CELEBRATE LIFE - THE BEST GIFT : Swami Tejomayananda



04/10/2018
BIOGRAPHY

Swami Tejomayananda is a living portrait of simplicity with depth, humility with courage, and wisdom with devotion. Always jovial, smiling, and welcoming, he is readily accessible and approachable to all who seek the knowledge of Vedanta from him.

Born into a Maharashtrian family on June 30, 1950, in Madhya Pradesh, India, Sudhakar Kaitwade was not spiritually inclined as such. At the age of 20, a year away from getting his Master's degree in Physics, Sudhakar intended to pursue a teaching career.

Sudhakar's revolutionary change came about the day he was attracted to a large banner announcing Swami Chinmayananda's talks on the 3rd Chapter of Bhagavad Gita. A couple of talks later, he was so thoroughly inspired that he sought the permission of his mother to join Chinmaya Mission's residential Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in Mumbai.

Upon completion of the Vedanta course in 1975, Sudhakar was initiated into Chinmaya Mission's monastic order of acharyas (teachers) as Brahmachari Vivek Chaitanya. Over the years, he served as an acharya at Mission centres in Bhopal, Kanpur, and Sidhabari. He conducted the first residential Vedanta course in Hindi at 'Sandeepany Himalayas' in Sidhabari.

On October 21, 1983, Swami Chinmayananda initiated him into sannyasa, bestowing upon him the name, Swami Tejomayananda. He was then appointed as acharya of the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya ashram in Mumbai, where he taught two consecutive residential Vedanta courses in English.

In 1989, Swami Tejomayananda was posted to Chinmaya Mission San Jose, California in the US, where he remained as acharya until 1993. After Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda attained Mahasamadhi, he became the Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide.

As the Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, Swami Tejomayananda-now known in the Mission as Pujya Guruji-has continuously and dynamically pursued his guru's grand spiritual and organisational vision. Progressive in thinking and precise in decision-making, he has inspired and executed many notable, innovative projects, including the Chinmaya International Residential School in Coimbatore, the Chinmaya Centre of World Understanding in New Delhi, the Chinmaya International Foundation near Cochin, the Chinmaya Heritage Centre in Chennai, the expansion of the Chinmaya Mission Hospital in Bangalore and the Chinmaya Vibhooti Vision Centre near Pune which is at present still in progress.

In overseeing the Mission's global activities and projects, Swami Tejomayananda's tours around the world are extensive and continuous. Throughout his travels, he conducts jnana yajnas (3-7 day Vedanta lecture series) in different cities and various countries every week. His gentle manner, devotional heart, intellectual clarity, joyful wit, and open availability have earned him inter-generational appeal and endeared him to millions across the globe.

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