Ramana Erickson

Ramana Erickson has taught Kirtan, Sanskrit and Yoga philosophy courses for more than thirty years in the United States, India, and Japan. Born in the U.S., Ramana first started practicing yoga and singing kirtan at the ripe old age of 10 under the tutelage of Swami Vishnudevananda at the Sivananda Ashram Vrindavan Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, California. At 13, Ramana became the youngest hatha yoga student to graduate from the Sivananda Yoga teacher training course, taught by Swami Vishnudevananda himself. Ramana’s mother, Swami Shraddhananda, served as one of the first directors of the Yoga Farm. After meeting Swami Muktananda in 1974, Ramana’s mother moved the family to Muktananda’s Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland, California in 1975, and then to the main ashram in Ganeshpuri, India, in 1976. It was here that Ramana spent his high school years, and where he practiced all aspects of kirtan music: singing, tabla, harmonium, hand cymbals, and other percussion instruments. He also immersed himself in the study of Sanskrit, Yoga Sutras, Vedic chanting, Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, tantric puja, and Yoga, and was guided in his studies by Swami Tejomayananda, a Vedanta scholar and early close disciple of Swami Muktananda. It was from the knowledge and instructional style imparted by Swami Tejomayananda that Ramana devised his core Sanskrit and Yoga philosophy courses. Ramana spent eight years on the Siddha Yoga staff until Swami Muktananda’s passing in 1982.

In 1988, Ramana met Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma) and stayed in her ashram, then a small community in Kerala, South India. He has now been her devotee for more than 30 years. He traveled extensively with her on her early Indian and world tours. In 1992, Ramana traveled with Amma from India to Japan and then stayed on, initially to teach English as a second language to raise funds to travel with Amma, but then became a key supporter of the new Japan satsang. He lived for 4 years in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, and 2 years in Tokyo; in addition to teaching English, he taught beginning Sanskrit and started a kirtan circle. His years in Hokkaido culminated in the honor of hosting Amma for three days of programs in Sapporo in 1994. In 1997–1998, Ramana helped establish the first permanent center for Amma in Tokyo.

In 2000, Ramana returned to the San Francisco Bay Area, where, in addition to being involved in the activities at Amma’s California headquarters, the San Ramon Mata Amritanandamayi Center, he continues to teach Sanskrit and Yoga philosophy at Yoga studios, Ayurvedic schools, and other spiritual institutions throughout the Bay Area. Ramana is also a kirtan musician and teacher schooled in tabla, harmonium, hand cymbals, and singing. He has played tablas for many Western Kirtan artists such as Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Mangalananda, and many others. In 2008, along with Prajna Vieira, and Donald Fontowitz, he formed the kirtan ensemble Mukti that continues to offer kirtan throughout the Bay Area, United States, and abroad.