Pravrajika Vrajaprana Explained

Pravrajika Vrajaprana
Birth Place:	California, U.S.
Known For:	Writer on Vedanta, Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Christopher Isherwood.
Occupation:	Pravrajika (or sannyasini) at Vedanta Society of Southern California, Writer

Pravrajika Vrajaprana (born 1952) is a sannyasini or pravrajika (female swami) at the Vedanta Society of Southern California, affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order. She resides at Sarada Convent in Santa Barbara, California^{[1] [2] [3]} and a writer on Vedanta, the history and growth of the Vedanta Societies.^{[4] [5]}

She is also a well known speaker and scholar on Hinduism and she speaks frequently at colleges, universities and interfaith gatherings and is the Hindu chaplain at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.^[6] Her works on Vedanta include, Vedanta: A Simple Introduction (1999), editor of Living Wisdom (1994). She is the co-author, with Swami Tyagananda, of (2010).^[7]

Pravrajika Vrajaprana was born in California in 1952. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she also worked briefly as Associate Professor of Literature.^[8] She came in contact with Swami Prabhavananda at the Vedanta Society of Santa Barbara in 1967, while involved with anti-Vietnam war activism. In 1977 she joined the Sarada Convent in Santa Barbara. She took the first vows of brahmacharya in 1983 and had final vows of sannyasa in 1988.^[8]

Vrajaprana was a co-speaker with the 14th Dalai Lama at the Interfaith Conference in San Francisco (2006).^[9] She was a panelist in the discussion on Interpreting Ramakrishna at DANAM, held at the annual AAR meeting 2010.^[10]

Selected works

• My Faithful Goodwin. Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1994. . [Biography of J.J. Goodwin, disciple of Swami Vivekananda.]
• Seeing God Everywhere (editor). Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1996.
• Living Wisdom: Vedanta in the West, (editor). Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1994. “A Meaningful Life,” 58–62.
• A Portrait of Sister Christine. Calcutta: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 1996. .
• Vedanta: A Simple Introduction. Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1999.
• Review of Kali’s Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life of Ramakrishna. In Hindu-Christian Studies Bulletin, 10, (1997).
• "Contemporary Spirituality and the Thinning of the Sacred: A Hindu Perspective." Cross Currents (Spring/Summer 2000) 248–256.
• "Regaining the Lost Kingdom: Purity and Meditation in the Hindu Spiritual Tradition." In Purity of Heart and Contemplation: A Monastic Dialogue Between Christian and Asian Traditions, ed. Bruno Barnhart and Joseph Wong. New York: Continuum, December, 2001, pp. 23–38.
• "The Convert—Stranger in Our Midst: Crossing Borders in Two Worlds." In The Stranger’s Religion: Fascination and Fear, ed. Anna Lännström. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004, pp. 169–185.
• "Looking In and Letting Go: Viveka and Vairâgya in the Vedanta Tradition." In Asceticism, Identity and Pedagogy in Dharma Traditions, ed. Graham M. Schweig, Jeffery D. Long, Ramdas Lamb, Adarsh Deepak. Hampton, VA: Deepak Heritage Books. 2006, pp. 33–48.
• "The Guru and His Queer Disciple: The Guru-Disciple Relationship as the Locus of Christopher Isherwood’s Advaita Vedanta." Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts & Contemporary Worlds (November 2010) 243–258.
• , co-authored with Swami Tyagananda. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2010.
• "Interfaith Incognito or What a Hindu Nun Learned from Christian Evangelicals" in My Neighbor's Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation, ed. Rabbi Or Rose and Jennifer Peace. New York: Orbis Books, 2012, pp. 20–24.
• “Perfect Independence”: Vivekananda, Freedom, and Women in Swami Vivekananda: His Life, Legacy, and Liberative Ethics, ed. Rita D. Sharma. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2021, pp. 145–158.

See also

• Swami Atmajnanananda

External links

• Interfaith Incognito: What a Hindu Nun Learned From an Evangelical Christian Huffington Post.

Notes and References

1. Bardach. Ann Louise. Ann Louise Bardach . Shangri-La. LA Yoga Magazine. April 2010. 9. 3. 16 March 2011.
2. Book: American Veda . Philip Goldberg . Crown Publishing . 84–85 . 2010.
3. Book: Bucknell, Katherine. The Sixties: Diaries:1960-1969. 2010. HarperCollins. xl.
4. Book: Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America . Eugene V. Gallagher, W. Michael Ashcraft . Greenwood Publishing Group . 2006 . 10 . 9780275987176 .
5. Beckerlegge. Gwilym. The Early Spread of Vedanta Societies: An Example of "Imported Localism". Numen. 2004. 51. 3. 301. Brill Publishers. 3270585. 10.1163/1568527041945526.
6. http://www.religion.ucsb.edu/projects/summerinstitute/speakers.html The Religion in the United States: Pluralism and Public Presence 2012
7. Book: American Veda . Philip Goldberg . Crown Publishing . 357 . 2010.
8. Book: Stranger's Religion . University of Notre Dame Press . Anna Lännström . xvii . 2004.
9. News: Dalai Lama promotes harmony of religions . Mercury News. Kim Vo . April 16, 2006 . 2011-03-12.
10. Web site: Panel discussion on Interpreting Ramakrishna. Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM). 2011-02-01.