I teach science at a public high school in a southern California suburb. This is my third year of teaching and though not a veteran yet, you can say that I have mastered it quite a bit. But I thought I’d share with you some of my experiences as a brand new teacher. While on one hand they did not feel pleasant, especially at the time, on the other hand they are some of the most cherished experiences of my life as a devotee, as Master’s (my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda’s) child.
Let me give you a little background about myself. I had very little experience of the school system in the U.S having completed K-12 in India. An American high school classroom felt very “foreign” to me; the teenage jargon, the dress code, the behavior, the attitude – I was at times completely overwhelmed! – not to mention the pressure to perform anew in front of a 40 member class audience five times a day and the need to come up with new lessons every day, five days a week! I was exhausted!
Also since I had opted for what is called the internship instead of traditional student-teaching, it meant I had no mentor or guide to lend me a helping hand. I was on my own. However I did have Master and Divine Mother by my side.
Our school has a strict electronic policy that students cannot use electronic devices in the classroom. One day, and this was probably within the first three months of my first year, I had confiscated the cell phone of a student who was using it in the class and kept it on my table. It had never crossed my mind that it is possible for my students, the 14-15 year olds, to steal! Yes, I was naïve as I soon found out to my horror! The cell phone was gone and I realized it right after the class got over. It was very embarrassing as a teacher! What am I going to do?
I remember visualizing holding Master’s hand for support; “Everything is fine” – I felt calmer and centered. I talked to another teacher and she advised talking to the class which I did the following day. I told them how deeply disappointed I am and why I do not expect such behavior from the class. At the end of the class two students quietly came up to me, after everyone else had left, and said “We know who took the phone!”
Eventually the thief confessed and the phone was returned to the owner. I quietly thanked Master.
Another time I had left my thumb drive on the desk computer in my classroom. Again something one should never do, as I learned very quickly. As it turned out I had to call sick the following day. When I finally returned the day after the thumb drive was gone! Now that thumb drive had not only all my lessons, power point presentations and files, it also had all my assignments that were due at the university where I was completing my teacher preparation course. Remember that was my year of internship which means I had to go back to the university to my student-teaching class every week and yes, all my homework and papers ready to be submitted to the State was in that thumb drive. And it did not have a back-up. I was lost! Also there was a little hub like connection in the classroom where the video player, CD player, computer and speakers were all interconnected and connected to the overhead projector. Someone had pulled out every cord out of every socket and everything was lying in a big meshed up pile on the floor!
I went to see my department head about this incidence. He said this happens. As teachers we happen to enrage teenagers who then take out their anger on us. He also told me not to take it personally and that he too has lost his zip drive in a similar way. I was grateful for his support and kind words. However even though I understood it all, I was panicking in my mind – “what will I do without my lessons and assignments?”
I didn’t think I had the time and energy to recreate the lost work again – something that is sure to take months. I didn’t have all that time. I returned to my classroom and closed my eyes and tried to meditate. I mentally gave my problem to Divine Mother. “Thy will Ma, thy will; and whatever that is, its ok with me.” I felt lighter and relaxed and started to get ready for the next class.
Later that same day, I got a call from my department head. He said he’s found a zip drive and wanted me to check if it was mine. As it turned out it was mine! He, while keeping an eye out for his lost drive, by chance, saw something zip drive-like lying on the roof of one of the classrooms. The science building being a two-storey building allows a view of the rooftops of surrounding single storey buildings. Some students(s) might have thrown the zip drive and it landed on the roof. The recovery felt miraculous and I felt so grateful, both to him and to Divine Mother, that words didn’t come easy to me. I prayed that he find his drive too.
There were so many similar incidences that first year as I went fumbling my way into the school system and every time I experienced the guiding, protecting hand of Master and Divine Mother. We devotees do have an umbrella, in form of Divine Mother’s love and guidance, to protect us from the storms of our karma. We might get a little wet but isn’t it wonderful to experience the umbrella around us? And I’m thankful for all the storms. Looking back, how else would I have experienced Divine Mother’s umbrella?
Happy New Year! I can’t believe it is almost the end of January 2010. We have had here in California some of the biggest storms in a long time. After several dry years we really need the water. It has snowed twice, but each time it melted pretty fast. Ananda Village looks very different in the winter, but always beautiful.
