His Early Journey – how it all began

On 8 May 1916, a child was born as so many other children were born. Born to ordinary parents – a lawyer father, a home maker mother, Balan went to school like all kids do; he would later acquire a degree in English Literature, plunge into the Freedom Movement of India against British rule, be imprisoned, fall frightfully ill, be thrown out of jail for that, be rescued by a strange lady, start writing for a newspaper, make fiery speeches and plan even more fiery exposes and then, all too suddenly abandon all that, for none of them explained to him the purpose of his birth.

Clearly, Swami Chinmayananda was an unusual young man.

Early indications

Balan was not born holy, yet he took sannyasa at the age of thirty-three, as, in his words, “It was the only sensible thing to do.” Tracing back to the early 1900s, this son born to the Poothampalli House in Kerala’s Ernakulam, to Vadakke Kurupath Kuttan Menon of Trichur and his wife, the devout Parukutti Menon, Poothampalli Balakrishnan Menon was the third child after two daughters. This was a traditional home steeped in worship and service of the Lord, where worship and prayer lasted longer than a slow meal. It was a home known for its kindness and hospitality, where Kulagurus Chattambi Swamigal, Yogiraj Bhairavananda and all visiting saints were revered and respected. Little did this household imagine that the baby in the crib came with a severely questioning mind, unrelenting of illogical discipline and a bank of questions whose answers lay dispersed and far into time.

In Poothampalli House, the evening poojas that at first began as a trial for an indifferent Balan, would later be seen as a precursor of a fabulous life that would blaze the world with a clear idea of worship, be an idol of worship, and in later years, the ideal of worship.

It was this that gave Balan the momentum towards devotion something he would not know until his mid twenties. And like all discipline, which one instinctively follows, little Balan did too, but in the silence of his young mind he created fanciful games with the goings-on, the idols, the framed pictures, the processes and prescriptions of do’s and don’ts, as none of these added up logically in his mind.

Of the entire pantheon of gods and goddesses that lined the family prayer room, the one that held little Balan’s attention, without seeming forbidding or inhibiting, was Shiva as Gangadhara, although he did shudder to see Devi Bhagawati smothered under a mountain of flowers, a mountain that only increased with every naam of the sahasranaam…As the routine established into a daily affair, Balan had to devise a coping strategy. And it was this strategy that saw the birth of the future Swami Chinmayananda.  It began with a game of hide-and-seek that he played with the Lord Chandrakaladhara. So the Lord hid as Balan shut his eyes and then little Balan sought Him in his mind’s screen.  Soon, this became his preferred game which he played outside of the pooja room too: to find Lord Siva in his mind on demand… and as he sought, the Lord appeared even as a sweet smile of triumph lit up little Balan’s face.

In hindsight, looking back: In Swami Chinmayananda’s words which he recalled in later years as he sat in Ananda Kutir, “It took more than 20 years to realise that in that strange game, little Balan had been initiated into Jnana Marga by Parameswara Himself.” 

From Balan to Bliss via Jnana Marg

Done with schooling and graduation, Balan took to writing and writing took him to scripting fiery speeches that denounced the British rule. Balakrishnan’s nationalist activities led to his imprisonment – not surprising, and as he would realise soon, resistance was indeed a recipe for bondage!  But resist he did and rightly so then, as he was resisting adharma. Like all young people, Balan too overtly fought the system, fought the establishment, fought irrationality, fought superstition and fought blind faith. This overt rebellion was the coming of age of his inner spiritual quest.

One day, while working for The National Herald, Balakrishnan decided to write an exposé, calling the bluff (as he then believed) of the swamis in the Himalayan regions. Thus, he travelled to Swami Sivananda’s ashram in Rishikesh.

How unusual is the hand of God! Unwittingly at the door of India’s finest spiritual teacher, Balakrishnan’s journey began to reveal to him his own inner spiritual revolution and evolution. Swami Sivananda’s divinity, love, and Vedanta teachings overwhelmed the young skeptic. A striking inner transformation unfolded within Balakrishnan and instead of questioning and confronting the world outside, he began to confront his inner world of thoughts and ideas. He began questioning and reflecting upon the purpose of life and the secret of permanent happiness. In the company of saints, and through the clarity of their teachings, the highly intellectual seeker soon chose to become a renunciate himself.

On the holy day of Mahashivaratri, February 25, 1949, Balakrishnan was initiated into the sannyasa order by Swami Sivananda, who blessed him with the name ‘Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati’. Chinmayananda means ‘filled with the bliss of pure Consciousness’. Swami Sivananda then guided Chinmayananda to the most renowned Vedanta master of the time, Swami Tapovanam, who lived in Uttarkashi, in the Himalayas. Swami Tapovanam who rarely took on disciples put forth strict conditions… but these were no deterrent for the young renunciate; he accepted each of his Guru’s terms, unconditionally.

Thus began a period of intensive study and austere living as Swami Tapovanam’s disciple.

