Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.10, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site.

# Yogananda for the World

Freeing His Legacy From Sectarianism

## Posts

- [Revelations of Daya Mata’s Former Secretary](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/2019/11/04/revelations-of-daya-matas-former-secretary/) - The following is a chapter from Asha Nayaswami’s book, Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer. The “X” referred to was a Southern California attorney who played a prominent role in SRF’s lawsuit against Ananda. Shortly after Swamiji left for Assisi, the director of Crystal Clarity at the Village was talking on the phone to a woman named Heidi
- [blank post](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/2012/03/05/blank-post/) - This is a blank post. It was created because there must be at least one post on the site in order for Feedburner to burn an RSS feed for the site.

## Pages

- [Freeing Yogananda’s Legacy From Sectarianism](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/) - Swami Kriyananda’s book, Yogananda for the World, seeks to correct certain serious errors in the way the Master’s life, mission, and legacy have been presented. How Has His Work Been Changed? Yogananda gave the world a revolutionary teaching. He showed how people can make their religion practical, by finding inner communion with God. He taught
- [Back Cover](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/back-cover/) - A certain cynicism has taken root in the public mind about organizations in general, but perhaps even especially about spiritual organizations. So many of them have proved corrupt. But if organizations can be bad, it is equally possible for them to be good. Ego—whether institutional or individual—can go one of two directions: either toward self-interest
- [Recommended Reading for Those Who Wish to Learn More About Ananda and Swami Kriyananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/recommended-reading-for-critics-of-ananda-and-swami-kriyananda/) - Paramhansa Yogananda offered truth-seekers everywhere powerful weapons in the battle against atheism and the spreading sense of meaninglessness in these times. He taught that religion in this dawning era of energy-awareness will become more scientific, based no longer on blind belief and institutional authority, but on personal experience. “At the inner end of the human
- [Contact Form: Send Us a Message](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/contact-form-send-us-a-message/) - Thank you for getting in touch! We attempt to reply promptly. Please observe standards of common courtesy.
- [Other Kriyananda Sites of Interest](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/other-kriyananda-sites-of-interest-2/) - Main Ananda Website. A hub for every Ananda resource: Swami Kriyananda; Spiritual Cooperative Communities; Living Wisdom Schools; Lessons in Yoga; Spiritual Counseling; Expanding Light Meditation Retreat; and more. Crystal Clarity Publishers. The best source for all of Swami Kriyananda’s books, videos, talks, and music. Swami Kriyananda Website. A life of dedication to his master’s will.
- [Has Self-Realization Fellowship Lost Its Way?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/has-self-realization-fellowship-lost-its-way/) - “How you all will change the work after I am gone. I just wonder, if I were to return in a hundred years, if I’d even recognize it.” — Paramhansa Yogananda, speaking to Daya Mata, president of SRF A Place Called Ananda We offer this website to you as fellow truthseekers and devotees of Paramhansa
- [FAQ: Swami Kriyananda: Who Is the Real Kriyananda – SRF’s Version or Ananda’s?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/faq-swami-kriyananda-who-is-the-real-kriyananda-srfs-version-or-anandas/) - Swami Kriyananda wrote Yogananda for the World in mid-2011. Ananda created this website in October as a place to offer the book as a free download, and to serve as a rallying point for those who believe that Yogananda’s legacy and teachings should be restored to the directions he himself intended. Many visitors have submitted
- [Ananda’s Position on Anonymous Websites](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/anandas-position-on-anonymous-websites/) - Various websites anonymously refer to some the issues discussed here. We have been asked if any of these sites were created by Ananda. The answer, in all cases, is: "No." It is not our custom to post material online anonymously. If you are interested in these issues, please feel free to contact us. Below is
- [A Book About SRF’s Lawsuit Against Ananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/a-book-about-srfs-lawsuit-against-ananda/) - A Lesson in Maintaining Integrity in the Midst of Legal Conflict At stake: whether or not an established church has the right to dictate how followers of a new expression of its teachings may or may not worship. Caught in the middle are some of the most liberating teachings to be brought to America, in
- [A Fight For Religious Freedom — Introduction](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/introduction/) - The Inspiring Story of How a Small Group of Determined Disciples Rescued Paramhansa Yogananda’s World Mission From Narrow Sectarian Control INTRODUCTION by Jyotish and Devi Novak, Spiritual Directors of Ananda Worldwide The Fourth of July is a day when millions of Americans enjoy picnics, fireworks, and the general excitement over the birth of our nation.
