Combining spirituality and education
Combining spirituality and education
Few people like Sanjay Desai combine their experience to influence others. His journey of life as shared with Jamuna Rangachari is given below.
The foundation of ConsciousLeap was inspired by the legacy of his Guru Ma Krishnanandgiri, whose presence graced his life from a very serendipitous encounter in a Himalayan cave in 1992 right until her Samadhi in 2008. Her life lessons in spirituality tangoed with her high performance professional journey as an MNC banker and entrepreneur.
As an IIM Bangalore graduate, Chartered Accountant and successful life measured by conventional metrics enriched by spiritual interests as well, he realized that the Universe had endowed me with many blessings. Maa used to always role model ‘giving back’. Therefore, I set up ConsciousLeap to share my unique insights of integrating material journeys with spirituality from my experiences.
With the heightened spiritual practices over the years, he saw the congruence of western psychology, especially Carl Jung’s work on unconscious behaviour, with self awareness in one’s day to day life path to success. Integrating them together, He put this together a framework for manifesting dreams since I realized that walking a path to success can lead to a deeply spiritual path as well, as brought out by Karma Yog and Bhakti yog from Bhagwad Geeta.
Expounding this framework to give it different formats such as a fiction book, experiential workshops and now even curriculum has led our focus to emotional intelligence and conscious education. I believe that our personal wellbeing is not sustainable without integrating it into a success path.
Today, ConsciousLeap stands as a testament to his belief that true potential is unlocked when we embark on a conscious journey inward, and then channel that awareness into meaningful action in the world.
Growing up, all he wanted was to break out of the middle class tag, so he studied hard, pursued CA
like everyone in hhis class and also landed up in IIM Bangalore after being personally disenchanted about the life that a CA practice would give him. From IIM, he, landed a job at Citibank, one of the most coveted jobs in the late 80s. But fate had something different in store for him. He got interested in spiritual philosophy out of a course at IIM called the Art of Japanese Management.
He considers the legends, Ramanna Maharshi, J Krishnamurti, Osho and Carl Jung to have profoundly shaped his spiritual growth, personal growth and the evolution of the organization.
His most significant life influence has been Ma Krishnanandgiri, a revered sanyasini in the Himalayas. Her wisdom, compassion, and spiritual clarity provided me with invaluable guidance during pivotal moments of self-discovery. Through her guidance, he learned to meditate, and cultivate a deeper spirit of surrender and conscious living- principles that have become foundational to ConsciousLeap..
Another key figure in his journey has been Jerry Rao, his mentor from Citibank days. His organisational values and culture of role-modelling, empowerment. Making mistakes and taking risks have inspired me to dream bigger and stay resilient through challenges. The purposeful adventure of ConsciousLeap has been a continuous journey of serendipitous meetings of minds and friendships. Our cause has recurrently attracted gracious personalities in the form of colleagues, coaches, counsellors, academic leadership, government circles, publications and foundations to help him take the next step towards his mission. Specifically, he mentions Anand Kasturi, a reputed coach for inducting me into coaching methodology, Mrs Khanna of Springdale College, Lucknow for being his anchor for everything he wants to try out and Kiran Bedi, a famous educator for introducing the organisation to schools. He ois very grateful to the universe for all the support in sustaining his path.
Above all, the unconditional support of his family and team has been his anchor. Their encouragement, understanding, and belief in his vision gave him the strength to persevere, even when the path was uncertain. Their presence has been a constant reminder of the importance of purpose, balance, and authentic connection - values that are at the heart of ConsciousLeap.
Together, these influences have not only shaped the foundation of ConsciousLeap but have also inspired me to create a platform that empowers others to find their own sources of purpose, wellbeing, and fulfilment.
His program has literally been co-created by coaches, academicians, counsellors and us. Therefore, we have been welcomed by the education system for our pioneering work in mental health education, and shifting focus from just post-facto treatment segments to building foundations for preventive wellbeing. We do face resistance in the adoption of the program in private schools since they have to balance priorities of their various stakeholders in the system.
He has found breakthroughs with Foundations and Government, since they are more closely aligned to social impact for the underprivileged sections of society. Being aligned with leading-edge policies, demonstrating measurable outcomes, and fostering collaborations, we believe we are able to make initial dents for bringing mental wellbeing education from niche to norm.
By Jamuna Rangachari
