Sally Kempton

Sally Kempton, also known as Swami Durgananda, (January 15, 1943 – July 10, 2023) was an American Swami, journalist, and radical feminist.

Early life and education

Sally Kempton was born on January 15, 1943, in Manhattan, to Murray Kempton. She was the oldest of five children and spent her formative years in Princeton, New Jersey. Her parents divorced during her time in college. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, influenced by her boyfriend's perception of the institution's femininity. As a student, she co-edited a magazine parody, The Establishment.

Career

Kempton started her career as a journalist and wrote articles for the Village Voice and The New York Times, on New Age-related topics. She reported her first euphoric experience occurring in her West Village apartment, during a psychedelic encounter accompanied by the Grateful Dead's "Ripple".

Kempton was also a member of the New York Radical Feminists and advocated for women's rights. Her article "Cutting Loose", published in Esquire in 1970, which critiqued societal gender norms, garnered significant attention.

In the years following the Esquire piece, Kempton engaged in the spiritual teachings of Indian mystic, Swami Muktananda, or Baba, a leader in the Siddha Yoga movement.

By 1982, Kempton had become a monk in Baba's ashrams, changing her name to Swami Durgananda.

In 2022, Kempton left the ashram and moved to Carmel, California, where she taught meditation and spiritual philosophy and wrote several books on these subjects.

Bibliography

• Meditation for the Love of It: Enjoying Your Own Deepest Experience (2011)