Swami Mukundananda (born December 19, 1960) is a spiritual leader, best selling author, Vedic scholar, and authority on mind management. He is the founder of JKYog (

Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog (JKYog) is a spiritual and charitable non-profit organization in United States. It was founded by Swami Mukundananda (in 2009), a senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. JKYog works for physical, mental, ...

) India, a non-profit organization based in

Cuttack, Odisha Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia language, Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' w ...

and JKYog, a nonprofit organization based in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, which offers a unique Yogic system, also known as Yoga for the Body, Mind and Soul."IITian swamijis? Meet the unusual engineers Anshuman Mishra (B.Tech-CSE) & Shantanu Nandan Sharma"
''The Economic Times'', Oct 2, 2011

Biography

Early life and education

As a child, Swami Mukundananda spent long hours in meditation and contemplation."The Saint and the Sciences"
/ref>"IITian swamijis? Meet the unusual engineers Anshuman Mishra (B.Tech-CSE) & Shantanu Nandan Sharma"
''The Economic Times'', Oct 2, 2011 He received a postgraduate degree from the

IIM Calcutta Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM Calcutta or IIM-C) is a public business school located in Joka, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was the first Indian Institute of Management to be established, and has been recognized as an Institu ...

. Afterwards, he joined the order of

Sannyas ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...

," Swami Mukundananda Enlightens Devotees through Lecture Series Across America"
''Indo American News'', August 2, 2012. dedicating his time to devotional pursuits and travelled throughout India as a Sanyasi. Under the guidance of

guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, Mukundananda studied the

Vedic scriptures upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

JKYog

Teachings and philosophy

Swami Mukundananda formulated JKYog, a system of yoga that incorporates elements of both

Hatha yoga Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...

and

Bhakti yoga Bhakti yoga ( sa, भक्ति योग), also called Bhakti marga (, literally the path of ''Bhakti''), is a spiritual path or spiritual practice within Hinduism focused on loving devotion towards any personal deity.Karen Pechelis (2014), ...

,"US Tour"
http://www.prweb.com/ and founded a nonprofit organization of the same name to promote the practice throughout the United States and India."Monthly Archives: July 2013: The Swami and the mayor"
Deborah Fleck, Staff Writer, July 23, 2013. ''Irving Blog, the Dallas News''. JKYog is headquartered at the Radha Krishna Temple in

Allen, Texas Allen is a city in Collin County in the U.S. state of Texas, and a northern suburb of Dallas. According to the 2020 U.S. census its population was 104,627, up from 84,246 in 2010. Allen is located approximately twenty miles (32.2 km) north ...

. In May 2020, Swami Mukundananda launched the expansion of JKYog activities beyond USA to many major cities across the globe. Swami Mukundananda is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

and advocates a non-flesh diet to facilitate spiritual growth. He has been invited to speak at various institutions namely

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

Yahoo Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center,

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, MIT,

Kellogg School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...

and

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Temples and Congregation centres

Swami Mukundananda travels to many cities in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and India every year to conduct week-long programs that incorporate yoga sessions,

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

sessions and spiritual discourses. He has founded the Radha Krishna temple of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Jagadguru Kripalu University

The government of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

approved the Jagadguru Kripalu University in April 2018. Swami Mukundananda is the president of the university, which is presently under construction. In the first phase, the university will offer higher learning in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

Naturopathy Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of pseudoscientific practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturop ...

, Health Administration,

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

and Comparative Religion.

Recent engagement

Due to the COVID-19 situation, in 2020 Swami Mukundananda conducted an online event to celebrate the

International Day of Yoga The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated across the world annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice which originated in ...

(June 20–26, 2020), where over 100 sessions were organized including

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

pranayama Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, '' prana'' means "vital life force", and ''yama'' means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with ''prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the '' prana'' ''sha ...

, holistic health, health and wellness seminars and workshops. Swami Mukundananda was distinguished speaker at his alma mater

IIT Delhi The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi is a public institute of technology located in New Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 IITs created to be Centres of Excellence for training, research and development in science, engineering and technolo ...

for Diamond jubilee celebrations. Swami Mukundananda Ji, was one of the speakers in

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

Summit (from 10th - 14th December 2021) during

Gita Jayanti Gita Mahotsav or Gita Jayanti is an event centred around the ''Bhagvad Gita, Bhagavad Gita'', celebrated on the Paksha, Shukla Ekadashi, the 11th day of the waxing moon of the Margashirsha (''Agrahayan'') month of the Hindu calendar. It is bel ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, US along with other notable personalities such as Dr. Menas Kafatos, Mr. Shiv Khera,

Kiran Bedi Kiran Bedi (born 9 June 1949) is an Indian social activist, former-tennis player who became the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972 and was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 2 ...

, Brahmacharini Gloria Arieira, Dantu Muralikrishna and others.

The Science of Mind Management

In 2020, Swami Mukundananda authored his second book on mind management, called ''The Science of Mind Management''. It explains that the quality of our mind determines the quality of the life we lead. The mind can be our greatest ally or our worst adversary. A mind that runs amok could steal our inner peace and undermine our every productive endeavor. Yet, with proper knowledge, training and discipline, it is possible to unleash the mind's infinite potential. He charts the four different aspects of the human mind and lays down a clear path towards mastering it. Through witty anecdotes, real-life accounts and stories from the

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

scriptures, he gently guides readers on the road to winning their inner battle. The book was ranked second in the

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

Nielsen's bestseller list.

Selected publications

* ''7 Divine Laws to Awaken Your Best Self'' (2020) * ''The Science of Mind Management: With Proper Knowledge, Training, and Discipline, it is Possible to Unleash the Mind's Infinite Potential'' (2020) * ''7 Mindsets for Success, Happiness and Fulfilment'' (English) (2019) * ''Science of Healthy Diet'' (2017) * ''Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God'' (2013) * ''Essence of Hinduism: Principles of Hindu philosophy and Traditions: A Summary of the Vedic Scriptures'' (2011) * ''Spiritual Dialectics: Answers to Some of the Challenging Questions on Spirituality'' (2011) * Yoga for the Body, Mind and Soul: Comprehensive book on Yogasans, Pranayams, Subtle body relaxation, Meditation (2011) * ''Inspiring Stories for Children, Vol. 1'': (2010) * ''Inspiring Stories for Children, Vol. 2'': (2010) * ''Inspiring Stories for Children, Vol. 3'': (2010) * ''Inspiring Stories for Children, Vol. 4'': (2010) * ''Bal-Mukund Festivals of India: All Major Festivals of India and their Spiritual, Cultural and Religious Significance'' (2010) * ''Bal-Mukund Wisdom Book: Noble Values for Children's Personality Development: Verses and Chants for Children to Learn'' (2010) * ''Bal-Mukund Saints of India: Great saints of India and their Influence on Society'' (2010)

Gallery

File:Swami Mukundananda Retreat Lecture.jpg, Retreat Lecture File:Swami Mukundananda Retreat Discourse.jpg, Retreat Discourse File:Swami Mukundananda Retreat Yoga.jpg, Retreat Yoga File:Swami Mukundananda Retreat Bal-Mukund.jpg, Retreat Bal-Mukund File:Swami Mukundananda Retreat Parikrama.jpg, Retreat Parikrama

References

External links

* of Swami Mukundananda
"Swami Mukundananda"
www.jkyog.org. Retrieved 26 January 2019. * *{{YouTube, user= JKY0G, Swami Mukundananda Hindi 1960 births Living people 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 21st-century Hindu religious leaders Devotees of Krishna Hindu revivalist writers Indian Vaishnavites Translators of the Bhagavad Gita