Sohan Qadri, the artist, poet and vajrayan Tantric teacher has travelled the world -- from a village in India, to the mountains of Tibet, to the jungles of Africa, across Europe and America as a seeker. His is a modern and post-modern history that sweeps across continents and thus he said, "I did not confine myself to one place, nation or community." His approach to life and art has been universal. Qadri's origins are in rural India, and as a boy, he was initiated by a Sufi and a vajrayan Tantric guru; this led to his lifelong practice of meditation and study of Buddhist philosophy, both of which inform his work. Hence the Nobel laureate Heinrich B611 has said, "Sohan Qadri with his painting liberates the word meditation from its fashionable taste and brings it back to its proper origin, uninfluenced by Western propaganda, misunderstandings and corruption." Qadri found his first powerful patron in Dr Mulk Raj Anand in 1961. In the course of his career, he interacted with an astonishing array of cultural figures including the surrealist artist Rene Magritte and Heinrich Boll who became an important patron.
Despite the fact that he lives in Denmark, an overriding sense of Eastern ethos pervades his art. F N Souza, the leader of the Progressive Group of artists of Bombay has said, "Qadri is characterised as a learned man and as a rare and original painter. You may look at his paintings as symbolic representations of the 'serpent power' (Kundalini) -- or as a mere form and colour to enjoy as pure art." Thus he creates a total visual experience in an environment that is in essence formless, its essential nature infinite.