meet team karuna

Arun Sardana, founder and CEO

Arun’s journey of transformation began in India while growing up in a complex environment of not only a loving family and profound religiosity but also personal sexual abuse and domestic violence. While his story may be different, the narrative is the same as that of many others. The stress and trauma of the early years continued to shape his adulthood including the constant pursuit of answers to existential questions – Why am I here? What’s my purpose? How can life become peaceful and happy? How can science solve the puzzle of human mental wellbeing? What answers are buried in ancient wisdom, including in different religions, to alleviate suffering? Among others. This journey ultimately culminated in the founding of karuna – the desire to remove suffering through unbound compassion.

Arun obtained his formal undergraduate education in hospitality management and also in business administration in India. He came to the United States in 1988 and completed his MBA from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, in the year 2000. In 2019, in order to inform his work with orphans and abused children in Costa Rica, he completed a Masters in Clinical Psychology and Education with a focus on Spirituality, Mind & Body, from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Over the past 25 years, Arun has built a successful entrepreneurial practice in financial services. It is through such countless blessings that Karuna has become a reality.

Arun loves to travel to explore and understand new cultures and their practices. He is the proud father of two amazing daughters who are working hard to bring about social change and wellbeing in their own unique ways.

the heart and soul of karuna