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Swami Sarvadevananda, the minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India. He lived near Belur Math from 1960 onward and thus had the opportunity to come into contact with many monks who had been initiated by Holy Mother, Swami Brahmananda, Swami Shivananda, and other direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna.
Swami was initiated by Swami Shankarananda, the 7th President of the Order, in 1961 and joined the monastery at Belur Math, near Kolkata, in 1965. For the next two decades, he served at the Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, a major educational institution adjacent to Belur Math. At Saradapitha, he managed the Teachers’ Training Institution (1965–70), the undergraduate degree college (1972–73), the Industrial School and the Production and Publication Department (1973–80), and various technical training schools (1980–87), such as the Polytechnic and the Vocational Training School (for both secondary and higher secondary levels).
He was in the Brahmachari Training Center from 1970 to 1972. In 1971, he had the privilege of serving at a refugee camp in Ratabari, Assam, which supported 14,000 people affected by the Bangladesh war.
He was a member of the Exhibition Committees of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission Convention in 1980, and the Youth Convention in 1985, where he played a major role in organizing and setting up the extensive exhibitions that laid the foundation for today’s Saradapitha museum.
Swami became the head of the Ramakrishna Mission at Sikra, the holy birthplace of Swami Brahmananda, in 1988. While there, he initiated literacy and health programs—such as polio vaccination, cataract surgery, free health check-ups, and the distribution of medicines—for hundreds of underprivileged villagers, both nearby and from distant areas. He also performed relief and rehabilitation work, including building homes for local tribal communities who had lost their shelters due to natural disasters.
In 1993, Swami Sarvadevananda was posted to the Vedanta Society of Southern California to serve as assistant minister under Swami Swahananda. He was appointed the minister and spiritual leader of the Society in 2012.
In addition to his regular lectures and classes, Swami Sarvadevananda frequently addressed schools, colleges, and religious groups throughout Southern California and other parts of the United States whenever invited. He represented the Vedanta Society as a delegate on the Interreligious Council of Southern California and participated in the Hindu-Catholic and Hindu-Episcopal Dialogues of Los Angeles. He also served as one of the directors of the Hindu Students’ Organization at USC.
Currently, Swami continues to offer regular lectures and classes at the Hollywood center and its five sub-centers. He is the co-chair of the National Hindu-Christian Dialogue and sits on the Advisory Council of the Guibord Center. He also serves as the Minister-in-Charge of the Vedanta centers in Houston and Ridgely, and as the spiritual director of nine private Vedanta centers across the U.S. He provides spiritual guidance to several Vedanta Study Circles and continues to travel throughout the country, spreading the message of Vedanta wherever invited. Swami’s enthusiasm for spiritual life and large-heartedness toward all who cross his path is unending and is greatly cherished in the United States.

In March 1989, Swami Prapannananda was sent to America to become the Assistant Minister of the Vedanta Society of Sacramento. After finishing his academic education at the University of Calcutta and working for sometime in an engineering firm, he joined the Ramakrishna Order. An initiated disciple of Swami Vireswarananda, the tenth president of the Ramakrishna Order, he received his final monastic vows from him on 1976.
Immediately after joining, Swami was sent to Rajkot in Gujarat State where he spent twenty years of his monastic life as an important worker in various fields of the center including temple service, relief and rehabilitation, publication and book sales, dispensary and library work. He spent two years in Belur Math for scriptural studies.

He was sent to the Vedanta Society of Sacramento in 1989 as the Assistant Minister and became the Minister and Teacher in 1996. After the passing away of Swami Shraddhananda in July 1996, he was appointed Minister and Teacher of The Vedanta Society of Sacramento. He provides spiritual guidance and conducts discourses and lectures on various philosophical topics, including “Meditation in Daily Life,” “Why Rituals,” and “Life and Teachings of Lord Krishna”. He has also given classes at institutions such as UC Berkeley and Stanford University.

