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{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| name = Krishna Prem
| honorific-prefix = Sri
| image = Sri Krishna Prem.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Krishna Prem in the early 1950s
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| philosophy =
| denomination = [[Vaishnavism]]
| sect = [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism]]
| temple = Uttar Brindaban ashram, [[Mirtola]]
| birth_name = Ronald Henry Nixon
| nationality = British, Indian
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1898|05|10}}
| birth_place = [[Cheltenham]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1965|11|14|1898|05|10}}
| death_place = Mirtola, [[Almora district]], India
| resting_place = Krishna Prem's ''[[Samadhi (shrine)|samadhi mandir]]'', [[Mirtola]]
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|29.64237|79.82751}}
| alma_mater = [[King's College, Cambridge]]
| works = ''The Search for Truth'', ''Initiation into Yoga'', ''The Yoga of the Bhagavat Gita'', ''The Yoga of the Kathopanishad''
| guru = Sri Yashoda Mai, Sri Bal Krishna Goswami
| website = {{url|https://www.mirtolareflections.com}}
| background = #ffca6e
}}
'''Ronald Henry Nixon''' (10 May 1898 – 14 November 1965), later known as '''Sri Krishna Prem''' or '''Sri Krishnaprem''', was a British spiritual aspirant who went to India in the early 20th century. Together with his spiritual teacher Sri Yashoda Mai (1882 – 1944), he founded an ashram at [[Mirtola]], near [[Almora]], India. He was one of the first Europeans to pursue [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnavite]] [[Hinduism]], and was highly regarded, with many Indian disciples. Later, according to the account of his foremost disciple Sri [[Madhava Ashish]], Krishna Prem transcended the dogmas and practices of the [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism|Gaudiya Vaishnava]] tradition into which he had been initiated and affirmed a universal spiritual path shorn of "orthodoxy" and blind traditionalism.

==Early life==
Ronald Henry Nixon,<ref name=haberman93/>{{rp|218}} more commonly called Ronald Nixon, was born in [[Cheltenham]], England, in 1898,<ref name=jones06>"Krishna Prem, Sri (1898–1965) Western-born Vaishnavite Guru" in {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Constance |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |year=2006 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=9780816075645 |page=246 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&q=%22Ronald+Nixon%22&pg=PA246 |author2=James D. Ryan }}</ref> and educated in [[Taunton]].<ref name=haberman93/>
His mother was a [[Christian Science|Christian Scientist]] and his father was reportedly in the glass and china business.<ref name=haberman93/>{{rp|218}}

At age 18, Nixon became a British fighter pilot in the First World War:<ref name=haberman93/><ref name=brooks89/> he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant on probation on 10 May 1917,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30100|supp=y|page=5309|date=29 May 1917}}</ref> was confirmed in his rank on 12 June,<ref>{{London Gazette|nolink=y|issue=30181|supp=y|page=7053|date=13 July 1917}}</ref> and was appointed a [[flying officer]] in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] on 15 June.<ref>{{London Gazette|nolink=y|issue=30181|supp=y|page=7050|date=13 July 1917}}</ref> On one occasion, he experienced an escape from death that he believed was miraculous, in which a "power beyond our ken" saved him from several enemy planes.<ref>Page 17 in {{cite book|last=Ginsburg|first=Seymour B.|title=The masters speak: an American businessman encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff |year=2010 |publisher=Quest Books/Theosophical Pub. House |location=Wheaton, Illinois, USA |isbn=9780835608824 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5idZCmh_nM8C&q=%22Ronald+Nixon%22&pg=PA17|edition=1st Quest|author2=Madhava Ashish }} (on page 283, the quote from Nixon is cited to page 54 of Roy's biography, 1975 2nd edition)</ref> His experiences of death and destruction during the war filled him with a "sense of futility and meaninglessness".<ref name=haberman93/>{{rp|218}} He was transferred to the unemployed list of the Royal Air Force on 11 January 1919<ref>{{London Gazette|nolink=y|issue=31162|page=1801|date=4 February 1919}}</ref> and relinquished his temporary Army commission on 3 December that year.<ref>{{London Gazette|nolink=y|issue=32399|supp=y|page=5900|date=22 July 1921}}</ref>

After the war, Nixon enrolled in [[King's College, Cambridge]], where he studied English literature.<ref name=haberman93/> During this period Nixon also studied philosophy, and became acquainted with [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]], [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaita Vedanta Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Pali]], and developed an interest in going to India to learn more about the practical aspects of Indian religion.<ref name=haberman93/>{{rp|218}}<ref name=brooks89>"The Case of Sri Krishna Prem" in {{cite book|last=Brooks|first=Charles R.|title=The Hare Krishnas in India|year=1989|publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]]|isbn=9788120809390 |pages=98–101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5tjtDZ438h4C&q=%22Ronald+Nixon%22&pg=PA98}}</ref>

