Teaching
John David's interview page sums up his teaching: everything is one, and only ignorance veils one's true nature. He connects this with Ramana Maharshi's question 'Who am I?' and stresses surrender to a living guru. According to the Anandashram newsletter, he was devoted to repeating the name of Rama and taught his disciples from his own booklet on the Ribhu Gita. 1, 3
Who it is for
For readers interested in devotion and surrender to a guru alongside Ramana Maharshi's self-enquiry.
Life and places
- According to John David, he was born in 1930 in Tirumandiram Nagar, a small village in South India, and his father, Sri Vadivel Swami, became his guru. 1
- According to the Anandashram newsletter, he took up a wandering life in 1972; in 1992 he received the Ribhu Gita in Tamil from Sri Ramanasramam, and Annamalai Swami gave him a plot in Tiruvannamalai. 3
- John David describes him living in a small ashram with around a dozen devotees. 1
- He died on 19 January 2016 and was buried at his ashram, Anbin Kudil, in Erode. 3
Works
-
Blueprints for Awakening: Indian Masters, Volume 2
Book · Open Sky Press
Interviews by John David with seven Indian teachers on the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, among them Sri Nannagaru and Thuli Baba.
The short summaries are ours.
In their own words
Short passages in the words of Thiruvadi Thuli Baba, each with its source. Where the quoted text is not in the language of this page, a translation follows and says whose it is.
-
Everything is One. We are that One. You are also that One. There is nothing other than that One.
Quotation at the head of John David's interview page · johndavidsatsang.international Recorded: Quoted by the interviewer John David; whether the words were spoken in English or translated is not stated.
Documented teaching relationships
-
Personal encounter with John David (formerly Premananda)
John David says he met Thuli Baba very often and interviewed him.
Self-reported · johndavidsatsang.international
-
Personal encounter with Swami Satchidananda (Anandashram)
An article in Anandashram's journal The Vision (October 1997, reprinted in March 2016) says that Swami Satchidananda met Thuli Baba at Annamalai Ashram during his last visit to Tiruvannamalai, and describes Thuli Baba's first visit to Anandashram.
Stated by an institution · web.archive.org
Teaching relationships are documented statements. They confer no trust and do not attest realisation.
Sources
- Thuli Baba Interview · John David Satsang Interviewer and publisher who says he met him very often; questions, short biography and a summary of the teaching; admiring accessed 13 Oct 2026
- Blueprints for Awakening, Indian Masters, Volume 2 · Open Sky Press Publisher's page of John David's interview book; lists the interviews in the volume accessed 13 Oct 2026
- The Vision, vol. 83 no. 6, March 2016 · Anandashram, Kanhangad (archived copy) Monthly journal of Anandashram, an ashram he was close to; note on his death and a reprinted article of 1997; devotional accessed 13 Oct 2026
Compiled by us from the sources listed. Last checked 13 Oct 2026.
This description is factual. It contains no recommendation, ranking or assurance. Statements about effects are those of the respective source.