H. W. L. Poonja

H. W. L. Poonja
H. W. L. Poonja, often known as "Papaji"
Born	H. W. L. Poonja 13 October 1910 (or later) Punjab, British India
Died	6 September 1997 Lucknow, India
Nationality	Indian
Guru	Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Philosophy	Advaita Vedanta
Quotation	No teaching, no teacher, no student.

Sri H. W. L. Poonja (/ˈpʊndʒə/; born Hariwansh Lal Poonja; 13 October 1910 (or later) in Punjab, British India – 6 September 1997 in Lucknow, India), known as "Poonjaji" or "Papaji" /ˈpæpədʒi/, was a teacher of Self-enquiry as advocated by Ramana Maharshi.

H. W. L. Poonja was born in Gujranwalla, in western Punjab, now in Pakistan, in a family of Saraswat Brahmins. His mother was the sister of Swami Rama Tirtha.

At the age of eight he experienced an unusual state of consciousness:

The experience was so overwhelming it had effectively paralysed my ability to respond to any external stimuli. For about an hour they tried everything they could think of to bring me back to a normal state of consciousness, but all their attempts failed.

He was persuaded by his mother that he could regain this experience by devotion to the Hindu god Krishna, and so he gave himself over to this and began to have visions of Krishna.

As an adult he led a normal life: he married, raised two children and joined the British army, while secretly his love for Krishna and his visions continued. He became obsessed with a longing to have the experience of seeing Krishna all the time. He continuously repeated Krishna's name (japa) and traveled throughout India asking sages if they could deliver the ability to produce the darshan of Krishna at will.