Swami Chinamayananda Known as Balakrishnan, he was born of noble parents at Ernakulam (Kerala) on the 8th of May, 1917. The rigidity of the family daily routine of worship, lasting for quite a few hours, became part and parcel of the mental and moral make-up of the young lad. And, added to this, he had the rare chance of coming under the influence of his family-Gurus who were saintly souls. Right from young age he had the inquiring mind which critically questioned everything. He was equally brilliant in his studies and emerged out of the Lucknow University as a Master of Arts. Like many of the highly learned youths who find themselves in a dilemma as to what to do with life when they come out of the universities, Balakrishnan too was assailed by doubts with conflicting ideologies. But providence guided him properly; he studied the great works of Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo and others, and found his way to his Master, Swami Sivananda.

Swami Tejomayananda is fulfilling the vision that Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda started. As he puts it "I am not in Swamiji's shoes, I am at his feet." He was introduced to Vedanta early in his life. Coming under the benign influence of Pujya Gurudev, H.H.Swami Chinmayananda, he learnt, absorbed and started living the message of the scriptures that his master so vociferously advocated. An accomplished and internationally recognised scholar, Vedantic knowledge for decades through lectures, Swami Tejomayananda has been spreading seminars and spiritual retreats. He has been the Acharya at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in India and the USA.

Fluent in Sanskirt, Swamiji is the author of original Sanskirt compositions as well. He has written commentaries on scriptural texts, translated Swami Chinmayananda's commentaries into Hindi, and authored a number of books. A key contribution is: Hindu Culture - An Introduction, a text acclaimed for its clear description of the basics of Hinduism and adopted as a text in some American high schools. Swamiji's discourses on the Holy Geeta, Ramayana and Srimad Bhagavatam draw a huge crowd of devotees. Swami Tejomayananda excels in expounding a wide spectrum of Hindu scriptures, from Ramayana to the Bhagvad Geeta Srimad Bhagavatam and the Upanishads, the source book of Vedanta. He conducts Jnana yajnas -- lecture series on Vedanta. His discourses, satsang and bhajans reveal his knowledge has depth of wisdom.

As he moves around the world at a bewildering pace His easy manner and devotional rendering of Vedantic texts has drawn many newcomers into the spiritual fold. His melodious voice has devotion. Extremely humane and approachable, he has never closed the doors to anyone who has sought his or advice. His conviction is simple - to fortify, strengthen and actualise the vision of his master - that of restoring the moral and cultural dignity of our ancient heritage. He takes very keen interest in the Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya. He is actively participating in the selection of students, on design of course curriculum, imparting knowledge to the students on important texts, interacting with the students by periodical meetings with them and the Acharya.

Swami Dheerananda is a young and dynamic disciple who, in wit and wisdom, is evidently cast in the mold of his spiritual master, Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda. Swami Dheerananda was literally born in the lap of Chinmaya culture. He hails from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Responding to the call of the master, he underwent the 1984-1986 brahmachari training course at 'Sandeepany Sadhanalaya' in Mumbai under the instruction of Pujya Swami Tejomayananda. Under the divine guidance of Pujya Gurudev, he underwent austere tapas at Uttarakashi in the Himalayas' the austere abode of Param Pujya Swami Tapovan Maharaj, the guru of Pujya Swami Chinmayananda.

Thereafter Swamiji served CM in India, conducting many jnana yajnas. In 1989 Pujya Gurudev posted him as the resident acharya of Chinmaya Mission Washington (DC) Regional Center (CMWRC). Since then, Swamiji has been serving CM centers in the US and Canada.

Swami Dheerananda is the last disciple directly initiated into sannyasa by Pujya Gurudev. He received sannyasa diksha on May 23, 1993. In 1993, Swamiji addressed the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, where the distinguished audience gave him a standing ovation. As a teacher Swamiji lives the Chinmaya tradition

Vilasiniji and her family organized Swami Chinmayananda's first yajna in Washington DC in 1978, and started DC's first Chinmaya study group. Vilasiniji served Chinmaya Mission in Flint, Michigan until 1980, where she taught Bala Vihar, Sanskrit, Vedanta, and Devi group classes. She also organized study groups and Bala Vihar in Chicago and California. From 1981-1984, Vilasiniji had the great honor of being Swami Chinmayananda's personal assistant, traveling with Gurudev to all his yajnas, videotaping his talks, and performing secretarial duties.

In 1984 she was assigned as Editor-in-Chief of the Mananam publication series. In 1986 Vilasiniji and her husband moved to Washington DC. Both of them were the founding Board members of CMWRC in 1989.

In 1989, Swami Chinmayananda placed Vilasiniji on the Board of Chinmaya Mission West (CMW). In 1991 he named her as CMW's Executive Secretary. She is presently CMWRC's acharya for adult Vedanta classes and Bala Vihar Program Director, in which there are over 30 dedicated teachers imparting spiritual values to over 200 children every weekend.

A native of Nepal, Pramilaji acquired an M.A in Economics and a Ph.D in resource economics from a prestigious American university. After graduation, she worked for the federal government in Washington D.C. as a research scientist for several years. Taking early retirement from her career a couple of years ago, Pramilaji did not waste any time before enrolling in the two-year Brahmachari course at Sandheepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, under the guidance of Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji.

Now that Pramilaji has completed this course, we are indeed very fortunate to have her designated by Guruji as the Acharya of the Springfield chapter.

Acharya Pramilaji is back home and the members of the Springfield are certain to feel at home also with their new Acharya as she does what she does best- teach Vedanta.

     He has an in depth understanding of the needs and ambitions of our members. He holds an undergraduate engineering degree from IIT, Madras and graduate degrees in Engineering and Business Administration from Texas. Anant ji has extensive experience in teaching in US universities and in financial administration for not-for-profit organizations.

His association with the Mission began when he first attended Gurudev's Yajna in 1981 in Houston. When he moved to the Washington DC area in 1989,he pioneered our Mission activities in Baltimore, MD.

A serious student of Vedanta and one of the key sevaks of the Mission, Anant ji has served as a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees of CMWRC. He has played a leading role in building a strong foundation for the growth of CMWRC in the areas of finance and administration. He has organized some of Gurudev's Camps and Yajnas in the Washington DC area and has conducted Vedanta classes for our groups in Baltimore and Frederick, MD. Anant ji studied Sanskrit at and also served the Chinmaya International Foundation. His rigorous studies and sadhanas under the guidance of Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji will no doubt be a great asset to CMWRC.

He has conducted several two-day Memorial Day spiritual camps at Chinmayam in the past: Upadesasara of Bhagavan Ramana, Dakshinamurthy stotram of Shankara, Advaita Makaranda of Lakshmidhara kavi, Mandukya aagama prakarana and Sadvidya of Chandogya.  He has also conducted several Vedanta classes in Northern Virginia.

 Dr. Sadananda has been inducted into the Chinmaya Mission Acharya Fellowship by Swami Tejomayananda (Guruji) during the 16th Mahasamadhi Family Camp in Toronto (Jul-Aug 2009).  The title Acharya is typically given to individuals that go through the Gurukula style, two year long Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya.  However, Guruji made an exception for Dr. Sadananda.