Swami-in-Charge
Swami Ishatmananda
Swami Ishatmananda, a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission, got associated with the holy order at the Ramakrishna Mission, Cherrapunji, Meghalaya.
The 10th President of the Order, Srimat Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj blessed him by initiation.
He was attached with Advaita Ashrama (Kolkata) an English publication center of the Ramakrishna order for 12 years and was bestowed with Sanyasa in 1986 by Srimat Swami Gambhiranandaji Maharaj, the 11th President of the Order.
He has worked at the well-known educational institution of the Ramakrishna Mission in Purulia, West-Bengal. He has redered his services at time of natural calamities in Assam, West Bengal, and Orissa.
Swamiji is the Founder Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission, Port Blair, Andaman Islands, where he built a home for the destitute and orphans. He constructed two huge buildings, Jnana Mandir and Karma Mandir, housing a national-level competitive examination coaching center and a vocational center, respectively.
Swami Ishatmananda was also the principal-cum-Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission School, Narottam Nagar, Tirap, Arunachal Pradesh. An educational institution situated in the deep jungle of Tirap district, it basically runs on the "gurukul system" with four English medium schools. More than 500 Arunachali tribal students, from Class I to Class XII, stay in the ashrama under the guidance of the sanyasins. It has a 20 bed-hospital "Swasti" and a "Vishwakarma Vidyalaya", where tribal girls receive vocational training.
Swami Ishatmananda was the Vice-President of the Uttar-Purbanchal Ramakrishna Vivekananda Bhava Prachar Parishad which has 59 centers all over Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Manipur.
He has written many articles that have been published in Ramakrishna Mission journals and other journals as well. He has given discourses on the Bhagavad Gita in different parts of Assam, extensively traveled different places of India, attended seminars and delivered lectures at colleges, universities, and devotee congregations on spiritual ideals and ideologies.
Advaita Ashram, Kolkata has published his discourses on the Bhagavad Gita as a set of 14 DVDs. Swami Ishatmananda has translated Swami Budhananda's book "The mind and its control" to Bengali.
Swami Ishatmananda came to Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago on 28th February and took charge as the President on March 4th 2013. Under his leadership the society observed 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda through different programs held from August through November 2013.
During the 2013 Indian Independence Day, a life-size cutout of Swamiji was carried on a float in a procession in Chicago. In October 2013, he organized a program at the University of Chicago's Rockefeller Memorial Chapel in collaboration with the University's Spiritual Life Office. Around 700 people attended, and the first two scholars to the “Indian Ministry of Culture Vivekananda Visiting Professorship” were announced. The program also included choir singing, fusion music, lectures by univesity faculty, and addresses by the monks.
In November 2013, he organized Chicago Calling ‐ a historic five-day long program. The main event was held at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago ‐ the spot where Swamiji had stayed for two weeks during the 1893 Parliament of World's Religions. Nearly 50 monastics and over 700 devotees from across the world attended. For the first time in the history of the Ramakrishna Movement, all the heads of centers from outside India gathered together outside India for the “International Ramakrishna Mission Monastic Conference” at the Vivekanand Retreat, Ganges. It was presided over by Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission.
On August 16, 2014 he inaugurated a plaque in “Memorial Opera House”, Valparaiso, Indiana where Swami Vivekananda had given a lecture in 1894.
In October 2014, to accommodate the expanding activities of the center, a guest house and a 300-seating capacity multipurpose auditorium were constructed.
Along with the traditional methods, he is utilizing electronic media to spread the message Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta. In August 2013 a new website, and on March 2014 an electronic magazine were launched.
In December 2014, he was appointed the Religious Adviser at the University of Chicago.
Currently, Swami Ishatmananda gives weekly lectures on "Panchama Veda: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" on Tuesdays, and "Saga of the Soul" on Sundays. He also gives classes on India Eternal at the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, Lemont on the first Saturday of each month and also every month at Banga Bhavan, Glendale Heights. In addition, he holds monthly classes on “The Bhagavad Gita” at the Naperville Public Library and at the Hindu Temple of Lake County in Grayslake.
Apart from discoursing on various topics at different parlors of the devotees at different places in Illinois, he conducts spiritual retreats and attends various programs across the United States at the invitation of devotees and other organizations.
Swami Ishatmananda's monthly program can be viewed here.
Videos of his classes can be viewed here.
Interviews with Swami Ishatmananda are available by appointment. To request an interview, please contact Swami Ishatmananda via the link below.