Following the Vedic teacher-taught tradition (guru-shishya parampara), Chinmaya Mission^® makes available the ageless wisdom of Vedanta, the knowledge of the one Reality, and provides the tools to realize that wisdom in one’s life. “To give maximum happiness to the maximum number for the maximum time” is the tenet that drives Mission workers to uplift humanity beyond selfish and sectarian attitudes and activities. Each person’s gain is manifold: personal growth, heightened efficiency, contentment, and the ability to live with others in peace and harmony. For more information, see Chinmaya Mission^®: Transforming Lives.

There are over 250 Chinmaya Mission^® centers in India, and almost 50 outside of India. The Mission’s various activities and projects include:

• Jnana Yajnas (Vedanta lecture series, seminars, workshops)
• Bala Vihar (Vedanta forum for children and youth)
• Yuva Kendra (Vedanta forum for university students and young professionals)
• Study Group (Vedanta forum for adults)
• Devi Group (Vedanta study and discussion forum for housewives)

• Spiritual Retreats and Camps
• Intensive Vedanta Courses (training for Chinmaya Mission’s order of monks: swamis and brahmacharis)

• Publications
• Regional Centers
• Temples and Shrines
• Schools and Colleges
• Medical Services and Training
• Rural Village Development Projects
• Pitamaha Sadans (senior citizens’ homes)
• Management Courses and Services
• Research in Sanskrit and Indology

His Holiness Swami Chinmayananda, founder of Chinmaya Mission^®, taught spirituality as the art of living. Through jnana yoga (the Vedantic path of spiritual knowledge), he emphasized the balance of head and heart, pointing out selfless work, study, and meditation as the cornerstones of spiritual practice.

Not satisfied by worldly aspirations or his degrees in literature and law, Balakrishna Menon pursued spiritual studies for nine years in the Himalayas, under the guidance of Swami Sivananda (Divine Life Society) and the tutelage of Swami Tapovanam. He eventually came to share this Vedantic knowledge with the masses, in the form of the dynamic teacher known as Swami Chinmayananda.

Swamiji is renowned worldwide as a spiritual master and one of the foremost teachers of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. He is credited with the renaissance of spirituality and cultural values in India, and with the spreading of the ageless wisdom of Advaita Vedanta, as expounded by Adi Shankaracharya, throughout the world.

Swami Chinmayananda attained mahasamadhi in 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.

Additional biographical information can be found in Journey of a Master, Ageless Guru, Swami Chinmayananda: A Life of Inspiration and Service, and At Every Breath, A Teaching.

His Holiness Swami Tejomayananda, the present spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission^® worldwide, is fulfilling the vision that Swami Chinmayananda charted. As he puts it, “I am not in Swamiji’s shoes; I am at His feet.”

Swami Tejomayananda has served as acharya (dean) of the Sandeepany institutes of Vedanta (gurukulas of Chinmaya Mission^®) in India, and as acharya in Mission centers in India and the US. He has written commentaries on scriptural texts, translated Swami Chinmayananda’s commentaries into Hindi, and authored a number of books. A key contribution is Hindu Culture: An Introduction, which has been acclaimed for its clear description of the basics of Hinduism and adopted as a reference text in some American high schools.

Swamiji excels in expounding upon a wide spectrum of Hindu scriptures, from Ramayana, to Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, to the Upanishads. His easy manner, combined with his in-depth analyses and devotional renderings of Vedantic texts, have drawn many newcomers into the spiritual fold.