Nayaswami Anandi
An inspiring teacher and insightful counselor, Anandi is one of the founding members of Ananda. She is a staff teacher at The Expanding Light Retreat, and has taught countless classes on meditation and spirituality over her many years of service.
Anandi also serves as an editor for Crystal Clarity Publishers.These duties, in addition to her own spiritual practices, have helped Anandi to develop a profound understanding of Yogananda's teachings.
Nayaswami Asha
Asha is a founding member of Ananda Village. She is a Kriyacharya (authorized Kriya Yoga teacher).
Swami Kriyananda placed her in the role of teaching and counseling soon after her arrival to Ananda. In that capacity, she has taught throughout the United States, and occasionally in Europe and India.
She served as Swami Kriyananda's correspondence secretary for many years, and is the author of Swami Kriyananda As We Have Known Him, a collection of stories told by people who have been touched by his teachings and spiritual friendship.
Asha and her husband David reside at Ananda's community in Palo Alto, California, where they serve as the spiritual directors.
You can listen to talks of Asha's and more at www.nayaswamiasha.org.
Nayaswami Devarshi
A long-time Ananda minister and Kriyacharya (authorized Kriya Yoga teacher), Devarshi is the director of Ananda's Kriya Yoga Sangha.
Devarshi's duties include preparing devotees to receive Kriya Yoga, conducting Kriya Initiations at Ananda Village and other parts of U.S., India and South America. An important part of his ministry is to provide ongoing guidance and support for Kriyabans (kriya yogis) all over the world.
Nayaswami Devi
Devi is one of the founding members of Ananda, having lived at Ananda Village and other Ananda colonies since 1969. She is a Kriyacharya (authorized Kriya Yoga teacher). Over the years, her duties included teaching, outselling, and directing many aspects of Ananda's work.
Together with her husband Jyotish, Devi serves as a Spiritual Director for Ananda Sangha Worldwide.
She travels and lectures extensively throughout the world sharing Yogananda's teachings of integrating meditation and spirituality into daily life.
Tyagini Dharmadevi
Dharmadevi is an Ananda minister, a certified Ananda Meditation Teacher, and helped start the Ananda Los Angeles center in 2007.
Previously, Dharmadevi lived at Ananda Village, where she helped launch Online with Ananda (then, Ananda Online Classes) and its Virtual Community. She has been practicing and teaching alternative healing modalities since 2000 and especially enjoys sharing Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings on health and healing. Dharmadevi is currently teaching the Ancient Keys to Attaining Success & Happiness (AKASH) series that Swami Kriyananda wrote while in LA, and she is part of the founding team of Yogananda Institute.
Nayaswami Gopal
Nayaswami Gopal, an Ananda Minister, is a teacher at Sierra College in Northern California, as well as a guest teacher at The Expanding Light, Ananda's Yoga and Meditation Retreat Center. He also teaches The Art of Supportive Leadership, an online course through Online with Ananda.
Gopal developed and presented a program on leadership to the National Education Association and has been involved in leadership training through them for the past two years. As a 7th degree black belt in Kenpo Karate, he also owns and operates the Andre Sims Kenpo Karate School. Gopal lives at Ananda Village in Nevada City with his wife Nayaswami Sahaja.
Nayaswami Gyandev
Gyandev McCord is the founder and director of the Ananda Yoga Teacher Training Program, which he teaches at the Expanding Light Retreat and worldwide.
Gyandev is also a founding board member of Yoga Alliance, the non-profit organization which ensures professional standards for yoga teachers in the U.S.
Prior to embarking on the yogic path, Gyandev received a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Stanford University. After deeply contemplating the purpose of life, he decided to relinquish the outer science of math to explore the inner science of yoga.
Tyagi Hanuman
Hanuman has been a part of Ananda since 1981 when he and he wife Mari lived in the Ananda Atherton Ashram. In 1984 they moved to Ananda Village, where Hanuman worked as a carpenter, an ICU nurse, and a chiropractor.
In 1989, Swami Kriyananda made he and his wife Lightbearer Ministers for Ananda. The two moved to Portland in 1991 and have lived there for nearly 20 years, serving as community and cafe managers, co-directors of the church, and ministers. He is a certified parish nurse for the Ananda Portland community and congregation.
In May of 2010 Hanuman and Mari purchased an adult living home across the street from Ananda Laurelwood. Ananda House is a spiritual assisted living home based on the Evening Hospice precepts set forth by Swami Kriyananda. It is a multigenerational home where practicing adults can have assistance with all aspects of living while continuing to live a conscious active life for God. Hanuman is also working on a upcoming book, Conscious Exits.
Nayaswami Hriman
A long-term teacher and minister, Hriman is one of the founding members of Ananda. He combines keen intellect and insight with a lively sense of humor, which makes his perspective on spiritual topics down-to-earth and practical. He is a Kriyacharya (authorized Kriya Yoga teacher).
