This is Part 1 of our 4-part A Back to School Series on Live Vedanta. From navigating loneliness and evolving friendships to maintaining family connections from a distance, this conversation offers Vedantik tools for clarity and self-rootedness during young adulthood. Whether you're starting college or simply stepping into a new chapter, this episode reminds you that even through change, you can grow with intention and connection. In this episode, Sumanji sits down with Akshaya to explore what it means to live away from home while staying anchored within.
Having grown up always hearing from his parents, “we want you to be happy, we want you to be independent,” Sumanji strove to do just that in all the ways society and the world had to offer. Leaving medical school in hopes of achieving more fulfillment through a career in IT, Sumanji found himself still wanting, wondering what it meant to be truly happy, truly independent. It was clear happiness was what everyone desired for themselves and each other, but it remained ever elusive. It was then that Sumanji went to his first Satsang in Pittsburgh, PA, and met Shri Vivek Gupta, who shared with him the knowledge of Advaita Vedanta. Convinced and compelled that he, too, could experience this for himself, Suman joined the two-year residential Vedanta course under the guidance of Pujya Swami Prakashananda at Chinmaya Mission’s ashram in Trinidad & Tobago.
Returning in 2018, Sumanji now lives in Providence, RI, where he works full-time as an Information Technology Manager. He serves Chinmaya Mission Niagara and Cleveland through various classes and study groups, traveling every opportunity he gets to share the message that gave his life meaning: that perpetual, independent joy is one’s nature.
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Edited by Dhruv Panicker.
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