Oral Tradition and the Naga Baba
Ram Puri

Who would not be enchanted by yogi-shamans, naked in ashes, dreadlocks woven with marigolds piled on their heads like crowns, giving bless-ings to wide-eyed pilgrims, seekers, and the poor, shouting out mantras and spells that charm or curse peoples’ lives?

What lies beneath the ashes?

I will be the first to admit to you that when I was initiated into the oral tradition of the Naga Sannyasis in 1970, I imagined this tradition to be a contained philosophy and practice, something finite, like a package, or a book. I had to climb this mountain, and what I wanted was there, on top–a pot of knowledge. I did climb, but when I arrived in that place I had imagined to be the top, I discovered that I had made only the first small preparatory climb up the rambling foothills of a great mountain range, the true peaks of which remained shrouded in mist. Suddenly, its glorious majesty would reveal itself for a moment–and then again be obscured.

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