We have been on the run here for Spiritual Renewal week. I was hoping to write about the talks a bit, but I know Dave will post the talks soon. They will be in separate clips so they will be easy to listen too. They are each amazing. We have such great and inspiring teachers.…

Greetings everyone! Last nights performance was so beautiful. I hope you enjoy the sampling of photos from the evening. Blessings to you. Barbara Swamiji arriving at the evening concert in The Expanding Light amphitheater Swamiji rehearsing with musicians just prior to the concert The World Brotherhood choir singing the Ananda theme song, “Many Hands Make…

Swami arriving with Sri Kaarthikeyan Spiritual Renewal Week 2008 is here! Ananda Choir singing to an audience of 400+ 400+ beautiful people came to The Expanding Light amphitheater on this warm August Day to hear Swami Kriyananda give a talk entitled “World Brotherhood Colonies: Social Pattern for Dwapara Yuga” It was a great talk, it…

Finding Peace in an Unsettled world was the title of the talk Swamiji gave at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose, Ca. The talk was very well attended, at least a 1000 people were there. The talk is on the web for you to listen to. Today is the open house at the…

Last night, July 18, a beautiful event took place in Palo Alto, California. As part of Ananda’s 40th Anniversary celebrations the Oratorio “Christ Lives” was performed. This was a special performance in that Swami Kriyananda sang many of his divinely inspired songs. The collection of songs depicts the mystic life and teachings of Christ. Swamiji…

It has been an amazing few weeks at Ananda Village. Naturally, having Swamiji here is a real blessing. You have already heard alot about Swamiji’s birthday celebrations and probably heard the talks on the internet. His Sunday Service talk was wonderful. I have two groups of photos to share with you to show some other…

What a beautiful day! The newly refurbished amphitheater was all decked out with flowers, flags and a new and larger shade cloth. The seats were filled to capacity. Swami’s talk was deep and inspiring. Who could ask for more? Wow. Friday (yesterday) was a big day at Ananda and The Expanding Light. It was beautiful…

In one of my previous posts, I had mentioned that Ananda Velo (Ananda Village’s Bicycle Club) is organizing a bicycle ride for Ananda’s 40th anniversary and Swami Kriyananda’s 60th anniversary of discipleship. The date of this ride has been finalized as August 9th (the Saturday before Spiritual Renewal Week). Yesterday, we sent out an email…

My son is away at camp this week and my daughter is taking swimming lessons. We finished our homeschooling for the year and it seems summer is under way – but my mind is leaping ahead to September and the start of the new school year. It will be a year of changes for us,…

Watching Swami in Italy watch us Last Monday, on May 19, 250 devotees in 7 different colonies celebrated Swami Kriyananda’s Birthday with a LIVE video conference. Early Dwapara Yuga sees many technological and social advancements. For instance, we have long offered the time shifting capabilities of viewing recorded videos of Sunday Services or recent talks…

Twenty years ago my husband and I welcomed our firstborn into the world, and the Ananda Portland meditation group became a true Ananda “colony”. There may have been other significant events in 1988, but I don’t remember them. As we plan the 20 year anniversary celebration of Ananda Portland, my memories of those growing up…

I’m in the midst of preparations for our final Ananda Concert Series program, entitled Ananda Classics. We’ll be performing on Saturday night, May 17th, at 7:30 PM at the Crystal Hermitage, surrounded by the beauty of the gardens. This will be the first time in nearly twenty years that Swami’s String Quartet will be performed…

Hi Everyone, It has been a wonderful and awe-inspiring week. I live out here on the West Coast and woke up Saturday morning feeling like something good was happening. It was the morning that Swamiji gave his heart-opening and soul stirring talk in Rome. I think everyone here at Ananda Village felt a calm sense…

“I wasn’t sent to the West,” Yogananda often told his audiences, “by Christ and the great masters of India to dogmatize you with a new theology. Jesus himself asked Babaji to send someone here to teach you the science of Kriya Yoga, that people might learn how to commune with God directly. I want to…

I haven’t posted for a couple months – life gets very full with a family of five! We all seem to be going separate directions these days, but part of me really enjoys all the activity and seeing three children grow and explore their potential is fun. Many friends my age are watching their children…

One of the great joys of my work with Kriya Yogis is the frequent emails I receive from them, describing the positive effects of Kriya practice. These testimonials come from long-time Kriyabans, and from people who have been practicing Kriya less than a year.