Swami Ishatmananda, a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission, got associated with the holy order at the Ramakrishna Mission, Cherrapunji, Meghalaya. The 10th President of the Order, Srimat Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj blessed him by initiation.
He was attached with Advaita Ashrama (Kolkata) an English publication center of the Ramakrishna order for 12 years and was bestowed with Sanyasa in 1986 by Srimat Swami Gambhiranandaji Maharaj, the 11th President of the Order.
He has worked at the well-known educational institution of the Ramakrishna Mission in Purulia, West-Bengal. He has redered his services at time of natural calamities in Assam, West Bengal, and Orissa.
Swamiji is the Founder Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission, Port Blair, Andaman Islands, where he built a home for the destitute and orphans. He constructed two huge buildings, Jnana Mandir and Karma Mandir, housing a national-level competitive examination coaching center and a vocational center, respectively.
Swami Ishatmananda was also the principal-cum-Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission School, Narottam Nagar, Tirap, Arunachal Pradesh. An educational institution situated in the deep jungle of Tirap district, it basically runs on the “gurukul system” with four English medium schools. More than 500 Arunachali tribal students, from Class I to Class XII, stay in the ashrama under the guidance of the sanyasins. It has a 20 bed-hospital “Swasti” and a “Vishwakarma Vidyalaya”, where tribal girls receive vocational training.
Swami Ishatmananda was the Vice-President of the Uttar-Purbanchal Ramakrishna Vivekananda Bhava Prachar Parishad which has 59 centers all over Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Manipur.

He has written many articles that have been published in Ramakrishna Mission journals and other journals as well. He has given discourses on the Bhagavad Gita in different parts of Assam, extensively traveled different places of India, attended seminars and delivered lectures at colleges, universities, and devotee congregations on spiritual ideals and ideologies.
Advaita Ashram, Kolkata has published his discourses on the Bhagavad Gita also his translation of Swami Budhananda’s book “The mind and its control” into Bengali.

Swami Ishatmananda came to Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago and took charge as the President on March 4th 2013. Under his leadership the society observed 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda through different programs held in 2013. The most important was held in November 2013. He organized “Chicago Calling” ‐ a historic five-day long program. The main event was held at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago ‐ the spot where Swamiji had stayed for two weeks during the 1893 Parliament of World’s Religions. Along with the traditional methods, he is utilizing electronic media to spread the message Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta. He is the Hindu Religious Adviser at the University of Chicago. Currently, Swami Ishatmananda gives weekly lectures and classes, conducts spiritual retreats and attends various programs across the United States at the invitation of devotees and other organizations.

Swami Ishtananda, joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1976 and received his sannyasa ordination in 1986. While in India, the swami served in the educational institutions of the Ramakrishna Mission, primarily at the Vidya Mandir College, Belur Math; at Cherrapunji, Meghalaya; and at Along, Arunachal Pradesh.
In February 2000, Swami Ishtananda was posted to the Vedanta Society of Southern California as Assistant Minister, and was responsible for managing the San Diego branch of the Society. During the eight years of his ministry in Southern California, Swami Ishtananda conducted weekly services at the monastery, served as an active member of inter-religious councils, and was invited to address students at various organizations and educational institutions.
In December 2007 Swami Ishtananda was posted as the Minister and Spiritual Head of the Vedanta Center of St. Petersburg, Florida, the newest branch of the Ramakrishna Order in North America. The Center has shown signs of rapid organic growth under his leadership. As head of this center, the swami gives lectures and classes at the St. Petersburg, Florida branch as well as to other devotee.

Swami Yogatmananda joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1976. He received his monastic vows in 1986. After being at Ramakrishna Math Center at Nagpur, India for 20 years, he was posted as the Head of Ramakrishna Mission, Shillong, Meghalaya, India. He came to United States in the summer of 2001 as the Minister of the Vedanta Society of Providence.