So it was on one of our stormy nights that we had a cheerful community meeting to plan for Springtime at Ananda, which is the new name given to our annual Crystal Hermitage Tulip Tour and Open house.
Last year, 1200 people came to visit the gardens on two separate weekends. Many of those visitors explored Ananda Village as well and ate lunch at The Expanding Light.
Visitors get to feast their gaze on tulips of course, but also flowering cherry trees, wisteria, pansies and other shrubs and the beautiful statues. For the Ananda community it is literally all hands on deck. We will all be helping in some way to host this event. Last year, everyone involved was so happy to be part of the open house.
Each year in the fall, preparations and plantings begin for the following spring. The core group of volunteer gardeners, lovingly referred to as the Green Team, are expertly and joyfully led by Jivada and Netri Mair. Together they plant at least 15,000 plants and bulbs. Last year the gardens were spectacular, I think the flowers loved that so many people visited them and appreciated them.
For the past several years I have visited many, many times to photograph the gardens in all kinds of weather, different times of day and all the seasons. The photos which are now part of the book, Crystal Hermitage Gardens, features excerpts from many of Swami’s writings.
One of the things I loved most about my visits was immersing myself in the gardens and getting to spend time watching Jivada and Netri, with the help of many others, create a garden that is so conscious and filled with love. Their attunement to Swamiji’s amazing vision of the garden and to Divine Mother and the “nature devas” is awe inspiring.
They consciously planned the sweep of colors in the carpet of tulips, and even considered what the reflections of flowers in the windows would look like. Jivada and Jagadeesh one of the other main gardeners were also very accommodating to this photographer and they would help me get the best angle to show off God’s Light, which could mean fetching a ladder for me to get up high!
The book also includes some excerpts from the vast works of Swami Kriyananda; songs, poems, books and articles. This is an exerpt from the forward to the book written by Devi Novak. I love her words. They express what Crystal Hermitage means to people.
The great American botanist, George Washington Carver, once said, “Everything in nature will speak to you if you love it enough.” Crystal Hermitage Gardens is a living testimony to the beauty that can be created in the natural world when we approach it with higher consciousness and with love.
The photographs in this book capture the luminous quality of this garden where each flower and tree is cared for with loving appreciation for the life present within it. In return, each blossom and leaf speaks to us, as one would to a friend, in its language of radiance and light. And the setting lets the visitor expand from a focus on a single blossom to a vista that reaches out to infinity.
Visitors to Crystal Hermitage are often moved to tears as they behold nature revealing her hidden realms of divine beauty. One guest recently commented, “I feel like I’ve come home.”
This garden is the creation of Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda World Brotherhood Village, where Crystal Hermitage is located. Kriyananda is a world traveler and a gifted writer, lecturer, composer, and a photographer in his own right.
When he first conceptualized and designed Crystal Hermitage Gardens, he tried to capture the beauty he’d experienced in his travels: the statuary and expansive views of Villa San Michele in Capri; the inspiration of Porziuncula Chapel in Assisi, Italy; the manicured beauty of the gardens along Lake Lugano in Switzerland; and the brilliant colors of the Keukenhof Garden tulips in Amsterdam, Holland.
I came away from this book project with a renewed appreciation for the great light that is Ananda. Paramhansa Yogananda’s ray of divine light, beautifully channelled through Swami Kriyananda and the many souls worldwide that live and tune into this vibration have created a place of beauty and peace.
For the month of April especially, the doors to the gardens are thrown wide open to invite those who feel so inclined to enjoy Mother Nature’s beauty and to drink in the peace that pervades every molecule of every flower, leaf and even the soil.
I hope you can visit and see these wonderful gardens for yourself. The following slideshow shares, I hope, some of the fun, smiles and beauty of Crystal Hermitage.
I want to share the lyrics that Swami Kriyananda has written to a song dedicated to the devas, or nature spirits:
You devas of woodland, of mountain and field:
Come show’r on us blessings and light.
The wonders that Nature, befriended, can yield
Reveal to our hearing and sight.
Your melodies, whispering joy on the air,
Affirm that God’s ev’rywhere.
O devas of woodland, of mountain and field,
Be with us in blessing this night.
