he Oneness University is so inseparably intertwined with the being of its founders Sri Amma-Bhagavan that it is almost impossible to discuss the history of the Oneness University without understanding the birth and the vision of Sri Amma & Sri Bhagavan. Sri Amma-Bhagavan’s childhood could be considered a very important phase in this Oneness phenomenon, for this is when they formulated their vision & was entirely dedicated to preparation for making this extraordinary phenomenon possible for humanity. While talking about the glorious history of the Oneness University, there are three important milestones to it, namely the birth and childhood of Sri Amma-Bhagavan, the birth of the Oneness Blessing phenomenon and the Consecration of the Oneness Temple. We will now be discussing at length about each of these three important phases.
Sri Amma-Bhagavan’s birth & childhood:
| Sri Bhagavan was born on the 7th March 1949 as the eldest son of Sri Varadarajulu Naidu & Srimati Vaidarbhi Amma in Natham village in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu after several years of intense prayer & austerities by His mother. The auspicious circumstances that preceded Sri Bhagavan’s birth with His mother experiencing a blissful state of communion with her personal God, Sri Krishna and being immersed in His divine presence almost through her entire period of pregnancy heralded the birth of a very divine child to all the family members. Even as an infant, people experienced an aura of deep silence and love around Sri Bhagavan and as He grew up, this became more and more evident. Even as a very young child of two or three, Sri Bhagavan experienced a deep sense of connection and Oneness with everything and even sensed this was not how people around him experienced life. | 
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This was when Sri Bhagavan felt deeply for the immense suffering that is caused by this sense of separation and resolved to find a way to annihilate this illusion in all its forms. His vision to end suffering was not sourced in an intellectual understanding, but more an actual experience of humanity’s suffering and thus, became the singular focus of his existence. It was around this time, when Sri Bhagavan was three years old that a bright golden ball appeared before Him and an esoteric Sanskrit mantra kept resonating within Him all day, even while asleep! This process of chanting the mantra continued incessantly for the next 24 years, day and night, during which Sri Bhagavan felt His divine consciousness concentrated with all His passion for awakening humanity into Oneness moving into the Golden Ball.Such was the nature of the intense penance Sri Bhagavan undertook as preparation for the Oneness phenomenon, which is today transforming the lives of innumerable individuals by the minute! While this intense process made Sri Bhagavan very silent and deeply absorbed in meditation throughout His childhood, it also manifested as extreme wisdom, compassion and powerful teachings that have the potential to liberate the seeker. His extreme passion to end human suffering enabled Him to look deeper & deeper into the reality of all human existence, only to see how helplessly humanity is driven by the mind and its fears and how all of this is ultimately neurobiological in nature. With every passing day, Sri Bhagavan only perceived with greater clarity that humanity cannot make it to total liberation on its own, it has to result only from a benediction.
| Sri Amma was born on the 15th August 1954 as the daughter of Sri Venkaiah Naidu and Srimati Penchalamma in Sangam village in the adjacent South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. While Sri Bhagavan’s childhood was spent in preparation for the Oneness Phenomenon, Sri Amma’s childhood could be most ideally described as ‘waiting for Sri Bhagavan’ or as a preparation to support Sri Bhagavan in every step that He would take towards ushering in a Global Oneness Age. As a child, Sri Amma radiated deep unconditional love and joy to everyone that related to her and was the darling of the entire village. Even today, fellow villagers speak of the extreme sense of purity that surrounded Her person, completely untainted by fear, emotional expectations or any hidden motives. | 
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While extreme love and a virtually contagious sense of joy and laughter characterized the person of Sri Amma, She was also renowned for Her extreme austerities & being deeply absorbed in meditation for several hours in a day from as early as 3.00 am! Many perceived Sri Amma as an embodiment of the divine mother as they often experienced miraculous solutions to their problems upon sharing them with Her and some even had visions of Her appearing in their dreams or during prayer. Though Sri Amma & Sri Bhagavan physically met each other only much later, Sri Amma always strongly felt and even spoke with conviction whenever she was asked by Her elders that She would marry none less than God Himself! During all Her intense penance in childhood, Sri Amma constantly experienced a sense of generating immense spiritual power only to support Her long-awaited Lord, Friend and Beloved Sri Bhagavan in His massive task of awakening humanity into Oneness. Sri Amma & Sri Bhagavan could be best described as two inseparable expressions of the same divine consciousness, each supporting and complementing the other in the fulfillment of this vision of Oneness.
