Kamlesh D. Patel (born 1956) also known as Daaji among his followers, is a spiritual leader, author and the fourth in the line of

Rāja yoga In Sanskrit texts, ''Rāja yoga'' () was both the goal of yoga and a method to attain it. The term was later adopted as a modern label for the practice of yoga in the 19th-century when Swami Vivekananda gave his interpretation of the Yoga S ...

masters in the

Sahaj Marg Sahaj Marg or Heartfulness Meditation is a set of meditative practices first developed at the turn of the twentieth century and formalized into teaching through Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945. It is a form of Raja Yoga meditation system. Use of ...

system of spiritual practice. He has been the president of

Shri Ram Chandra Mission Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) is a non-profit organization and a spiritual movement originating in India. It teaches the practice of "Sahaj Marg" or "Heartfulness Meditation", was registered in 1945 by Ram Chandra (Babuji), Ram Chandra of S ...

, a non-profit organization founded in 1945 and associated with the

United Nations Department of Public Information The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) (prior to 1 January 2019, the United Nations Department of Public Information) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. It is tasked with raising public awareness and ...

, since 2014.

Early life

Kamlesh Patel was born in Kalla village in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

on 28th Sep 1956. He trained as a pharmacist in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

, and as a pharmacy student he started practising the Sahaj Marg system of

Raja Yoga Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The title has a long ...

meditation in 1976 under the guidance of Ram Chandra of

Shahjahanpur Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Western Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. History Shahjahanpur was establi ...

Professional life

He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

after graduating with honours from L M College of Pharmacy,

. In America, he did his post graduate degree and built a

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

business while being married and raising two sons.

Sahaj Marg

Kamlesh Patel started practising Sahaj Marg in 1976, when he was a pharmacology student, under the guidance of a trainer. He subsequently received training from Ram Chandra. After Ram Chandra’s passing in 1983, Patel became a disciple of Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari (Chariji), the second president of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. In October 2011, he was nominated as Chariji's successor and after Chariji's death in December 2014, he became the spiritual guide of Sahaj Marg system and third president of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. He has conducted various workshops on spirituality across India, USA and many different parts of the world.

Awards and recognition

In 2018, Kamlesh Patel was conferred an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Sri Venkateswara University Sri Venkateswara University (commonly referred as S. V. University or SVU) is a public state university located in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. The university is named after Lord Venkateswara, whose shrine is located in the city. The un ...

. In 2020, he received the Ramkrishna Bajaj Memorial Global Award from the Priyadarshini Academy. In 2023, he was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, a civilian award given for "distinguished service of a high order" in India as well as the UK-India Triumph Awards from the ABPL Group. In 2024, Kamlesh Patel was recognized as the Global Ambassador of Peacebuilding and Faith by the Commonwealth and granted the Freedom of the City of London by the City of London Corporation.

Books

Patel co-authored a book called '' The Heartfulness Way'' with Joshua Pollock in 2018. In February 2018, the book was among the top 10 best selling non fiction books in the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' Nielsen chart. His book ''Designing Destiny'' was released in February 2019. A book named ''The Wisdom Bridge'' was released in 2022. His fourth book, ''Spiritual Anatomy: Meditation, Chakras, and the Journey to the Center'', was released in US and Canada in October 2023 and later at other places including India. He has also written a book called ''The Power of Paradox''. It was released in late 2024. The most recent book from him is ''Holy Tirthankars In the Light of Heartfulness'' which he has coauthored with B. Rathinasabapathy and was released in 2025.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Kamlesh D. 1956 births Living people New Age spiritual leaders Indian spiritual teachers Indian spiritual writers People from Gujarat Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in other fields