Source: Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4776549.html
He's been called a Himalayan master and a bridge between East and West.
To his admirers, Swami Vidyadhishananda Giri is that and more. But don't try to put the swami in a category. That only creates limitations, he gently explains.
For example, he doesn't mind if people refer to him as a Hindu monk, but that doesn't capture his true essence and his lineage, which dates to pre-Hindu times.
He is a Vedic monk, ordained in the Hindu tradition, who spent the first years of the 21st century meditating in the Himalayas. At times during his four years in the mountains, he would spend as many as 18 days at a stretch in uninterrupted meditation, without food or water.
But don't think he is a man with his head in the clouds. He also has a doctorate in biophysics and sees no conflict between science and spirituality.