b. 1954 · A portrait
Born in Jamaica, a former London street portrait artist became a teacher of self-inquiry after meeting H.W.L. Poonja in India, and now leads a Portugal retreat that has also faced public abuse allegations.
Born in Jamaica in 1954, he later worked as a street portrait artist in London before traveling to India in the early 1990s in search of a teacher.
In Lucknow he met H.W.L. Poonja, known as Papaji, and said he recognized his own true nature in that teacher's presence. He began teaching his own version of self-inquiry soon after.
He built a retreat community, Monte Sahaja, on land in rural Portugal, where hundreds now live or visit, and reaches a far larger audience through freely distributed videos of his satsang.
Former residents publicly alleged psychological control and misconduct at Monte Sahaja, reported by an independent journalist in 2019. Mooji and his organization denied the allegations and called them coordinated slander. The dispute remains unresolved.