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It is difficult to speak of Raphael, nor is it possible to define him, one could say of him that he is a metaphysician, an advaitin, a Platonist, etc. But they would be definitions that arise exclusively because he dealt with these issues in his books, published by the publisher who has published his works, in Italy, since ever: the Asram Vidya Editions .

Any label could be appropriate, but equally none. For this reason in these pages we will call him Master, with humility and certainly not to affirm our being disciples and therefore almost to seize the metaphysical light of which he shines.

We cannot fail to call him Master because it is thanks to his work and that of those who work with him that today in Italy, if not in the West, the Philosophy of Being or Realization Philosophy, especially its Indian branch, the one known as Advaita Vedanta, it's known. Raphael translated and commented on the most important works of the Advaita philosophy, works by Gaudapada, Shankara, without forgetting those traditional branches that in the West or in the Middle East have resonated with the same note. By offering our homage to this Master, we actually offer it to all those who over time and in silence have embodied the traditional teaching. We thank them through him, because his books have made them closer, understandable, intimate. And always through him, giving him homage, we offer it to all those Masters, who are not known to us, but known only to their disciples, because a Master is such when, through his teaching, others discover their Pure Reality identical to the Absolute Reality .

The personal data of him are not known, nor is he more reachable by the public since he retired in silence, letting his books speak for him.

Those who knew him when he still held meetings open to the public describe him as a fascinating, humble, available personality, totally immersed in tradition and operating only in order to preserve and keep it alive.

For this reason it is not possible to define his teaching, he does not have his own teaching, we can consider him a transmitter of the Tradition and this does not belong, nor could it, to anyone. In his works he treats and exposes the various traditional branches supporting them all as if he belonged to them, but despite the great mastery he shows, it is clear that he does not belong to any of these. It is as if it were beyond all branches, devoid of that selfishness which alone could allow it to recognize itself in one or more of these. And this should be said of every non-dual accomplished, therefore ours is not the affirmation of a punctual uniqueness, but the affirmation of a total Unity between the Being of each Master and the Absolute Reality.

Likewise his disciples, his collaborators, keep a low profile and are not known to the public, and while continuing and helping the work of the Maestro they work anonymously, using in the case of books the pseudonym of "Kevala Group".

One cannot fail to admire the work of this Master who, in an era where appearing seems to be the main purpose of life, has managed to teach his students how form is more important than appearance and how substance is more important of form.

We report a passage taken from a periodical where Raphael is given a description, a description that would fit not only to Him, but to any Realized one.

«Raphael is the one who, as Plotinus says, is" ashamed of being in a body ", having always had a propensity for a state of pure essence of being.

This implies that, from a young age, his condition was revealed as a metaphysical state beyond any formal or phenomenal appearance.

This also implies that with regard to simple individuality, as the "shadow" of "what one is", there is no need to spend any words; it would be equivalent to wanting to know more about the dress that the person wears rather than the true identity of the person himself.

That "what is" (and that you are also all of you who read) has no history, has no memory, has no experience: therefore it has neither past nor future.

The "shadow", or appearance, has no ontological reality or logical validity because it is the effect of avidya (non-knowledge). What is the meaning of talking about something that appears and disappears on the horizon of pure Awareness and which is the cause of oblivion of "what is"?

So, this name Raphael, if for you it is a source of stimulus to understand the Essence that you are yourself at certain levels, then it has fulfilled its purpose; if, on the other hand, your intent is to want to satisfy a simple curiosity of a formal, objective and individual order, it is shown that any kind of curiosity, due to its particular nature, however extensive and particularized, cannot bring any benefit or progress. "

From the website www.vedanta.it