One of the hardest things for me, at the start of my spiritual journey, was what to make of the phenomena I began to experience. I know this is a problem for many, in the beginning, and this is why I write about it.
When I began to awaken to the realization that there was more to my existence than the limitation of body and mind I began meditating, in my own fashion. I did not know, then, the techniques that Raja yoga has since given me. Even so, I began to experience visions, spinal manipulations, dreams, past lives, premonitions, all of which, to me, qualified explanation. Naturally, in my ignorance, I discussed them with friends.
When I discovered Ananda and Raja yoga, I would write to a certain minister with my meditational experiences. I was genuinely puzzled by what was happening to me. This minister was extremely patient with me until suddenly I did not receive replies to my emails any more. At first I was disappointed that, as I perceived, my only support was gone. Friends were unable to offer anything but fascination in what was occurring with me. However I have since deepened my own understanding and discovered the method and the blessing in the minister’s apparent madness. He was teaching me a great and valuable lesson. For which I am ever thankful.
As I progress along this path, I have come to the realization how unimportant experiences of phenomena actually are. Though seemingly valid at the time, how much validation have they really in the scheme of things? Do they change anything? I also noticed that I became a focus of unwanted attention, and the wrong sort of attention at that. People were intrigued and wanted predictions for their own self-serving interest or just plain curiosity.
Everyone’s experiences are unique and right only for them, so it does not pay to compare one’s experiences over another’s, or a lack of them. The amount of experiences one has of phenomena bears little to one’s actual spiritual development. One can be extremely psychic, yet have the worldliest consciousness. It was interesting and a relief, when I refused to play the psychic role any longer and all interest in me waned. How much of it was entrapment by Satan’s cunning after all?
I later discovered, after reading extensively the lives of great yogis and saints that many of my experiences are actually quite common with the upliftment of Kundalini. Kundalini is our latent spiritual energy, safely housed at the base of the spine. One should never release this energy by forcible yogic practices. It must be gently release it over time, by comprehensive Raja yoga. The raising of this energy is necessary for our ultimate ascension.
The test of spiritual progress, rather, must be measured in the level of divine communion one has in meditation; through the bliss and the love Guru graces us with and our ability to transpose it to our daily lives and the lives of others; to live in a sea of calm amidst ‘the crash of breaking worlds’; to bear the torch of the Infinite and shine its light on to others, living in the service of God, truly renouncing all self-serving interests.
Now I can see why this minister overtly dismissed my ramblings. I was attached to my experiences. Paramhansa Yogananda says that phenomena can actually hinder spiritual development, as I discovered. They were diverting my attention from the true direction I should be aiming, through the spiritual eye at the centre of the brow, to God. I learned my lesson.
Now? Yes I still experience certain things, though far less than at first. It is common to experience much at first, only to be tested with apparent inertia for any length of time, to see if ones interest in God still continues when no ‘carrot’ is dangled to tempt us. I take all experiences in my stride, asking myself, is this experience life changing? Usually not, therefore dismissing most, however I keep those precious ones that do touch me close to my heart, not to sully them with outward verbal expression, which cannot possibly capture a superconscious experience anyway.
Occasionally, I am guided to share some of my superconscious experiences, which led to the writing of Touching Soul, which will be published shortly by Crystal Clarity. My writing of poetry, often given in meditation, is one light that I feel Divine Mother does not want me to hide under a bushel.
Secrets in the Silence
My God,
Thy whispers held to my heart dear
As I rejoice Thou art so near.
Full of joy, to world would shout
Of precious moments none could doubt.
But my heart’s Counsel, O so wise,
To honour Thee in every guise.
My one True Friend Who loves me well
Does not commune for me to tell.
My closest moments in Thy Heart’s love
Are sacred, for the highest good.
Softly, private secrets shared
That must be held and rarely spared.
Cherished, this love ‘twixt Mother and child,
So precious are Thy secret smiles.
In silence, bears the witness true,
The loving grace Thy Heart communes.
Do you feel joy when using your physical skills to learn and grow and experience life? Perhaps you lead with your heart and feel most alive when you are in a beautiful natural setting, or caring for animals or babies. Maybe you live for a challenge – such as tackling a new project, or raising money for a cause or finding a solution to a problem. Then there are those who love to make lists and use their mind to discover and learn.
