About Ananda Sangha
Ananda Sangha is a worldwide movement dedicated to living and sharing the teachings of the great master, Paramhansa Yogananda. His Autobiography of a Yogi, published in 1946, was the catalyst that spread the teachings of yoga and meditation to millions. It was the first popular book to describe Kriya Yoga.
Ananda was founded by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda who was personally trained by the master. Their time together is covered extensively in two of Kriyananda’s books: The New Path and Conversations with Yogananda.
Swami Kriyananda founded Ananda Village near Nevada City, California, in 1968. Since then, Ananda Sangha teaching centers, communities, and meditation groups have spread worldwide. Yogananda’s teachings on meditation and spiritual living can be learned in person at Ananda centers or through online classes, which prepare people to receive initiation into the Kriya Yoga technique.
Yogananda didn’t come to start a new church. He rejected what he called ‘churchianity’—where the emphasis falls on church organization rather than on individual members’ needs. Yogananda declared:
“You are on the eve of a great spiritual awakening, a great change in the churches, where true souls will be drawn to seek the experience of God’s presence.”
Beyond meditation and Kriya Yoga, Ananda shares Yogananda’s teachings on applying spirituality to every aspect of life. Ananda Sangha leads classes and workshops bringing Yogananda’s spiritual principles into:
- Family life
- Health and well-being
- Business and work
- Education
- Relationships
- Arts and music
Yogananda frequently exhorted his disciples to start small communities where like-minded people could live simply and in harmony. Kriyananda describes one such occasion when Yogananda urged his disciples to start communities:
I remember especially how stirred I was by a talk he gave at a garden party in Beverly Hills on July 31, 1949. Never had I imagined that the power of human speech could be so overwhelming; it was the most moving talk I have ever heard.
‘This day,’ he [Yogananda] thundered, punctuating every word, ‘marks the birth of a new era. My spoken words are registered in the ether, in the Spirit of God, and they shall move the West. . . . Self-Realization has come to unite all religions. . . . We must go on—not only those who are here, but thousands of youths must go North, South, East, and West to cover the earth with little colonies, demonstrating that simplicity of living plus high thinking lead to the greatest happiness!’
I was stirred to my very core; it would not have surprised me had the heavens opened up and a host of angels come streaming out, eyes ablaze, to do his bidding. Deeply I vowed that day to do my utmost to make his words a reality. Twenty years later, with his inner help and by the grace of God, I was able to start the first of what have since become several thriving communities.
The photo on this page shows Yogananda projecting his words and vision for World Brotherhood Colonies into the world. Ananda communities have fulfilled Yogananda’s vision.
Learn more at www.ananda.org.
From The New Path, by Swami Kriyananda
Often during the years I was with Master he exhorted his audiences to fulfill his cherished dream: to found ‘world brotherhood colonies,’ or spiritual cooperative communities’not monasteries, merely, but places where people in every walk of life could devote themselves to living for God.
‘Environment is stronger than will power,’ he [Yogananda] often told us. He saw ‘world brotherhood colonies’ as environments for fostering right spiritual attitudes such as humility, trust, devotion, respect for others, and friendly cooperation. For people with worldly responsibilities who want a better way of life, small cooperative communities offer the best hope of fulfilling that desire, and also of demonstrating to society at large that people can, indeed, achieve heights so scornfully repudiated in this age of spiritual underachievers. Such communities, Master said, would emphasize cooperative attitudes, rather than egoic social and political ‘rights,’ and present-day norms of cutthroat competition.
‘Take the best advice I can give you,’ he said. ‘Gather together, those of you who share high ideals. Pool your resources. Buy land out in the country. A simple life will bring you inner freedom. Harmony with nature will bring you a happiness known to few city dwellers. In the company of other truth seekers you will find it easier to meditate and think of God. . .
He added: ‘The day will come when this colony idea will spread through the world like wildfire.’
Recent Blogs
Is Kriya Yoga a Breathing Exercise, a pranayam, or ?
Is Kriya Yoga a breathing exercise, a pranayam, or ? This is written more as an essay than a blog. The question of ‘what is
They Are Disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda!
“They Are Disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda!” In his autobiography, The New Path, Swami Kriyananda wrote: “In the sixty years, now, that I have been on
Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
Blessed Are the Pure in Heart This was first published in December, 2019. It’s especially relevant to those who practice yoga and meditation using techniques.