“Radhe, Radhe!” We greeted the saintly Gopali Maa in the traditional way, as we stepped into her humble room in Radhakund, near Krishna’s boyhood town of Vrindavan. The Ananda Monastery monks journeyed to Vrindavan to serve the widows who are supported by the Paramhansa Yogananda Public Charitable Trust. We were joined by Ananda friends from Kolkata and from the U.S. … Read More
Magnetism – a Subtle Power of Attraction
I first met Swami Kriyananda on an October evening in Berkeley, California in 1968, a few months after my graduation from college. I was waiting on a sidewalk with a few others for someone to unlock the building where that evening’s class was to be held, the first in a series on hatha yoga and raja yoga led by Swami … Read More
Miracles
In 1952 Paramhansa Yogananda entered mahasamadhi, a master’s conscious exit from the body at the time of physical death. That same year brought a worldwide epidemic of polio, a serious disease of the spinal cord, which often brought about paralysis and permanent disability. It especially affected children, and I was one of them, at age 9. The disease begins with … Read More
It’s a Success!
After the monks in India had been wearing white for a while, Swamiji decided that the monks who had taken the Brahmachari vows should wear Ananda yellow. He gave us a sample piece of cloth so that we would know exactly what shade of yellow to wear. There was only one problem: the sample contained many different shades of yellow! … Read More
Why I paint
Why do most of us struggle with staying creative and fresh as adults? Everyone is creative, not just a select few with outward talent. It is an innate quality in all of us, it doesn’t disappear over time. All we need to do is keep it alive and learn to work with this creative energy in us. Swami Kriyananda emphasized … Read More
Flowers Along My Path: Balancing a Spiritual Life Amidst Worldly Struggles
Early on, in my journey on the path, I nursed an idyllic imagination of life. It was like the Finding Happiness movie story, being just as what I saw of the people living in the Ananda Village. As beginner’s luck would have it, some early experiences drew me deeper into this dream. I imagined myself meditating for long hours, doing … Read More
A Divine Shortcut to Freedom
Freedom is a goal desired by truth seekers throughout the ages—but freedom from what? Paramhansa Yogananda simplified human behavior to the basic desires of “finding happiness and avoiding pain.” Our every action is based on its potential for happiness or reduction in suffering. It follows that we seek freedom from suffering or pain. Suffering is threefold in nature: physical, mental … Read More