Body, Feeling, Will and Intellect – those are the four tools of maturity that Swami Kriyananda describes in the book Education for Life, which is the foundation of the Ananda Living Wisdom Schools.
I teach at the Living Wisdom School in Beaverton, Oregon. We recently had a workshop for parents and experienced the tools of maturity in a fun, interactive way. Learning through direct experience is an important tenet of Education for Life and Living Wisdom Schools. So we didn’t sit around all evening talking about the tools of maturity; we played games, built towers out of blocks, looked through animal pictures, wrote about our feelings and had a great time.
The parents went home with a real understanding of how we teach and how Living Wisdom Schools approach education differently than the mainstream schools. They were all smiling and laughing and asking for more classes as they left. I could tell that the evening they had anticipated – important perhaps, but an imposition on other, more entertaining activities – had turned into an engaging and enlightening time with people they enjoyed.
Education for Life will change the way we learn and teach all over the world. The technology available now is making it possible to share with other educators and parents who are not near a Living Wisdom School, or who really want to create one. With online classes teachers in India can share with those in Wisconsin.
Last weekend I wrote an email to my family, sharing with them about the lifetime monastic vow that I took on Christmas Eve at Ananda Village.
In the email, I wrote,
This is something that I’ve been hoping to do for years — so, understandably, I’m thrilled about it.
What changes for me? Outwardly, very little. The vows aren’t “I renounce the world” kind of vows, but more, “I want to live for God alone” kind of vows. (I often think of “God” as “Divine Joy.”) The way I’ve been living already is simply the way I’ll keep living.
Yellow is my monastic color, so I wear yellow shirts now, but it looks pretty normal — you wouldn’t think it at all unusual! (The color is yellow because a pure, golden orange-yellow is symbolic of calm, or joyful, wisdom.) I was already doing this when I visited a few weeks ago.
Inwardly, I’m making the effort to dedicate myself more completely to my chosen path of meditation and yoga, which has already been a transforming experience for me over the past several years. If we’ve talked about it much, you probably already know this.
One of my most noticeable outward changes is a new title: “Brahmachari.” This means “flowing with Brahma,” or “flowing with God.” So my full name now is “Brahmachari Nabha.” There’s no need for you to use the title — I only want you to know so you aren’t bewildered when it appears online and in my emails.
Apart from all this, I’m still as you know me — with all that this entails!
If you have any questions, I’d love to share more, I just don’t want to impose on anyone. In any case, thank you for being a part of such a beautiful, loving, and supportive family. It is something that I always appreciate when I come visit and get the chance to spend time with you.
I didn’t know for sure what kind of a response I’d get, but my family — including grandparents, parents, cousins, and brother — are supportive of the spiritual life choices I’ve made. I was on pretty safe ground expressing myself this way. Also, they all knew that I’ve lived as a monk for years.
One of my grandmothers wrote to ask more about what all this meant, what interested me in Ananda in the first place, what renunciation was about, and how we practiced it. I’m answering her separately, but I’d like to share the thoughts with you, too.
What Vow Did I Take?
I took the vow of brahmacharya in the Nayaswami Order, founded by Nayaswami Kriyananda a few months ago. More than 70 others at Ananda Village took vows on the same day — most of them becoming swamis, or, as they are called in this order, nayaswamis. Initiations have also been held in Italy (pictured below), Palo Alto, Seattle, and India.
Why Live a Spiritual Life?
The goal of the spiritual life is Divine Joy — a union of our little self, the ego, with the infinite Self, God. This is a truth expressed in all religions, though not always grasped by the followers of those religions.
Meditation is one way to forget ourselves and experience God-as-Joy directly. Early experiences of Him often comes as peace, which Yogananda compared to a cooling mist, or a weightless waterfall.
Service is another way, because thinking of others’ needs can help us to expand beyond our own.
But in all of this, the goal is the same: renounce our little selves, our little ego with its “needs” and daily desires, and become a part of something much bigger and more beautiful, the vast tapestry of life; and to live in Divine Joy.
That is pretty abstract. It is what got me interested in being part of Ananda, though, which my grandmother asked about.
What Makes Ananda Special?
Until I found the yogic teachings, my religious experience was mainly with mainstream Christian churches. Compared to finding union with “ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new joy” — according to Yogananda, a good definition of God — the goals they had were very low.