- [Photos From Ananda's Defense of SRF's Lawsuit](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/photos-from-anandas-defense-of-srfs-lawsuit/)
- [A Happy Ending  to the First Appeal — July 1995](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/a-happy-ending-to-the-first-appeal-july-1995/) - Luck had little to do with the progress we were finally making on the appeal. On April 4, 1995, the three appellate judges assigned to our case heard our oral argu­ments in the towering Federal Building in San Francisco. Appeals are decided by a three-judge panel, randomly assigned, who together review, discuss, and decide the
- [Where Are They Now?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/where-are-they-now/) - What happened to the principal players in the drama after the SRF lawsuit? Swami Kriyananda After the end of the SRF lawsuit, Swami Kriyananda continued to serve his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, by helping many thousands progress on the path of Self-realization. In addition to yearly travels around the globe and frequent talks on his guru’s
- [Foreword by Attorney Jon Parsons](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/foreword-by-attorney-jon-parsons/) - “Oh, to have been a fly on the wall . . .” I had that pleasure once. During the years of hammer-and-tongs litigation between the Self-Realization Fellowship (“SRF”) and the Ananda Church of Self-Realization lasting from 1990 to 2002, I was the principal outside legal counsel for Ananda and Swami Kriyananda. From that vantage point,
- [Preface by Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/preface-nayaswamis-jyotish-devi/) - The Fourth of July is a day when millions of Americans enjoy picnics, fireworks, and the general excitement over the birth of our nation. But in 2009, this national holiday was also celebrated on a much smaller scale for a different reason. Ananda World Brotherhood Village, an intentional community in Northern California, was founded on
- [Calls and letters — 1987-1990](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/calls-and-letters-1987-1990/) - These events started long before I ever heard of Ananda. Perhaps it began back in 1948 when Kriyananda first met Yogananda. Perhaps in 1955, when Daya Mata took over SRF’s reins as its third president, or maybe in 1962, when she booted Kriyananda from the organization. Perhaps, as the parties all seemed to believe, it
- [The Herald of War — July 1990](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-herald-of-war-july-1990/) - The bad news of a lawsuit must be delivered in person to each defendant in the form of a Summons and Complaint. The bearer is usually a professional process server, often paid at a flat rate. By the time SRF’s server found his way to Ananda Village on Tyler Foote Road off Highway 49, down
- [Stumbling Off the Block — October 1990](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/stumbling-off-the-block-october-1990/) - We had not anticipated such an omnibus complaint, and before we could come to grips with it, SRF followed up with a well-crafted motion for a preliminary in­junction. This well-prepared motion had been in the works for some time, and it painted the parties as simple business competitors, in the niche market of Yoganan­da-branded Self-realization
- [Ananda Responds — November 1990](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/ananda-responds-november-1990/) - With new energy and greater numbers, we rebounded quickly from the initial setback. Sheila was now on board, with a keen mind and indefatigable energy that would make all the difference. And a group had galvanized around us. I have always been impressed with the caliber of intelligent, honest, and hard-working people that Ananda attracts.
- [Deconstructing SRF’s Case — 1991–1992](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/deconstructing-srfs-case-1991-1992/) - We decided to first file three motions, one after another, and see how Judge Gar­cia responded. Depending on his response, we could then fine-tune our presentation or even abandon some possible approaches. The first motion would challenge SRF’s exclusive right to use “Self-realization” and question SRF’s ownership of several spe­cific writings. The second motion would
- [The Autobiography —  June–August 1992](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-autobiography-june-august-1992/) - Garcia’s June 26, 1992 ruling expressly placed several key works in the public domain, including the 1949 Whispers From Eternity, Cosmic Chants (1938) and other lesser-known works such as Attributes of Success (1944). We were to discover that the decision, without mentioning the work by name, also negated SRF’s claim to the copyright in the
- [SRF Wants Another Bite of the Apple — July 1993](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/srf-wants-another-bite-of-the-apple-july-1993/) - The dissolution of the preliminary injunction in June 1993 changed everything. It was a good end to a bad beginning. Most decisions in a lawsuit are not appealed, and only rarely does a single case have more than one appeal. SRF would file two appeals to the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, and then
- [Ananda Keeps Coming — January–June 1994](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/ananda-keeps-coming-january-june-1994/) - Wave after wave followed upon the success of those first motions. From January through June 1994, we filed four successive motions carving away more of SRF’s remaining case. It started well when, on January 4th, Garcia denied SRF’s motion to reconsider his prior copyright orders, and denied its request to restore the pre­liminary injunction. Never
- [Ananda Wins  the SRF Lawsuit — October 1997](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/ananda-wins-the-srf-lawsuit-october-1997/) - After that first summary adjudication motion Ananda rolled from victory to vic­tory in Sacramento. By June 1997 the Ninth Circuit had confirmed Garcia’s prin­cipal orders, and further rulings in the District Court had ground the case down to a handful of claims about some audiotapes and a few photographs. When Judge Garcia set the date
- [The Second Front — November 1994](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-second-front-november-1994/) - Since November 1994 Ananda had been litigating a two-front war. That month Ananda was served with a new lawsuit, filed in state court, by a new plaintiff, with new counsel, raising new claims. Or so it first seemed. Bertolucci’s Tale | 1994 Anne-Marie Bertolucci was a vivacious young woman who became interested in Ananda in
