Mooji

Biography

Mooji is a Jamaican spiritual teacher, a student of Papaji (H. W. L. Poonja; student of Ramana Maharshi) and a teacher of Advaita Vedanta philosophy.

Childhood- Family

Anthony Paul Moo-Young was born on Friday, 29th January 1954 in Port Antonio, Jamaica to Euphemia Hamilton (Mother) (migrated to UK as one of the windrush generation in the 1950s) & Enos Moo-Young, an accountant at the Jamaica Reef Hotel. [4]

[Mooji's parents- Euphemia Bartlett and Enos Moo-Young]

He was very liked at school. Boys liked him because he was good at athletics, girls liked him because he could sing. [2]

His mother left to the UK when he was just one year old. He was brought up by his father and his aunt Eunice (mother's cousin), who later became his father's girlfriend, his father died of pneumonia when Mooji was 8, he was taken for medical test to Kingston, but he died on the way.

He lived with uncle George until he turned 15, when his mother came to Jamaica for a visit, Mooji moved to London with her.

His brother Peter Moo-Young was an international level table tennis player, he played for Jamaica

He had a sister named Cherry Groce who was shot by the police at her home in Brixton, the polie were looking for her son Michael who was wanted in a petty crime, they shot her repeatedly leading to permanent paralysis, Cherry had 6 children and some of the children were at home when police caused commotion with the shooting. The incident eventually lead to race riots in Brixton, leading to 1 death and 50 injuries.

Marriage- Children

Mooji is married and has sons, his elder son Jason died of Pneumonia in 1984. He supported his family as a street artist and art teacher in London. He drew charcoal and pastel portraits of people in central London, outside the National Gallery, near Shell (His wife worked at Shell) and later at Shaftesbury Avenue at Piccadilly Circus. [3] [4]

[Mooji, the street artist]

Spirituality

Mooji was introduced to Bible when he was living with his uncle George, who was deeply religious, here Mooji got a very intimate introduction to Bible.

The first awakening

Mooji initially got interested in Christian Mysticism through a young Christian mystic Michael. Michael and Mooji woudl discuss bible, then pray. Mooji attained deeper inner peace at these times, he would try to stay awake all night in fear of losing this bliss, he eventually realised that the peace he felt only grew deeper and never left him.

Meeting his Guru

In search of faster spiritual growth, Mooji went to Watkins store, a famous bookstore known for its collection of spiritual books in the central London. There he found "Who Am I?" by Ramana Maharshi and "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" 

He worked at his sister Cherry's house, he made several mural paintings on the walls in her house, of the scenes of nature from the times of their childhood days. She happily gifted him some money, which fueled his trip to India.

His thirst for spirituality brought him to Papaji & Non-duality. Mooji left his job as art teacher in London and met his Guru Papaji in Lucknow in 1993. [4]

Mooji visited Kolkata, West Bengal, India, he was inspired by the saint Sri RamaKrishna's stories & philosophy.  

Mooji lived for some time in Thirvannamalai at the Ramanashram, the place of his great guru Ramana Maharshi.

He used to write "thoughts for day" messages into paper and role them into McDonald’s straws. They would contain messages like: "God gives you bread. Don’t ask for toast – make it!", "Why are you out shopping for new shoes when you are given wings to fly?", "In whatever situation you may be, right there is a doorway to your innermost Being." [3]

People naturally get attracted to him, talking of this ability of Mooji, his brother Peter said: 

Tony, his personality always drew people to him in whatever he was doing.

Mooji’s Chai Shop

He also used to sell incense on Electric Avenue, Brixton Market. He opened a small shop in front of Brixton Wholefoods. He made Indian Tea, Kombucha and Red Rhino (his original creation) at the shop. 

It was here the he met the early spiritual seekers. 

He shared his views and perspective on spirituality that he had come to realize through his own quest. His talks were made into CDs, books and recordings and were shared, he thus became a spiritual guru without even trying.

Moojiji teaches non-dualism, self-enquiry based philosophy. His approach involves Love based transformation, it makes him unique among the teachers of Advaita, who are often rational by approach. His teachings involve contemplating the nature of self and separating the self from phenomenon falsely associated with the self.

Rise to popularity: Mooji has gathered a lot of followers through his videos on youtube. He conducts satsangs where he and students discuss spiritual concepts. Those videos are uploaded on youtube. His videos have been watched by millions 

Monte Sahaja

Mooji has built an ashram in São Martinho das Amoreiras, in the Alentejo region of Portugal, in an area spread across 30 hectares, where spiritual seekers fro macross the world flock for a spiritual retreat, staying at the ashram for about 7-10 days in a stretch.

UK-based charity Mooji Foundation Ltd manages the financial activities of Mooji's spiritual movement. Mooji Media Ltd. is a trading subsidiary of the Mooji foundation. Associação Mooji Sangha and Jai Sahaja manage functioning in Portugal.

