According to the ancient teachings of India, there is a great repeating historical cycle of four ages, called the yugas, which lasts 24,000 years. For 12,000 years the consciousness of man rises to its height, and then begins a 12,000-year descent into darkness. Our current age, Dwapara, is in the ascending half of this cycle. It started in 1700 and … Read More
We are all doing fine after the earthquake. As far as I know there was no damage to anything or anyone at Ananda, although there was some loss of life (6 people) and significant damage in areas quite close to here. Apparently it was a 6.2 or 6.4 earthquake and rather shallow. We definitely felt it at about 3:30 this … Read More
The first of three great waves of blessing for mankind began in 1861 in the Himalayas. It was then that the great avatar Babaji initiated his disciple, Lahiri Mahasaya, into the yogic science of Kriya Yoga. As he was about to return to his job and family, Lahiri pleaded to Babaji, “I pray that you permit me to communicate Kriya … Read More
In 1974 I went on a trip around the world with Swami Kriyananda. Our small group started the journey by flying from San Francisco to Hawaii. While there, we had dinner at the ashram of Subramuniyaswami on the island of Kauai. The meeting between Swami Kriyananda and Subramuniyaswami was a delight to behold. They were like twin souls, both having … Read More
There were only a few occasions when Swami Kriyananda corrected me strongly. At the time, I thought he was “upset” with me, but later I realized that wasn’t really true. It was rather that I needed something strong enough to break through any resistance I might have had. Here is a story about one of those times. It was in … Read More
We visited Ananda’s Seattle community last week, where a friend, knowing of my love of mountains, gave me this poem of Hafiz: The beauty of the mountain is talked about most from a distance, Not while one is scaling the summit with life at risk. That is the time for silence, one-pointedness, reflection, and drawing upon all your skills So … Read More
As I travel around the world, one of the questions asked most often is, “How can I bring my life into balance?” People feel pressured and pushed, unable to get centered. Rebalancing requires effort since we may have to change some long-standing patterns. This is inner work—it is no use looking for help in the world around us. People have … Read More
A few days ago my son and I were walking in the beautiful Tahoe National Forest in Northern California. We were enjoying the peace and beauty of this magnificent environment: the trees, the wildflowers, and the little chipmunks scurrying around. We strolled along, talking about this and that with long periods of silence in between. Then the peace was broken … Read More
Swami Kriyananda’s birthday was May 19—he would have been 90 this year. Often on his birthday a rainbow would appear, sometimes in a nearly clear sky, as if the heavens themselves wanted to celebrate his birth. Although he had many gifts and talents, he always thought of himself as simply a disciple of his great guru, Paramhansa Yogananda. Swamiji did … Read More
Years ago I read a short story about an American mountain climber. While gathering supplies in a market in India, he comes across a yogi with matted hair and a long beard, wearing nothing but a simple dhoti. The yogi politely asks the American what he is doing in India. The mountain climber curtly tells this “oddity” to mind his … Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda said, “I once met a very successful and wealthy man, who said to me, ‘I’m disgustingly healthy, and disgustingly wealthy.’ ‘However,’ I replied, ‘you are not “disgustingly happy,” are you?’ He admitted he was not. Soon afterward, he became a student of this path.” Happiness is something that everyone searches for but very few are able to find. … Read More
The goal of the spiritual path is to shift one’s self-definition from the ego to the soul. The soul is our true nature, and is aware of its unity with God. But our soul nature is usually hidden from us by the ego. Paramhansa Yogananda defined ego as the soul identifying itself with a particular lifetime, body, and personality. When … Read More
Ananda started as a retreat rather than a community. It was 1969, and the first few residents had moved to what we now call the “Meditation Retreat.” Among them were Swami Kriyananda and I. And Sisi. Few people know about Sisi. At that time, spring of 1969, she was probably three years old. Today we might call her hyperactive, but … Read More
We’ve just finished a program in honor of Paramhansa Yogananda’s mahasamadhi, which occurred on March 7, 1952. There is a powerful current of energy that is released on special holy days, especially the birthday of a great master and the anniversary of his passing. Like a surfer riding a giant wave, we can make rapid progress if we make a … Read More
During our first visit to Brindaban, we were told not to wear sunglasses. When we asked why, our guide explained that the monkeys might steal them. Recently we heard about this phenomenon in much greater detail from a friend who lives in that holy city. I’m not sure that I should share the sordid and disturbing details with such refined … Read More
We have just finished an uplifting “Inner Renewal Week,” which we do annually in February at Ananda Village. In preparing for these classes, a formula for success clarified for me. These are not so much new ideas as they are a clear and simple presentation of them. You will achieve success in everything you do you when you apply this … Read More
Stories are great teachers. They involve the listener emotionally, and stick in the mind much better than mere concepts. For example, we all know that that we should think of others and not only ourselves. But the principle comes alive when packaged in a good story. Here is that same teaching delivered by Krishna and Arjuna. Krishna and Arjuna were … Read More
Many years ago I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Visualize Whirled Peas.” I’m afraid that this image, humorous though it was, is truer today than the actuality of world peace. We seem to be whirling around, splintered into frenetic factions.
There was a full moon this year on Christmas Eve, a relatively rare event that last took place 38 years ago. The full moon occurs, of course, when the entire surface reflects the light of the sun back to the earth. As the moon makes its monthly revolution around the earth, it passes through all its various phases, from the … Read More
We have a tradition at Ananda called World Brotherhood Day. Each year we gather together in a celebration in order to make the first gift of the Christmas season. We suggest that people give one day’s income to help spread the light of the Christ consciousness throughout the world. Paramhansa Yogananda explained that the Christ consciousness (in India it is … Read More