Swami Medhananda
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Swami Medhananda | |
|---|---|
 Swami Medhananda in 2022 | |
| Born | 1980 (age 45–46) |
| Occupations | Monk of the Ramakrishna Order, Hindu Chaplain at UCLA and USC |
| Known for | Author and Philosopher |
| Website | www.swamimedhananda.com |
Swami Medhananda (also known as Ayon Maharaj and formerly known as Ayon Roy) is an Indian-American author, philosopher and a monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He has written books on Vedanta Philosophy, including several published by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.[1] He is fluent in English, German, and Bengali and has reading proficiency in Sanskrit, Pāli, and French.[2][3][4]
He frequently gives lectures at the Hollywood, and Santa Barbara Vedanta Temples, as well as the Trabuco Ramakrishna Monastery and the San Diego Vedanta Center.[5] He has also given guest lectures at Harvard, UCLA, Mahamakut Buddhist University, Loyola Marymount University, University of Heidelberg, Boston College, University of Vienna, Ohio State University, Oxford University, University of Münster, St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, and Princeton University.[6]
Medhananda was born and raised in the greater Boston area. From 2000 to 2001 he was a visiting student at the University of Oxford, Magdalen College. In 2002, he earned his Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude with Highest Honors in English, with a minor in philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley and in 2009, was awarded his PhD in English. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at Humboldt University of Berlin from 2006–2007, where he conducted doctoral research on German aesthetics. His revised doctoral dissertation was published as his first book, entitled The Dialectics of Aesthetic Agency: Revaluating German Aesthetics from Kant to Adorno.[7][8]