Mooji- Facts & Trivia

• Mooji has lived in England, India and now resides at Monte Sahaja, Alentejo, Portugal.
• He liked the British TV talent show- The X Factor. [2]
• Mooji has been conducting satsangs in Spain, Germany, Italy, North America, Sweden, Ireland, Wales Argentina, Great Britain, Brazil, Portugal, India and other places.

Arts

• Mooji is an artist by nature, he learned arts by curiosity and interest.
• Mooji's art interests include stained glass, ceramics, sculpture, painting
• Mooji has worked as an art teacher in a Brixton college.
• Mooji was popular in the art world as Tony Moo.
• He made stained glass window designs for 'the Tree of Life for St Matthew’s Church' in Brixton [3]

Books

Mooji has published many books, some under the publication Mooji Publications, some of his books are:

• Breath of the Absolute – Dialogues with Mooji (2010)
• Writing on Water: Spontaneous Utterances Insights and Drawings (2011)
• Before I Am: The Direct Recognition of Truth – Dialogues with Mooji (2012)
• The Mala of God (2014)
• White Fire: Spiritual insights and teachings of advaita zen master Mooji (2014)
• Vaster Than Sky, Greater Than Space. (2016)
• An Invitation to Freedom (2017)

Discography

• 2010: Mooji Reads Selected Verses from the Avadhuta Gita
• 2013: This is Not Your Job, This Is Your Joy
• 2016: Double Agent

Quotes

• My master is now all around, the true master will never die, he will just leave the reality of this world.
• Do not do anything, do not have to do anything at all
• Forget spirituality, forget enlightenment, forgive yourself
• Everything happens in your head.
• The Principle that manifests itself through the Master's form is always HERE and NOW.
• A true Master never dies, Mr. dies. The True Master is the Sath Guru within, the only Reality.
• You are not an object, you are pure subjectivity.
• Words are not equal to experience. Ultimately, experience is important. The teaching is absolutely useless, if among those who practice it, there are none who took the teaching so much that it turned into an experience.
• Something brought you here. Trust that it will satisfy its own intention to take you Home.
• 'Keep quiet' means stop pursuing thoughts.
• Emptiness is the greatest freedom. No person can be in that. And this is the best absence: the absence of a person. Only in this absence is God revealed.
• One's greatest service is to keep one’s mind merged in the indwelling Self who is timeless awareness and absolute Truth.
• Be where the seeing arises from, where even the seeing is being seen. Just be there. This is your home.
• No, you are not good enough. You are perfect and complete from before the beginning of time.
• Everything I tell you is already known within you as wordless intuition and intimate being.
• As mind merges in the heart, true understanding awakens. You are the invisible inside the visible, the unmoving inside all movements.
• The vastness that is seen by the mind is not the Self. The vastness in which the mind is seen is the Self.
• Life is only now. It can never be tomorrow. Tomorrow is only a concept. One of the worst things is to miss the recognition of your own good fortune. You are life itself.
• You are beauty itself. Beauty is not merely a physical thing. It is a heart that is open to God, to Truth, to existence itself, fearlessly.
• That Tony Moo Young is now known as ‘Mooji’? What can I say, except that’s life. [2]
• What I enjoy doing is creating the space for contemplation – it comes from my artistic background [3]
• The book of your Being is open. The pages are empty. Let the Divine write a little something inside your heart.
• Expansion and contraction are only movements in you. What you are in truth remains unaffected by the movements of time and change. It is fully alive within as your own immortal Self.
• Let Truth be revealed inside your stillness. Personal determination, knowledge or force alone will not produce the desired result of awakening to the Real.
• You don’t have to fight. You only have to keep choosing Truth. Only Truth.
• However vast your knowledge, if you keep your ego, you remain in ignorance.
• Don’t waste time watching and reacting to the minds of ‘others’. Your own mind causes more trouble than the minds of everyone put together.
• It is said we came here to taste delusion and then to transcend it. It is as though consciousness, which is pure in nature, created a game of seeming imperfection in order to have the experience of transcending it all
• There is only the limitless Self. Know that the knowledge of this and even the knower of this is only the limitless Self.
• Life is only now. It can never be yesterday or tomorrow.
• Be humble and wise. Neither compare nor compete. Don’t belong to anyone. Don’t belong to anything. Be one with your own indivisible being.
• Step into the fire of self-discovery. This fire will not burn you, it will only burn what you are not.
• Dying to your own attachments is a beautiful death. Because this death release you into real life. You have to die as a seed to live as a tree.
• Surrender is not a weakness it is strength.It takes tremendous strength to surrender life to the supreme - to the cosmic unfolding
• You are the unchanging manifesting as the changefulness
•  

Sources

1. Mooji on wikipedia
2. BBC Caribbean coverage
3. The guardian coverage
4. Mooji biography on the official website
5.