Kamlesh Patel ( Daaji), Heartfulness Founder, conferred with Padma Bhushan

Daaji, the founder of Heartfulness, the current president of Shri Ram Chandra Mission,  recognized for his distinguished service of high rank in spirituality. He is also a well-known meditation teacher and best-selling author.

Starting his journey in the humble village of Bharuch in Gujarat, he graduated in pharmacy and worked and built a successful pharmaceutical business in New York. His interest in personal spiritual fulfilment started in his youth, guided at first by his father, then a monk on the banks of River Narmada, who sent him back home, and then his spiritual Guru, the founder of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur.

The vision of Kanha Shanti Vanam, the world headquarters for the Heartfulness Institute, was inaugurated by the President of India in 2020. Today Heartfulness has a presence in over 160 countries with millions of practitioners and 16,000 certified trainers. It houses the world's largest meditation centre with adjunct facilities that can seat almost 100,000 meditators at a time. Heartfulness Institute launched the Heartfulness App, allowing anyone with a phone to meditate with Yogic Transmission, anytime, anywhere. Daaji’s grand vision is to bring Heartfulness meditation to the doorstep of every home in every city, village, and town.. He is fulfilling the dream of his Guru, who said, “Spirituality is the birthright of every human being”.

At Kanha Shanti Vanam, Daaji's crew has accomplished ground-breaking work in the conservation of rare and endangered species of aromatic and medicinal plants, trees, and plants. He has put into practice a lot of innovative ideas in agriculture, preserving endangered species, and small-scale farmers' profitability. A tissue culture facility is located in the "Tree Conservation Center" to aid in the propagation of our nation's endangered native plant and tree species. Kanha, also known as "The Pride of Telangana," is a place of awe and wonder and has been recognized with the "Haritha Mitra" award for its environmental efforts.

Numerous accolades and honors have begun to flow in thanks to his team's inspirational work for improving humanity's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. The most recent is the distinguished Padma Bhushan award for distinguished achievement in Spiritualism given by the honorable President of India, Smt. Draupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhawan on March 22, 2023. The Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Shri Om Birla, the Union Minister for Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, and others were among the luminaries who congratulated him on the occasion.

A large-scale felicitation ceremony was organised by Shri Parshottam Rupala, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying with the Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri Jagdeep DhankharShri Om Prakash Birla, Speaker of Lok Sabha; Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs; Shri G Kishen Reddy, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Development; Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal, Minister of Education; Acharya Lokesh Muni, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture; Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Textiles, Commerce, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution; Shri Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications and more than thirty members of the Lok Sabha.

Smt Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State External Affairs & Culture; Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs & Culture; Smt Uma Nanduri, Joint Secretary Ministry of Culture; Dr. R C Agarwal, DDG ICAR; Shri Yogender Kumar, Director-Member of Board IFFCO and Dr. Gautam Sharma, AIIMS, Shri Sushil Salwan, and Smt Rupa Salwan from the Salwan Group of Institutions and Shri Himanshu Gupta, Director Education of the Delhi Government, Prof R C Agarwal, President and Dr. P K Upadhyay, General Secretary of the Indian Society of Genetics, Biotechnology Research, and Development (ISGBRD) – a premier research organisation of the country, felicitated Daaji and presented the Prakriti Prerak Award.

Daaji dedicates his time and efforts to investigating yoga and consciousness from a scientific, religious, and health perspective. He encourages investigation into the treatment of addiction and the control of anger, tension, and anxiety. Via the Heartfulness institute, which is under his patronage, several ground-breaking scientific findings about the brain effects of meditation on physical and healthcare are being made. Often, articles based on his study and discoveries are published in scholarly journals. Many are inspired by his well-liked Udemy course on "Meditation and the Development of Consciousness" and his frequent writings in American and Indian media. His best-selling works, which include The Heartfulness Way, Designing Destiny, and Wisdom Bridge, offer lucid insights into the practice and study of meditation and help to dispel preconceived notions about spirituality.

Heartfulness Website