By my first day as a Christian, I had already attained the heights that most of my peers aspired to: believe in God, believe in Jesus, and don’t be a bad person. These are good things, no doubt, but I came to feel that they weren’t enough.
With Ananda, I found many people who sincerely wanted to dedicate themselves to the highest that they could, saying, “I want to find true, eternal joy; to this I give my life.” And also, “I want to help those who want to, to do the same, regardless of their path.”
The sincerity of their dedication is still something I admire, even after years of living at Ananda Village.
What Do Members of the Nayaswami Order Renounce?
It can be hard to tell from the outside. If you came to visit Ananda Village, you’d see a community of men and women with jobs and bank accounts, getting up, making breakfast, meditating together, going to movies, getting the car fixed, working in their gardens on the weekend, and doing many other normal, everyday activities, which of course vary from person to person.
You’d see that they are good people, and happy, but also that they are people like you and I.
What is unusual is something they have inside: their goals in life are centered on realizing that what they truly are is the soul: a part of us that stretches beyond this lifetime, and is said to be changeless and eternal.
Contrast that with what many people’s goals are focused on: the stuff of daily life: the garden itself, the new car, or the new husband or wife.
It’s that narrow focus, rather than the stuff itself, that members of the Nayaswami Order are making the effort to renounce. They want to give up identifying with a passing reality in favor of identifying with something much greater.
There’s an emphasis here on inner renunciation, which is different from past forms of monasticism. So I can’t compare it easily with traditions that you might already be familiar with. As Nayaswami Jyotish recently put it, the classic vows of Christian monastics — poverty, chastity, and obedience — or Ananda’s equivalent, simplicity, chastity, and cooperative obedience — are still very important, but they can’t be the focus, because we can have them and still not have God.
The Renunciate Vow of Brahmacharya
A brahmacharya-color scarf
There are four vows in this renunciate order: the vow of the pilgrim, which anyone can take; the vow of brahmacharya, for people who are single; the vow of tyaga, for (usually married) couples; and the vow of nayaswami, a vow of complete renunciation for people who are single or for married couples.
More detailed explanations of the brahmacharya, tyaga, and nayaswami vows are in the chapter of A Renunciate Order for the New Age, The Vows of Renunciation. The vow of the pilgrim is new, so there isn’t yet any comprehensive information online about it. (I believe Nayaswami Kriyananda will be adding it to the book first.) If you’re interested in taking that vow, or any of these vows, please fill out this form.
I took the vow of brahmacharya, so I’ll quote from it to talk about on what I’ve made a commitment to, and what others do when they join this order.
Excerpts from the Vow of Brahmacharya
In pursuit of that goal [of seeking God], I offer my own life unreservedly to seeking my Divine Source.
In other words, “I want to find God (Divine Joy), and I’m giving it everything I possibly can.”
I will retain no ego-gratifying goal in my life, but will strive always, and above all, to please God.
To me this means, “I don’t want to serve my little self, my petty desires, my passing likes, dislikes, and selfish thoughts — I want to live only for the attainment of Divine Joy.”
It would be hard to make such a definite commitment if I hadn’t already (by God’s grace) experienced some (small) part of this joy in meditation. Even a slight touch of it is more interesting than any other experience.
I renounce attachment to things, people, places, and all self-definitions…
Traditionally, monastics have often taken vows of poverty, which I mentioned earlier. This is so they don’t become attached to money or possessions, which might pull them away from their spiritual goals.
This brahmacharya vow makes the firm commitment to renounce the attachment itself, which after all is the important thing to be free of.
This new form of renunciation may still mean living very simply, but it depends on the individual. I do, after all, live in a canvas tent. On the other hand, it has electricity, heat, a laptop, and an iPhone!, which I use for service as much as possible, instead of just for entertainment.
Christmas Eve morning found over 100 devotees filling our largest temple at Ananda Village
We began the ceremony at 10:00 am after an hour-long meditation. Afterward the meditation, Jyotish gave a short talk, which you can listen to here, or download from The Nayaswami Order website:
Jyotish talked about the sacredness of the occasion; about renunciation; and about how one who is ready to dedicate their lives to God is very close to the end of the soul’s long journey through delusion.