In accordance with their divine purpose, Sri Amma & Sri Bhagavan were united in the sacred wedlock on June 9th 1976 and the birth of their son Sri Krishnaji in 1977 could be considered the culmination of the first phase of this phenomenon. The immense significance of Sri Krishnaji’s birth and its indispensable role in the vision of Sri Amma-Bhagavan could be comprehended only as we go along to understand the genesis of the Oneness Blessing phenomenon.
| The Oneness Blessing Phenomenon: The history of the Oneness Blessing phenomenon goes back to 1984, when Sri Amma-Bhagavan, started a school in South India. The school was called ‘Jeevashram’ (meaning ‘where life is lived without stress’ in Sanskrit). It was a boarding school for children from the first to the tenth grade. At the most there were 180 students living in the school. Every day there were also about 200 children from village around, who were allowed to study for free since they could not pay for their education. Children from all religious backgrounds, Muslims, Hindus, Christians etc were welcome. The school had no particular religious or spiritual motives except that the founders of the school, Sri Amma-Bhagavan, carried a grand vision that sprung from an awareness of the true nature of man. | 
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They envisioned a world wherein conflicts and suffering no longer existed, where every individual was naturally a global citizen, concerned with the rest of life & lived in peace, happiness and harmony. This noble vision constituted the founding principle of the Jeevashram School wherein children were brought up in an atmosphere of love and joy & where inner fulfillment and happiness were placed ahead of material achievements and success.
The school also focused on helping each child discover what he or she had a passion for, with special emphasis on how they could relate to life and to each other. Spirituality was not a subject in this school, but Sri Bhagavan put up large boards across the campus that brought forth His profound vision of ‘liberation for all’ through some of His teachings like:
Your thoughts are not your thoughts
Your mind is not your mind
Your Body is not your body
Your self is only a concept
While the profundity of all these teachings and the connections it bore with the grand vision of their beloved ‘Director Sir’ and ‘Madam’ (as Sri Bhagavan & Sri Amma were referred to then) held not much relevance for the children, they felt incredibly loved, seen and completely accepted by Sri Amma-Bhagavan and never missed the slightest opportunity to be in their physical presence whenever possible. Sri Amma-Bhagavan’s selfless compassion and care made them conscious of even the slightest signs of comparison sparking within the children and they took immediate steps to help the child overcome such emotional hurdles & feel accepted. The school was one that valued every single child’s life as opposed to its own academic ambitions. Children were encouraged to participate in sessions called ‘Samalochana’ (meaning ‘thinking together’ in Sanskrit) and contribute their ideas and suggestions to run the school as well as to solve problems that might have come up. Spirituality was not seen as meditation or prayer, but more as the art of relating to another without any sense of hurt, guilt or deceptive images. In this complete absence of fear and comparison, an immense flowering of intelligence had occurred in the children and the school made news for being the only school in the entire province that had no failures in the state-level examinations that were held in the 10th grade. Many of the Jeevashram students today pursue highly successful careers and also live fulfilled lives for this was the holistic education that was offered to them. Although the vision behind founding of the school was obviously much greater than merely imparting education, Sri Amma-Bhagavan patiently waited for it to be naturally revealed.
The year 1989 heralded the beginning of a very great spiritual phenomenon amidst the humble settings of this school, the phenomenon of the Oneness Blessing or the Oneness Deeksha. The epicenter of this wonderful phenomenon was in Sri Krishnaji, Sri Amma-Bhagavan’s son, who also studied in the same school. On the evening of the 19th July 1989, Sri Krishnaji suddenly came running to Sri Amma-Bhagavan describing a wondrous experience of being absorbed in a deep communion with a luminous golden being in his heart. As he communed with this divine being who named himself ‘Prajapathi’ (meaning ‘Lord of all sentient beings’ in Sanskrit), he had amazing mystical experiences and astral journeys & he described how incredibly peaceful it felt to have these experiences. Sri Bhagavan knew this was the phenomenon He had been preparing for all His childhood & asked Krishnaji if he could transfer the same to the other students who had gathered that evening. Krishnaji, who was only 12 years old then, almost spontaneously agreed and started laying his hands on their heads, even though he had never been formally trained into any particular spiritual modality of transferring states of consciousness through touch. As he touched them, the students experienced a bright Golden ball rolling out of Krishnaji’s third eye chakra and descending into all their chakras, transporting them into very deep states of consciousness like cosmic consciousness, a direct experience of their personal God, love, bliss, etc. In the days to come, these profound states deepened virtually replicating heaven within the school premises, with children speaking profound words of wisdom and performing amazing healing miracles like the sages and saints of yore. The spiritual aura in and around the school premises was so intense that even passers-by used to experience a very ‘dense’ silence even as they neared the school walls and some used to even get physically dysfunctional, with their body movements slowing down and sensory experiences being heightened under the impact of the immense divine grace that poured out of the school premises. In almost all these experiences, the students experienced the descent of this bright golden ball and aptly named it as the ‘Golden Ball of Divine grace’. Further, as they communed with this Golden Ball in their hearts, it revealed to them that it was issuing forth from the consciousness of Sri Amma-Bhagavan and even chanted back the same mantra that Sri Bhagavan had chanted in His childhood. Thus, through a direct experience, the children discovered this was indeed the very same Golden Ball that had appeared to Sri Bhagavan when He was just 3 years old and into which He had impregnated His divine consciousness.
