I Am That I Am with Anju Bhargava

QUICK SUMMARY

Anju Bhargava, Vedantic teacher, ordained Hindu minister, and former White House faith advisor, joins hosts Dave Plisky and Father John Gribowich to demystify Hinduism from the inside out. From the meaning of Brahman and Atman, to the four stages of life, to how karma yoga mirrors the Christian idea of surrendering the fruits of your labor to God, this conversation will leave you seeing both your own faith and the broader human spiritual journey in a new light. 

IN THIS EPISODE, WE EXPLORE

• Sanatana Dharma — the original name for Hinduism; means “universal way of life”
• Brahman / Brahmand — the universal soul; the divine that pervades all existence
• Atman — the individual soul, always connected to the universal
• Moksha — liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth
• Puja — ritual worship; welcoming a deity as an honored guest
• Karma yoga — the path of right action and surrender of outcomes
• Bhakti yoga — the path of devotion
• Gyan yoga — the path of knowledge
• Vipassana — a Buddhist-rooted meditation technique that trains the mind toward observation and presence
• The Bhagavad Gita — the distillation of all Vedantic teachings; a dialogue between Krishna (teacher) and Arjuna (student)
• The Vedas — the four foundational sacred texts of the Hindu tradition
• Rag and Dwesh — craving and aversion; the two forces that cause suffering (dukkha)

ABOUT ANJU BHARGAVA

Anju Bhargava is a retired federal executive, former senior banker, Vedantic teacher, and ordained Hindu minister and chaplain with over four decades of experience bridging public service, interfaith leadership, and Hindu philosophy. She served as the first chief risk officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and as a senior vice president at Bank of America. She was the only Hindu American appointed to President Obama’s Inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, where she founded Hindu American Seva Communities to advance community service and social justice. She is a trained yoga teacher, Vipassana practitioner, and founding member of the first South Asian women’s organization in North America.

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Sanatana Dharma was never tied to any ism. Its goal was always: find God within yourself.”

“Yoga means the union of the soul with the higher self. What we see in the West as Hatha yoga is only the physical aspect — training the body so you can sit and meditate.”

“As you practice meditation more, the frequency of getting pulled off balance becomes less, the intensity reduces, and you recover faster. That is the only real measure of your progress.”

“You make all the effort — but the fruits of your labor are left to the hands of the divine. That is karma yoga.”

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• The Golden Road by William Dalrymple — on India’s historical influence across the ancient world
• Patanjali Yoga Sutras — foundational philosophy of yoga
• University of Maryland School of Medicine Yoga Program
• Parliament of the World’s Religions — where Swami Vivekananda first spoke in 1893
• Hindu American Seva Communities
• Swami Chinmayananda — reformer who worked to bring Vedantic education to modern Hindus
• Panchatantras — ancient Hindu stories; the source tradition that inspired Aesop’s Fables

In addition to the ancient texts, Anju’s teachers have been Swami Parmarthananda who provides clear contemporary explanations. Some of his lectures are available at https://www.yogamalika.org. He is a disciple (student) of both Swami Chinmayanand (https://www.chinmayamission.com/global/swami-chinmayananda) and Swami Dayananda Saraswati (https://arshavidya.org), also a reformer.