Making of a Master
swami chinmayananda's
life took many turns before finally, meeting his guru, he discovered his mission.
Destined to become one of modern India's best-known spiritual leaders,
Swami Chinmayananda was born Balakrishnan Menon to an affluent landowning family in Ernakulam, Kerala, in 1916. The child, who was named by Chattambhi Swamigal, a well-known ascetic saint of the time, grew up in the loving protection of aunts and grandmothers who sought to make up for the loss of his mother in his early childhood. Young Balan absorbed the sacred
rituals that surrounded him, bubbling with glee when holy men visiting the Menon home would take him on their lap and play with him.
After studying at the local English school, Balan joined the Lucknow University for an MA in English literature. At this point he has been remembered as an insufferable teenager, brashly confident, notorious for extravagant dressing and an accomplished tennis player who was especially outspoken in his criticism of the existence of God. Inflamed by the atrocities of the British rule in India, he heeded Gandhiji's call to join the Quit India Movement, participating in subversive activities, till a warrant drawn for his arrest forced him to go into hiding. Wandering undercover around Kashmir and north India, he was finally arrested and spent some harrowing months in jail where he contracted typhus and was released. It was while convalescing under the care of a cousin that Balan first took to reading on spirituality and Eastern philosophy.
Acquiring an MA degree, he began on a promising journalism career, writing first for the Free Press Journal and later the National Herald. A prolific writer with a deep empathy for the poor, writings such as The View from the Footpath series under the pen name of Mr. Tramp, won him a fair amount of recognition. While it brought him financial rewards and opened doors to influential society circles, somewhere deep down he remained restless.
Balan had always been intrigued by the sadhus and rishis, the holy men living in the Himalayas. He often pondered about the usefulness of such a
life of retirement in the remote sanctuary of the mountains when millions in the country wrestled with the multiple problems of poverty and the tyranny of foreign domination. Intending to research into their role with a view to writing about them, in 1947 Balan arrived at Ananda Kutir, the ashram of Swami Sivananda, near Rishikesh.
Swami Sivananda of the Divine
Life Society was already known to Balan through his earlier readings. This former doctor, whose bustling ashram freely dispensed spiritual and medical succour to all who came to him, greatly impressed Balan. The article forgotten, he began to spend increasing amounts of time at the ashram. Barely two years later, Swami Sivananda initiated him into sanyas. Balan Menon was now
Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati. Desiring to learn the scriptures, Swami Sivananda then sent him to his second teacher, Swami Tapovan. An inveterate recluse who was a demanding teacher, it was the rigorous training under him that was to shape this young spiritual aspirant into one of the most potent forces of Hindu resurgence in Independent India.
During a pilgrimage tour around India,
Swami Chinmayananda observed the deep spiritual and social degradation that his country had sunk into. Suddenly he understood his life's mission to replant the seed of
Vedanta in the hearts of the millions of Indians from where it had gone missing - to convert Hindus to Hinduism.
Seeking blessings from Swami Tapovan who, though initially reluctant finally gave his assent,
Swami Chinmayananda left the Himalayas to sow the seeds of
Vedanta in the plains below.
To transmit his message and draw sheep into the fold,
Swami Chinmayananda evolved the ideal medium of gyana yajnas, public discourses lasting over a number of days that focussed on specific Upanishad texts. The dynamic swami with his handsome features and intensely glowing eyes was well received and everywhere he went, he mesmerised people with his passionate and powerful oratory. To a nation on the threshold of independence after years in foreign domination, the profound simplicity and directness of his message offered a new and exciting ray of hope.
Like
Swami Vivekananda before him, he kindled in the average Indian, estranged from his cultural roots, a pride in his spiritual heritage with his words, "India has always been the
guru of the world. This generation has been called upon to lead and guide the world. The time has come, not for killing, not for destroying, not for warfare, but for learning and understanding how to study the scriptures and learn to practise the teachings in our everyday lives." Chinmaya Mission, started in 1953 by his disciples, continues the
work he began.
