Brahmahcharini Divya
Brahmahcarini Divya joined Chinmaya Mission to serve full time in May 2021 with the blessings of Swami Swaroopananda Saraswati Ji, Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide and Swami Sarveshananda Saraswati Ji.She offers her pranams and gratitude to three Swamiji-s who have guided and blessed her in various stages of her life. Firstly to Swami Shantananda Saraswati, Head of Chinmaya Mission West and the local acharya in Chinmaya Mission New Jersey where she grew up. She was new to Chinmaya Mission Balavihar in 8th grade, and with her mother offered Swami Ji bhiksha. Fond memories were made about bizarre shaped dosa-s she attempted to make for Swamiji, amazed at Swamiji’s proficiency in Mandarin and how well traveled he was. But she is most grateful that his guidance opened the doors of Vedantic Knowledge.Having graduated high school and studying for her Bachelor’s at Rutgers University, she took one summer break to join the Youth Empowerment Program Batch 2 in June 2014. In the serene Krishnalaya Ashram, she met Swami Sarveshananda Saraswati for the first time, and with like minded youngsters enjoyed living the ashram life, learning vedanta studies, and having fun experiences during the program. With new friends and a stronger connection to Chinmaya Mission, she got more involved in seva during the Jyoti Yatra celebrations.Before starting her career, she wanted to dedicate time to dive deeper and get a more comprehensive education of Sanatana Dharma. In October 2016, she was accepted into the Brahmachari Training Course in Trinidad & Tobago under Swami Prakashananda Saraswati Ji, Head of Chinmaya Mission TT and Vedanta Course Acharya. The course has the same two year residential rigor and curriculum as the course in Sandeepany, Mumbai. The unique location and history exposed her to the vitality of Hindu culture. Here was living proof that in spite of Hindus being violently transplanted from Bharat, adherence to Bharateeya culture is firm and vibrant. Generations held onto Ramayana and it still runs through every Hindu Trinidadian today. Through his actions and work for his country and Sanatana Dharma, she learned from Swami Prakashanda Ji the meaning of this sacred path and what it will take to be the torch bearer of Vaidika knowledge.Inspired, she chose to commit to Pujya Gurudev’s work, and joined Chinmaya Mission Dallas Fort Worth to continue her learning and training under Swami Sarvehsananda Ji. Since his return to India, she now serves CMDFW under Brahmachari Hari Chaitanya.