Many times the practice of Kriya brings what I call ‘unintended consequences’ — all of them positive! A recent email from a new Kriyaban described how they had stopped eating meat, were eating half as much as they used to (good in their case, apparently!) – all of this even though they weren’t trying to make these particular changes in their life.

This past weekend we presented our second concert in our Ananda Concert Series, entitled An Evening with St. Francis, presenting the life of the great saint with narration and music written by Swami Kriyananda. The dome of the Crystal Hermitage was filled to capacity with close to 70 in the audience as we began our…

Music touches people on a deeper level than words alone. The music composed by Swami Kriyananda is written to change consciousness; the experience of listening to, playing, or singing such music goes beyond the sensory experience, into the soul. Being part of the choir at the Ananda Center in Portland has become a vital part…

In my previous post about bicycling (Satsang on Bicycles) I had talked about the great joy of bicyling in the Sierra Foothills, especially when joined by gurubais. The more I ride my bicycle in this area, the more I am convinced we live in one of the most beautiful areas in the world. The neighboring…

Last night, at Ananda Village, we celebrated the blessings of Mahavatar Babaji in our lives. It was a stunningly beautiful evening at the Crystal Hermitage. The air was so still and except for a choir of crickets and our devotional chanting and prayers it was very quiet and profoundly peaceful. The evening was led by…

I was a bit sad to see Swami Kriyananda go back to India. It was a summer visit packed with inspiring events and talks and visits with spiritual family from all over. …

Over 200 Ananda members traveled to Southern California last week for 5 days of events. The highlight was the official launch of Swami Kriyananda’s new book, Revelations of Chirst. It was held at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles, and was attended by over 1,000 people. You can listen to Swami Kriyananda’s talk and view…

Next week is a big one. Swami Kriyananda will be in Los Angeles to launch his new book, Revelations of Christ. Many people from Ananda Village and Ananda Colonies will also be there to join in and help with all the festivities. Along with the book launch, some of the events we are all looking…

A friend of mine died two weeks ago. He was my closest friend during high school, and was planning to visit me at Ananda Village today.

Last Wednesday Vidura and I went to Oakland to pick up the statues of the Masters. As you may recall, has been a 2 year project. (please refer to previous post). The 2 life size statues of Yogananda and Sri Yukteswar each way somewhere around 600 pounds and are made out of beautiful white marble.…

Last weekend we celebrated Swami Kriyananda’s 81st birthday at Ananda Village. He spoke for over three hours during several occasions, covering many topics. I am quoting a few of his words here, but I urge you to listen to his talks on the Ananda website. Swamiji shared a lifetime’s worth of spiritual insight from the…

This evening I went to the Crystal Hermitage to gather some recording equiptment for a kirtan, and was dynamically engulfed in the aura of Swami Kriyananda. He lives downstairs, and I didn’t get a chance to greet him, but his aura permeated my whole being, making me smile with such sweet joy. I go to…

“Divine Mother,” Vanamali Devi said during the retreat last weekend, “is the easiest way to God. As any child knows, you can make demands of the Mother than you can’t make of the Father. It is the same with Divine Mother. So, this way of worshipping God has become very popular in India.”

Our tour group had a short audience with Vanamali Devi. One of the first questions we asked was if she would talk about devotion. She replied, “That is one of the hardest things to talk about!”

So she took a charming approach to the subject: why wisdom is a necessary prerequisite for deep devotion. Wisdom, she said, is the knowledge of what we would be devoted to, and without it, we become dogmatic and fanatical, focusing our energy not on our perception of God, but on our conception of Him: on mere belief or superstition. [...]

This website is called “A Place Called Ananda,” but what and where is that place? A dream I once had offers some explanation, as does my first Christmas meditation.

In the dream, a friend was telling me that Ananda is like a lake of consciousness, filled with joy and reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. I only very rarely share spiritual dreams, but this one illustrates so well [...]

As director of Ananda’s Kriya Sangha, I’ve had the great good fortune of hearing from countless Kriya Yogis from around the world. These wonderful souls have shared with me their stories about the extraordinary growth that comes from following the Path of Kriya. In the coming months I’ll share some of those conversations with you.…

It took me years to convince myself that I should start a blog. I don’t necessarily chase the latest technology craze and end up usually waiting for a while until the dust settles and see what remains after that. Finally about a year ago I started a blog, primarily to send news and pictures to…