Swami Yogatmananda’s present responsibilities include conducting Sunday service, weekly study classes and organizing spiritual retreats. He is invited to preach Vedanta at different places in the United States. He also serves as the Hindu Religious Affiliate at the Brown University, Providence, RI and the Hindu Chaplain at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA.

Swami Tyagananda joined the Ramakrishna Order at the monastery in Mumbai in 1976 after graduating from the University of Mumbai in India. He received spiritual instruction (mantra-dīkṣā) from Holy Mother’s disciple Swami Vireswarananda.
Besides Mumbai (1976–80), Tyagananda served in the monasteries at Belur Math (1980–82), New Delhi (1982–83) and Chennai (1983–1997) and was sent to the Boston branch of the Order in 1998. He is the Hindu chaplain at Harvard and MIT since 1999 and head of the Vedanta Society in Boston since 2002.
Swami Tyagananda was editor of the English journal Vedanta Kesari for 11 years (1986–97) and has written, translated and edited fourteen books. He writes a monthly blog and his talks are available as audio podcasts. He has presented papers at academic conferences and he gives lectures and classes at the Vedanta Society as well as at MIT, Harvard and, on invitation, other colleges and religious groups in North America.

Swami Kripamayananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and the current head of the Vedanta Society of Toronto. He joined the Order in 1976 and took his final monastic vows in 1986.
Before coming to North America, Swami Kripamayananda had a notable career within the Ramakrishna Mission’s educational institutions in India. This included serving as a teacher, house master, and Superintendent of Hostels at the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapeeth, Purulia, and later as the Headmaster of the High School in Asansol.
In July 2003, he became the Assistant Minister of the Vedanta Society of Toronto, and later the same year was appointed its head. He has also lectured and conducted retreats in various Vedanta centers across Canada and the US.
His teachings often focus on the principles of Vedanta philosophy, including the interconnectedness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of all religions. He has given lectures on various topics related to spirituality, including the power of faith, spiritual life, and overcoming difficulties. Some of his lectures are available online, including recordings from the Vedanta Society of Sacramento and the Vedanta Society of Toronto.

Swami Tattwamayananda is currently the Minister of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, (originally founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900). He underwent traditional training in Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit, Vedic and Vedantic literature for many years, from his early days. He served in various centers of the Ramakrishna Order in India as editor, publisher, and teacher of Sanskrit, Advaitic texts such as Sri Shankaracharya’s commentaries on the ‘Prasthanatraya’ (the fundamental Sanskrit texts of Vedanta philosophy), Buddhism and Indian philosophy. Before coming to the United States in January, 2012 he was teaching Sanskrit, Vedantic scriptures and Indian philosophy at the Training centre in Belur Math, the institution that trains the monks of the Ramakrishna Order at the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata, India. Apart from his traditional education the Swami has also received modern University education in English literature, psychology, European history and western philosophy. He is frequently invited for lectures on Yoga, Vedanta, and traditional Hindu scriptures and for participating in interfaith dialogues.

Swami Prasannatmananda is a fully ordained monk of the Ramakrishna Order, India and currently serves as Swami-in-Charge of Vedanta Society Berkeley, California, USA. He received his Sannyasa vows in 1995 from the twelfth President of the Order, Rev. Swami Bhuteshananda. As a monk, Swami Prasannatmananda has been serving numerous centers of the Ramakrishna Order in various capacities, primarily in the field of instruction, educational initiatives, research projects, as well as performing administrative duties. In India, he served at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira College, Ranchi, Morabadi, and at the Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata. Swami Prasannatmananda came to the United States in 2011 as Assistant Swami at the Berkeley Center and assumed its leadership in 2014. 
Swami Prasannatmananda’s years of service are dedicated to spiritual practice, religious worship, scriptural studies, delivering lectures, counseling, writing articles and conducting congregational prayer and meditation. He conducts spiritual discourses and theological lectures on a regular basis and participates in invited talks, conferences, and interfaith seminars. He offers classes and lectures on a variety of philosophical topics, some of them at esteemed institutions such as Hindu Studies, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, UC Berkeley, Dominican School of Religions, Pacific School of Religions, Stanford University, Parliament of World Religions etc. He was interviewed by several radio and TV programs by various channels like ‘The Yoga Hour of Unity’, Stanford 90.1 FM, and IND TV. He authored articles on eastern philosophy and religion, such as ‘Swami Vivekananda’s Views on Buddhist Monasticism’, ‘Role of Spirituality in Health’ and ‘The Great Women in Hindu Scriptures and Holy Mother’ etc.