His talk ended with an invitation to those taking, first, the brahmacharya vow to come forward. I was in this group, so I stood up and walked to the center area, which you can see in the photos. We knelt, and as Jyotish read the vow a line at a time, we repeated it after him.
We then came forward to be blessed individually and receive a scarf. As Jyotish blessed me, I felt within myself a deep commitment to live for God alone.
After a moment, I rose and stood before Devi, who put a scarf, yellow for the color of brahmacharya, around my neck. In the photo above, you may see what I saw in her expression at the time: her respect for those coming forward, and for the important step on the spiritual journey that this vow signifies.
The room was silent while everyone who had taken the vow came forward one at a time. (This took some time.)
Next, those taking the vow of tyaga rose, repeated the vow, and were blessed; and finally, those taking the nayaswami vow came forward.
The nayaswami vow is the “Vow of Complete Renunciation.” Jyotish said one line of it at time, and those taking the vow repeated it before stepping forward and offer a spoonful of ghee into a blazing fire, placed in the center of the temple. (Ghee is purified butter and symbolizes pure spiritual aspiration.)
The next part of the ceremony was for those taking the vow to prostrate themselves before the fire. This symbolized unconditional surrender to the divine will.
The atmosphere was very still. I imagine that those taking the vow were making a supreme effort to offer their lives to God as completely as they could.
Finally, each person came forward to be blessed and to officially become a swami.
Two and a half hours from the time we had first started the meditation, the ceremony finished with Jyotish offering a few words and leading us in a closing prayer, that we might become free from ego in this lifetime.
Final Thoughts, and How I Decided to Take the Vow
These vows are holy. Just as I felt unusually calm after taking them, for days afterward I noticed an other-worldly joy emanating from those who took the nayaswami vow, the “Vow of Complete Renunciation.” Indeed, I still often noticed it weeks later.
Freedom! Bliss! This is the fruit of a life of renunciation — not a painful emptiness, which so many people imagine it to be.
This renunciate order is just being born; surely, in the years (and centuries) to come, it will change and grow. Certain details about exactly how it will work, we may only discover through day-to-day experience. If you have questions, or if you felt something was confusing in this post, please do mention it in the comments.
Taking a vow of renunciation is something that some here felt unsure about, in part because the idea is so awe-inspiring. Some of us wondered, “Am I worthy?” or, “Can I do it?”
Whether I’m “worthy” or not, I don’t know, but I did have a memorable experience a few weeks ago when I was reading one of the final chapters of A Renunciate Order for the New Age, in preparation for taking the vow.
The true renunciate is one who is willing to face any obstacle in his struggle to reach the goal, for he knows that there is no acceptable alternative.… even if he is killed, he knows that he belongs utterly and completely to God alone.
I was starting to question, “Could I be ready for this? What if I’m not? Yes, I’ve already decided to take the vow, but perhaps I should back out…”
As I thought this, a tightness formed around my heart. “No!” some deep part of myself cried, “I must do this! This — the search for God — is my life!”
I felt this was the answer to my question.
In fact, it is the answer for everyone eventually, in the final stages of their soul’s long journey away from God. For there is simply no other way, without at least inner renunciation, to find true happiness.
The year 2009 was one of great expansion for Ananda Sangha outreach. All of it came through the grace of God, which is reflected in the title of this post.
Here are some of the year’s highlights.
From Swami Kriyananda
He began the year by rewriting two books: The Path, which is now The New Path: My Life with Paramhansa Yogananda; and Do It Well!, which he did because, in his words, “I realized Do It Now! needed to be a lot deeper.” (Editor’s note: Do It Now is available as a free iPhone and iPod Touch application, and Do It Well! appears on the homepage of Ananda.org with a new saying every day).
Swami Kriyananda also worked, in collaboration with Catherine Kairavi, on her upcoming book Two Souls; Four Lives – the Lives and Former Lives of Paramhansa Yogananda and His Disciple Swami Kriyananda. The book is due to be published in February.
In May of 2009, Swamiji had a health crises while traveling from India to Switzerland. However, through the grace of God and Guru, he experienced a miracle revival.
Ever since then, his health has been robust enough to permit him to travel and work extensively on a multitude of projects. In Swamiji’s own words: “In Lugano I’d had to go everywhere in a wheelchair. When I left Italy [a month later] I didn’t even take my cane.”
