Tomoko "Purna" Ugajin
Associate Professor, VaYU
Email: txu@vayuusa.org
Education:
- 2020 - 2023 Dayananda Ashram (Rishikesh, India)
- 2014 - 2017 Arsha Vidya Gurukulam (Anaikatti, India)
- 1984 - 1988 Ochanomizu University BA (Tokyo, Japan)
Experience:
Exposed to Vedanta (the distilled core of Sanathana Dharma or Hindu philosophy) in Japan, Ms. Ugajin was driven to join a long-term Vedanta Course at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Anaikatti (Tamil Nadu, India) in 2014.
From 2014 to 2017, under the tutelage of a panel of internationally renowned experts from Adi Śaṅkara’s monastic order: Swami Dayānanda Sarasvati, Swami Sadātmānanda Sarasvati, Swami Śankarānanda Sarasvati, and Brahmacārinī Medha Michikashe, Ms. Ugajin studied a compendium of foundational Sanathana Dharma texts from Prasthānatraya – the foundation of Hindu Philosophy (Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā, and Brahma Sūtra), Śaṅkara-Bhāṣyas (a set of authoritative texts by Adi Śaṅkara’s on one of the six recognized schools of Indian philosophy), and, Sanskrit grammar including Pāṇini.
Since 2017, Ms. Ugajin started teaching Vedanta, and Sanskrit language. Her quest for knowledge led her to continue developing expertise in Sanatana Dharma at Dayananda Ashram in Rishikesh, India under the guidance of Swami Sakśatkṛtātmānanda Sarasvati, which she completed in 2023. Ms. Ugajin is further pursuing her studies and research with Swami Tattvavidānanda Sarasvati in India and in the USA while sharing the knowledge of Vedanta and Sanskrit online.
Previous to studying Hindu Philosophy, she was a writer and photographer, worked in media, advertisement, Public Relations, and in the music business. She worked with Newsweek Japan, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Mitsubishi Research Institute, among other employers. She has video interviewed thousands of people, written numerous articles and traveled worldwide for her work