==Life in India==
In 1921, while still in England, Nixon accepted the offer of a teaching position at the [[University of Lucknow]], in northern India.<ref name=brooks89/> As it turned out, the university's vice-chancellor, Gyanendra Nath Chakravarti, was also spiritually inclined and interested in [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]], and offered Nixon assistance.
Over time, Nixon came to regard Gyanendra's wife, Monica Devi Chakravarti, as his spiritual teacher.
In 1928, Monika took [[sanyassa|vows of renunciation]] in the [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism|Gaudiya Vaishnavite]] tradition, where these vows are called ''vairagya''.<ref name=jones06/> She adopted the monastic name of Sri Yashoda Mai. Soon thereafter, she initiated Nixon into vairagya, and he adopted Krishna Prem as his monastic name.<ref name=jones06/>
[[File:Memorials of Yashoda Ma, Krishna Prem and Madhav Ashish at Mirtola Ashram DSCN7931 1.jpg|right|thumb|Memorials of Yashoda Mai, Krishna Prem and Madhava Ashish at [[Mirtola]] Ashram.]]
In 1930, Sri Yashoda Mai and Krishna Prem together founded an ashram at [[Mirtola]], near [[Almora]], in mountainous north-central India (state of [[Uttarakhand]]). The ashram "began and has continued to be"<ref name=jones06/> aligned with strict orthodox [[Vaishnavism]]. In 1944, Yashoda Ma died and Krishna Prem succeeded her as head of the ashram.<ref name=jones06/> He travelled little, but in 1948 he visited South India, meeting [[Ramana Maharshi|Sri Ramana Maharshi]], as well as [[Aurobindo|Sri Aurobindo]] and [[Mirra Alfassa]] ("The Mother").<ref name=jones06/>
Sardella states that Nixon appears to have been "the first European to embrace [[Vaishnavism]] in India".<ref name=sardello13>{{cite book |last=Sardella |first=Ferdinando |title=Modern Hindu personalism: the history, life, and thought of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780199865901 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYSXPg9GUpwC&q=%22Ronald+Nixon%22&pg=PA143}}</ref>{{rp|143}}
Haberman states that Nixon "was perhaps the first Westerner to tread the path of [[Krishnaism|Krishna-bhakti]], and was certainly the first to have any official affiliation with the [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism]] of [[Braj]]."<ref name=haberman93/>{{rp|223}}

Krishna Prem, despite his English origins, became widely accepted and admired in the Indian Hindu community. Brooks wrote that "Krishna Prem's evident intellectual and inspirational qualities gained him wide fame and many disciples in India, as reflected in numerous books on his life and teachings."<ref name=brooks89/>{{rp|100}}
[[Gertrude Emerson Sen]] wrote that "I know of no other person like Krishnaprem, himself 'foreign' to begin with, who has drawn so many Indians to himself".<ref name=haberman93/>{{rp|220}}
His biographer [[Dilipkumar Roy|Dilip Kumar Roy]] wrote that Krishnaprem "had given a filip [stimulus] to my spiritual aspiration".<ref>quoted in Haberman, p. 221.</ref>

Haberman wrote that Krishna Prem "was recognized as a Hindu saint by many Indians of his day."<ref name=haberman93/>{{rp|217}} When Nixon died in 1965, he was hailed by [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]], then president of India, as a "great soul".<ref name=haberman93>{{cite journal |last=Haberman |first=David L. |title=A cross‐cultural adventure: The transformation of Ronald Nixon |journal=Religion |date=1 July 1993 |volume=23|issue=3|pages=217–227|doi=10.1006/reli.1993.1020 |publisher=Routledge |issn=0048-721X}}</ref>{{rp|221}} Nixon's final words were "my ship is sailing".<ref name=haberman93/>{{rp|221}}

