Master Teacher David Bruce Hughes

Known in India as His Holiness Gaurahari Dasanudas Babaji, Master Teacher David Bruce Hughes is one of the world's premiere presenters of the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas, the world's most ancient continuous living spiritual culture. An initiated disciple of Ayurvedic pharmacist Abhay Charan De, famous all over the world as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Babaji is a fully self-realized soul and fully qualified guru in the disciplic lineage from Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Great Master of salvation through chanting the Holy Name of the Lord.

Babaji's conservatory education in musical performance and composition served him well in his years of spiritual training and sadhana under the direction of his Master, for he was able to accurately duplicate and practice the intricate Sanskrit mantras and other transcendental sound vibrations of the Vedas. His background in physics and mathematical logic helped him to comprehend the deep ontological structure and non-Aristotelian logic of Vedic philosophy. And he was able to realize rasa-tattva, the esoteric essence of devotional service, through his dedication to, and confidential instructions from, his spiritual master Srila Prabhupada.

Babaji first developed an interest in Vedic Astrology (Jyotish) in the 1980s, studying and working with Nalini Kanta and other well-known astrologers. He inherited a love of pure herbal remedies from his Spiritual Master, whose Ayurvedic formulations were well-known and widely used in India. Ayurveda and Vedic Astrology go well together, as Jyotish is one of the principal diagnostic tools in authentic Ayurveda. He also studied Ayurvedic diet, and medicinal spices and herbs, with Srila Prabhupada's sister Pishima.

Babaji was invited to Mexico in 2006 by his principal disciple Uddhava das. He first made his headquarters in the bustling metropolis of Mexico City, but soon desired to find a suitable rural place for his spiritual teaching and Ayurvedic consultations. After comprehensive research into ecologically pure locations in Mexico, he visited Catemaco and set up a camp on its shores. The people of Las Margaritas, recognizing Babaji as a qualified spiritual teacher, soon adopted him as one of their own, and Babaji established Catemaco Ayurvedic Institute in a rented house there.