“Reflections on My Journey in Indian Spirituality” is the title of a talk to be given to the Emerald Coast Meditation Society on Jan. 2. Speaker will be Al Drucker, who spent more than 40 years studying under and working with Sai Baba in India.
The meeting will start with a silent 30-minute meditation at 6:30 p.m. at Christ the King Episcopal Church, 480 N. Co. Hwy. 393, Santa Rosa Beach, one-half mile north of Hwy. 98. The ECMS is ecumenical and does not follow any religion. There is no charge.
Drucker, who as a boy fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, came to America before the War. Immediately after high school he joined the U.S. armed forces and saw active duty in Korea and China. Under the GI Bill he did his undergraduate and graduate work in electrical engineering and physics.
After becoming a specialist on intercontinental ballistic missile systems, he became part of a team that technically managed all the U.S. nuclear missile programs (Thor, Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, etc.). He also served on various committees with NASA, the FAA and the National Academy of Sciences.
While in Washington, he became active in the early days of the Civil Rights movement, which led him to rethink his societal aspirations and shift his focus to more humanitarian pursuits. After lengthy study, he became an acupuncturist, homeopath, herbalist, gestalt therapist and rolfer.
He joined the staff of Esalen, a humanistic growth center in California, where he conducted a clinic utilizing natural healing modalities and taught a comprehensive course for health professionals on alternative systems of healing.
His life was saved in a mysterious way while flying a small plane in a massive storm. This experience led him to India. There a great spiritual leader, Sai Baba, spoke to him and, without prompting, related all the details of saving his life and told Al it was he who had called him to India.
Subsequently, Drucker made more than 30 trips to Sai Baba and finally stayed for nine years immersed in spiritual studies, while at the same time teaching classes on astrophysics and aerospace subjects at a nearby university. At the ashram he also gave talks on spiritual topics to hundreds of overseas visitors, and published a number of books. Back in the U.S. he co-founded Atma Institute, a nonprofit school based on spiritual principles. Now retired, he lives with his wife, Yaani, in a log cabin in the woods on the Wisconsin river. They winter in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.
The evening will conclude with a short guided meditation. The ECMS meets on the first and third Thursday of every month except July and August. Anyone who needs meditation instruction should arrive by 6:15 p.m. Contact nancyjames@embarqmail.com for information.
The meeting will start with a silent 30-minute meditation at 6:30 p.m. at Christ the King Episcopal Church, 480 N. Co. Hwy. 393, Santa Rosa Beach, one-half mile north of Hwy. 98. The ECMS is ecumenical and does not follow any religion. There is no charge.
Drucker, who as a boy fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, came to America before the War. Immediately after high school he joined the U.S. armed forces and saw active duty in Korea and China. Under the GI Bill he did his undergraduate and graduate work in electrical engineering and physics.
After becoming a specialist on intercontinental ballistic missile systems, he became part of a team that technically managed all the U.S. nuclear missile programs (Thor, Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, etc.). He also served on various committees with NASA, the FAA and the National Academy of Sciences.
While in Washington, he became active in the early days of the Civil Rights movement, which led him to rethink his societal aspirations and shift his focus to more humanitarian pursuits. After lengthy study, he became an acupuncturist, homeopath, herbalist, gestalt therapist and rolfer.
He joined the staff of Esalen, a humanistic growth center in California, where he conducted a clinic utilizing natural healing modalities and taught a comprehensive course for health professionals on alternative systems of healing.
His life was saved in a mysterious way while flying a small plane in a massive storm. This experience led him to India. There a great spiritual leader, Sai Baba, spoke to him and, without prompting, related all the details of saving his life and told Al it was he who had called him to India.
Subsequently, Drucker made more than 30 trips to Sai Baba and finally stayed for nine years immersed in spiritual studies, while at the same time teaching classes on astrophysics and aerospace subjects at a nearby university. At the ashram he also gave talks on spiritual topics to hundreds of overseas visitors, and published a number of books. Back in the U.S. he co-founded Atma Institute, a nonprofit school based on spiritual principles. Now retired, he lives with his wife, Yaani, in a log cabin in the woods on the Wisconsin river. They winter in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.
The evening will conclude with a short guided meditation. The ECMS meets on the first and third Thursday of every month except July and August. Anyone who needs meditation instruction should arrive by 6:15 p.m. Contact nancyjames@embarqmail.com for information.