My family has raised eleven dogs: eight Guide Dogs for the Blind and three beloved family companions. Over the years, I’ve watched something in them that feels almost sacred. Dogs don’t carry the self-conscious hesitations that so often restrain us. They don’t calculate how they will appear. They don’t withhold joy. They don’t temper enthusiasm. They simply and uninhibitedly express what they … Read More
About Us
About us Ananda was founded in 1969 by Yogananda’s direct disciple, Swami Kriyananda, who passed away in 2013. Swami Kriyananda’s spiritual successor is Nayaswami Jyotish who along with his wife, Nayaswami Devi, serves as Ananda’s spiritual director. Ananda is a global movement based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda who showed how everyone can realize God in their daily lives … Read More
How Does the Story End?
How Does the Story End? In his autobiography, The New Path, Swami Kriyananda shares a fascinating dream: “I was living with many other people in a torture chamber. For generations our families had lived here, knowing no world but this one; the possibility of any other existence simply never occurred to us. One awoke, one was tortured, and, at night, … Read More
Who Is Divine Mother
Is she a myth, a cloud, a bird, or a feeling? A tigress, a shell, a bee, or a healing? Does she live in the ocean or up in the sky? Perhaps she’s a river flowing along, or someone’s mother singing a song? Maybe she’s hiding beneath the veil, A lovely mountain, a sacred tale? Is she the moon, guiding … Read More
The Power of Chanting
The highest purpose of chanting is to help awaken us to our own spiritual potential: to bring us closer to Self-realization. Chanting has the power to bring a divine response to all who practice it with deep attention and feeling. Singing, Yogananda said, is a divine art; and devotional chanting is the highest form of this art because it leads … Read More
Understanding Death
Death is only an experience through which you are meant to learn a great lesson: you cannot die. – Paramhansa Yogananda We mortals have so many misconceptions about death that it has grown in importance and implanted in us the idea of annihilation and pain. Death is simply one of the steps in the soul’s journey from the state of … Read More
Choose Your Memories
“Memory was given to us to keep alive only life’s good experiences and lessons.” Paramhansa Yogananda When I was a young child, I would occasionally wake up crying in the middle of the night from a bad dream. Fortunately, I had a wise, loving mother who would come and sit by my bed to comfort me. Her advice on such … Read More
Understanding Illness
Some people seem to enjoy ill health, due to the fear it puts in the minds of loved ones and the special attention they receive. There is almost a defensive pride in those who constantly warn us: “I can’t do this or that; I have a weak heart.” Often I’m told: “Oh, asthma, (or tuberculosis or diabetes) runs in the … Read More
Is My Meditation Working?
Have you ever asked yourself this question? If so, welcome to the club! Whenever we are trying to reach a goal or destination, we want to see signs along the way that we are headed in the right direction. We generally want to know that we are making progress so that we can be encouraged and remain motivated. Otherwise, the … Read More
