The 19th Vedanta Course was commenced on Makara Sankranti, 15 January 2024. The Mukhya Acharya for the Course is Swami Swaroopananda, the Global Head of Chinmaya Mission, and the Resident Acharya is Swami Advayananda. The two year residential Vedanta Course, being conducted at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Powai, Mumbai, provides an ideal opportunity for all those who want to learn, live, practice and share the Vedanta way of life.

Swami Chinmayananda conceived the idea of a ‘modern-day Gurukula’ to teach the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta to young men and women who would then take the knowledge back to their community. His vision was to build a group of full-time, well-educated, trained missionaries, without worldly ambitions or vested interests — brave and courageous — who were willing to leave personal ties and concerns behind, for a life of surrender to the Divine through service to mankind.

All Vedanta institutes in the Chinmaya Mission are called ‘Sandeepany.’ This was the name selected by Swami Chinmayananda, after the name of Lord Krishna’s Guru – Rishi Sandeepany. The word ‘Sandeepany’ itself means ‘That which illumines.’ Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, was the first residential academy of Advaita Vedanta that opened its doors to the initial batch of 30 students in 1963. Swami Chinmayananda’s disciples became Acharyas of the many successive Vedanta Courses at seven Sandeepany Sadhanalayas, setting in motion a multiplier effect with hundreds of students graduating over more than fifty years.

What happens after the course? The purpose of the residential Vedanta Course is to provide an ideal opportunity for all those who want to learn Vedanta, live the life of a seeker and share with society. In this two-year Course, students withdraw fully from worldly life and follow a disciplined schedule of classes and activities in an Ashram setting to promote learning, reflection and contemplation. Thereafter, they are encouraged to work in the field as missionaries, sharing the knowledge and serving society, although this is not a stipulation for joining the Course.

To read more on the Gurukula way of life at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, click here.

Curriculum
Swami Chinmayananda envisioned a programme of study for the Vedanta Course, with the twin objectives of developing both the head and the heart of the student. It is in tune with this objective, that the two-year, intensive Advaita Vedanta curriculum is standardised. Traditional in its teaching methodology, its exhaustive focus is on Prasthana-trayi – the primary triad of the Hindu scriptures.

For details on the curriculum, visit this link.