Gauranga Das is a leadership and mindfulness coach based in Mumbai. A graduate of IIT Bombay, he found his calling to become a monk to best serve society. A member of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission, he is actively involved in enhancing leadership effectiveness and governance of temples and communities globally. He is dedicated to helping people transform their hearts, improve their attitudes, establish sustainable and spiritual communities, and drive positive change in society.
Gauranga Das is director of ISKCON’s Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV), founded by Radhanath Swami. The GEV, representing India, has won over thirty-six national and international awards, including the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Award in 2017 for its innovative model of ‘Eco-Tourism as a Catalyst for Rural Development’. He has also strategized and led execution for GEV’s synergistic solution for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Climate Change and enabled GEV’s accreditation to multiple United Nation bodies like UNEP, UNCCD, ECOSOC and CBD. On behalf of ISKCON, he is UNEP’s Faith for Earth Counsellor. The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has recognized him as an IGBC Fellow for his contribution to the green building movement.
Gauranga Das sits on the board of the Govardhan School of Public Leadership, an institution that prepare students for the civil services exam. He has led several youth empowerment initiatives while successfully inculcating clarity in purpose, purity in character and compassion in relationships in thousands of youths globally. He is also the administrative director of Bhaktivedanta Research Centre (BRC), an initiative of ISKCON to connect working professionals, housewives and students to the academic study of philosophy, create libraries of Vedic literatures and manuscripts, and facilitate MA and PhD programmes in philosophy. He is also an author of two books, namely , “The Art of Resilience” and “The Art of Focus”.
Gauranga Das is also an experienced chef and mega kitchen strategist and has personally cooked over 3 million meals. He inaugurated the Govardhan Annakshetra program at the Govardhan Ecovillage with an intention to distribute free sanctified food amongst the pilgrims and villagers in Palghar district and to work closely with the government, corporates and other like-minded NGOs to enable a hunger free Palghar.
In one article, Gauranga Das explains the art of happiness, “True happiness lies in selflessly giving our love to others through our acts of service to them without any ulterior motives. In giving, we receive. Such a love when given is received by us through the forms of complete satisfaction with self and fills our hearts with infinite happiness.” He explain this with a story. Often in today’s society, one’s worth is measured by their accomplishments in life.
Yet, the truth is you’re not your achievements and the problem arises when you start building your self-worth based on them. Thus when such expectations are not met, people tend to easily fall into depression. George Harrison, one among the famous four of The Beatles band, by the age of 25 was a multi-millionaire. The Beatles were ‘worth’ 65 million pounds in 1965 when the members were in their 20s.
Can you imagine receiving a million greeting cards piled up in 7 trucks at your doorstep on your birthday? That was the effect of fame George Harrison was experiencing. After a performance, the Beatles arrived at a hotel in Seattle, and the towel George once wiped his sweat was cut into pieces and sold by the hotel owner for millions of dollars.
George writes in his autobiography, that towards the late 1960s he stopped smiling because there was so much intense pressure, internal conflicts, and expectations that made the four of them like animals in cages. Then, he left to India, met with the saints there, and said, ‘ If only I could travel the length and breadth of India like a wandering mendicant, I would be willing to give away all my wealth in order to do that.’
This was the realization of the Beatles guitarist after attaining unimaginable fame. This simply is proof that achievements can’t provide true fulfillment.”
