“The very nature of a Guru is both inclusive and unconditional, and that expansive quality draws people from all walks of life.”
– Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda
Swami Tapovan Maharaj was that pristine glacier of Self-knowledge through whom flowed the Ganga of Vedantic Wisdom of Swami Chinmayananda, the architect of the Chinmaya Movement.
Swami Tapovanam was a saint of the highest order, a consummate Vedantin, strict teacher, a compassionate mentor, and a poet whose every thought throbbed with ecstatic awareness, and a sage of unsurpassed wisdom and tranquillity.
That Truth, which Swami Tapovanam realized and indicated in all his teachings is beyond words, as much as he himself was. Swami Chinmayananda said of his Guru, “He was a God without temple, a Veda without language.”
As a jivanmukta or Self-realized master, Swami Tapovanam was a lover of Nature and saw the supreme Lord in all expressions, within and without. In his inspiring, poetic works of Himagiri Viharam (Wanderings in the Himalayas) and Kailasa Yatra (Pilgrimage to Kailasa) are seen the full flow of his blissful and soulful renderings of Nature, and the profundity of his subtle observations and reflections. However, it is his mystical autobiography, Ishvara Darshan (Vision of the Lord), that sages and seekers the world over have stamped as his masterpiece.
Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of Chinmaya Mission, was born in 1916, in Cochin, India. Not satisfied with degrees in literature and law or with other worldly aspirations, Pujya Gurudev — as he is lovingly known — pursued the spiritual path in the Himalayas under the guidance of Swami Shivananda and Swami Tapovanam.
He taught the logic of spirituality, while emphasizing the balance of head and heart. Selfless work, study, and meditation are the cornerstones of spiritual practice, he said. Pujya Gurudev is credited with the renaissance of spiritual and cultural values in India and with awakening the rest of the world to the ageless wisdom of Vedanta.
Though he attained Mahasamadhi in 1993, his legacy remains in the form of books, audio and video tapes, schools, social service projects, more than 300 full-time Vedanta teachers whom he taught and inspired and more than 300 Chinmaya Mission centers around the world serving the spiritual and cultural needs of local communities.
Swami Tejomayananda is the former Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, a position he held since 1993 after Swami Chinmayananda attained Mahasamadhi. If Swami Chinmayananda served the cause of Vedanta with his service, knowledge, and pioneering qualities, Swami Tejomayananda — fondly addressed as Guruji — completed that with his natural attitude of devotion. This is richly and abundantly evident in his talks, his singing, and his demeanor.
But the gentleness of devotion arrived riding on the back of an intense education in physics, going up to a Master’s degree. Born Sudhakar Kaitwade to a Maharashtrian family in Madhya Pradesh, this physicist had a close encounter that changed the velocity, direction and path of his life. The spiritual call came to him in 1970 when he heard a Gita discourse given by Swami Chinmayananda. He was inspired to join the Vedanta Course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in Mumbai. After graduation in 1975, he served in the field for a few years as Brahmachari Vivek Chaitanya and was initiated into sannyāsa by Pujya Gurudev in 1983.
He has written commentaries on many scriptural texts, translated Swami Chinmayananda’s commentaries into Hindi, and authored a number of original works in Sanskrit. Swamiji excels in expounding upon a wide spectrum of Hindu scriptures, from Ramayāna to the Shrīmad Bhagavad Gīta and the Upanishads.
In an era rife with skepticism and confusion about matters spiritual, Swami Swaroopananda is a rare voice that blends authenticity with accessibility; theory with self- practice; logic with heart.
Formerly the Regional Head of Chinmaya Mission Australia, United Kingdom, Middle East, Africa and Far East, and presently Chairman of the Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth Trust, and Director of the Chinmaya International Residential School in Coimbatore, South India, Swami Swaroopananda has now been bestowed by Swami Tejomayananda the privilege to also serve as the Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide.
Born and brought up in the bustling commercial capital of India, Swamiji had always been convinced that beyond life’s superficial, everyday joys and sorrows, there was something more enduring and satisfying. His encounter with Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda has completely moved and inspired him. In 1984, Swami Swaroopananda gave up his family’s thriving business in Hong Kong to undergo intensive training under Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda and Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai. He was initiated into the monastic order in 1992. Since then, he has touched thousands of lives across the world, and his tremendous work in bringing out the essential wisdom and underlying unity of all religions has garnered him a place among the vanguards of self-development philosophy.