1. Swami Swahananda was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and the minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California from 1976 to 2012.
10 Facts About Swami Swahananda
1. 2.
Swami Swahananda led the Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, and the Vedanta Center of Greater Washington, DC Swami Swahananda joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1947 and received sannyasa, full monastic ordination, in 1956.
3.
Swami Swahananda was born on 29 June 1921 in a village near Habiganj in British India, now in Bangladesh, the youngest of three boys.
4.
Swami Swahananda received initiation in February 1937 from Swami Vijnanananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, and subsequently joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1947.
5.
Swami Swahananda remained a lecturer at the Vidyamandir at Belur Math for two years, before being sent to the Ramakrishna Math, Madras.
6.
Swami Swahananda was ordained a brahmacharin in 1952, and was called Brahmachari Durgachaitanya.
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Swami Swahananda received sannyasa, full ordination, in 1956, from Swami Shankarananda.
8.
Swami Swahananda came to the United States on 5 August 1968, to be the Assistant Minister of the San Francisco Vedanta Society, where he served for two years; later he was appointed head of the Vedanta Society of Berkeley, California, where he stayed for six years.
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Swami Swahananda supervised the Vedanta Society of Greater Washington, DC, since 1997, and Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, since 1998.
10.
Swami Swahananda ji died on 19 October 2012, at the age of 91 at 2:52 pm, PST.