- [Things Turn Ugly — 1995–1997](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/things-turn-ugly-1995-1997/) - Despite Greene’s credentials he was not getting the job done, and more expe­rienced muscle was needed. Kriyananda had to be humbled, brought down using any means available. SRF now developed a new approach to the litigation that por­trayed Kriyananda as some self-indulgent Svengali, with Ananda his befuddled fol­lowing. If SRF could silence his voice, his
- [The Bertolucci Case Goes from Trash to Trial — 1995–1997](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-bertolucci-case-goes-from-trash-to-trial-1995-1997/) - In late 1997, three weeks after entry of judgment in Ananda’s favor in the federal case in Sacramento, the Bertolucci case was assigned to a trial judge in Redwood City. To understand how that trial would careen off course, crash and burn, we must look back two years. Trash | Sept 1995–Nov 1997 Michael Flynn
- [A Last Appeal — November 1997](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/a-last-appeal-november-1997/) - When the federal court in Sacramento entered judgment in Ananda’s favor on October 20, 1997, it had been a stunning refutation of SRF’s entire case. For a few brief, shining moments justice and truth prevailed. SRF could not allow that, and on November 18, 1997, filed its second appeal. Months earlier, when the Bertolucci case
- [The Final Fray — 2001-2002](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-final-fray-2001-2002/) - The decision in the second appeal freed many more writings and photographs, but sent part of the case back to Sacramento, so a jury could tell us whether Yo­gananda had informally assigned some writings to SRF. If the jury thought Yoga­nanda meant the corporation to have his unpublished works and contributions to the magazine, SRF
- [Afterword — 2002 and Beyond](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/afterword-2002-and-beyond/) - It was litigation larger than life, in which we wrestled with the angels of religious freedom and with karma, while greater events spun about us. We were sometimes confused, if not disheartened, but pushed as duty called, always toward the light as best we could see it. The litigation spanned more than a decade and
- [Preface by Nayaswami Naidhruva](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/preface-by-nayaswami-naidhruva/) - Where There Is Adherence to Dharma (Righteous Action) There Is Victory by Nayaswami Naidhruva This book concerns two fundamentally different, and perhaps irreconcilable, interpretations of the legacy that was left by the great spiritual master, Paramhansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi and other works of supreme importance to spiritual seekers everywhere, and founder
- [About Swami Kriyananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/about-swami-kriyananda/) - Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda, has been a close, direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda for more than 60 years. His life has been one of prodigious creativity—author, composer, photographer, screenwriter, dramatist, worldwide lecturer, counselor and teacher, and founder of eight spiritual communities wherein altogether about a thousand people live. These things he has accomplished by
- [Swami Kriyananda’s Accomplishments, Awards and Honors](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/swami-kriyanandas-accomplishments-awards-and-honors/) - Swami Kriyananda (Donald Walters, 1926-2013) Founder of Ananda Sangha Ananda World Brotherhood Communities & Retreats Education for Life Schools New Renunciate Nayaswami Order Personal Profile Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) has been a tireless proponent of Yoga principles for 60 years. In 1948 at the age of twenty-two, he became a disciple of the
- [My Separation from SRF — by Swami Kriyananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/separation-srf-swami-kriyananda/) - The following is an early telling of the story of Swami Kriyananda’s separation from SRF (Self-Realization Fellowship), which he would later publish in expanded form as a book, A Place Called Ananda — The Trial by Fire that Shaped One of the Most Successful Cooperative Communities in the World Today. [hr] My Separation
- [The SRF Lawsuit Experience - In Gratitude](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-srf-lawsuit-experience-in-gratitude/) - Rob Christopher was a member of the small legal team that defended the massive ten-year initiated against Ananda by SRF (Self-Realization Fellowship). At issue were critical precedents for the future of Yogananda's work, and for small groups similar to Ananda who might face similar attempts to put them out of business. Rob wrote this letter
- [Excerpt from a New Book on SRF’s Lawsuit Against Ananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/excerpt-from-a-new-book-on-srfs-lawsuit-against-ananda/) - This is an excerpt from Chapter 7 of a new book, A Fight for Religious Freedom: A Lawyer’s Personal Account of Copyrights, Karma and Dharmic Litigation, by attorney Jon Parsons. (Order the book.) In 1990, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) filed a massive lawsuit against Ananda, in which it attempted to establish itself as the sole “owner”
- [Photos from Jon Parsons’ Book About SRF’s Lawsuit Against Ananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/photos-from-jon-parsons-book-about-srfs-lawsuit-against-ananda/) - These photos are from A Fight For Religious Freedom: A Lwayer’s Personal Account of Copyrights, Karma and Dharmic Litigation, by attorney Jon Parsons. Jon was Ananda’s only attorney for the great bulk of SRF’s twelve-year suit. The tiny Ananda legal team faced a Goliath, in the form of a spiritual organization that hired the nation’s
- [Religion in the Energy Age — Will SRF Be Left Behind?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/religion-in-the-energy-age-will-srf-be-left-behind/) - In the introduction to his book, Yogananda for the World: Freeing His Legacy From Sectarianism, Swami Kriyananda writes: During SRF’s lawsuit against Ananda (about which I’ll write later), I said to Daya Mata (the president of SRF), “Master said ‘Self-realization’ would someday become the religion of the entire world. He can’t possibly have meant, ‘Self-Realization,
- [Addendum: Letter From Swami Kriyananda to the President of Self-Realization Fellowship](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/addendum-letter-from-swami-kriyananda-to-the-president-of-self-realization-fellowship/) - A Recent Letter, Hand-Delivered, to the President of Self-Realization Fellowship Dear Mrinalini Mata: In a little over a week I will be turning 85. I really would like if possible – indeed, I plead with you to help me – to clear up a few things while I am still in this body. You yourself
