Meet A Guru: Swami Sukhabodhananda

Swami Sukhabodhananda is a modern-day guru who follows a model closer to a motivational corporate speaker than a traditional guru. He addresses businesses and conferences to speak on Hindu philosophy.

Background

As a young man he was a student of Swami Chinmayananda, founder of Chinmaya Mission, which is an organization I have been part of and liked a lot. He was born in Bangalore to a Kannada-speaking family in 1955.

Teaching

He gives the message of the Gita and other Hindu philosophy in easy to digest ways and is part of a movement towards greater spirituality in modern workplaces. It seems he also acknowledges the many spiritual branches in the world and how they can work together to maximize self-cultivation.

The psychology of a wise man is seeing one in the many. Seeing unity in diversity. The waves many be many but the oceanic water is one. Names and forms are different but the essence is one. Chains are different but the gold is the same. –http://www.swamisukhabodhananda.org/index.php?page=message

Many of his talks can be downloaded from Amazon here: Speeches

You can also get a sense of his teachings by watching him on YouTube:

Along with workshops, talks, and books, he has founded some charitable organizations and a foundation to focus on the scientific side of meditation.

Criticism

Even Guruphiliac, the site that I have found to have the most critical eye on gurus, doesn’t have anything terrible to say about him. It pretty much comes across as “Mostly Harmless.”

My Experience

I had not heard of him before. Though I am wary of the “slickness” of corporate speakers who process deep philosophy into digestible bite-sized chunks, this fellow comes across as very likable. I intend to listen to more of his talks on YouTube!

Learn More

Some of his books:

* I am not endorsing any of the teachers highlighted in this feature

Meet a Guru: Swami Sukhabodhananda