FOUNDATION OF REVELATION

(est. 1970)

In 1968, a young American woman, Charlotte Wal-lace (no b. date), attended the Spiritual Summit Conference in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, and there met an unnamed Indian beggar. Enamored by his knowledge of life, Wallace and some of her friends followed the holy man home to his native village of Gorkhara to stay with his family and learn his teachings. The holy man was born in 1913 into a Brahmin family. As a youth he spent many years studying modern knowledge but deemed this study limited and illusory. On January 14, 1966, the fire of knowledge (AGNI) vanquished all of his previous learning, and in September 1966 cosmos and consciousness became concentrated in him as the destroyer, SHIVA. Foundation devotees believe that the holy man’s experience ushered in the era of Shiva Kalpa, the period of Lord Shiva’s omnipo-tent imagination.

In 1969, the holy man took up residence in San Francisco. One year later, the foundation was established there and centers began to be created around the world. The purpose of the foundation is to break through religious, national, and racial boundaries to create a harmonious relationship of nations. The foundation reveres Shiva as the creator of all things, the destroyer of ignorance, and the force that moves each person to strive for perfection.

The foundation, still headquartered in San Francisco, has over 5,000 members in the United States. In 1997 it claimed 25,000 members worldwide. It has 21 centers in 10 countries, including India, England, France, the Neth-erlands, and Australia. Audio CDs of Sunday meetings and other events are sold through the foundation archives.