Institute for Vedic Arts, where as co-founder with my wife and life-partner, Dr. Katyayani Poole, Ph.D., I recently collaborated with her on the creation of Sanskrit for Yogis™, a home-study course in Sanskrit designed specifically for Yoga Teachers and practitioners. In this effort, I contributed audio and prose editing, marketing, and other experiential skills to ensure the course's completion.

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