An Excerpt from Faith is My Armor: The Life of Swami Kriyananda by Devi Novak: Even with people who have consciously tried to thwart or hurt him, Swamiji responds with kindness, and has never attempted to strike back. Once a tough looking man who was an ex-member of a motorcycle gang came to Ananda. Swamiji, feeling that he was sincere spiritually, … Read More
An Excerpt from Faith is My Armor: The Life of Swami Kriyananda by Devi Novak: Considerate and tactful, Swamiji tries to correct and guide others in their spiritual growth without hurting or discouraging them. Once someone wrote a letter to my husband and me critical of our way of directing a certain aspect of Ananda. We were hurt by his words, … Read More
I’ve been reading a fascinating book recently about extreme athletes who’ve experienced high spiritual states when pushing beyond their physical and mental limits. In Explorers of the Infinite, by Maria Coffey, I came across a particular phrase that both surprised and intrigued me. The author says that many extreme athletes—skiers, mountaineers, free divers—were raised by religious parents, but as teenagers … Read More
Our home at Ananda Village lies next to the beautiful gardens of Crystal Hermitage. Lovely all year round, the gardens reach their full glory during April when thousands of tulips burst forth in bloom. The story behind the gardens is worth telling. Nearly thirty years ago, when the grounds around the Hermitage were hardly more than dry clay and weeds, … Read More
This article was originally published online by Clarity Magazine, Fall 2003 In a recent letter to a person interested in the book, God Is for Everyone, Swami Kriyananda wrote, “It is a book, written by a great spiritual teacher, Yogananda, during the 1920s, pleading for a new look at religion, and at interreligious harmony. The book argues powerfully that religion alone is … Read More
A friend of ours recently asked, “How can I strengthen my sadhana despite the distractions of being a householder?” To answer, let’s turn to the wisdom of ancient India. The Vedas describe four stages of life: 1) the celibate student; 2) the householder; 3) the person who partially withdraws from outer involvement and hands over most of his responsibilities to … Read More
April 21, 2014 marks the one-year anniversary of Swami Kriyananda leaving his body. Someone asked us recently what this period has been like, both for Ananda and for us personally. The question gave me pause to reflect on what we’ve experienced in these twelve months since his passing. The legacy Swamiji left behind has both outer and inner aspects. The … Read More
Watching the sunset on the Pacific Ocean is one of the most beautiful sights in the world. Recently while in Pacific Grove, California, we enjoyed this experience — seeing the sun change its color from golden to pink to orange before slipping below the horizon. Gazing out at the ocean, I remembered another sunset I’d witnessed some years before — … Read More
Everyday a miracle is happening all around us. Because it’s so humble and simple, we hardly even notice it, yet without it we couldn’t survive: the miracle of healing. I don’t mean the dramatic examples of divine intervention like Jesus restoring sight to the blind man, or Lahiri Mahasaya bringing Sri Yukteswar’s friend back from the dead. I’m talking about … Read More
Dear Friend, One evening during our recent trip to Mexico, we were having dinner at the home of Alicia, Ananda’s center leader in Monterrey. As we were enjoying one another’s company over a wonderful meal, the memory of another evening came to mind. It was in the early 1980s in Rome with Swami Kriyananda. We were walking back to our … Read More
Her name was Abigail. She was ten years old with shining brown eyes and a shy smile. Her parents were members of the Ananda Mexico City Center, where we were staying, and they had brought her over to meet us before she went to school. Putting her arms around my waist, Abigail hugged me and sweetly rested her head on … Read More
It was quiet and cool in the interior of the dimly lit church – a dramatic contrast to the ceaseless activity on the college campus during this hot day in late spring of 1969. A friend had given me Autobiography of a Yogi to read, and it had awakened in me a keen desire to learn to meditate. My friend … Read More
Discouragement and moods are two obstacles that often assail us on the spiritual path. There was a time during my first few years at Ananda when certain things happened that left me feeling pretty discouraged and downhearted. Fortunately I had a dear friend, an older gentleman who’d been on the path a long time, to whom I could go for … Read More
“A friend gave me a book to read, but something about the photo on the cover just put me off. I set the book aside and forgot all about it,” he said. A young man was telling us the story of how he found Autobiography of a Yogi. “Later that year,” he continued, “as I was getting ready to move … Read More
Swami Kriyananda often said that Ananda is like a living laboratory. By observing others, you can see which attitudes lead to deeper happiness and attunement with God, and which lead in the opposite direction. One of the things that inspired me during our recent time in India was observing my friends from America who are serving there. We’ve known many … Read More
As our plane landed in Delhi, India seven weeks ago, Jyotish and I looked at each other and said, “This is going to be…interesting.” It wasn’t as if we hadn’t been to India many times before, but we expected that this trip was going to be different. And it was. For one thing, it was the first time we’d come … Read More
“This is where you’ll be staying here in the Pune.” With these words, our dear friends, Narayani and Shurjo, showed us into Swami Kriyananda’s lovely home in Ananda’s newest retreat center – outside of Pune, India. We were touched to be staying here, where we’d often visited Swamiji and enjoyed the blessing of his presence. Ever since he left his … Read More
Recently we were part of a pilgrimage with fifty other devotees who traveled to Italy to enjoy her history, art, and, especially, her inspiration. Everywhere we went there were also thousands of tourists enjoying the cultural richness. But as I observed the other groups, I became aware that somehow we were different from them. The others moved hurriedly through the … Read More
Recently I had a powerful experience of how God gives us “signs” to guide our lives.
Picking up hitchhikers is always risky business. One day when Swami Kriyananda was driving, he spotted a hitchhiker who looked harmless enough and was apparently down on his luck.