Join us for a screening of excerpts from America's First Guru, a PBS special documentary telling the story of legendary Indian monk Swami Vivekananda's experiences and impact in America. The screening will be followed by a conversation with filmmaker Raja Choudhury, Dr. Mukesh Prasad of the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard University, and Swami Sarvapriyananda, Minister of the Vedanta Society of New York. 

This program is co-presented with the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA).

Film Synopsis:

America’s First Guru is the compelling story of how, in 1893, at the first World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago, a young, charismatic Indian monk, now nearly forgotten, Swami Vivekananda, forever changed American popular and spiritual culture. Vivekananda stunned the audience with his revolutionary interfaith perspectives, ultimately putting in motion ideas that changed the collective conversation related to religious tolerance, interfaith dialogue, and universal spirituality. Over the next six years, he paved the way for Yoga, Vedanta, and the deeper aspects of Hinduism to take root as he electrified audiences, inspired a following of devotees, and established the first Hindu Society and Ashram in New York; he became America’s First Guru.

America's First Guru is a feature-length documentary film that can be seen on Public Television, the PBS World Channel, PBS.org, and the PBS App. It was written and directed by Raja Choudhury, an Indian-origin filmmaker. The film was produced by A Thousand Suns Academy, presented by WTTW Chicago, and distributed by NETA. It features New Yorker Samrat Chakrabarti as Swami Vivekananda and interviews with Swami Saravapriyananda, Swami Medhananda, Ruth Haris, AL Bardach, Jeffery Long, and Phil Goldberg, amongst others.

Director: Raja Choudhury

Cast: Samrat Chakrabarti 

Biographies

Swami Sarvapriyananda 

Swami Sarvapriyananda is the Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York. He joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1994 and became a Swami in 2004. He is a very well-known speaker on Vedanta around the World through the internet and Public Events. He has given talks at TEDx, SAND, Google Talk, and several institutions, including Harvard University. He has engaged in dialogues with eminent thinkers like Deepak Chopra, Rupert Spira, Rick Archer, David Chalmers, and Sam Harris. In 2019, he was a Nagral Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School. Many of his lectures on Vedanta have been compiled into three popular books, and he has a large following around the world on YouTube.

Raja Choudhury 

Raja Choudhury is an award-winning filmmaker, architect, YouTuber, and spiritual teacher. Raised in West Africa to UN parents from India, he was educated at the Architectural Association in London. He became an acclaimed Creative Director in London, New York, and New Delhi before turning to films, teaching, and speaking. His film The Quantum Indians on Raman, Bose, and Saha was awarded the National Film Award of India in 2014, and he has produced many films on Yoga, Indian history, spirituality, and great teachers. America’s First Guru is his first major film for US Television and is now on PBS. He is also a teacher on The Shift Network and A Thousand Suns Academy online, and he has a popular YouTube channel on Indian Wisdom. He lives in Princeton with his wife, daughter and dog.

Dr. Mukesh Prasad

Dr. Mukesh Prasad is a Member of the Advisory Council of the Harvard South Asia Institute and is a Surgeon at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. He studied Government at Harvard College and then went on to Johns Hopkins Medical School and completed his Otorhinolaryngology in New York City. He served as a Medical Advisor to the City during the COVID-19 pandemic, for which he was awarded a Citation by the Mayor.  Dr. Prasad is active at Harvard University, where he served on the Harvard Alumni Association Board of Directors and on the Dean’s Advisory Council.  Dr. Prasad is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a special advisor to the US Department of Commerce. He lives in New York City with his wife, Chandni, and their children, Arjun and Arya.