Hriman and his wife Padma are the spiritual directors of Ananda Seattle, where they have lead the work since 1994.
Nayaswami Jaya
Nayaswami Jaya is a founding member of Ananda, a Lightbearer, and a Kriyacharya (Kriya Yoga teacher).
After leading for many years the development of Ananda Village, Nayaswami Jaya and his wife Nayaswami Sadhana Devi, also an Ananda founding member, served at Ananda U.S. East Coast, and then moved to India to help start Ananda's work there.
Currently Nayaswami Jaya resides at Ananda Pune in India, where he overseed the initial development of the land for Ananda's community just outside the city. He and Sadhana Devi are teaching meditation and Kriya Yoga classes in Pune and other major cities in India.
Tyagi Jayadev
Jayadev has been living, teaching, meditating at Ananda Assisi for over 20 years. He is the co-director of the Ananda Yoga Academy of Europe, leads yearly pilgrimages to holy places in the Himalayas, regularly holds seminars around Europe, and has written four yogic books, published in Italy.
Kristy Fassler-Hecht
Kristy has been practicing the teachings of Self-realization since 1984. She was part of the Ananda community in Seattle prior to moving to New England in 1989, and since that time has been instrumental in starting and leading the Ananda center in York, Maine as well as other programs in New England.
Kristy received her doctorate in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University of Natural Health Sciences. She is married to Leon and has a son, Ben, in college. She practices naturopathic medicine with her husband and another doctor in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Through her service as a naturopathic doctor and Ananda center leader, Kristy has discovered the joy of selfless service and feels a spiritual kinship with all life.
Nayaswami Parvati
Nayaswami Parvati is one of Ananda's most widely traveled and experienced ministers. With her husband, Nayaswami Pranaba, she helped to create and direct Ananda centers in Palo Alto, Portland, Seattle, Dallas, and Assisi, Italy.
Parvati currently lives at Ananda Village and administers the Janaka Foundation.
Nayaswami Pranaba
Pranaba has been an Ananda member and minister for almost 30 years. During this time he has served in many Ananda colonies in the U.S., and in Assisi, Italy.
Until recently, Pranaba directed the membership training program at Ananda Village. He now coordinates Ananda’s Meditation Centers and Groups, and also works with Ananda's outreach ministry. He travels frequently, bringing Yogananda's teachings and inspiration to Ananda devotees nationwide.
Puru (Joseph) Selbie
Puru is a founding member of Ananda Village, as well as a Lightbearer, teacher, and writer. He has taught and lectured for over 35 years in America and Europe and is a co-author of The Yugas: Keys to Understanding Our Hidden Past, Emerging Energy Age, and Enlightened Future.
Puru is very entrepreneurial and has served in the management and business development of Ananda Village, as well as founding his own web design company, Tristream. Puru lives with his wife Lakshmi at Ananda Village in Northern California. Their four children are now grown and gone.
Nayaswami Sabari
Sabari came to Ananda in 1988, and trained as a teacher and minister at Ananda Palo Alto. She is an insightful counselor, dedicated to serving the highest in others.
In 2009, she and her husband became the spiritual directors of Ananda's community in Sacramento, where they serve currently.
Nayaswami Sadhana Devi
Nayaswami Sadhana Devi is a founding member of Ananda and a lightbearer, now serving in India with her husband Nayaswami Jaya.
Sadhana Devi and Jaya worked for many years to build Ananda Village in California, then served for a few years on the East Coast, helping to build another kind of community. In 2006 they came to India to join the Ananda Sangha staff at Gurgaon. After two years helping to build community in Pune they are returning to the Ananda Sangha headquarters in the Delhi area (Gurgaon), where they will continue to teach and work with outreach services.
Jaya and Sadhana Devi have a daughter, Shyama, in Portland, Oregon.
Nayaswami Savitri
Savitri has been an Ananda minister for the past 30 years. She is a counselor and staff teacher at The Expanding Light Retreat, where she directs the Meditation Teacher Training program, and offers seminars on the chakras and other aspects of yoga philosophy.
In addition to her devotion to the spiritual path, Savitri is a musician, herb gardener, gourmet vegetarian cook, and nature lover!
Nayaswami Seva
Seva is a founding member of Ananda, and has lived at Ananda Village and other Ananda colonies since 1968. Her many years of service included taking charge of the fledgling community's finances, helping start new Ananda centers on the West Coast of the U.S., in Europe, and in India. Seva is a true pioneer!
Currently she resides at Ananda Village and directs the Ananda Course of Self-Realization. Unfailingly cheerful and loving under all circumstances, Seva has a deep understanding of the spiritual path, born of a lifetime dedicated to God.
