The author in Bucharest, Romania, age 10. The book he holds is Scottish Knights, by Jane Porter. The dreaming look in his eyes is of a life of freedom and justice for everyone. These were to become the central theme of his life. At 15 he began planning the community he founded a quarter of a century later, named Ananda.

With Daya Mata and Ananda Mata in India

A photo of me taken in 1959

I am feted by Indian devotees on the day of my departure from Patiala, India, where I gave a week of classes in November 1959. Behind me to the left is Dewan Balkishen Khosla, my host. The class series was described as the greatest success in our history.

In Allahabad, India in 1960 at the Ardha Kumbha Mela. The Kumbha Mela is a spiritual gathering held every twelve years. The ardha, or half, Kumbha is held midway between Kumbhas. Two million pilgrims attended.

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Rani Bhan. (I took the photo.) Nehru is examining my painting of the projected ashram, prior to his visit to the site and giving his approval. The picture shows the large park entrance and approach to the temple. Caves for men and for women are depicted to either side of the entrance. Behind the temple: a large pond with garden. The total size of the property was twenty-five acres.

A painting I did, an artistic fancy, depicting the Delhi project; intended for a cover to promote the project

A watercolor I painted to help people conceptualize the Delhi project

Tara Mata.

This photo was taken of me in 1965. It helped to promote my first music albums.

Dr. Haridas and Bina Chaudhuri, my guardian angels after my dismissal from SRF

Here I am performing Mayurasana, the Peacock Pose, on the beach at Sausalito, California. This was part of a series of photos taken for the first edition of Yoga Postures for Self-Awareness, published in 1967.

A campsite at the Seclusion Retreat in 1967. We began holding weekend retreats here in 1968, after the first buildings were constructed.

I teach a class during a weekend program at the Seclusion Retreat in the early 1970s.

At the Seclusion Retreat, 1970. I am singing Indian bhajans accompanied by the Indian tanpura.

A class at the Seclusion Retreat. After the first temple burned down, classes were held out of doors, or in the common dome.

Overview of the Seclusion Retreat domes. The temple is the new, white structure, right. It later collapsed under the weight of a heavy snow.

My home and the view from it, 1974. This, the original structure, was later expanded and became part of Crystal Hermitage.

Inside my dome in 1976

Chanting with a group on the deck of my dome in the early 1970s. This is the group that recorded the album, O God Beautiful.

Seva, whose name means service, was one of the first people instrumental in creating Ananda.

Jyotish giving a class at the Seclusion Retreat in the early 1970s.

Here Jyotish and I are on our way to India in 1974. Jyotish means inner light. He has been my right-hand man since Ananda’s beginning.

A group of Ananda members went with me on two nationwide tours in 1978 and 1979 to spread Master’s teachings.