- [Original 1946 Edition of Autobiography of a Yogi](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/original-autobiography-of-a-yogi/) - Follow these links to read the original, unedited 1946 edition of Autobiography of a Yogi. Autobiography of a Yogi original 1946 edition: Read chapters online. Download the book as a PDF (1.8 MB) Purchase online (USA). Purchase online (India). Link is to books by Yogananda published by Ananda India. Read about the Changes in Autobiography
- [Religion in the New Age](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/religion-in-the-new-age/) - by Swami Kriyananda Follow the link to download a PDF version (51 pages, 218 KB); or purchase the book (373 pages, $12.76 online). Introduction This is the third in a special series of papers related to Paramhansa Yogananda's mission on earth. In this paper I propose to show how that mission relates to the
- [Read Yogananda for the World in Your Native Language](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/to-read-yogananda-for-the-world-in-your-native-language/) - To read Yogananda for the World in your native language, we suggest you use Google Translate. Go to the chapter you wish to read. (Links at left.) Copy the URL (Web address) of the chapter. Go to http://translate.google.com. Paste the URL of the chapter into the box on the left side of the page Select
- [Chapter Twenty: A Few Finishing Thoughts](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-twenty-a-few-finishing-thoughts/) - In writing this book, I have felt rather like Arjuna being counseled by Krishna (as we read in India’s scripture, the Bhagavad Gita). Arjuna didn’t want to slay his own kith and kin (who, in the Mahabharata, symbolized his own negative qualities), but Krishna urged him to fight in the name of right action. I
- [Chapter Twenty-Two: Why?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-twenty-two-why/) - As I contemplate the events in my life, I am overwhelmed by a sense of their beauty and perfection. How marvelous—indeed, how bliss-assuring—is karmic law! I feel no need to declare with jutting jaw: “I believe God’s law is just. I accept whatever pain He sends me as His will for me!” Rather, I laugh
- [Chapter Twenty-One: Practical Considerations](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-twenty-practical-considerations/) - At present there are two organizations particularly which represent the ray of divine grace that was brought to this world by Paramhansa Yogananda. I would say that, while many organizations may in time strive to represent Yogananda’s teachings, those will do so best who understand his mission in the broadest possible sense. I would add
- [Chapter Nineteen: SRF’s Treatment of Master’s Humor](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-nineteen-practical-considerations/) - Why has SRF removed so many examples of Master’s engaging sense of humor—both from his writings and from his recorded talks? I wonder whether their editors have not deliberately tried to make him seem magnificently dignified—to the point of pomposity! I give you here one example of ways they have tried to “sanitize” him. a)
- [Chapter Eighteen: Recreating Master’s Image](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-eighteen-a-few-finishing-thoughts/) - Astonishingly, Tara seemed to feel it necessary to reduce Master’s claim to the high status he had attained by removing any statement that appeared to her too strongly self-affirmative. Perhaps her policy strikes me all the more strongly because it was toward the end of his life that I myself came to him. I often
- [Chapter Seventeen: How Much Respect Did Master’s Chief Editor Have for His Judgment?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-seventeen-srfs-treatment-of-masters-humor/) - I know that Tara Mata, who had been Master’s editor-in-chief, had deep faith in him, as well as devotion to his position as her guru. Nevertheless, there were a number of occasions when she could not resist making statements to me on the phone that ridiculed him. (We always spoke by phone, for she lived
- [Chapter Sixteen: Further Important Changes, and SRF’s Greatest Lie](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-sixteen-recreating-masters-image/) - Astonishingly, SRF has attempted in many ways to deprecate the knowledge, and even the wisdom, of its own guru. a) I have already written about SRF’s claims that Master didn’t know how to spell his own title, “Paramhansa.” The word is now officially written, Paramahansa, with an a in the middle—making a burdensome five a’s
- [Chapter Fifteen: Changes in <em>Autobiography of a Yogi</em>](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-fifteen-how-much-respect-did-masters-chief-editor-have-for-his-judgment/) - The number of changes SRF has made in Master’s autobiography since his passing is astounding. Here are a few outstanding examples: a) At least twenty-eight significant alterations were made in the actual meaning of the text relating to Yogananda’s life and teachings. b) There have also been at least the same number of significant deletions
- [Chapter Fourteen: Character Assassination](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-fourteen-further-important-changes/) - In all my dealings with SRF, I have stuck rigidly to principle. That has not been the case, however, in SRF’s dealings with me. From the time I first wrote to them, in 1961, of my triumphant success in New Delhi, it has, on their part, been character assassination all the way. When I wrote the
- [Chapter Thirteen: SRF’s Second Lawsuit](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-thirteen-masters-zeal-for-founding-communities/) - The second suit was a sordid case of alleged sexual harassment. The cast of characters included: Anne-Marie Bertolucci, a somewhat attractive young woman from New Zealand who had been for a time a member of Ananda. Danny Levin, a married Ananda minister whose marriage had resulted in a special-needs child. Eric Estep, a former Ananda
- [Chapter Twelve: SRF’s Lawsuit Against Ananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-twelve-changes-in-autobiography-of-a-yogi/) - SRF not only wants its own way in everything: it wants a monopoly on that way. I founded the first Ananda community in 1968–69 in obedience to my Guru’s will. SRF and its members tried repeatedly for years to undermine the loyalty of Ananda members to me and to my understanding of his teachings. They
- [Chapter Eleven: India — and My Dismissal From SRF](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-eleven-srfs-second-lawsuit/) - When I went to India in 1958 with Daya Mata and two other nuns, my frustration continued also in that land. For there too, “ingrownitis” ruled supreme. (And this time it was ancient tradition, rather than femininity, that did the damage.) Yogananda’s work was seen by the directors there as merely the work of another