Making of a Master
swami chinmayananda's life took many turns before finally, meeting his guru, he discovered his mission.Destined to become one of modern India's best-known spiritual leaders, Swami Chinmayananda was born Balakrishnan Menon to an affluent landowning family in Ernakulam, Kerala, in 1916. The child, who was named by Chattambhi Swamigal, a well-known ascetic saint of the time, grew up in the loving protection of aunts and grandmothers who sought to make up for the loss of his mother in his early childhood. Young Balan absorbed the sacred rituals that surrounded him, bubbling with glee when holy men visiting the Menon home would take him on their lap and play with him.
After studying at the local English school, Balan joined the Lucknow University for an MA in English literature. At this point he has been remembered as an insufferable teenager, brashly confident, notorious for extravagant dressing and an accomplished tennis player who was especially outspoken in his criticism of the existence of God. Inflamed by the atrocities of the British rule in India, he heeded Gandhiji's call to join the Quit India Movement, participating in subversive activities, till a warrant drawn for his arrest forced him to go into hiding. Wandering undercover around Kashmir and north India, he was finally arrested and spent some harrowing months in jail where he contracted typhus and was released. It was while convalescing under the care of a cousin that Balan first took to reading on spirituality and Eastern philosophy.
Acquiring an MA degree, he began on a promising journalism career, writing first for the Free Press Journal and later the National Herald. A prolific writer with a deep empathy for the poor, writings such as The View from the Footpath series under the pen name of Mr. Tramp, won him a fair amount of recognition. While it brought him financial rewards and opened doors to influential society circles, somewhere deep down he remained restless.
Balan had always been intrigued by the sadhus and rishis, the holy men living in the Himalayas. He often pondered about the usefulness of such a life of retirement in the remote sanctuary of the mountains when millions in the country wrestled with the multiple problems of poverty and the tyranny of foreign domination. Intending to research into their role with a view to writing about them, in 1947 Balan arrived at Ananda Kutir, the ashram of Swami Sivananda, near Rishikesh.
Swami Sivananda of the Divine Life Society was already known to Balan through his earlier readings. This former doctor, whose bustling ashram freely dispensed spiritual and medical succour to all who came to him, greatly impressed Balan. The article forgotten, he began to spend increasing amounts of time at the ashram. Barely two years later, Swami Sivananda initiated him into sanyas. Balan Menon was now Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati. Desiring to learn the scriptures, Swami Sivananda then sent him to his second teacher, Swami Tapovan. An inveterate recluse who was a demanding teacher, it was the rigorous training under him that was to shape this young spiritual aspirant into one of the most potent forces of Hindu resurgence in Independent India.
During a pilgrimage tour around India, Swami Chinmayananda observed the deep spiritual and social degradation that his country had sunk into. Suddenly he understood his life's mission to replant the seed of Vedanta in the hearts of the millions of Indians from where it had gone missing - to convert Hindus to Hinduism. Seeking blessings from Swami Tapovan who, though initially reluctant finally gave his assent, Swami Chinmayananda left the Himalayas to sow the seeds of Vedanta in the plains below.
To transmit his message and draw sheep into the fold, Swami Chinmayananda evolved the ideal medium of gyana yajnas, public discourses lasting over a number of days that focussed on specific Upanishad texts. The dynamic swami with his handsome features and intensely glowing eyes was well received and everywhere he went, he mesmerised people with his passionate and powerful oratory. To a nation on the threshold of independence after years in foreign domination, the profound simplicity and directness of his message offered a new and exciting ray of hope.
Like Swami Vivekananda before him, he kindled in the average Indian, estranged from his cultural roots, a pride in his spiritual heritage with his words, "India has always been the guru of the world. This generation has been called upon to lead and guide the world. The time has come, not for killing, not for destroying, not for warfare, but for learning and understanding how to study the scriptures and learn to practise the teachings in our everyday lives." Chinmaya Mission, started in 1953 by his disciples, continues the work he began.