==Works==
{{Refbegin|2}}
*{{cite book |last=Krishna Prem |author2=Madhava Ashish |author3=Karan Singh |title=Letters from Mirtola |year=2004 |publisher=[[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]] |location=Mumbai, India |isbn=9788172763565 |oclc=223080940}} (194 pages) (original edition 1938)
*{{cite book |title=The yoga of the Bhagavat Gita |last=Krishna Prem |first=Sri |year=1988
|location=Shaftesbury, UK |publisher=Element |isbn= 9781852300234 |oclc=59891805 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.171976}} {{ISBN|185230023X}} (224 pages)
*{{cite book
|title=Initiation into yoga: An introduction to the spiritual life |last=Krishna Prem |first=Sri |year= 1976
|location=London |publisher=Rider |isbn= 9780091256319 |oclc=2440284}} {{ISBN|0091256313}} (128 pages)
*{{cite book
|title=Man, the measure of all things, in the stanzas of Dzyan
|last=Krishna Prem |first=Sri |author2=Ashish Madhava |year=1969
|location=London |publisher=Rider |isbn=9780090978700 |oclc=119543}} {{ISBN|0090978706}} (360 pages)
*{{cite book |title=The yoga of the Kathopanishad |last=Krishna Prem |first=Sri |year=1955
|location=London |publisher=John M. Watkins |oclc=14413144 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023202264}} (264 pages)
*{{cite book |title=The search for truth |last=Krishna Prem |first=Swami |year=1938
|location=Calcutta, India |publisher=Book Land |oclc=35694199 |url=https://archive.org/details/searchfortruthsrikrishnaprem_202003_865_L}} (138 pages)
*{{cite book |last=Kaul |first=Narendra Nātha |title=Writings of Sri Krishna Prem: an introduction |year=1980 |publisher=[[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]] |location=Bombay, India |oclc=7730748}} (111 pages)
{{Refend}}

==Biographical sources==
{{Refbegin|2}}
*{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Dilip Kumar |author-link=Dilipkumar Roy |title=Yogi Sri Krishnaprem |year=1992 |publisher=[[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]] |location=Bombay, India |oclc=421016835|edition=3rd, revised}} (312 pages) (original edition, 1968)
*"The Case of Sri Krishna Prem" in {{cite book|last=Brooks |first=Charles R. |title=The Hare Krishnas in India |year=1989 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=9788120809390 |oclc=28169795 |pages=98–101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5tjtDZ438h4C&q=%22Ronald+Nixon%22&pg=PA98}}
*{{cite journal |last=Haberman |first=David L. |title=A cross‐cultural adventure: The transformation of Ronald Nixon |journal=Religion |date=1 July 1993 |volume=23|issue=3|pages=217–227|doi=10.1006/reli.1993.1020 |publisher=Routledge |issn=0048-721X}}
*{{cite journal|last=Joneja|first=G. L.|title=Yogi Sri Krishnaprem|journal=Yoga Magazine |publisher=[[Bihar School of Yoga]]|date=June 1981|url=http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1981/fjune81/kp.shtml}}
*"Krishna Prem, Sri (1898–1965) Western-born Vaishnavite Guru" in {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Constance |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |year=2006 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=9780816075645 |oclc=191044722 |page=246 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&q=%22Ronald+Nixon%22&pg=PA246 |author2=James D. Ryan }}
*"Sri Krishna Prem (Ronald Nixon)" in {{cite book |last=Oldmeadow |first=Harry |author-link=Harry Oldmeadow |title=Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions |year=2004 |publisher=World Wisdom |location=Bloomington, IN, USA |isbn=9780941532570 |oclc=54843891 |pages=70–71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vC1qAj6RbRQC&q=%22Ronald+Nixon%22&pg=PA70}}
*"Sri Krishna Prem / Ronald Nixon" in {{cite book |title=The book of enlightened masters: Western teachers in eastern traditions |last=Rawlinson |first=Andrew |year=1997 |location=Chicago |publisher=Open Court |isbn=0812693108 |oclc=36900790 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bookofenlightene00rawl/page/380 380–384] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofenlightene00rawl/page/380 }}
*"Sri Yashoda Ma 1882–1944" (chapter 20) in {{cite book|last=Chambers|first=John|title=The Secret Life of Genius: How 24 Great Men and Women Were Touched by Spiritual Worlds|year=2009|publisher=Inner Traditions|location=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co |isbn=9781594779268 |pages=226–239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L46Pm0JG1UIC&q=%22Ronald+Nixon%22&pg=PA231}}
{{Refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/2754 Photograph of Krishna Prem (Ronald Nixon)]

{{Modern Hindu writers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishna Prem, Sri}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Cheltenham]]
[[Category:English emigrants to India]]
[[Category:Converts to Hinduism]]
[[Category:Indian spiritual writers]]
[[Category:Hindu spiritual teachers]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu monks]]
[[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:University of Lucknow faculty]]
[[Category:Gaudiya Vaishnavism]]

Krishna Prem - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 09:16, 14 August 2023