Sasha was born in Moscow in 1932. He was the son of Moses, a Chief Engineer in a large Artillery plant. Sasha worked in the plant when it was relocated to the Urals during WW2. Later Sasha graduated from the Moscow State University, where he deliberately antagonized the authorities by converting to Lamaist Buddhism shortly after it was proscribed. Sasha's early work was on ancient Indic culture and religion, which was viewed by some as a subtly indirect way of attacking the Soviet system. Consequently he was followed extensively by the KGB until he emigrated to Israel in 1972. From there he moved to Oxford and then onto SOAS in London University. He is still a part-time Professor at SOAS. He is known generally as a philosopher. During this time he had four wives and five children.