644. Pravrajika Divyanandaprana Mataji

Pravrajika Divyanandaprana is a monastic member of Sri Sarada Math and is currently the Editor of the English journal Samvit published in New Delhi. She has been Principal of Nivedita Vidya Mandir School from 2014 to 2019.

She specializes in Yoga-Vedanta. In addition to studying the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature, she has extensively studied the Yoga-Vedanta texts based on these twin philosophies which include the Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Raja Yoga, Upanishads, and the Prakarana Granthas (auxiliary scriptures of Vedanta like Vedantasara, Vivekachudamani, etc.) along with their commentaries.

A gold medallist and topper, Pravrajika Divyanandaprana has a unique combination of knowledge in the conventional sciences and traditional Yogic and Vedantic texts. Pravrajika Divyanandaprana has been lecturing all over India since 2010, including at the Indian Institute of Technology campuses in Madras, Delhi (she has spoken many times at Vivekananda Study Circle of IIT-Delhi), Kharagpur, Mumbai, and Kanpur; Indian Institute of Science Bangalore; Delhi University; Vivekananda International Centre; Ramakrishna Mission; Engineering and Medical Colleges in Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata; and sometimes in schools. She offers courses on Yoga-Vedanta every semester at IIT Delhi. The courses are available on YouTube at IIT’s official channel: NRCVEE IIT Delhi.

She has traveled to hold classes or deliver lectures in South Africa at Cape Town, Durban, Ladysmith, and Kwa Zulu Natal University among other places. Subsequently, she traveled to Ireland, Great Britain, UAE, and recently to Canada for talks, lectures, and scriptural discussions. She has spoken at Imperial College and Logan Hall, London University in 2013. In May 2018, she was in Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, and Nova Scotia where she gave a number of talks on Self-Knowledge, exploring the Subjective Sciences, and finding the interface between Subjective-Objective Sciences. She has extensively traveled in the US and addressed Vedanta Societies of Iowa, Washington DC, and so on. Purdue University hosted her talk on Mind Management recently.

LinkedIn Page

"Eternal Truth" YouTube channel with many videos, including the Upanishads classes mentioned in the interview. If you subscribe to the channel, you'll be notified when classes resume.

VivekaVani YouTube channel with many more videos.

Books:

Science of Happiness (Amazon India)

Self-Discovery (Amazon India)

U.S. Book Contact - (Ask to be notified when books become available.)

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Transcript of this interview

Interview recorded May 1, 2022.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump

00:06:06 - The Importance of Method and Sadhana

00:11:18 - Samskaras: The Building Blocks of Character and Behavior

00:16:12 - Importance of Manana and Dwelling on Scripture

00:21:02 - Becoming Intensely Aware

00:25:39 - Intensified Awareness and Conscious Knowledge

00:30:43 - The Significance of Being and Becoming

00:36:01 - The Science of Happiness and its Connection to Awareness and Advaita Vedanta

00:41:32 - The Source of Awareness

00:46:50 - High Energy Output and Engagement in Activity

00:51:54 - The Power of the Spirit and the Meissner Effect

00:57:21 - Universal Values of Ethics and the Mind

01:02:42 - Ending Mental Afflictions with Ashtanga Yoga

01:08:04 - Mediums and Psychics in Vedantic Perspective

01:13:22 - Engaging in Various Yogas

01:18:36 - Developing Vairagya

01:23:57 - The Ramakrishna Math and Mission

01:29:00 - Renouncing the Essential Bliss of Life

01:34:21 - Finding Happiness Within

01:39:33 - Distinguishing between different types of happiness

01:44:33 - Understanding the Factors of Happiness

01:50:07 - Experiencing Bliss in Samadhi

01:55:31 - Peace within the Radius of the Realized Being