Tudor Dan Costian, known to all his friends as Dan Costian, was born in Romania on May 7, 1937, to Ion (“John”) Costian (a prominent prosecutor who subsequently changed his career to become a defense attorney) and Maria Teofila Costian (homemaker). He studied at a German school located in Romania where he exhibited leadership qualities since his early childhood.
After 1945 when the communist regime toppled the Romanian monarchy, he created with a couple of like-minded young friends a small anti-communist organization, for which he was detained by the Romanian Secret Police for three weeks despite his young age.
Dan Costian had a scientific mind and inclination since early childhood. Whenever his parents asked him what presents he would like for his birthday or for Christmas, his answer was always the same: “books about science”. He received a PhD in organic chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, became a chemical engineer, and at age 29 he married Antoaneta Costian. A year later a son was born to them (Calin Costian).
Before the birth of their son, the Romanian government awarded him a large sum of money for several industrial inventions, notably in the domain of ion exchange which was his research specialty. After consulting with his wife on how to spend the money, they decided that rather than invest in objects or a bigger house, they would travel the world, which was a passion for both of them. In addition, he later on got to travel to many countries around the world including in Africa and Asia, thanks to his job appointments, particularly as a Senior Technical Advisor for a Romanian consulting company, and as a Technical Director at a French consulting company specializing in agricultural chemical products. Before that he was a university professor at two universities in Bucharest (the Polytechnic Institute and at the Academy of Economic Studies).
He spoke six languages: Romanian, English, French, German, Italian and Russian. He was a passionate lover and collector of fine arts – paintings, sculptures, ancient artifacts, and above all prints (engravings), his collection counting hundreds of items at its zenith. He also made several paintings and drawings himself.
He discovered Sahaja Yoga and received his Self-realization on August 1st, 1990, in Bucharest, on the same evening as his wife and son. He met Shri Mataji during her first visit to Romania in October 1990. In December that year, Shri Mataji invited him and six other Romanian Yogis to the India Tour, where he and another Sahaja Yogi were appointed co-leaders of the Romanian Sahaja collective. A couple of years later Shri Mataji decided to designate him as the sole country leader. As a leader he dealt with many challenges, including the Secret Police which summoned him for questioning regarding Sahaja Yoga on several occasions, and even raided his home in his absence to search for anything they could use against the Sahaja Yoga group. Eventually they relented when they realized, after years of studying the organization, that Sahaja Yoga was a benevolent movement that had only positive things to offer. During his leadership tenure of ten years the Romanian collective grew from being concentrated in Bucharest and a few other locations to over 40 cities around the country.
It was during this time in Romania that he started to work on a book of comparative religions, which ended up being in three volumes and which Shri Mataji titled “Bible Enlightened”. When he presented Her with the finished book, She was pleased with it and pointed out a single mistake (concerning the translation of a Sanskrit word, which he subsequently corrected), after which She said: “only you could have written this book”.
She often praised him as a scholar. At Sahaja Yoga seminars and on other collective occasions, many came to ask him questions about spirituality and various religions, to which he was always happy to give answers, sometimes startlingly expansive and profound. His private opinion was always that he did not really do anything as far as writing was concerned, as his only training was as a chemical engineer, he just liked to research things due to his scientific background. All his writings before that had been of a scientific nature (10 books and 60 white papers). He always used to say “Shri Mataji did it all, not me, She just used me as Her instrument”. Whenever asked what made Sahaja Yoga grow so fast in Romania, his answer was simple: “It was not because of anything we did, it was simply because Shri Mataji wanted it to happen that way”.
While in Romania, he also wrote and published a book titled “The Truth About Yoga”, an article called “Sahaja Yoga and Chemistry” (published in a Romanian journal and presented at a conference in St. Petersburg), as well as over 20 articles that appeared in the “Spontaneous Yoga” magazine published by the Romanian Sahaja Yoga association.
“Bible Enlightened” was finished after his move in 2001 with his wife Antoaneta to Dallas, Texas, where they joined their son Calin, his wife Barbara, and their children James and Isabel. After finishing it, he took a well-deserved break, after which he wrote a fiction novel, “Three Cold Cases”, under the nom de plume Christian Daniells. This book had been originally inspired by the trail-of-clues described in Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”. “Three Cold Cases” added new spiritual dimensions as the treasure hunt led to the discovery of the Lady in White at the end of the book, challenging the reader to find Her in real life – after taking the audience through a tour de force about Romania’s rich history, spirituality, gastronomy, and touristic attractions.
While in the United States he also developed a passion for rocks, minerals and fossils – the treasures of Mother Earth. He joined several clubs, and collecting and categorizing an impressive collection of natural items of striking beauty, which he admired both as a Yogi, a scientist, and as an artist. He also kept in touch with many of his elementary school, high school and college classmates even at an advanced age, and gave Self-realization to as many of them as he could.
Dan Costian passed away peacefully on May 15, 2017 at age 80, in Dallas, Texas. Despite the fact that he had a hard time admitting it to himself, he was a scholar in the true sense of the word. There were not many questions regarding spirituality, art and culture for which he did not have a knowledgeable answer. He was also a strong and fearless leader, who moved like a tank through the heavy artillery of the enemy fields of negativity, undisturbed and undeterred until he reached victory, as an instrument and channel of Shri Mataji. He had a complete devotion and dedication to Shri Mataji. With his family, friends and other Sahaja Yogis he was very loving, kind and generous, sometimes strict when he needed to be, and was extremely devoted to all those he loved and who loved him, always concerned about their wellbeing and willing to sacrifice anything for them. He will always be remembered by his family, many friends, and large number of Sahaja Yogis from Romania, United States and around the world who knew him and loved him.