- [Chapter Ten: My Frustrations as a Man Working in SRF](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-ten-srfs-lawsuit-against-ananda/) - My experience in working at SRF was largely involved in interactions with the women, since it was they who were in charge simply because, during Master’s early years in America, men were slower to come to the spiritual path. “In the beginning,” Master used to say, “the men who came here as monks couldn’t understand
- [Chapter Nine: “Kindness’ Among the Disciples](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/india-and-my-dismissal-from-srf/) - Master urged us to be kind. His words to us monks were, “I want you all to respect one another, as you respect me.” Respect in SRF seems to be reserved and expected only for persons in authority. As for kindness, this quality seems to be virtually ignored—in the name, I suppose, of “non-attachment.” Indeed,
- [Chapter Eight: SRF’s Treatment of Others](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-eight-my-frustrations-as-a-man-working-in-srf/) - An astonishing feature of SRF’s official treatment of others, especially as it has developed over recent decades, is its lack of both kindness and sympathy. This indifference to the feelings of others may even be deliberate, as if to demonstrate non-attachment to outer realities. Were the organization a bank or a court of law, such
- [Chapter Seven: Rules Are Secondary to the Spirit](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/kindness-among-the-disciples/) - Master is often presented by SRF as a harsh, even intolerant, disciplinarian. In fact he was the sweetest, most loving, most unconditionally forgiving human being I have ever known. The only desire I ever beheld in him was a longing to help others achieve victory in their own struggles to reach perfection. To my dismay,
- [Chapter Six: Was Yogananda the Last of the Gurus?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-six-srfs-treatment-of-others/) - In this chapter I will present a few examples of fundamental changes that SRF has imposed over the years on Master’s message and mission. a) Yogananda often spoke of “Churchianity” as distinct from Christianity. Obviously, he didn’t want his message to become distorted by organizationalism. With me, even though he spoke frequently about the future
- [Chapter Five: How Were the Changes Possible?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-five-srfs-misinterpretations-of-masters-behavior/) - There was a significant difference between the respect given our Guru by his early disciples, and that which we gave who came to him closer to the end of his life. During his early years, he had done his best to make people understand that whatever he had accomplished, they too could accomplish. He played
- [Chapter Four: The Timid Approach](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-four-was-yogananda-the-last-of-the-gurus/) - While I lived in SRF, it became gradually clear to me why it was that our Guru had told me so frequently, “You have a great work to do.” There had to have been some definite purpose for his telling me that. What I have come to realize is that he depended on me, more
- [Chapter Three: Schools](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-three-how-were-the-changes-possible/) - It is well known that Paramhansa Yogananda started schools in India. He wanted to start schools, similarly, in America. In fact, his first plan for Mt. Washington was to make it a school. But of course he needed first to educate parents to the need for his new form of education. And he must have
- [Chapter Two: Two Directions](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-two-after-yoganandas-passing/) - Yogananda’s mission has taken two divergent directions: the one, toward narrow institutionalism; the other, toward universality. I represent the expansive interpretation of his mission. SRF represents the narrower view. Which of the two is correct? Are they even compatible? If SRF’s interpretation is right, then is mine wrong? And if mine is correct, then is
- [Chapter One: My Position in Yogananda's Work and Legacy](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/chapter-one-my-position-in-yoganandas-work-and-legacy/) - This book will deal with facts. It will be important for the reader, however, to know my credentials for writing it. He can then decide for himself what right I’ve had to make the statements in these pages. I came to Paramhansa Yogananda late in his life: on September 12, 1948, and was accepted by
- [Introduction by Swami Kriyananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/introduction-by-swami-kriyananda/) - The purpose of this book is to clarify what I, the author, consider to be Paramhansa Yogananda’s true life and legacy. These pages are less a protest than a statement of what may prove to be two utterly irreconcilable positions. My concern is less with individuals than with the validity of the positions themselves. Self-Realization
- [Writings by and About Yogananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/writings-by-and-about-yogananda/) - Follow these links to explore more books by and about Yogananda, including insights from some of his closest disciples and members of his family. Free Online Books: (These books can also be purchased from Crystal Clarity Publishers.) The New Path: My Life With Paramhansa Yogananda, by Swami Kriyananda Experiences With My Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, by
- [Discover Paramhansa Yogananda Through His Out-of-Print Works](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/discover-paramhansa-yogananda-through-his-out-of-print-works/) - Yogananda was a prolific writer. Divine inspiration found expression in his numerous books, five original sets of Yogoda lessons, hundreds of articles for the magazines, two volumes of poetry in addition to those written for the magazines and lessons, and more than a thousand pages of commentaries on the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita. One
- [Articles and Letters about Paramhansa Yogananda’s Trip to Europe and India 1935-1936](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/articles-and-letters-about-paramhansa-yoganandas-trip-to-europe-and-india-1935-1936/) - Yogananda had thought many times about returning to India; but the rapidly developing work kept his attention and his energies in America. He had been traveling widely throughout the United States, giving lectures and seminars in many major cities. In 1925 he acquired Mt. Washington, where he transferred the center of his operations from Boston.