Swami Chandrashekharananda’s appointment as Swami-in-Charge began on January 1, 2016, following a warm welcome by Swami Aparananda and devotees on December 29, 2015. Before coming to the Portland center, he spent 10 years as assistant minister at the Vedanta Centre in Sydney, Australia, and its branch centers. His spiritual journey started in 1977 when he joined the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission in Lucknow, where he served in various roles until 2001. He then served at Ramakrishna Mission Sevapratishthan, a hospital Center , in Kolkata for two years before moving to Belur Math and eventually to Australia.
Swami Chandrashekharananda’s teachings emphasize the unity underlying the diversity of the universe, highlighting that all religions and expressions are essentially various paths to the same Supreme Reality.

The current President and Minister-in-Charge is Swami Satyamayananda. He joined the Ramakrishna Order at Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, India, in 1988. An initiated disciple of Most Revered Swami Bhuteshananda (12th President of the Order), he served in various capacities at Advaita Ashrama. In 2008, he joined the Probationers’ Training Center, Belur Math, as an Acharya (teacher).
In 2010, the Swami was posted to Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, to serve as Editor of Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India, an English-language magazine of the Ramakrishna Order started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896.
In 2014, he was appointed as the Head of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Kanpur, India. He joined the Vedanta Society of Southern California as Assistant Minister in December of 2018. In 2022 he was assigned as Assistant Minister to the Vedanta Society of Western Washington, Seattle.

Swami Sarvapriyananda has been the Minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of New York since January 2017. He joined the Ramakrishna Math in 1994 and received sannyasa in 2004. He served as an acharya (teacher) of the monastic probationers’ training center at Belur Math, India. He also served in various capacities in different educational institutes of the Ramakrishna Mission in India and as the Assistant Minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California.
During 2019-2020 he was a Nagral Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School.
Swami Sarvapriyananda is a well-known speaker on Vedanta and his talks are extremely popular globally via the internet. He has been a speaker on various prestigious forums such as TEDx, SAND, Google Talk etc. He has also been invited to speak at several universities across the world, including Harvard University. The swami has engaged in dialogue with many eminent thinkers such as Deepak Chopra, Rupert Spira, Rick Archer, David Chalmers and Sam Harris.
He has played a prominent role in organizing and participating in various interfaith panels and seminars, including speaking at the World Parliament of Religions in Toronto in 2018, and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Learn more in Conversations.
Some of Swami Sarvapriyananda’s popular talks have been compiled into e-books – “Who am I?”, “What is Vedanta?” and “Dissolve into Infinity” are currently available on Amazon Kindle.

Pravrajika Brahmaprana is a member of the Sarada Convent in Southern California since 1973 and an ordained nun or sannyasini of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. In 2008 she was posted as the resident minister at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of North Texas.

Pravrajika Brahmaprana has been a Vedanta representative of the Hindu-Catholic Dialog sponsored by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as well as interfaith councils and initiatives in Dallas-Fort Worth, a frequent guest lecturer at schools and colleges in America, and has participated in interfaith and scholastic seminars in America and abroad.
Brahmaprana has compiled and edited several books on Vedanta, including The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 9; Vivekacudamani of Sri Sankaracarya, translated by Swami Turiyananda; and With the Swamis in America and India. She has also written numerous articles on the philosophy and practice of Vedanta for journals and anthologies in America and abroad.
During Brahmaprana’s 40 years of monastic life, she has enjoyed speaking before students—from middle school to post-graduate levels—on Hinduism and its Vedanta philosophy. Baptized and raised in the Episcopal Church, she first learned about Vedanta in the late 1960s, through a Comparative Religions course at Occidental College in Los Angeles. After visiting the Vedanta Temple in Hollywood, she later joined the Vedanta Convent in Santa Barbara, where she spent most of her monastic life.