Right after receiving the miraculous healing, Swami Kriyananda conducted public events to launch his new book Religion in the New Age in Rome and Milan, gave many interviews, and worked on editing Images of Wisdom booklet, presented to him by the devotees of Ananda Assisi. It consists of excerpts from Swami Kriyananda’s lectures over the years.
Upon arriving to U.S. in July, Swamiji conducted the celebration of Ananda Village’s 40th Anniversary. Click here for video and audio of the celebration weekend.
This was followed by weeks of daily video recording of the Bhagavad Gita commentaries, now broadcast now on Ananda’s channel on YouTube and a TV station in India — 160 episodes in all!
September also saw a big public lecture in Los Angeles, during which he launched The New Path. Click here for the video and audio of the event.
Swamiji departed the U.S. for Italy in October. Upon arriving at Ananda Assisi, he proceeded to film a documentary of his life with the Italian TV station Anima. In Swamiji’s words: “The shows took only three days instead of the scheduled seven. No re-takes were necessary!”
In November Swami Kriyananda went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, to meet visionaries who communicate with the Virgin Mary. He describes a profoundly inspiring experience of divine love while meditating at the shrines. Click here to read about it.
Also in November he finished writing A Renunciate Order for the New Age, and launched the Nayaswami Order with a deeply inspiring initiation in Assisi.
Around the same time, Swami Kriyananda was giving a public lecture at a peace conference in Assisi. Padre Anthony, another speaker there, saw him in his Nayaswami blue robe, and asked about it.
In Swamiji’s words: “When I explained it to him him, he asked how many members we had. I said, ‘One.’ Then came the Nayaswami ceremony, and since then, we have over 200 in the new Order.” Click here to visit the new website dedicated to the Nayaswami Order.
Christmas activities at Ananda Assisi included Swamiji’s lectures and other public appearances. In the midst of a busy holiday season, he was writing a new screen play The Answer, based on his life as described in The New Path. Along with that, he was also working on a film script for The Wayshower, a story about Yogananda’s life and mission.
Around New Year’s, Swami Kriyananda traveled to New Delhi, India, where he had a public launch of The New Path and The New Renunciate Order books, immediately followed by a Nayaswami Order initiation he conducted for Ananda devotees there.
At the time of this writing, Swami Kriyananda is taking a well-deserved break. This will be followed by travel to Ananda’s new community in Pune, more public events in India, and the filming of more Bhagavad Gita commentaries for a daily TV show in India.
From the Expanding Light Retreat at Ananda Village
Hosted, taught, and inspired over 1500 guests from all over the world in hundreds of classes, programs, and retreats.
Completely redesigned our flagship website Ananda.org. Designed and published brand new websites for Ananda Clarity Magazine, Ananda Online Classes, and The Nayaswami Order. Created first-ever Ananda iPhone and iPod Touch application with Swami Kriyananda’s Do It Now!. Launched and expanded Ananda’s presence with the Social Media, counting over 15,000 fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter. In 2009 Ananda.org had almost half a million visitors from 205 countries, and well over a million pageviews.
Kriya Yoga Sangha
Conducted over 30 Kriya Initiations at Ananda Village, Sacramento, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Seattle, Texas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Ohio, Argentina, Venezuela, and Mexico.
Ananda Ministers on the Road
38 ministers from Ananda Village traveled to conduct programs and retreats nationwide.
Ananda Village
Celebrated its 40th Anniversary on July 4! Established Ananda Farms and a Community-Supported Agriculture system. Conducted permaculture class series and planted a Forest Garden. Broke ground on the beautiful new Living Wisdom Center building as a flagship for education, the arts, and community workshops.
Contrary to the popular saying, the youth is NOT wasted on Ananda’s young!
They hosted a Living with Spirit summer program for over 30 participants, established Inspiration House, a young adults ashram at Ananda Village, and planning not one, not two, but three summer programs in 2010!
As always, we deeply appreciate your interest, prayers, and financial support as we strive to serve our ever-widening global community of spiritual seekers.
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico and Venezuela to lead Kriya Yoga initiations. Even though it’s a struggle to communicate due to my lack of Spanish (fortunately, I had a very good translator!), there is a lingua franca (common language) shared by sincere Kriya Yogis — the language of divine joy.
