"Wit and wisdom, posture and possibilities, drugs and discourse on the hippie trail — the book on the multi-faceted Shri Mahant Swami Ganeshanand Saraswati Giri, aka Ganesh Baba, has enough to keep the serious seeker as well as those just curious, engrossed. Written by Eve Baumohl Neuhaus, one of Baba's many students, this unusually candid book throws light on the life and times of Baba, who "considered himself the true guru of the psychedelic generation." read the rest
The Times of India
"...In a very difficult phase, your book came to me and I want to thank you for making Swami Ganeshanand practically come alive through your work. It acted as a source of inspiration for me and helped reaffirm the many experiences I was undergoing. Again, I thank you for a work that is clearly from the heart."
Advait G.
"I just wanted to tell you how much I have gotten from reading your book on Baba. I am reading it slowly in delightful little bits. Your writing is wonderful! "
Amy in New York
"... a very good read and witty as heck."
Lisa J.
"The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba is a great read: fun, candid and enlightening. It reminds you of many things you might have been taught but had chosen conveniently to forget. The interweaving of the author's voice with Baba's manuscript gives us a rare glimpse into Baba's teaching methods and a very down to earth account of trying to put them into practice. Far out!"
Eric Labelle, Quebec City, Canada
"I just finished your revision of Sadhana, Eve. Congratulations on the great work!"
Fabio on Facebook
"Reading your book brings a sense of calm and inner peace . . . Baba was an amazing individual indeed!"
Johanna Rubba, San Luis Obispo, CA
"I have been reading and enjoying your excellent book, The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba. It's a delight to have GB in my life again - the book is very well written and organized, fun to read and to recall the remarkable teacher who came into our lives in the 1980s, making an everlasting soul impression. Thank you for writing the book. I know that Baba is well pleased.
In the Spirit of Ganesh Baba, the Wild Man who brought Light to Central New York ~~~~"
John Milich, freelance journalist, editor, astrological teacher, spiritual student and world traveler, Ithaca, NY
"Ganesh Baba continues to fill my head and heart with startlingly sensible ideas! Yes, 'sensible.' For all his flamboyance, and despite "spiritual" often being used as a synonym for loosey-goosey, it is the way his ideas hang together in such a sensible way that particularly strikes me. I was expecting something more esoteric (and there are certainly esoteric dimensions!) but this is so down to earth! "
Eric Greening, Atascadero, CA
I finished reading The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba Sunday morning - read it in three easy and pleasant sessions, and loved it. I found your style very honest and unassuming and very informative as to context, traditions, the times, the changes, etc.
Hari Myers, Willits, CA
How does one capture life, especially its complexities, contradictions, layers, re-workings, and lessons in a cohesive manner? Furthermore, how does one capture the teachings of a yogi who is the embodiment of Ganesha, the Hindu god of obstacles and remover of obstacles. Eve Baumohl Neuhaus writes, “Ganesh Baba crashed into our lives like an elephant, knocking down our egos and stomping all over our expectations.” Furthermore, “Baba had a mercurial quality of reflecting back whatever he saw in us and of taking on the character of his surroundings.” His teaching style left the student without a conclusion; rather he conveyed that it was in the process of repetition and reworking that meaning would be found.
Neuhaus is honest with the struggles of her task, but does a good job capturing the essence of Ganesh Baba’s teachings, as well as his unconventional teaching style. Ganesh Baba’s teachings are centered on “Crea” yoga, and he focused on the balance between the physical, biological, psychological, and spiritual aspects of man through cultivation of the four Ps: Posture, Prana, Practice, Presence.
The book is laid out to reflect Ganesh Baba’s scattered, but repetitive teaching style. Pictures, diagrams, drawings, fonts, quotes, and more have been used to give both authenticity to the complexity of his teachings as well as the multidimensional aspects of life itself.
Victoria Holmberg, www.VictoriaHolmberg.com
Your book is so beautiful, so poetic. An Ode to Ganesh would have been have a good name as well. You captured so much. It flowed wonderfully. The whole concept was great. Thanks for putting this together it will serve as a compass for many in the “shifting sands of time”. I’m sure Baba is very proud. I can’t say enough about it. Congratulations……..It really is fantastic!
a reader in Portland, OR
Amazon reader reviews
"San Luis Obispo author Eve Baumohl Neuhaus shares her memories of the wise, wild teacher who changed her life in The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba. From 1979 to 1985, she worked and studied with Shri Mahant Swami Ganeshanand Saraswati --known to his students as Ganesh Baba. In her book, Baumohl Neuhaus blends personal reminisces with excerpts from the Indian spiritual leader's prodigious writings. The core focus is Crea-Yoga, described as 'a shortcut to physical and spiritual integration.'
