Dr. Li Interviews Gangaji: Wisdom Teacher Invites Us to Stop Searching

This is an invitation to shift your allegiance from the activities of your mind to the eternal presence of your being.

Born Merle Antoinette Roberson in Texas in 1942, and raised amid the pines and hymns of Mississippi, Gangaji grew up believing fulfillment lay in doing things right—marrying young, raising a daughter, teaching school. Yet beneath those roles ran what she called "a deep and persistent longing." After her divorce, she moved to San Francisco in the 1970s, taking Bodhisattva vows, practicing Zen and Vipassana meditation, helping to run a Tibetan Buddhist center, and building a successful career as an acupuncturist. No practice could quiet the longing.

Then in 1990, following what she later called "a final prayer for true help," she traveled to India. Her husband Eli, who had already met a teacher there, wrote home urging her to come. In Haridwar, she met H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji)—a student of Ramana Maharshi, one of the most renowned sages of the 20th century. At the door of a small rented house, Papaji greeted her with flashing eyes and a robust "Welcome, come in!" She fell in love instantly. When he asked what she had come for, she answered, "Freedom."

"Stop. Do nothing. Be still." With those words from her teacher H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji), Gangaji’s lifelong search came to rest. After years of seeking fulfillment through marriage, motherhood, activism, Buddhist practice, and healing, she discovered what she had chased was never missing—it was her own being.

What began as a single visit grew into the Gangaji Foundation Prison Program—now over 30 years old and reaching more than 4,000 incarcerated men and women through Freedom Inside: A Course in Self-Inquiry. As of Spring 2024, more than 3,300 inmates access her teachings on tablets through the Edovo platform, while 700+ more receive workbooks by mail. Letters from inmates speak of freedom beyond walls: “As long as I travel inwardly, I am as free as I will ever be.”

Through her books—The Diamond in Your Pocket, You Are THAT, Freedom and Resolve, Hidden Treasure—her podcast Being Yourself, and her disarming presence, she continues to ripple the invitation of coming into our own presence in ordinary life.