Swami Kriyananda asked a group of people to move to Los Angeles and help Ananda happen down here. So last fall 10 or so of us packed up and moved down to the big city. We are now quickly coming up on our one year anniversary. I think all of us have been stretched in…

I got sick recently and was slowly losing my voice. As a singer in the LA Joy Singers quartet I was starting to get a little concerned as I saw an important concert approaching. We had planned an interfaith event called “Unity through Music”. We had invited members of other churches and spiritual groups for…

Swami Kriyananda has often told us to build a mental bonfire before we go to bed each night and cast into it all desires and attachments that we’ve collected throughout the day. I wanted to practice this but was never able to be consistent with it. I realized the problem was that I was making…

I recently completed the Yoga Teacher Training course at the Expanding Light. It was an amazing month filled with great joy and laughter, profound wisdom, and personal growth. Some of my fellow trainees/teachers/friends on a hike to Bald Mountain The program was an incredible experience. It was a blessing to receive a broader and deeper…

After hearing of my decision to embark on this time as monk, a friend here at Ananda Village sent me an excerpt of a talk by Swami Kriyananda where he talks about monasticism. He starts by explaining how it fits into the community of Ananda as a whole. “I feel that spiritual communities need a…

Recently, before a group sadhana one morning, a friend read beautiful poem from Whispers from Eternity by Paramhansa Yogananda, edited by Swami Kriyananda. It touched me very deeply. It is amazing how answers can come to us when we are listening and ready to accept and learn. I had been going along having great meditations,…

I decided during Spiritual Renewal Week in August to join Ananda’s monastery for one year at the Ananda Meditation Retreat. In celebration of Swami Kriyananda’s discipleship anniversary, the vows of monasticism were taken last Sunday. The idea of monasticism had often inspired me, but in the past I had never quite felt like I would…

Read the Stories of Yogananda Introduction Mukunda’s parents were deeply devoted to Lahiri Mahasaya. They always kept a beautiful picture of Lahiri on a small altar in their home. Many times Mukunda could be found meditating in front of the altar with his mother. He learned to love Lahiri more and more as the years…

View the Stories of Yogananda introduction In the ancient land of India, in the year 1893, Bhagabati Charan Gosh and Gyan Prabha Gosh had a son they named Mukunda. This divine child would grow up to be the great master Paramhansa Yogananda. Lahiri’s Blessing Mukunda’s mother was a very saintly woman. She knew he was…

My Mother and Father always made a point to keep Paramhansa Yogananda as part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are hearing stories of his life when they would paraphrase stories from the Autobiography of a Yogi. I also remember informally acting out several scenes from his life when my Mother did an…

I had the blessing to attend Ananda Portland’s 20th anniversary a few weeks ago. I had decided to go because I love being part of these celebrations with our greater Ananda family. I find it’s fun to be serving in that flow of energy. It was a wonderful weekend and I was grateful to have…

Over the past month or so Ananda Village has played host to disciples from all over the world. They came on several pilgrimages from 15 different countries. Words are escaping me as I try to describe the joy! The depth of the friendship that devotees can have is amazing. As the European pilgrimage left I…

This is the home my parents built and my siblings and I grew up in. My parents came to Ananda 30 years ago with very little. They moved here, sight unseen, with just enough money to buy supplies to build a house. My Dad managed to find cheap lumber and built the house himself. As…