Pravrajika Vrajaprana is a sannyasini or pravrajika (female swami) at the Vedanta Society of Southern California, affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order. She resides at Sarada Convent in Santa Barbara, California and a writer on Vedanta, the history and growth of the Vedanta Societies.
She is also a well-known speaker and scholar on Hinduism and she speaks frequently at colleges, universities and interfaith gatherings and is the Hindu chaplain at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. Her works on Vedanta include, Vedanta: A Simple Introduction (1999), editor of Living Wisdom (1994). She is the co-author, with Swami Tyagananda, of Interpreting Ramakrishna: Kali’s Child Revisited (2010).
She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she also worked briefly as Associate Professor of Literature. She came in contact with Swami Prabhavananda at the Vedanta Society of Santa Barbara in 1967, while involved with anti-Vietnam war activism. In 1977 she joined the Sarada Convent in Santa Barbara. She took the first vows of brahmacharya in 1983 and had final vows of sannyasa in 1988.
Vrajaprana was a co-speaker with the 14th Dalai Lama at the Interfaith Conference in San Francisco (2006). She was a panelist in the discussion on Interpreting Ramakrishna at DANAM, held at the annual AAR meeting 2010.

Pravrajika Virajaprana has been a member of the convent of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco since 1972. She serves the Society in various capacities, including giving lectures in San Francisco and other US centers. She contributes articles to the Ramakrishna Order’s journals and researched, compiled, and edited the book Photographs of Swami Vivekananda.

Brahmachārinī Jyoti Chaitanya is a graduate of the 17th batch Vedānta Course, Sāndeepany Mumbai, conducted under the loving guidance of Pūjya Swāmi Swaroopānandajī and under the masterful tutelage of Pūjya Swāmi Bodhātmānadajī.
It became apparent to Jyotijī at an early age, that we had become ‘patients of life’, faced with the seemingly incurable ‘disease of the mind’. In her investigation of this condition, she was lead to the halls of Chinmaya Mission where, in the company of fellow CHYKs and under the guidance of Pūjya Swāmi Prakashānandajī, via various books and discourses of Parama Pūjya Gurudev, she came to discover that a possible cure might exist.
The conclusion was drawn that, if there was a spiritual science which could master this plague of the mind, then good sense dictated that efforts be redirected into this pursuit. Thus this initial curiosity rapidly grew into an outright mission to discover ‘The Truth’, and a willingness to do whatever it took to do so.
Migrating to Bhārata Mātā in mid-2017, and having been exposed to the Masters of Advaita philosophy for 2 years at Sāndeepany, the humbling experience translated into an unwavering and immeasurable gratitude to Paramparā which could only be fulfilled by a dedicated life of service, in the spirit of sannyāsa. And so, Brahmacharia Dīksa was bestowed by Mukhya Swāmijī, in the presence of Pūjya Gurujī on Mahatma Gāndhi Jayanti 2019.
Thus began the, now formally sanctified, journey of this spiritual sādhaka. Having left behind one life of service to the people through karma yoga as a medical practitioner with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, to now embrace a life of seva to humanity through jñāna mārga, Jyotijī’s spiritual evolution continues to unfold through her passion for sharing and living our ancient and sacred śāstras.


Jyotijī currently serves at Chinmaya Mission Atlanta and formerly at Trinidad & Tobago, conducting satsangs and study groups, as well as assisting in the formulation of a standardized Value Education Syllabus to be implemented across all the Chinmaya Vidyālaya High Schools. She also facilitates online study groups and training for other centers in the USA and global initiatives through CMW.