Many of Swami Chinmayananda’s lectures were converted into books and recordings to enable the distance seeker. He personally authored over 95 books, including commentaries on the major Upanishads and an extremely well composed commentary on the Bhagavad-gita. Named simply The Holy Geeta, it has been acclaimed as one of the most refined, insightful, and practical commentaries ever written on the Gita. The collection of his video talks on the Gita is heralded today as one of Chinmaya Mission's most illustrious publications and is the anchor for innumerable people, the world over.

He is credited with bringing about a worldwide Vedantic renaissance in the late 20th century through his introduction of Adi Sankaracharya's works and teachings to the masses. Whether in his writings or his orations, his dedication and endorsement of this great Seer’s works, is underscored. Swami Chinmayananda was famed for his depth, clarity, eloquence, wit, and humour, which shone in every book and essay he wrote and every lecture he delivered.

Teacher extraordinaire, gracious Guru and an anchor of wisdom, Swami Chinmayananda's life was indeed a saga beyond definition!

Swami Chinmayananda conducted his first Jnana Yajna (a series of spiritual discourses) in December 1951, at a small temple in Pune, Maharashtra. Jnana Yajna, a term he coined from Lord Krishna's teachings in the Shrimad Bhagavad-gita, refers to the student who through scriptural studies performs the ritual of worship (yajna) at the altar of wisdom (jnana).

His teachings were based on the authority of the Vedas and his own direct experience. They were highly appreciated, and the number of devotees eager to learn from Swami Chinmayananda’s powerful, dynamic, yet logical, and witty discourses increased rapidly. An inspired band of devotees thus formed 'Chinmaya Mission' on August 8, 1953.

Understanding the needs of the people came naturally to Swami Chinmayananda. For each individual – young or old - the knowledge solutions he had were the same, but he packaged them differently for each segment. These then grew to becoming the core anchors for growth.

Study or Swadhyaya: Built both as self-study and group study, Swami Chinmayananda inculcated the discipline of study into his devotees. As he began travelling around the world, devotee-followers expressed the need to have something to study until he returned the following year. They made notes at his lectures but needed ratification. Thus came by Home-Study Courses beginning with Vedanta.

In parallel, he created Study Groups to enable discussion and study. Swami Chinmayananda stressed on study as a means to assimilation, practice and internalization. He made it clear that this form of studying was not his idea, but born of Vedantic tradition. Thus came by Study Groups consisting of 10-15 members that met for 90 minutes every week. These form the heart of Chinmaya Mission’s activities today.

Study itself adapted according to needs, to tradition, to custom, to social mores too! Swami Chinmayananda considered mothers to be the real custodians of India’s spiritual culture. As he once said, “The fall of our cultural standard is a true measure of the growing ignorance in the mothers of our society.” The growth of Devi Groups has been a great boost to women. What likely took shape as a means to give women comfort in an only-women setting, today is a powerhouse of study, chanting, and discussion born of reflection on the texts.

Devi Groups began as early as 1958 and are extremely popular world over. It was his desire and intention to empower the woman with knowledge.

For Study Groups see More Details

For Postal –E-Vedanta Courses see More Details

For Devi Groups see More Details

Bala Vihar: Children were closest to Swami Chinmayananda’s heart. And it was this that he inculcated in young parents – to bring up children right. He believed that spiritual values needed to be sown at a very young age. With this in view, he designed a weekly gathering of children called Bala Vihar. Here children would come together under the guidance of a trained teacher to learn values through the stories of the scriptures.

Swami Chinmayananda trained teachers in the art of teaching values. He gave them a prescribed curriculum rooted in a logic that he laid down – an appreciation and adoration of culture, a fine sense of respect for life and a vision that generates personal discipline and inquiry. Such was his attention to detail! Such was his love for humankind! For Bala Vihar see: More Details

Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (CHYK): For youth of ages 13-30, this is a natural extension of Bala Vihar. Swami Chinmayananda prepared for every stage of a child’s evolution and growth. He believed that inspiration must be sustained lifelong for it to lead up to fine leadership at every level –community, state, nation or the world at large.

He based the principle of the Yuva Kendra on Vedanta as a science of personality development, what he went on to teach in his Gita Jnana Yajnas as a manual for life. Started in 1975, the CHYK movement has become a global movement today, urging the young to find expression via theatre, music, the arts, sports, urging them to discover the mystic of mountains and nature via trekking, the heritage of temples and rivers, the purpose of environment sensitivity and their role in the great new world.

Today the youth of 120 cities the world over work as one, seamlessly, regardless of borders and boundaries as the youth of the world! For about the CHYK movement, More Details

Vanaprastha: It was Swami Chinmayananda’s desire and intention that after man has led a fruitful, productive life, right from Bala Vihar upwards, blending study with seva, he must then step into his third age, where he must apply himself to society via seva and to silencing his inner mind through more study, contemplation and worship.

So he created this little meadow for the elderly to work and study, find purpose away from a career, and discover their true purpose. Through the Vanaprastha movement, Swami Chinmayananda sought to empower the elderly to discover and design purpose for their life after 60. The Mission has Pitamah Sadans as well, all over India, where the very old can choose to live and follow the vanaprastha way of living. Equally Swami Chinmayananda believed that vanaprastha was a state of mind and one’s own residence could be re-worked to become the silent forests for study and contemplation.

For about the Vanaprastha movement, More Details

Teaching to Teach – the spread of Knowledge: Swami Chinmayananda was the finest leader. He wished to build an institution, not an institute. An institution grows with the people, adapts with time, but stays true to its vision. An institute often loses its purpose with the departure of the leader.

The Chinmaya Mission was thus designed as a perennial fountain of wisdom and knowledge that would adapt its course with time - like the Ganga, yet never lose its purity – also like the Ganga! Swami Chinmayananda was aware that the teachings and tenets of Advaita have to stay ever fresh and lit for all times to come. And that would need a lamplighter in every place, in every time. And thus began the Sandeepany system – where he groomed acharyas (teachers).

The Sandeepany Sadhanalaya is Chinmaya Mission’s gurukul for Vedanata studies. Swami Chinmayananda began intensive courses in Vedanta for those who wished to commit their lives to teaching and spreading the knowledge of Advaita. The students assume brahmacharya for the two-year course and are accordingly also called brahmacharis. Living by the disciplines of the gurukula, they learn Vedanta from revered and erudite teachers of the Mission and lit thus with knowledge they carry it out into the world to serve at other Mission centers where they teach the texts, facilitate study groups, motivate youth, perform worship and guide the devotees.

Till date Chinmaya Mission has sent out more than 500 trained teachers of Vedanta and it is this wealth that continues the flow of learning and teaching and knowing in a consistent manner.

In his 42 years of relentless service, Swami Chinmayananda left an indelible mark in the hearts and minds of people, and his footprints in the multifarious service projects he inspired in the Mission. He created a vast legacy - a global organization committed to Vedanta; Chinmaya Vidyalayas - schools based on his value-education platform; a teaching community committed to value-education; a huge network of Bala Vihars and Yuva Kendras; Study Groups that dot the country; rural development projects specifically CORD www.cord.org.in and Vedanta Institutes – the Sandeepanys.

For Vedanta to constantly nourish the people, the great texts on the fundamental philosophy of living needed to be continuously researched, and validation of the Knowledge presented to the people contextual to their time. This necessarily meant a deep-rooted investment in research and scholastic effort in philosophy. Swami Chinmayananda knew these could be had only through a concerted bridging of East and West and an open door for the public to dialogue and debate with the Pundit.

Thus, he set up a Research Foundation – Chinmaya International Foundation - that would commit itself to keeping alive the knowledge traditions of India through workshops, lectures, conferences and thereby revive the depleting community of scholars and alongside develop a robust passion for Sanskrit – both as a language and as the edifice on which stood India. CIF, as it is known today, is a center of excellence in Sanskrit and Research. See www.chinfo.org

In and through each of these, Swami Chinmayananda enlivens the Mission and the mission of love and knowledge that he began in 1951.  From pulpits and platforms throughout India and around the world, he taught the tens of thousands who came to listen and learn. By the time he left his physical form and attained Mahasamadhi on August 3, 1993, Swami Chinmayananda had conducted 576 Jnana Yajnas as well as countless family spiritual camps, traversing hundreds of thousands of miles, criss-crossing the globe, and transforming millions of lives directly and indirectly. This powerhouse of learning is one of the prime movers of the Mission today.

Having seen widespread spiritual and social degradation in India, Swami Chinmayananda felt the urge to share the knowledge that had brought fulfillment in his own life through Swami Tapovanam's tutelage and grace.

Having undergone the transformation from a rebel to a renunciate, which was in fact a transformation from an ignoramus to a knower, Swami Chinmayananda saw that the drivers of this knowledge lay buried in a language that was almost dead (Sanskrit) and its idiom was losing context as the essential Indian was now more anglicised in demeanour and disposition. Bringing him back to the teachings of the Upanishads could only be by rephrasing the lessons in English - the language of intellectual India. That was how Swami Chinmayananda took to teaching Vedanta in English, a big surprise in that era.

Gurudev, as Swami Chinmayananda came to be known, had a keen sense of perception and observation. He knew people by being among them, seeing them, talking to them. He also perceived the degeneration in values and family systems, and knew that the way to restoration and sustenance was communicating to the youth via culture, on the platform of modernity, using contemporary idiom and the English language. Likewise, he understood that the way forward lay in strengthening value-based education, and energising schools. That is what Swami Chinmayananda approached single-pointedly, at a social level. Today, the Chinmaya Vision Programme followed in more than 80 Chinmaya Education institutions, as well as other educational institutions throughout the country, is seen as a remarkable system for holistic education.

At another level, he envisioned that the reason for the dissonance among the people – around the world, was the absence of a manual for living. Everywhere he was beginning to see an artless rush for living. He decided that the Bhagavad-gita which was the crème de la crème of the Vedas and Upanishads was what begged to be sown back into society everywhere.