Once upon a time, there was a beginner yogi aspiring to renounce the world. He wanted to be a hermit and live in the forest nearby. One day he took a few essentials and went into the forest. It was an entire day’s walk. Practicing japa, the journey turned out to be a very enjoyable one. He reached the thickest … Read More
A Tale of an Ancient Monastery
Once upon a time there was a remote monastery in the desert. The temple was carved out of the stone. There were a dozen simple monks who spent their days in prayer and meditation. One evening they were having dinner in silence as usual. Suddenly the silence was shattered with a cry of agony from the head monk. His eyes … Read More
Spiritual Adventurousness
In June 2018, the Monastery in India moved from Pune to Khandala (a hill station town between Pune & Mumbai). The decision to shift to Khandala was taken by my head monk Nayaswami Devarshi. He saw the need to have a much clearer focus and magnetism That wasn’t possible while serving the always compelling needs of an Ananda Sangha city … Read More
Befriending Swami Kriyananda – Connecting the dots
God is with us from the beginning, whether we are aware of it or not. Steve Jobs once pointed out, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” I came to Ananda Sangha in 2014. Did I meet Swami Kriyananda before 2014? The following ‘dot’ happened around the year 2003. I might have been … Read More