I had two titles in my mind for this blog post. The second one was to be something like, Riding the Wave with Yogananda. I went on a pilgrimage this past weekend to sites in the Los Angeles area made sacred by Paramhansa Yogananda. In some ways it was a very fast paced weekend trying…

Dear friends, On September 18th in Boston, 45 to 50 souls celebrated the 90th Anniversary of Paramhansa Yogananda’s arrival in Boston from India. Nayaswamis Devarshi and Maria from Ananda Village shared this memorable weekend with us. My heart is overflowing with joy and gratitude to Yogananda for the great gifts of Divine awakening he brought…

Guru night is a devotional event that takes place annually at summer’s end. Ananda Portland has the tradition of having the festivities outside, and despite our reputation for rain, there has been only one Guru Night that had to be moved due to the weather. It is a night of pilgrimage; a rare opportunity to…

This blog is a semi-live account of the Ananda Village monks’ trip to Los Angeles three weeks ago, on August 22nd, to hear Swami Kriyananda talk at a packed Ford Amphitheater.

It’s “semi-live” because I wrote the first half at about 2:30 pm. After that, I was writing more or less as-it-happens.

I hope you enjoy it.

Lorna with the fellow trainees Once we are sincerely seeking God, and the longing for truth becomes stronger than the call of the material world, God sends a guru. When we feel that we can give our life to the spiritual path and the guidance of the guru, we become a disciple. When we become…

It has been several years since I made that first trip from Los Angeles to Ananda Village, but the experience stands out in my memory for several reasons. I still remember clearly the morning I stepped into the reception area of the Expanding Light Retreat. I don’t remember being ever greeted by strangers anywhere so…

Often I tell Kriya Yogis, particularly those who are math-challenged, that there are only two ‘mathematical equations’ one needs to memorize in order to achieve success on the path of Kriya. The first I mentioned in my blog post “Kriya Yoga Plus Devotion Works Like Mathematics” The other equation is this: “Twenty-five percent of spiritual…

Note from the editor: May 22 marked the launch of a newly published original edition of the Autobiography of a Yogi in Italian. The event took place in Milan. Swami Kriyananda addressed a full room of 500 avid listeners, after having given a number of magazine and television interviews the previous days, and a private…

The city of Frederick reclines in the rolling hills of central Maryland as it has since before the days of the Civil War. It is from this charming, quiet city that I began my adventure to the woods of northern Massachusetts for my first Kriya initiation.This journey starts, as many Ananda journeys have started, with…

Dearest friends, Many of the Ananda India staff and devotees from Gurgaon – Delhi – Noida (also known as India National Capitol Region – NCR) went to Pune the weekend of March 27–29 for a retreat on our new community land. It was hard to believe just how much things have progressed in just one…

How many of you out there have experienced or are experiencing difficulty in expressing your spirituality through the unwitting oppression of a loved one? It is not unusual for what may seem the strongest of relationships to break down when only one of the party discovers the real mission in life: To seek ones own…

Have you heard the saying “Man plans and God laughs”? I want to tell you of my recent experience in India, not because I wish to talk about myself, but because I want to demonstrate how God’s plans will always over-ride our own for the higher good. I returned only last week from a most…

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…

Dear Ones: The statue of Madonna at Medjugorie As many of you know, I went to Medjugorie recently. This little village is in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is where the Madonna appeared to six children in 1981, and has been appearing to most of them ever since. I have always wanted to go to places where the…

My concept of Ananda, before I had visited, was a place of inspiration, support, and Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings. My initiation into Kriya Yoga earlier this year proved to be the most moving and sacred experience of my life.  Ananda holds a treasure, just waiting to be discovered…. and if I can find it, then so…

What is the sound of 16 yogis stuck in an elevator? (still listening?) (hear anything?) Last month I had the great joy of being in Los Angeles for the launch of Swami Kriyananda’s new book, The New Path, which Barbara has portrayed so beautifully in words and photos in her posts. On Sunday, after we…

While we live at Ananda Village, when we vacation (as opposed to seclusion), we like to travel and see other parts of the country and world. Currently we are traveling in the Southwest U.S. backroads, towing a travel trailer with our pickup which gives us a little sanctuary with our vibration. I have never visited…

I used a thesaurus tonight to try to come up with some new words I could use to describe the Ananda LA event held at Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. I would normally use the words wonderful, or beautiful or amazing—all of which would be fitting. The thesaurus suggested words…

Editor’s note: Swami Kriyananda is visiting Ananda Europa at the time of writing. This is an account of his 83rd birthday celebration at Ananda’s center in Assisi, Italy on May 30-31. It is written by Asha Praver, spiritual director of Ananda Palo Alto, who traveled to Assisi to join the festivities. “I feel so much…

Looking for this year’s garden tour? Visit the Spring Garden Tours page for current dates and times that the garden is open, plus directions and more. For the past two years, spring tours of Crystal Hermitage Gardens have become a Northern California event. About 1,000 people drove from as far as the Bay Area during…

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…

Blessings and greetings from Southern California. We are currently on the road (Hwy 99) on our way back to Ananda Village. We are basking in the glow of the wonderful weekend spent in the LA area with our divine friends and Swami Kriyananda. There is so much to share. The talks Swamiji gave will be…

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…

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…

During his lifetime, Paramhansa Yogananda exhorted his students to create spiritual communities, places that would support their spiritual lives. As he put it, “Environment is stronger than will power.”

I moved to Ananda Village 3 years ago, and rarely leave it.…

Earlier this year, I took a 17-day (Feb. 10 -27, 2008) trip to Kerala, South India, specifically to an Ayurvedic Health Resort called Somatheeram (translation “Moon-Seashore”). This trip was sponsored by Ananda’s Expanding Light Yoga and Meditation Retreat near Nevada City, California and led by Gyandev and Diksha McCord—it was their third year to take…

Read Part 1 Badrinath is quiet at 4:00 am, the rushing waters of the Alaknanda the only sound to break the silence. A few of my fellow pilgrims and I rose early to take a traditional morning bath at the temple hot spring. There to the right of the bridge and from a lighted pavillion…

Notes from the pilgrimage by Ananda devotees to the Himalayan region of Badrinath, India, in September 2007. The pilgrimage road to Badrinath is long and winding, symbolic of our own spiritual quest. Pilgrims in the old days, before the road, would walk the 300 kilometers from Himalayan foothills town of Rishikesh, but few do so…