Swami Sharanananda

Swami Sharanananda hails from Puri in Orissa. Being inspired by Pujya Gurudev H.H. Swami Chinmayanandji, he joined the two year brahmachari training course in Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, in the year 1986. He was trained by H.H. Swami Tejomayanandaji. He was given Brahmachari Diksha in 1988 and became Br. Sharana Chaitanya. He has served Chinmaya Mission centers in Anugul, Rourkela and Calcutta. He has been the resident Acharya at Chinmaya Mission Chicago since March 1993.

On July 9, 1995 he was initiated into Sannyasa Diksha by H.H. Swami Tejomayanandaji and became Swami Sharanananda.He conducts yogasana and other scriptural classes during Chinmaya Mission family camps in America and Canada. Swamiji likes to be with children. He places great importance on value based living.

Because of Swamiji’s dedication to Pujya Gurudev and his selfless service to Chinmaya Mission Chicago, the center has not only thrived, but has expanded to serve the spiritual needs of many neighboring communities. Yamunotri in Graylake, IL and NW Indiana center in Munster, IN are prime examples of the growth that CMC has experienced within the past several years. Swamiji periodically travels to the neighboring states of Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan to conduct camps for children and discourses for adults. Swamiji’s loving and humble personality is a great source of inspiration to all that come in contact with him. His joyful exuberance and enthusiasm is contagious and uplifting to all that come in contact with him.

shri Dhiren Khatri

Shri Dhiren Khatri was born and raised in Mumbai, India. He came to the U.S. as a child with his family and completed his high school and university studies here. After working for three years, he experienced a sense of discontentment that led him to seek a higher, more fulfilling purpose than a routine life of labor.

With an intensified longing to know more about God, Hindu scriptures, and Vedantic philosophy, Dhirenji soon learned of an opportunity to fulfill all these needs. So he left to join the two-year course of study at ‘Sandeepany Sadhanalaya’ in Mumbai, India. There, under the guidance of Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda, under Swami Advayananda, he studied the resident course acharya, and Swami Sharanananda, the resident upacharya. On the successful completion of the Vedanta Course in 2013, he became spiritual leader at Chinmaya Mission Chicago centers. He currently conducts Vedanta classes at Chinmaya Gangotri.