Swami Chetanananda was born in the small village of Mallapuram in Malnad, India. His early education was obtained in the local school and later in the Sanskrit college, Mallapuram. Later he studied Tantra at the Kanchi Mutt in Kanchipuram, where he attained the highest spiritual initiation. From 1949–1952 he served as secretary to Sri Aurobindo, who during that time had come back to India from Pondicherry
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Thereafter he worked at Sri Aurobindo Ashram for more than two years. He left Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1952 and continued his training under him until 1959, when he came to America. He settled down at the Virginia ashram, where he stayed until 1971.
He then went to Calcutta and worked for about two years under Paramahansa Yogananda at "Autonagar Camp" near Kolkata. He then went on to Delhi and spent seven years at Anandashram where he received the highest spiritual initiation of sannyas, or renunciation of worldly things.