an essay on a great Sevak-Swami Chinmayananda
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Swami Chinmayananda lived in physical form from 1916 to 1993. His transformation from Balakrishnan Menon, an ordinary man to Swami Chinmayananda, spiritual giant is indeed extraordinary.
In his younger years as Menon, he was fun-loving, popular, rebellious, and an extremely brilliant man. A product of the British education system, he graduated with degrees in literature and law from the Lucknow University in India.
He later became a journalist and took up the job of the sub-editor of the ‘National Herald’ newspaper in Delhi. He gained the reputation of being a controversial journalist, willing to speak up against India’s problems and social and political issues. His popularity and fame allowed him many opportunities to move around in high society, rubbing shoulders with India’s aristocracy. As he got to know them, he realized that underneath all that wealth and glamour was a superficial and hollow life. Money and power were no guarantee of happiness.
He had been brought up in a very religious Hindu family that held fast to old customs and traditions. Being the rebel that he had been, he had constantly questioned the reasoning and logic behind those practices and doubted the very existence of God.
Now, experiencing empty living in Delhi, those memories of his childhood days spurred in him a desire to seek out the meaning of life. He had been exposed to many saints and masters in his childhood and now, his thoughts went back to them. Could they really have been genuine men of God? Did they have the answers he was seeking? ‘His rational minded shouted, ‘No, there’s no such thing as God!’. In spite of his cynicism, his journalistic inquisitiveness led him to visit the great saints in the Himalayas and write a report about ‘How they are keeping up the bluff among the masses!”
Menon’s journeyed to the ashram (spiritual centre) of Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh. In his confident style, he thought he would need only 2 days to do what he had set out to do. But was completely awestruck by the dynamic lifestyle of Swami Sivananda whose entire day was spent in service – guided meditations, greeting visitors, administering the hospital, writing articles and books, giving discourses on spiritual texts and conducting evening services with devotees. Menon ended up staying for a full month! Such was the inspiration and influence of Swami Sivananda, a true saint in every sense of the word.
Menon returned to the ashram many times in the next few months. In a surprising turn of events, Balakrishnan Menon decided he would renounce his earlier worldly lifestyle and become a Hindu monk. In February 1949, he was initiated into monkhood by Swami Sivananda and gained the new name, Swami Chinmayananda.
His exceptionally brilliant mind and intensity to seek out the goal of human existence led Swami Sivananda to recommend that he leave the ashram and study under the tutelage of the great Vedantic master, Swami Tapovanam.
Swami Tapovanam was a recluse who did not stay in one place for long. He spent his time in the Himalayan mountains moving from place to place. Swami Chinmayananda turned out to be an exceptional student who could keep up with the rigorous lifestyle and the strict discipline of his master. Swami Tapovanam took him on as a disciple on the condition that he would would never repeat anything. The student would have to take the responsibility of going deep into the studies through his own personal notes, reflection and meditation. While the lessons were in Sanskrit, the language of the ancient spiritual texts, Swami Chinmayananda wrote out his notes in English.
Under Swami Tapovanam, Swami Chinmayananda totally immersed himself in his spiritual studies and a life of meditation. In just two short years, in the tranquility of the great Himalayan mountains, Swami Chinmayananda, the once rational skeptic gained inner peace and spiritual enlightenment.
In December 1951, Swami Chinmayananda came down to the plains to teach spirituality to the ordinary man on the street. His approach was startlingly different. Traditionally, the ancient Hindu scriptures were taught only to the male members of the priest class in the ancient language of Sanskrit. But Swami Chinmayananda shocked everyone by teaching freely and openly to men and women alike without any class distinctions – and in ENGLISH!.
Swami Chinmayananda was an enthusiastic and animated orator. He taught with clarity, humor and insightful examples from everyday life. He stormed into the lives of ordinary Indians with the inspiring teachings of spirituality in daily life. They were spellbound by his great brilliance and clarity. He was astonishingly popular. Indoor venues soon became too small to hold the masses that came to listen to him. Many came just to feed their curiosity about this remarkably modern Swami (monk). His talks soon took place in open public grounds which could accommodate thousands of people