Swami Prakashananda ( sa, स्वामी प्रकाशानंद:) is the founder and

Acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a preceptor and expert instructor in matters such as religion, or any other subject. An acharya is a highly learned person with a ti ...

Chinmaya Mission The Chinmaya Mission is a Hindu religious and spiritual organization engaged in the dissemination of Vedanta, the science of the self as expounded in the Vedas, particularly the Upanishads, and other Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavad Git ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

. Swami Prakashananda was born in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. While studying for a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, he met Swami Chinmayananda during Chinmaya Mission's jnana yajna. He soon joined Chinmaya Mission started studying the scriptures at

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

in 1991. Upon completion of his studies he was named Brahmachari Prem Chaitanya in 1994 and was assigned to give discourses at various Mission centers in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

. Prem returned to Trinidad in 1997 and started Chinmaya Mission. Swami

Tejomayananda Swami Tejomayananda Saraswati (born 30 June 1950), also known as Guruji and born Sudhakar Kaitwade, is an Indian spiritual leader. He was head of Chinmaya Mission from 1994 to 2017, until he was succeeded by Swami Swaroopananda in 2017. Ini ...

initiated Premji into Sanyasa as Swami Prakashananda on

Mahashivaratri Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ...

in 2005. Swami Prakashananda travels extensively in Trinidad, the Caribbean, the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom for spiritual discourses. His itinerary is availabl
online

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prakashananda, Swami 21st-century Hindu religious leaders Advaitin philosophers Hindu spiritual teachers Hindu philosophers and theologians Hindu monks Living people Year of birth missing (living people)