Shri Kamlesh Patel commonly known as Daaji has been conferred with the third highest civilian honor of the country – Padma Bhushan by the Central Government of India on the eve of the 74th Republic Day.
A renowned meditation guide and a best-selling author, Daaji – the Founder of Heartfulness and the current President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission is being honored for his distinguished service of high order in Spirituality and is one of the two to receive the award from the state of Telangana, the other being the spiritual leader – Swami Chinna Jeeyar.
On being awarded the Padma Bhushan, Daaji said “I am honored to receive Padma Bhushan from the Government of India. This is not a personal achievement but instead is an acknowledgment of the thousands of Heartfulness and Shri Ram Chandra Mission volunteers and millions of practitioners worldwide who made it their life’s purpose to serve society tirelessly, seeking nothing in return. I am grateful to everyone who shares the vision of peace and selfless service.”
A trained pharmacist, he turned to meditation and spirituality at a young age, and now through Heartfulness makes the meditation practice easily accessible to millions of seekers worldwide. Through the Heartfulness movement, he has enabled free access to meditation in over 160 countries and has developed value-based development programs for students and faculty in over 5,000 schools, universities, and educational institutions.
From stress management to self-realization, his wisdom, workshops, and personal and group contact programs have helped innumerable people around the globe attain a practical, easy-to-follow lifestyle to streamline their health and well-being. Having authored best-sellers including The Heartfulness Way, Designing Destiny and the Wisdom Bridge, he continues to serve as a spiritual catalyst to a global community that celebrates the Indian way of life.
He heads the 76-year-old non-profit organization Shri Ram Chandra Mission as its President and has established Kanha Shanti Vanam, as the global headquarters and spiritual ground for practitioners of Heartfulness. Kanha Shanti Vanam, located in Hyderabad, hosts the world’s largest meditation center and millions of practitioners gather from within India and abroad to learn, practice and serve the community – the heartfulness way. Under his leadership, the 1,400-acre land that was previously rocky, dry, and drought-prone is transformed into a green oasis with a half-million trees – part of the ‘Green Kanha’ initiative to build a completely self-sufficient and sustainable ecosystem.
About Heartfulness: Heartfulness offers a simple set of meditative practices and lifestyle changes, first developed at the turn of the twentieth century and formalized into teaching through the Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in India with a goal to bring peace, happiness, and wisdom to one heart at a time. These practices are a modern form of Yoga designed to support contentment, inner calm, and stillness, compassion, courage, and clarity of thought, as the first step toward a purposeful life. They are simple and easily adopted and are appropriate for people from all walks of life, cultures, religious beliefs, and economic situations, who are over the age of fifteen. Ongoing training in Heartfulness practices continues at thousands of schools and colleges, and over 100,000 professionals are meditating in corporations, non-governmental, and government bodies worldwide. More than 5,000 Heartfulness Centers are supported by many thousands of certified volunteer trainers and millions of practitioners in 160 countries.
";