- [Letter From C. Richard Wright: Kara Patri](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-c-richard-wright-kara-patri/) - Visit with Kara Patri By Richard Wright Inner Culture, November 1936 I quote the following from my notes of Jan. 27, 1936: The scene is laid near Allahabad at the junction of the Ganges and Jumna Rivers, during the Kumbha Mela, the great gathering of Sadhus and Seekers, held every three and six years. We
- [Letter From C. Richard Wright: Giri Bala](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-c-richard-wright-giri-bala/) - Visit with Giri Bala By Richard Wright Inner Culture, October 1936 At 4:30 a.m., Soshi Babu shook my shoulder and announced: “Swamiji wants you to get ready to go to Bankura Balsura, about 125 miles from Ranchi. So, after the usual oblations and delays we (Swamiji, three other disciples, and myself) started at 6:30 a.m.
- [Letter From C. Richard Wright: Bombay](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-c-richard-wright-bombay/) - In Bombay Excerpts from a letter of C. Richard Wright Inner Culture, August 1936 Royal Hotel, Bombay, India, June 2, 1936. Sorry that time does not permit my long tale of our terrific motor journey from Delhi to Bombay along the edge of the vast Rajputana Desert-but that must await our return, as must many
- [Letter From C. Richard Wright: Sri Yukteswar](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-c-richard-wright-sri-yukteswar/) - Meetings with Sri Yukteswar Excerpts From Letters of C. Richard Wright Inner Culture, May 1936 Dear All: No doubt, you are quite puzzled, perplexed, and annoyed at my apparently greedy silence regarding Swami Sri Yukteswarji; and in one sense I don’t blame you. But in another sense I believe you would not blame me, for
- [Letter From C. Richard Wright: Ranchi](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-c-richard-wright-ranchi/) - Excerpts From Letters of C. Richard Wright Inner Culture, April 1936 Brahmacharya, Vidalaya, Ranchi, India Jan. 5, 1936. A THOUSAND regrets and tears for causing such alarm and fears when my pen and mind refused to cooperate as Time sped by, and I should know how much even a little word means, especially since I
- [Letter From C. Richard Wright: Mysore](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-c-richard-wright-mysore/) - Mysore Exerpts from letters by Richard Wright Inner Culture, February 1936 November 22, 1935. All is well and Swamiji is being highly appreciated in India, especially in Southern India as guest of His Highness the Yuvaraja of Mysore (the brother to the present Maharaja—ruler or king—and heir-to-the-throne of the most advanced state of Mysore). Swamiji
- [Letter From C. Richard Wright: South India](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-c-richard-wright-south-india/) - Southern India Excerpts From Letters of C. Richard Wright Inner Culture, March 1936 Mysore, India, November 17, 1935 Would give anything if all of you were here right now to enjoy the grand and glorious scenery of Southern India. Brilliantly green rice fields, varied by tasseled sugarcane patches, nestle in protection at the foot of
- [Letter From C. Richard Wright: Train to Calcutta](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-c-richard-wright-train-to-calcutta/) - On the train from Bombay to Calcutta Excerpts from a letter by Richard Wright, Oct. 9, Calcutta, India Inner Culture, December 1935 The last real news I wrote was from Bombay, so I shall continue from there on. We boarded an antiquated electric train in Bombay on a certain day back in August (25), bound
- [Articles From Early Magazines](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/articles-from-early-magazines/) - Yogananda’s Writings from Inner Culture and East West magazines These articles and letters were written by Yogananda and published in his magazine in the 1920s, 1930s and early 1940s. They still contain the freshness of his spirit and inspiration, much of which was removed by later editors. While some of the editorial changes have helped
- [An Answer to Critical Comments About the Book](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/an-answer-to-critical-comments-about-the-book/) - Dear Friends, A very few of you have written negative comments on my book, Yogananda for the World. This letter is an attempt to answer all of you generically. Some of you will have made one point; others, another. 1. For those of you who have stated that you think I am writing in a
- [How You Can Help](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/how-you-can-help/) - HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS for ways you can help ensure that Yogananda's work develops in the spirit and direction that he himself intended. Read the book (you can browse the chapters, or download a PDF - see links in sidebar at left). Discuss the issues with friends. “Like” us on Facebook and share us on
- [Has SRF Lost Its Way?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/has-srf-lost-its-way/) - This material is from a previous website called Yogananda Rediscovered. We’ve transferred it here as a convenience to the reader. (Yogananda Rediscovered is no longer online.) Introduction: Has Self-Realization Fellowship Lost Its Way? 1. Has SRF lost Yogananda’s Spirit of Love? a. The Infinite Beloved in All b. SRF evicts widow and disciple from family
- [Directory of Ananda Centers and Places of Worship](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/directory-of-ananda-centers-and-places-of-worship/) - For an up-to-date list of Ananda Teaching Centers and Communities worldwide, follow the link to “Ananda Teaching Centers” on the main Ananda website.
