Erhard Vogel, Ph.D

Few people alive today have the knowledge, skills and integrity with which to make a personal impact on humanity that is lasting and profound in the deepest sense. Dr. Erhard Vogel, who has lived and taught among the sages in the Himalayas, has been guiding people to the innate knowledge of their true Self for more than thirty years. He is recognized around the world as a Master Teacher of Self- realization. 

“Self-realization,” he writes, “is what all life strives for. It is making real our deepest longings and highest aspirations by living, experiencing and expressing our real Self, and thereby fulfilling our life potential.” Erhard, as he prefers to be called by students and friends, has based a lifetime of devoted service on the firm conviction that Self-realization is the birthright of every human being.

Born in war-torn Germany in 1939, Erhard faced certain death at the age of five. Surviving a bomb blast by the slimmest of circumstances, his determined focus to remain present for what would come after death led to an utterly clear experience of the meaning and purpose of his being in this life. With that pivotal experience began for him a life dedicated to seeking, realizing and teaching the ways to live in lasting fulfillment.

Erhard immigrated to the United States at age fourteen.

He graduated from the Pratt Institute of Design in Brooklyn, and as an architect rose to a respected position in a world-renowned architectural firm. At age 31, he set aside a brilliant architectural career to travel the globe on foot and thoroughly research the ways in which people of different cultures seek fulfillment. He saw the underlying need in all people to fulfill their potential. Erhard returned to the United States with his teachings – a unique combination of time-tested wisdom and pragmatic methods – and his conviction that the highest spiritual aspirations of humankind are ultimately practical, not merely philosophical or theoretical.  Following a lecture tour spanning the United States, Canada and Europe, he came to San Diego, California, and in 1974 founded the Nataraja Yoga Ashram, a not-for-profit corporation.

Erhard teaches only from direct experience. With clarity and simplicity, he demystifies the fundamental questions of life and guides students to find the answers within themselves.

His step-by-step teachings and easy to implement techniques have made Self-realization attainable for tens of thousands worldwide. 

 

Erhard’s widespread popularity as a Teacher, speaker and author comes from the fact that he sees the inherent goodness in all and relates to everyone with the same unconditional respect with which he relates to the Universal Being. It is his ability to love unconditionally, and to teach his students how to accept themselves in the same healing light that makes him so effective. 

A true servant to humanity, Erhard personally teaches the classes at the Nataraja Meditation & Yoga Center, lectures, conducts workshops and teacher training courses, writes books and records CDs. He attends to the day-to-day growth process of his students, devoting countless hours teaching the means to make permanent, positive change, and thereby live vibrant, healthy, productive lives. The fact that he shares openly and without reservation not only his knowledge, but also his very being, has made him a beloved friend and Teacher to those seeking a more fulfilling and uncomplicated approach to life.