American Swami Beyondananda, AKA Steve Bhaerman, is serious about laughter. Describing himself as an author, humorist and educator, his mission is to help us improve our lives through laughter. As befits a healer of this caliber, he dispenses “laughatives” containing practical and wise advice that gently invites us to lighten our load.
Here is a small sample:
“I have been to the heights of levity, and I have seen people all over the world dancing together in the universal dance of fool realization … The Hokey Pokey. I want you to hold this vision with me: all of the world leaders at the United Nations beginning their sessions with the Hokey Pokey. What if Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat put their whole selves in? That would be commitment. And then pulled their whole selves out. That is detachment. Then they turn themselves around, which is transformation. And that, my friends, is what it is all about!”
Endorsed by such experts in the mind-body connection as Dr. Larry Dossey and Dr. Bernard Siegel, Swami Beyondananda, has led workshops for educational, spiritual, psychological and business groups such the Association of Humanistic Psychology and the International Conference on Science and Consciousness. In addition to being on the lecture circuit, Steve has produced books, CDs, and tapes that express his views of the world with refreshingly humorous perspective.
A serious and quiet man, Bhaerman once taught in high school and even began his own alternative educational institute, writing a book about the experience. The teacher blossomed into a free-lance writer. A long-time student of humor and its psychological and cultural implications, he began to combine his passion for writing, education and humor. Under Swami Beyondanda’s byline, he produced a humorous New Age advice column, a column which proved popular with New Agers and Golden Agers alike. For the past sixteen years, he has used his perceptiveness, facility with words, and his wit to put into practice his belief in the healing force of laughter. Through his work he teaches us ways to attain inner peace and shares his thoughts on achieving global peace as well.
His articles on political affairs and on the peace process convey wisdom through wit. In a recent political campaign, he urges his U.S. audience to join his World Win Campaign to Elect Ourselves and Choose a New Precedent. It may not be a surprise that he supports his astro-twin, Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic candidate for president.
His books bear such titles as: “Driving Your Own Karma: Swami Beyondananda Tour Guide to Enlightenment” and “Duck Soup for the Soul: The Way of Living Louder and Laughing Longer.” In the words of this inimitable sage: “May you wake up laughing and leave laughter in your wake … and may the Farce be with you!”
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