- [Directory of Ananda Communities](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/directory-of-ananda-communities/) - For an up-to-date list of Ananda Teaching Centers and Communities worldwide, follow the link to “Ananda Teaching Centers” on the main Ananda website.
- [Changes to Yogananda's Mission, Teaching, and Legacy After His Death](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/changes-to-yoganandas-legacy/) - SRF may claim copyrights to some photos and text referred to in the articles listed here, and for that reason we have not included them in their entirety. However, we have provided references so you can compare them yourself. SRF Makes Changes After Yogananda's Passing (For additional evidence of changes, see Has SRF Lost Its
- [Mahatma Gandhi](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/mahatma-gandshi/) - by Swami Yogananda East-West, April, 1932 At Gethsemane, out of that perishable confinement of the body of Jesus, they let loose His spirit so that it could be free to roam in the hearts of many people, and kindle their ignorance, dispelling the night as they awakened. Oh, Gandhi! The prison walls have become a
- [Correspondence: Ananda and Brother Brahmananda of SRF](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/correspondence-ananda-and-brother-brahmananda-of-srf/) - Autumn, 2001 Dear Friends: Many times over the years Swami Kriyananda has written to Daya Mata, and other board members and monastics at SRF, about various issues relating to Master’s mission, such as SRF’s role, the relationship between SRF and Ananda, and SRF’s treatment of Swami and others. Usually Swami receives no answer at all.
- [A Rebuttal to the Los Angeles <em>New Times</em>](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/a-rebuttal-to-the-los-angeles-new-times/) - A Rebuttal to the Los Angeles New Times Reply to SRF’s charge that Ananda was behind the article: Nothing could be further from the truth. Summary: SRF seeks scapegoat—misses the mark On July 6, 2001, a newspaper called Los Angeles New Times ran a 12-page article about the claim of a man in Oregon to
- [Ananda — Places of Worship](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/ananda-places-of-worship/) - Left: Kriyananda chanting AUM as part of the Sunday Service at Ananda Seattle’s Mandir (temple) Right: The interior of Ananda Portland’s temple, with its sweeping A-frame ceiling. The purpose of life is to find God This is the simple truth upon which Ananda is based. Many churches emphasize dogma and belief. Yogananda spoke instead of
- [Founding of Ananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/founding-of-ananda/) - Colonies of Yogananda Devotees Exist Today—Based on His Teachings What is Ananda? Ananda is a Sanskrit word for “Divine Bliss.” Founded in 1968 in the foothills of the Sierra mountains by Swami Kriyananda, Ananda has developed into a network of sister communities, retreats, places of worship, and businesses where devotees work, live, and worship together.
- [Friend and Guide](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/friend-and-guide/) - Swami Kriyananda “Joy has always been my first love. I have longed to share it with others.” —Swami Kriyananda, The Path Do you ever suffer from spiritual doubt? If so, take heart, for God will someday turn those very struggles to good account. Kriyananda’s life is a case in point. Yogananda told him that he
- [Music](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/music/) - “If You Want to Know Me, Listen to My Music” — Swami Kriyananda “It is said of the Chinese emperors in ancient times that whenever they toured the provinces, they asked to listen to the music. They didn’t look at the financial records. Nor did they inquire into the honesty of the officials. If the
- [Writing](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/writing/) - Yogananda to Kriyananda: “Much More Remains to Be Written.” In his book Cities of Light Swami Kriyananda writes about Paramhansa Yogananda: “Yogananda’s mission originated in India. What he taught, however, was not sectarian religion, but the Crystal Clarity of divine insight, which he radiated downward into the needs of modern man on every level. “He
- [Service to SRF](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/service-to-srf/) - Years in His Master’s Hermitage Kriyananda’s Training and Responsibilities under Yogananda Yogananda gave Kriyananda many indications of the work he had in store for him (Please see Yogananda’s Guidance to Kriyananda), and from the outset trained Kriyananda along these lines. Five months after this disciple’s arrival, Yogananda looked at him one day and announced quietly,
- [Guidance From Yogananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/guidance-from-yogananda/) - “You Have a Great Work to Do” Yogananda’s Commission to Swami Kriyananda “I prefer to speak with the eyes,” Yogananda said to Kriyananda. Instead of teaching the disciples only through words, and thereby imposing his instructions on them from without, he helped those who were in tune to develop their intuitive insight. For only from
- [Swami Kriyananda Shares Yogananda’s Teachings](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/swami-kriyananda-shares-yoganandas-teachings/) - “There are times when a human being, though perhaps not remarkable in himself, encounters some extraordinary person or event that infuses his life with great meaning. My own life was blessed with such an encounter in 1948. I met a great, God-known master whose constant vision was of eternity. His name was Paramhansa Yogananda.”—Swami Kriyananda,