Merging the tantric practices of traditional Kriya Yoga and Shivaism, Ganesh Baba's teachings start with four steps: proper posture, proper breathing, concentration and
meditation."
San Luis Obispo Tribune, 6/27/10
The San Francisco Examiner
"I have to tell you I am reading your book and enjoying it so much! It is giving me such pleasure - it just makes me happy!"
Lynne Levine, San Luis Obispo, CA
Deniz Tekiner's review
"Eve, I was captivated by your presentation at the Morro Bay Library on Wednesday.......especially the second hour concerning Ganesh Baba and his philosophies. I'm anxious to begin your book......I should say books. However, I think Ganesh Baba will come first. Much of what you spoke of and illustrated on the chalkboard were things I've been 'researching' and thinking about during the past couple of years."
a member of the audience at the Morro Bay Library
"Ganesh Baba was a psychedelic guru, a brilliant educated scientist and the inspiration for R. Crumb's..."Mr. Natural" - and he inspired several generations of beatniks, hippies and free-thinkers. His phrase "once a psychedelic, always a psychedelic" is often quoted. This is the first collection in print of his thoughts, practice and quotations."
Book Beat
"Eve, your book is a masterwork about a Master-Soul... a wonderful surprise to humanity...as was Baba ...as are you! Thank you!"
Gus Jaccaci, author of CE0, Chief Evolutionary Officer: Leaders Mapping the Future.
"Wow, Eve, just finished reading The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba in my garden, a very appropriate setting to read about someone who puts us in touch with the natural world, and you have certainly put us all back in touch with the wonderful ways of Ganesh Baba and his timeless wisdom. Thank you so much !"
David Ryan, London
“True to the wishes of her teacher, Eve Baumohl Neuhaus skillfully offers a glimpse into the life and profound teachings of Ganesh Baba. In so doing, she enriches the spiritual literature of today with the tantric wisdom and wit that transcends culture and healthily disregards political correctness. An entertaining and thought-provoking read.”
Robert Sachs, author of The Passionate Buddha: Wisdom on Intimacy and Enduring Love
“Add this endearing, wise, and well-named ‘Trickster’ to the list of great teachers. His message was clear: mind can only point to the Truth, to find it you have to live it truly and fully for yourself!”
Alice O. Howell, author of The Heavens Declare
“For those unlucky enough to have missed him in the flesh, this text offers the next best thing: a distillation of Ganesh Baba’s most fundamental teachings, his unique and prophetic synthesis of East and West, science and spirituality, madness and method. Through personal narrative Eve portrays the fun and frustrations of learning from a crazy guru whose profound and mischievous ways blew our minds to infinity!”
Roxanne Kamayani Gupta, Ph.D., author of A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance
“In this loving and insightful spiritual memoir, author Eve Baumohl Neuhaus introduces us to her larger-than-life, iconoclastic spiritual teacher and his all-encompassing Cycle of Synthesis. True to his name, Ganesh Baba, he bursts through the barriers of any preconceived Western notions of a guru. She offers a simple yet profound spiritual practice based on his teachings that would delight her teacher and draws together contemporary Western spiritual seekers with the ancient wisdom of the East.”
Heather Mendel, author of Dancing in the Footsteps of Eve and Towards Freedom
"A treasure chest of Ganeshian Wisdom from the original psychedelic guru, himself."
Shri Mahant Baba Rampuri, author of Autobiography of a Sadhu
"I love every page. Though Baba was a master of beautiful prose, Eve pulls it together, adds clarity, and makes sense of his teaching in a concise way much more accessible, I think, to a current reader. What a triumph!"
Deniz Tekiner, Ph.D, author of Modern Art and the Romantic Vision, June 2010
"The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba is very inspiring and touchingly human. Eve has provided a book full of divine wisdom embodied in Ganesh Baba's radiant presence which shines on every page."
Mark Dyzckowski, author of The Doctrine of Vibration, June 2010
"Today there is a growing movement, an extension of the spirit of the 1960s in which the specialist is giving way to the generalist and the generalist is yielding to the holistic individual, an amalgam of various ways of knowing and being that allows the body its due in one's spiritual process. Eve Baumohl Neuhaus's The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba offers an exciting synthesis of this Bengali wise man's practice that encourages unity of body, mind, and spirit. Her creative synthesis of his teachings offers the initiate a superb introduction to another way of pilgrimaging to wholeness."
Dennis Patrick Slattery, Ph.D., author of Grace in the Desert and co-editor of Reimagining Education:Essays on Retrieving the Soul of Learning, June 2010
