I don’t like to generalize but I am coming to agree with others who have said that the Indian psyche is primed for mysticism whereas the Western mind is primed for practical efficiency, due to the influence of culture and training.
Sadhana Devi and I shifted last month to Gurgaon from Pune after being away since 2008. In our absence, the Ananda center/ ashram went through significant changes, making our return like coming back to a different place. Even Delhi seems to have changed for the better but my guess is that these transformations are more an outward projection of what … Read More
Originally written October 27, 2010. It takes less than six hours by train to travel the 450 kilometers northwest from Delhi to Amritsar in the state of Punjab. Gazing out the window at the passing landscape, it’s easy to see why this region has long been considered the “breadbasket” of India, tempting waves of invaders through the ages. Nature has … Read More
Originally written February 10, 2011. On the 23rd, Dharmadas and Nirmala [the spiritual directors of Ananda India —Editor] led our annual Christmas meditation at the community in Watunde Village, thirty kilometers outside of Pune. As I sat there, I couldn’t help but gaze from time to time out the window from Swami Kriyananda’s home to the hillside below. It’s changed … Read More
The following is the second half of a two part interview with Dr. Aditya Gait, a resident medical doctor and member of Ananda’s Kriya Yoga Community in the countryside outside of Pune, India. Dr. Aditya is also a Brahmachari member of the Ananda Renunciate Order. Aditya and a fellow monk with Swami Kriyananda Jaya: There are good hospitals in both … Read More
Aditya Gait is a member of Ananda Sangha helping to build a “Kriya Yoga Community” in the countryside outside of Pune, India. He trained as a medical doctor before joining Ananda and is now beginning a medical clinic to serve the needs of local villagers and community members. Aditya is a brahmachari member of the Ananda Renunciate Order and, in … Read More
My first assignment upon arrival in Pune was “to do the needful” regarding our newly purchased land and prepare the site by March 1st for our inauguration ceremony, known in India as a “Bhoomi Puja.” That date had been set months before, and plans were in motion for a hundred guests to arrive for a major weekend retreat.…
My wife Sadhana Devi’s first impression of India was of her ride from the Delhi airport to our ashram in the suburb of Gurgaon. This was before the new expressway was built, with the road still narrow, bumpy and chaotic. It was late at night, and I was escorting her through four lanes of interweaving bumper-to-bumper traffic moving at a … Read More
Cecilia Patitucci I would like to tell you something of the businesses we are establishing in India. This is an interview with Cecilia Patitucci, an Ananda member of many years from our center in Assisi, Italy. She came to India as part of the first wave of Westerners with Swami Kriyananda in 2003-04, and has been part of Ananda India … Read More
The last weekend of September, Swami Kriyananda, with a dozen Ananda India members traveled to Pune and Mumbai, where Swamiji gave major discourses in each city, speaking to a combined audience of 800. He also inspected 3 pieces of property that could possibly be purchased for the creation of an Ananda community in India. For the last 3 years we … Read More
