Any individual:

• • interested in growing spiritually;
• • wishes to contribute his/ her talents/ skills;
• • keen to understand
• • and study Advaita Vedanta

is welcome to join the Chinmaya Mission; irrespective of caste, creed or nationality.
The gamut of activities of the Mission allows one to choose an activity suitable to their personality, age and area of interest. Chinmaya Mission has something to offer for everyone – from newborns onwards!

To lead a life of fulfillment, joy and dynamic action – one needs the foundation of values and clarity in thought. The sooner these are gained – the earlier is one able to comprehend and apply them in one’s life. Thus, the need to start as early as possible.
In Swami Chinmayananda’s own words, “The seed of spiritual values should be sown in their young hearts, and the condition should be made favorable for its sprouting and steady growth by the exercise of proper control and discipline. Cared for with warmth of love and affection, such a tree shall blossom forth flowers of brotherhood, universal love, peace, bliss, beauty, and perfection.”

All that a Chinmaya Mission member needs to follow is the principle of ‘being good and doing good’. The core spirit in Chinmaya Mission is jnana (knowledge) – where individuals are encouraged to understand one’s Self. There is no rigid scheme of practices that a member needs to follow. Individuals may choose their path and make self-effort to progress at their own pace.

In the words of Swami Chinmayananda: “Members of Chinmaya Mission are not subscription payers, or those who run after the Swami, or even those who fall hundred times at his feet. God is all-pervading and the Mission’s hope is to make our generation more conscious of the God-principle. Thus, all our friends who are sincerely practicing self-purification and mental purification are faithful Mission members, more than those who pay a donation or wear a badge on their chest. So long as you are practicing — not outwardly only, but mainly inwardly — you are a dearer member of the Chinmaya family than anybody else.”

The philosophy on which Chinmaya Mission’s teachings and activities are based is the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, as propagated by Shri Adi Shankaracharya (788-820 CE). This philosophy speaks of the One Reality.