Swami John Spiers

Swami John Spiers was born in Scotland on 28 November 1907. 

From very young age he had an inclination to Eastern Philosophy and Pagan life and was deeply influenced by books written on these subjects. 

He read Bhagad Gita at the age of fourteen and came to India at the age of twenty three and roamed about in the hilly places of North India, Nepal and Bhutan meeting unconventional and contemplative people.

He met Nataraja Guru, the direct disciple of Narayana Guru, in 1937 and was inspired and attracted by the Guru’s ideals. 

Even though he was reluctant to serve the army during the 2nd world war, in the post war days he took up rehabilitation work for the refugees in Bangalore and later became the editor of “War News”. 

In 1946 Nataraja Guru welcomed him to the Narayana Gurukula at Ooty and as a result of the intimacy blossomed between them, by 1948 they began to live as Guru and Sishya. 

He was one of the architects in establishing Naryana Gurukula. He edited Narayana Guru’s biography “The Word of the Guru” written by Nataraja Guru and also wrote an introduction for it. He worked in several ways to make the people understand Narayana Guru in the proper perspective. For this he started a monthly magazine called “Values” which was devoted to integrating human understanding unitively, impartially and globally based on the wisdom teachings of Narayana Guru. 

His exceptional writings on spirituality based on the life and works of Narayana Guru created an opportunity for many people from far off places to get interested in the wisdom teachings of Narayana Guru. He had authored a few books namely What India means to me, What Europe means to me, Pagan Europe and his articles are compiled in two volumes namely Guru the unknown and What shall I read.

He passed away on 19 September 1979 at Bangalore.