Prapanna Smith

Prapanna Smith came to Mother and Sri Aurobindo in September 1987 upon seeing a flyer advertising talks on Sri Aurobindo. Afterward he obtained copies of the Synthesis of Yoga, Letters on Yoga, and the Glossary of Terms in Sri Aurobindo’s Writings and became a lifelong student of Integral Yoga.  

In 1991, during a six-week visit to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India, and again in 1993–94, Prapanna was privileged to sit at the feet of Sri Ramkrishna Das (affectionally known to many as Babaji Maharaj, or simply Babaji) for many morning hours. In 1994, with Babaji’s encouragement and spiritual support, Prapanna became a cofounder, along with Dakshina and Vishnu, of Sri Aurobindo Sadhana Peetham.  

Prapanna lived in Pondicherry from September 1998 to March 2001, where he was a teacher in the Free Progress Section (high school students) and the Flower Room Section (grade 3) of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, commonly known as the Ashram School of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. From 2001 through 2011, Prapanna dedicated himself to the first attempt to introduce integral education to the USA, with the Center for Integral Education that he founded in April of 1998.

Prapanna holds a doctorate in educational leadership and is presently continuing his work in education.