Vishvajita Brett Baker (1/28/1953-12/27/2022)

It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear brother, Vishvajita, unexpectedly left the physical realm. First and foremost, he was devoted to his family. He initially connected with Vishala in Jamaica in 1979 during Baba’s visit there. Their connection grew through leading child care together at retreats and soon after dating, they were married. For many years, they continued to organize and lead childcare for retreats in the Boston Region. Within the marriage, there was a shared love and security that he had longed for and his children expanded his sense of love. His love and devotion to them never waned and he continued to be strongly bonded with them into their adult lives.

Vishvajita was the oldest of three brothers, growing up in Long Island, NY. After high school, he briefly attended architecture school at Georgia Tech, but left relatively soon having decided he did not like the profession. He returned home to find his best friend deeply involved with Ananda Marga meditation and related local projects. Vishvajita quickly became absorbed in that meditation and those activities, beginning in 1973. He was a cherished participant. In 1980, he moved to New Haven to help open a group home with other Margiis and worked at Edge of the Woods.

After Edge of the Woods, he started working at his girls’ co-op daycare, Abiyoyo. When the girls got older, he decided to get his Master’s in Library Science. On graduation, he began working as an elementary multimedia specialist, engaging the school children in many different library-based child-centered programs and developed the whole computer/technology program at the school. He loved sharing the world with the children through books. He continued in that role until his retirement in 2018.

Vishvajita was a devoted sadhaka throughout his life. He was especially inspired by the Ananda Viplava Master Unit in Cairo, New York, and served on the Board of Master Unit Retreats, Inc. (part of the master unit) for 7 years. He also loved museums, art and theater, as well as being out in nature. One additional long-term love was the music of the Grateful Dead into which he could easily immerse himself.

His emotions were complex, arising from great sensitivity and depth of feeling, and including a sharp sense of humor which in his later years manifested as an endearing grumpiness. His tenderness and caring were most strongly expressed within his family and to children, but were also directed toward animals and those who were ailing. With Vishala, he readily welcomed into their home for many months an Ananda Marga monk, Ac. Pranakrsnananda Avt., who had a prolonged terminal illness.

It is with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to this dear soul as he rests in Baba’s lap.

There will be a Shraddha ceremony online on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time) on January 5th. The Zoom details will be announced soon.

Donations may be made in Vishvajita’s memory for a future nature playground at Ananda Viplava. To do so, there are two options:
1. Send a payment through PayPal to: masterunitretreats@gmail.com and indicate it is for “nature playground.”
2. Send a check made out to “MURI” with “nature playground” in the memo field to: Prakash Laufer, MURI Treasurer, 1005 Burts Pit Road, Florence, MA 01062

If you would like to share something about Vishvajita’s life, you may do so here.