Yogacharya J. Oliver Black (1893-1989)
Mr. J. Oliver Black, a follower of the path of Self-Realization Fellowship and a beloved disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda for over fifty years, passed away September 16. His lifetime dedication to the practice of yoga was well evidenced in the vitality and joy he displayed to the end of his life, at ninety-six years of age.
At the instigation of Paramahansaji, Mr. Black helped to establish the first Self-Realization Center in Detroit. Faithfully serving as its leader and meditation counselor for four decades, he earned a lasting place in the hearts of the many whom he inspired and drew to the path. In August 1951, in recognition of his dedication, Paramahansaji bestowed on Mr. Black, along with a few other SRF teachers, the title of Yogacharya (teacher of Yoga).
Yogacharya Oliver was a well-known figure in Detroit. He was a creative and highly successful industrialist. Besides running a prosperous automobile parts company, Mr. Black was a seeker. He studied and taught a small philosophy class: “We were trying to find an answer to man’s existence.” Mr. Black was introduced to the SRF teachings by Sri R. K. Das, a philosophy professor who joined for a few years the roster of early Self-Realization teachers; he was a faithful lifetime follower of Paramhansaji. Mr. Black’s first contact with Paramhansaji was in the early 1930s during one of the Guru’s lecture tours. In December 1939, he took up the study of the Self-Realization Lessons. Paramhansaji learned about Mr. Black’s continuing interest in the path from Sri Das and other SRF Detroit members. When the Guru visited Detroit on a lecture tour in October 1941, he met with Mr. Black, and thereafter encouraged him to serve the SRF cause.
In an interview published by the Detroit Free Press in 1966, Yogacharya recalled his first meeting with Paramhansaji: “I instantly recognized him for the spiritual giant he was. Like many Americans, I had been searching for truth, because I knew it was there. Yogananda taught me where to find it. You might say he handed me a blueprint, and I’ve been following it ever since …. I knew that I had been fortunate to meet one of the few saints and sages of our century. I have never had anything afford me greater joy than my work in yoga. You can’t love life unless you give. Everybody’s joy is my joy – and that is the most delicious drink you can imagine.”
Yogacharya’s joy was one of the qualities that most endeared him to all whom he met. It came from an inner abundance of joy that overflowed in heartwarming love and laughter.
Yogacharya was ever an enthusiastic doer and builder. In the later years he established a corporation through which he devoted much time to the development of one of his long-cherished projects: the formation of a multifaceted retreat on a large woodsy acreage in Vanderbilt, Michigan, which he named Song of the Morning Yoga Retreat Center.