|
Dr.
Shelley Brown began her study of Vedanta philosophy at
the age of sixteen with
Swami Nikhilananda, the
founder of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center in New
York City and the famed translator of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.
With his encouragement, she left the world of classical
ballet to attend Barnard College, where she majored in
English literature while completing her premedical
courses.
Dr. Brown received her medical degree in
1963, and opened her clinical
practice as a
consultant Hematologist and Oncologist after seven years
of
postdoctoral training. She became a senior
attending physician and the
Director of the Blood
Bank at Lenox Hill Hospital, with a teaching
professorship at the New York University School of
Medicine. She published
widely, lectured
internationally, and was asked to speak on philosophical
as
well as medical subjects during her annual visits
to India after 1984.
The author's study of
Vedanta philosophy came full circle in 1987 when
she
became engaged in a spiritual dialogue with Swami
Nitya-swarup-ananda
that went on unabated until the
day he died. Their friendship galvanized her
contemplative life, led to her early retirement, and
inspired her to write Centred in
Truth, her two-volume chronicle of the
Swami's life and work.
Dr. Brown is also the
editor and publisher of A Heart
Poured Out by Sister Gargi (Marie Louise
Burke), and A
Disciple's Journal, Sister Gargi's
forthcoming book.
|
