Mark Griffin was an American spiritual teacher in the lineage of Swami Muktananda as well as a practicing artist and musician. Born on August 28th, 1954 in the Pacific Northwest, Mark would go on to attend the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (1976-1979) and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

In 1976, he met his Guru, Swami Muktananda, the disciple of Bhagawan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri. After seven years of full-time immersion in the study of meditation, mostly at Muktananda’s Oakland Ashram in California, Mark encountered a milestone of extreme spiritual significance – entrance into the advanced state of consciousness known as nirvikalpa samadhi. Very shortly thereafter, Muktananda died, and Mark spent the following six years studying meditation with Kalu Rinpoche.

In 1989, after attracting several interested students, Mark began to teach meditation. He and his students relocated to Los Angeles and started the Hard Light Center of Awakening, an association dedicated to the art and science of awareness of the Self.

Around 2015, Mark began to encounter accelerating health issues, and he dropped his body on October 24th, 2018. He leaves behind a profound body of work, and the mission of the Hard Light Center continues.

In 1989, Mark Griffin founded the Hard Light School of Awakening in Los Angeles, California. A teacher of extraordinary ability, Mark spoke with incredible power and precision regarding the inner and outer dimensions of spiritual training. The transmission of Shaktipat awakening, or Kundalini energy, was at the heart of Mark’s connection with his students.

Though he left his body in October of 2018, Mark’s teachings tools, guidance, and grace still offer limitless opportunities to engage the Inner Teacher and to continue the dialog of discovery and recognition of the Self. In the Hard Light archives, there are hundreds of audio and video recordings of Mark’s Meditation Intensives, weekly meditation programs, retreats, philosophy classes, and pilgrimages to India. These materials form the core of study at the Hard Light Center.