The 100 Anniversary Celebration of Paramhansa Yogananda’s arrival to the U.S. was a memorable milestone for his work in the United States. It was also a celebration of the expansion happening for Ananda’s global mission as well as for the work in Los Angeles. This year the promotion of the Yogananda Fest and pictures of Yogananda graced the pages of the LA Yoga Magazine.
During the event, attendees celebrated the launch of Crystal Clarity Publishers moving to Los Angeles, as well as the birth of a brand new Ananda center in East LA. The Crystal Clarity warehouse is now located in the East Los Angeles building. Because East LA has a 96% Hispanic population, this new center is expected to become the home to a new wave of devotees in Ananda’s Spanish ministry. This brand new wave in the Spanish community was felt with a number of Yogananda Fest attendees enrolling for the Spanish Learn to Meditate courses months in advance.
Over 22 vendors, 600 attendees, 700 viewers online, as well as volunteers gathered to share the spirit of Kindness, Compassion, and Mercy, which was this year’s theme for this event. The yoga and sadhana hall and healing rooms at the event location were filled the entire time, and the kid’s hall was a cross-generational lab for Swami Kriyananda’s Education For Life principles.
Spiritual Directors of Ananda Worldwide, Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi, opened the afternoon by sharing the significance and impact of Yogananda’s teachings on the West. Jyotish and Devi also announced the launch of their latest book, Touch of Love. They were followed by a number of inspiring talks by speakers such as Phil Goldberg, who shared a historical account of Yogananda’s life, with other talks including topics such as, “How to Love and Be Loved” and “How to Have Courage, Calmness, and Confidence.”
The evening of the event closed with Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi sharing an important message of how compassion, kindness, and mercy would be needed during this time of the pandemic, and how we could access these qualities through daily meditation. The peace and harmony prayer marked a powerful close to Yogananda Fest 2020. A palpable feeling of peace moved throughout the audience as everyone broadcast healing prayers to the world.
