Romapada Swami

Romapada Swami (IAST: Roma-pāda Svāmī; born Brian Rumbaugh,[1] December 27, 1948) is a Vaishnava sannyasi,[2] initiating guru[3] and a governing body commissioner of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (commonly known as the Hare Krishnas or ISKCON).[4][5]

Romapada Swami
Personal
Born
Brian Rumbaugh

(1948-12-27) December 27, 1948
Utica, New York, United States
ReligionGaudiya Vaishnavism
Senior posting
Based inUnited States
Period in office1986–present
Present postSannyasi
Member of the Governing Body Commission
Temple president
WebsiteRomapada Swami
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Romapada's jurisdiction as the ISKCON zonal secretary of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin.

Life and career

He is currently based in New York, but travels frequently giving invited presentations and workshops at universities, corporates, communities, yoga and cultural centers.[4] He has lectured on Eastern and Western philosophies at universities in the United States, India and Europe.[6] He is the advisor for Quintessence Magazine, a quarterly publication distributed in college campuses across North America.[7]

He served as a plaintiff in the ISKCON and Brian Rumbaugh v. Walter Lee and The New York Port Authority case that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1992.[8] The case was argued before the U. S. Supreme Court against a regulation that prohibited distribution of literature in airport terminals.

The youngest of five children, Romapada was born as Brian Rumbaugh and raised in a middle-class Christian family in Utica, New York.[1] He attended the State University of New York, Buffalo,[5] where he was a pre-med student.[1] It was here, in 1969, that Brian met A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).[1] Shortly after being accepted to Medical school, Brian joined ISKCON.[1] He decided, that by dedicating himself to the spiritual life he would be more useful to the society.[1] Brian became an initiated disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in July 1971, receiving the name Romapada Das (Das meaning the servant of the Lord).[1] He accepted the renounced order of sannyasa in 1983 (whence he was given the title of "Swami").[5][9][10]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Romapada Swami served in ISKCON as associate director of public affairs (1972–76),[11] as a spokesman,[12][13] and as a New York ISKCON temple president.[14][15]

Since 1978, Romapada Swami has traveled worldwide, presenting the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy.[5] Since 1986, Romapada Swami has served as an ISKCON diksa guru.

In March 1992, he was appointed Governing Body Commissioner for New York and New Jersey.[5] In 1994 he accepted the same responsibility for the Midwestern United States.[5] Currently he is based in New York, and frequently travels to India and Asia on preaching missions.[5]

Footnotes
  1. Santos 1978, p. 71
  2. Last Week at Tufts...
  3. Comments From the Vaishnava Devotional Community
  4. Currency of Relationships: A Special Presentation
  5. HH Romapada Swami's Biography
  6. Penn State Vedic Society
  7. Quintessence Magazine
  8. ISKCON and Brian Rumbaugh v. Walter Lee and The New York Port Authority, 505 U.S. 672, 112 S. Ct. 2711 (1992)
  9. GBC resolutions 1983
  10. List of Sannyasis in ISKCON April 2008 Archived July 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine ISKCON Sannyasa Ministry, Retrieved on 2008-05-05
  11. Monroe 1976, p. 12D
  12. Goldman 1976, p. 1A
  13. Goldman 1977, p. 31
  14. Yinger 1984, p. 244
  15. Battaile 1978, p. 12

References
  • Monroe, Bob (December 10, 1976), "Will real Santa please stand up?", St. Petersburg Times, p. 12D
  • Goldman, John J. (December 12, 1976), "Krishna Kringles Beard Santa on His Own Turf", Los Angeles Times, p. 1A-2
  • Goldman (December 20, 1976), "Santa Glaus Rumble Brews Over Prime Jingle-bell Turf", Spokesman-Review, p. 31
  • Battaile, Janet (December 24, 1978), "Krishna Santas Move In On the Ho-Ho-Ho Trade; Bad Image for St. Nick", The New York Times
  • Santos, dos Manoel Hygino (1978), Hippies: protesto ou modismo, Minas Gráfica Editora
  • Loislaw Federal District Court Opinions (1981), INTERN. SOC. FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS v. N.J. Civ. No. 78-734.
  • Federal supplement., 450
  • Yinger, J. Milton (1984), Countercultures: the promise and peril of a world turned upside down, Free Press, ISBN 0-02-934010-1
  • Hutchinson, Bill; Mueller, Marc (March 20, 1997), "Will real Santa please stand up?", Boston Herald, p. 7
  • Aaron, Russ (September 14, 2007), "Lecturer details leadership qualities", The Daily Campus, archived from the original on July 16, 2011
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