Episode 28: The Monk beyond Perfection: Swami Sarvapriyananda ji

The Mindful Initiative

Swami Sarvapriyananda Ji

Welcome to Episode 28 of The Mindful Initiative Podcast with Swami Sarvapriyananda ji, the current resident Swami and head of Vedanta Society of New York (VSNY). He is a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. I have been extremely blessed to meet many spiritual teachers on my life journey. Each person has helped me move along on my path forward – however, there are times when you meet someone who becomes a guiding force in your life – and Swami Sarvapriyananda ji is one of those teachers in my life. I am sure that I am not the only one who feels that way about Swami ji.

Fortune India mentions Sarvapriyananda as “one of the best-known lecturers of the Vedanta in the world today”. In this episode, I speak to Swami ji’s about the highest goal of life and the challenges one may face on the spiritual path. Swami ji’s profound wisdom is nourishment for any soul who is looking to overcome challenges in life. (For the transcription of the podcast, please click the link below).

Here is the link to the research paper titled, Why Pray to God who can Hear the Ant’s Anklets? Prayer, Freedom and Karma by Dr. Arindam Chakrabarti on Freewill mentioned by Swami ji in the podcast.

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About Swami Sarvapriyanada ji

Swami ji joined the Ramakrishna Order of monks as a novice brahmachari in 1994 and received sannyasa (monastic ordination) from Swami Ranganathananda in 2004. Swami ji is known for his lectures on the various texts of Advaita Vedanta. His speaking engagements have included discourses at the Rubin Museum in New York City, the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, and the Parliament of World’s Religions as one of the keynote speakers. He has been a Nagral Fellow for the year 2019-20 at Harvard Divinity School.

Swami Sarvapriyananda ji received his Masters in Business Administration from Xavier Institute of Management in Bhubaneswar. After joining the Ramakrishna Mission as a brahmachari, he served as the principal of the Shikshana Mandira Teacher’s Training College in Belur Math. He was also the first registrar of the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University. Prior to joining the Vedanta Society of New York, Swami was the assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California for a year.