When we live for God, and regularly practice meditation and Kriya Yoga, we naturally grow into what the yogis describe as our true nature: “Satchitananda,” ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever new bliss.
In Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, we stayed at the brand “new” Ananda ashram begun by our dear friend Medardo (see his blog post about the ashram, Building Ananda in Mexico). It is an extraordinary testimony to the creativity and will of the devotees there, that they made a beautiful ashram out of a ruined and abandoned building — one which had graffiti on all the walls inside and out, and a foot of waste on all the floors!
Ananda Ashram in Mexico
We were given a wonderful opportunity to experience divine cooperation and joy. There were about twenty of us staying there as part of our Kriya retreat. We shared two bathrooms that didn’t have doors yet. The flimsy curtains covering the doorways were frequently blown aside with the breeze, sometimes at very inconvenient moments!
There was no dimming of anyone’s joy — it only increased throughout the retreat. A group of us were talking on the last day, and one of the new Kriyabans received a phone call, which reduced him to tears. At first concerned that there was a tragedy in his family, we eventually learned he had just found out that he won a money lottery at the factory where he worked.
He had prayed to Babaji for help in winning it, with the intention of paying for bathroom doors for the new ashram! Praying for winning a lottery is typically not recommended, but we were all utterly charmed by the man’s simple devotion and sincerity. Our joy turned to laughter when someone suggested that Babaji must have earnestly wanted those bathroom doors installed in the ashram! It’s obvious that the Ananda Ashram will grow into a beautiful home for the Kriya Yogis in Lazaro Cardenas.
Anaashani, Blanca, and Devarshi
In Venezuela we had a delightful and inspiring meeting with Blanca, a 95-year old Kriya Yogi who received Kriya over fifty years ago from Senor Cuaron, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda.
Blanca has continued her Kriya practice and devotion to Yogananda all these years, with very little support from other disciples. The divine joy in her eyes and overall demeanor were a powerful testimonial to the benefits of Kriya, and steadfast discipleship to Yogananda.
Blanca’s parents were also Kriya Yogis, as well as Blanca’s daughter Nancy, who recounted a very interesting story about the birth of her own child.
Kriya Initiates in Venezuela
A friend of Nancy’s was visiting India while Nancy was expecting a child. Her friend met a Swami there who, in so many words said, “You have a friend back home who is about to have a child. This child is the soul of my former disciple Ganesh. Your friend’s child will be a boy, and will be born on such-and-such date and hour. Ganesh and I won’t be together in this lifetime, but we will see each other next lifetime.”
When Nancy heard this, she had difficulty believing it because the birth date given by the Swami would mean a a premature birth by many weeks. But, sure enough, a boy was born on the very date and hour predicted by the Swami, and Nancy named her son Ganesh.
When he was six years old, Ganesh wrote to the Swami in India. The letter was returned, with a note that the Swami had just passed away. Certainly a strange story! And a beautiful confirmation of reincarnation and the eternal nature of the Guru-Disciple relationship.
During our trip we not only had the opportunity to meet Ganesh, now an adult, but to perform a baptism for his young son. Now five generations of that one family in Venezuela are blessed by the teachings of India and Kriya Yoga!
I would like to thank everyone who donates so generously to help spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga throughout the world. There are many, many souls who are receiving the blessings of Kriya, and the divine friendship and support that we could not otherwise share.
Finally, I would like to share a wonderful practice suggested by Paramhansa Yogananda. He once told some disciples, “Memorize my poem ‘Samadhi,’ and repeat it daily. It will help to awaken within you that lost memory of what you are in reality: sons of Infinity.”
During a weekly three-hour men’s Kriya meditation at Ananda Village, we listen to a recording of Swami Kriyananda reading the poem.
If you can’t memorize or read the entire poem every day, you can learn one line that Yogananda repeats over and over in a talk he gave one Christmas day. It describes and helps us affirm our own true nature. Try repeating the following line in your meditation, as you go to sleep, and during other times:
A tiny bubble of laughter,
I am become the Sea of Mirth Itself!
A tiny bubble of laughter,
I am become the Sea of Mirth Itself!
A tiny bubble of laughter,
I am become the Sea of Mirth Itself!
Listen to Swami Kriyananda reading the poem “Samadhi”:
