Swami Tejomayananda, the Chairman and spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide, is one of the foremost disciples of Swami Chinmayananda. He is an outstanding teacher of Vedanta and an accomplished poet, author, and composer. Swamiji joined the Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhnalaya, Mumbai in 1970 and was initiated into the sanyasa in 1983 by Pujya Gurudev.
Swamiji has the rare quality of bringing out the depth of Vedanta, with devotion, in simple style from scriptural texts like Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, Ramacharita Manas and Srimad Bhagavatam. Since the mahasamadhi of Gurudev in 1993, Swami Tejomayananda has dutifully undertaken total responsibility to fulfill the vision of the Master. Under his leadership and guidance many new centers have been established and Chinmaya Mission continues to grow in all spheres of its activities . spiritual, cultural, educational and social service programs.
On October 21, 1983, he was initiated into Sanyas by Pujya Swami Chinmayanandaji, and since then he has been known as Swami Tejomayananda. In 1984, Swami Chinmayananda made him the chief acharya or Dean of Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in Bombay where he completed teaching two 2 1/2 year courses in English in 1989.
Swami Tejomayananda has conducted over 300 Geeta Gnana Yajnas throughout the globe in English, Hindi and Marathi. He has written commentaries, in Hindi, on Adi Shankara’s Drik Drishya Viveka and Ramana Maharshi’s Upadesa Saram. He has also translated Swami Chinmayananda’s commentaries on the Srimad Bhagavad Geeta and Upanishadas in Hindi.
His original Vedantic texts include Bhakti Sudha, Jnana Sarah, Manah Shodhanam, Dhyanasvarupam and Jivanasutrani. His acclaimed commentaries include Kapila Gita, Yoga Vasistha Sara Sangraha, Svetasvatara Upanishad, Adi Sankaracharya’s Drg-Drshya Viveka, and Ramana Maharshi’s Upadesha Sara, He has also translated into Hindi Swami Chinmayananda’s English commentaries on Shrimad Bhagavad-gita and the Upanishads. His book Hindu Culture: an Introduction has been adopted as an academic text by some American schools. Another popular book, Graceful Aging has been incorporated as a text into a Chinmaya Mission course for senior citizens. His profound, poignant and pictorial talks on Sant Tulsidasa’s Ramacharitamanasa and Veda Vyasa’s Shrimad Bhagavatam are world-renowned, highlighting his spiritual wisdom and masterful storytelling.