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Aaina Bhargava

In a world where wars, geopolitical uncertainty, the threat of AI domination and social media seemingly influence all aspects of life, ordinary people have plenty to be stressed about.
Of the dozens of spiritual and wellness trends that have emerged to combat anxiety and stress, meditation is perhaps the most touted.
As the head of the Chinmaya Mission – a global movement that aims to help people find spiritual awakening for a happy and harmonious world – Swami Swaroopananda is often asked about meditation as a stress remedy.
Rather than touting meditation as a universal balm for anxiety, the 67-year-old Indian spiritual leader emphasises the importance of knowing why you are meditating and asking: what am I supposed to meditate upon? What are the obstacles to meditation? How can I overcome them?
“Most people want to meditate for peace of mind, but isn’t it an irony that you can meditate when you already have peace of mind? Otherwise meditation becomes agitation,” Swaroopananda says.

Swaroopananda was in Hong Kong for the Maha Hanuman Chalisa Yajna, a spiritual gathering organised by the Chinmaya Mission to invoke the revered Hindu deity Lord Hanuman for inner strength, protection, success and well-being. The event took place at West Kowloon Art Park on May 30.
In addition to bolstering spirits, the gathering also celebrated the Chinmaya Mission’s 75th anniversary. Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1993), an authority on sacred Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, began his first series of talks (or teachings) in India in 1951. The mission now has chapters in more than 30 places around the world, with Hong Kong’s being the most active.
The location of the event was fortuitous for Swaroopananda, who first came to Hong Kong when he was 11 during school holidays to visit his father, who had moved to the city from India to start a business. Swaroopananda eventually settled in Hong Kong to join the family business after completing his studies.
His first impression of Hong Kong was that it was buzzing and glamorous. He acknowledges the city can be stressful, but says that it is not necessarily a bad thing.
“What is the charm of Hong Kong?” he asks. “Everybody is busy, and therefore productive and extremely efficient – and therefore [it is] a happening place.”
As bad as the times seem today, there are many good things and people
Swami Swaroopananda
While Swaroopananda’s spiritual journey began with his grandmother telling him Hindu stories and teachings, it was meeting Chinmayananda in Hong Kong that sparked his journey with the mission.
After turning to reading as an escape from the fast pace of life in Hong Kong, Swaroopananda came across Chinmayananda’s commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Though he initially didn’t know who the author was, he later learned Chinmayananda had been visiting Hong Kong nearly every year since the late 1960s.
In 1989, Swaroopananda attended one of his talks, and everything changed. He recalls being struck by Chinmayananda’s ability to teach “life’s topics so beautifully, logically, and with such humour”.
It was a specific lesson about suffering that compelled him.
“I was always wondering why suffering exists,” Swaroopananda says. “If God is in control, why do we suffer?”
Chinmayananda used a metaphor to answer: “Think of God as the petrol in the car, but you’re still in the driver’s seat, controlling where it goes.”
For Swaroopananda, that answer – delivered not as abstract philosophy, but as comprehensible advice that required a simple change of perspective – resolved a doubt that had lingered in his mind for years.
The encounter led to his ordination into the mission and, in 2017, his succeeding Swami Tejomayananda as the global head of the Chinmaya Mission.

Nearly 60 years after Chinmayananda first arrived in Hong Kong, Swaroopananda’s Maha Hanuman Chalisa Yajna gathering in West Kowloon was more than a commemorative event – it was a full-circle moment.
A boy who was once mesmerised by spiritual commentary amid Hong Kong’s chaos and noise now leads a global mission, offering advice and reassurance.
“People love doomsday; every 12 years it seems the world is going to come to an end,” he says. “As bad as the times seem today, there are many good things and people.”


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On a recent Hong Kong visit, Chinmaya Mission head Swami Swaroopananda spoke about meditation, mindset and the ‘happening’ city he grew up in


On a recent Hong Kong visit, Chinmaya Mission head Swami Swaroopananda spoke about meditation, mindset and the ‘happening’ city he grew up in.


Spiritual leader Swami Swaroopananda on ‘the charm of Hong Kong’ as he visits former home

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}On a recent Hong Kong visit, Chinmaya Mission head Swami Swaroopananda spoke about meditation, mindset and the ‘happening’ city he grew up in

On a recent Hong Kong visit, Chinmaya Mission head Swami Swaroopananda spoke about meditation, mindset and the ‘happening’ city he grew up in