Inspiration

Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda

Swami Chinmayananda (Pujya Gurudev, as he is fondly called) is counted among India’s tallest Hindu spiritual leaders and teachers. Gurudev emphasized the balance of head and heart, pointing out selfless work, study, and meditation as the cornerstones of spiritual practice. He taught spirituality as the art of living.

Swami Chinmayananda was born on May 8th, 1916, as Balakrishna Menon (Balan) in Ernakulam, Kerala, into a devout and religious family. Balan excelled with his education graduating in Science, Political Science, Law and English Literature at Lucknow University. A man of strong ideas and idealism he entered the field of journalism where he felt he could influence political, economic and social reform in India. He was, however, not satisfied by worldly aspirations or his degrees. This egged him on to pursue spiritual studies for nine years in the Himalayas, initially under the guidance of Swami Sivananda (Divine Life Society) and deeper study under Swami Tapovanam for a further 12 years. He eventually came to share this Vedantic knowledge with the masses, in the form of the dynamic teacher known as Swami Chinmayananda– the one who is saturated in Bliss and Consciousness. He descended to the plains and held his first yagna in Pune to a small group of three people. This humble beginning rapidly expanded over the period of the next forty years to more than 500 series of discourses given to audiences numbering thousands.

Gurudev inspired the formation of Chinmaya Mission, a worldwide nonprofit organisation, to spread the knowledge of Advaita Vedanta.

Acclaimed for teaching the Bhagavad Geeta, the Upanishads, and other ancient Hindu scriptures, Gurudev pioneered a movement by teaching the scriptures in English all across India and internationally. He authored over 90 publications, including commentaries on the major Upanishads and Bhagavad Geeta, thus contributing to the spread of this ageless wisdom of Advaita Vedanta, as expounded by Adi Shankaracharya, throughout the world. He was a visiting professor of Indian philosophy at several American and Asian universities and he delivered lectures at various universities across the globe.

He thus spearheaded a global Hindu spiritual and cultural renaissance that popularized the religion’s esoteric scriptural texts. The Chinmaya Mission today has a global presence with over 300 centers and continues to be engaged in spiritual, educational, and charitable activities

Swami Chinmayananda attained mahasamadhi on 3^rd August 1993. His legacy remains in the form of written, audio, and video publications; social service projects; Vedanta teachers whom he taught and inspired; and Chinmaya Mission centers worldwide, serving the spiritual and cultural needs of local communities.