The children also had amazing mystical journeys in space and in time and some even started visiting their families astrally. They would even report to their parents over phone or in person as to what was happening at home the other day when they had ‘visited’ and the parents were left dumbfounded! There was a very deep transformation that had occurred in their consciousness and many of the parents were deeply fascinated and yearned for the same kind of experiences. To this effect, the first spiritual course for the parents of the children was held in April 1990.There were however a few parents that were displeased with this spiritual phenomenon in the school and expressed that they had not sent their children to become saints and sages, but successful doctors, computer professionals, engineers etc. By then, Sri Amma Bhagavan too began to feel that this phenomenon if left to work uncontrolled on people without sufficient preparation, would not result in the smooth transition and the collective awakening they envisioned. Hence, they withdrew the phenomenon only to release it in a more controlled fashion whereby people would be ready enough to experience such a massive descent of divine grace. It is this intent of theirs that constitutes the basis of the Oneness programs, wherein people are prepared through a series of spiritual practices and teachings to receive the immensely beneficial effects of the Oneness Blessing phenomenon.
However, the transforming effects of the Oneness Blessing phenomenon left an indelible effect on a few children that went on to dedicate their lives to the fulfillment of the vision of their beloved Sri Amma-Bhagavan. Four of these students became the foremost disciples of Sri Amma Bhagavan. They are Sri Krishnaji, Sri Anandagiriji, Sri Samadarshiniji and Sri Vimalakeerthiji. Around this time Sri Preethaji, the niece of Sri Bhagavan, who later married Sri Krishnaji, also became a direct disciple taking lessons from Sri Amma Bhagavan.
The school had now fulfilled its purpose. Sri Amma-Bhagavan realized that it was time they really started the work they had been preparing for all their life, namely to help humanity awaken into Oneness. In the year 1994 the last of the students graduated from the original, academic form of the school. The school was now renamed ‘Satyaloka’ (the abode of truth) and became the first spiritual centre of the Oneness Movement and offered courses to raise the levels of human consciousness. The numbers of thirsting seekers that thronged the school campus soon outgrew its capacity and subsequently two other spiritual centres were established in Somangalam and in Nemam. While the spiritual centre in Somangalam actively functioned for a very short period of time, Nemam continues to be one that is thronged by large numbers of Indian followers every day. The programs offered at Nemam cater more to the Indian masses and take the route of awakening people to divine grace through ancient Vedic rituals.
The three senior disciples toured the length and breadth of India conducting spiritual retreats and prayer meetings across many cities of India. In 1995, a tiny band of young men and women offered to dedicate their services to Sri Amma Bhagavan’s vision of Oneness and joined hands with the senior disciples to take the Oneness phenomenon to new heights. These are the Oneness Guides that facilitate a variety of Oneness programmes in India and the world-over.
While a few followers from other parts of the world had visited India earlier to participate in Oneness retreats, the first official inauguration of the Oneness Movement outside India happened in 1996 with Sri Anandagiriji’s visit to South America & North America. In the years that flowed by, Oneness flourished across other continents and countries, with ever more people being drawn to Sri Amma-Bhagavan’s vision of Oneness. Today, Oneness has reached out to more than 300 million people from across the world, with more than 25,000 active Oneness Blessing Givers in India and abroad that work tirelessly to bring this phenomenon of Oneness to fellow human beings. After Sri Amma-Bhagavan had chosen to withdraw the Oneness Blessing phenomenon in 1989, it remained a highly esoteric phenomenon for almost 14 years until August 17th 2003, when Sri Amma-Bhagavan once again opened the floodgates of this divine phenomenon for the whole world. In a very massive public gathering at Nemam, in the divine physical presence of Sri Amma-Bhagavan, more than a 100,000 people received the Oneness Blessings or Oneness Deeksha and experienced amazing transformation & varied states of consciousness.
Ever since, the Oneness Blessings or Oneness Deekshas have become the most important element of the Oneness programs and Sri Amma-Bhagavan’s divine intent or ‘sankalpa’ has made it possible for thousands to be initiated as Oneness Blessing Givers worldwide. Upon being formally initiated a Blessing giver, one’s consciousness is attuned to Sri Amma-Bhagavan’s divine consciousness, thereby facilitating the descent of the Golden Ball of Divine Grace into every person that receives the Oneness Blessing from them. The Oneness Blessing is a major leap in humanity’s spiritual journey, for it directly affects the neurobiology of the brain and results in a direct experience of the higher consciousness. Since the phenomenon is primarily experiential in nature, it never narrows down to embracing a particular belief system or tradition. Hence, people of practically every national, cultural or religious disposition feel an immediate sense of comfort since the Oneness Blessing only awakens them to their own truths or the higher self. Even business entrepreneurs and scientists are fascinated with this phenomenon that transcends belief and lands you straight in an experience of reality whatever that may be for you. The Oneness Blessing is very popular among highly academic circles for its immensely empirical and dogma-free nature.
With growing numbers of overseas as well as Indian following, the need arose to set up a bigger facility to accommodate them & run courses in many different languages. Thus in the year 2000, the Oneness Headquarters was formally established and the Oneness University founded in the South Eastern part of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh state in South India. The Oneness Facility is scattered over several 1000’s of acres from the Eastern Ghats until the famed Pulicat salt-water lake. In all, there are 7 Oneness campuses wherein spiritual programs are conducted for the Indian and Non-Indian participants. The most wonderful among them is the one that houses the marvelous Oneness Temple.