- [An Appeal to Reason, From Saints and Sages of All Religions](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/an-appeal-to-reason-from-saints-and-sages-of-all-religions/) - Love “It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.” — Mahatma Gandhi “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.” — Mother Teresa “Love
- [Daya Mata’s Role](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/daya-matas-role/) - “How you all will change the work after I am gone! If I came back a hundred years from now, I just wonder if I would even recognize it.” —Paramhansa Yogananda to Daya Mata, A Place Called Ananda When SRF members discover that Swami Kriyananda is sharing Yogananda’s teachings without the “official sanction of SRF,”
- [Karmic Patterns](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/karmic-patterns/) - Reflections on the History of Religion— How SRF’s Development Mirrors Christian Religious History Excerpted from A Place Called Ananda by Swami Kriyananda, Chapter 30 Christian history The karmic patterns that concern us here are those running through the fabric of Christian history, specifically. Yogananda made it clear that Jesus, in his original teachings, placed
- [An Open Letter to the SRF Board of Directors](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/an-open-letter-to-the-srf-board-of-directors/) - From Swami Kriyananda November 1992 (Follow this link to download a PDF version (42 pages; 239 KB. Dear Ones: It is no mere formality for me to address you that way. You are dear to me. I can visualize us looking back someday and laughing over certain episodes that, in this lifetime, have been painful
- [An Appeal to Reason](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/an-appeal-to-reason/) - Dear friends, It is the eleventh year of the lawsuit initiated by SRF against Ananda, in which SRF has sought to establish a religious monopoly on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. Many Ananda members and businesses have made monthly donations to the legal defense fund for over a decade, making great sacrifices to protect Yogananda’s
- [Newspaper Accounts: India](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/newspaper-accounts-india/) - Newspaper Accounts of Yogananda in India Inner Culture, March 1937 The newspapers and illustrated weeklies in London and India devoted a great deal of space to Swami Yogananda’s presence in their lands. Mr. Wright, who accompanied Swamiji, came back loaded with newspaper clippings about Swamiji’s work and lectures in various places. The large newspapers of
- [Newspaper Accounts: London](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/newspaper-accounts-london/) - Newspaper Accounts of Yogananda in London Inner Culture, March 1937 The newspapers and illustrated weeklies in London and India devoted a great deal of space to Swami Yogananda’s presence in their lands. Mr. Wright, who accompanied Swamiji, came back loaded with newspaper clippings about Swamiji’s work and lectures in various places. The “London Star” “I
- [Israel & Egypt](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/israel-egypt/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, October 1935 Cairo, August 11, 1935 Due to fast moving and constant, continuous travel, I have not attempted to write to you. Consider this letter written from Jerusalem, the Holy Land—the land of Christ. Jesus has been gone a long time, but Christ is still tangibly active in Jerusalem. He
- [Visit to Teresa Neumann](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/visit-to-teresa-neumann/) - On the way to India: Visit to Theresa Neumann Inner Culture, September 1935 Glowing descriptions keep coming in describing the wonderful time the Swami [Paramhansa Yogananda] and his companions are having as they travel by automobile through the different countries of Europe. They are overwhelmed by the ineffable beauty of the scenery, the quaint native
- [Introduction: Has SRF Lost Its Way?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/introduction-has-srf-lost-its-way/) - We offer this additional material to you as fellow truthseekers and devotees of Paramhansa Yogananda. It contains many facts not commonly known about Yogananda, his teachings, and the organization he founded, Self-Realization Fellowship. For a long time we have hesitated to speak out. But difficult circumstances and a sense of responsibility require that we come
- [Yogavatar Shyama Lahiri Mahasaya’s Ladder of Self-Realization, for Salvation for All](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/yogavatar-shyama-lahiri-mahasayas-ladder-of-self-realization-for-salvation-for-all/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, March 1937 Good or bad children of God are potentially the perfect Image of God. They are equal in His eyes. God loves His good or bad children in the same way because they are made in His image. Good children of God don’t resist Him, whereas the wicked ones
- [The Direct Line of Great Masters by Paramhansa Yogananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-direct-line-of-great-masters-by-paramhansa-yogananda/) - Inner Culture, March 1937 As children are like their parents, so disciples tend to resemble their gurus (spiritual instructors). For this reason, the member of Self-Realization Fellowship (Yogoda Sat-Sanga) are very fortunate in having the interest and direct teachings of some of the greatest Masters and Gurus of the world. My own Master, Sri Yukteswarji,
- [How One Should Act Under Persecution The Second Coming of Christ](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/how-one-should-act-under-persecution-the-second-coming-of-christ/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, February 1939 Intuition, Not Ego, Should Be Man’s Guide “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your
- [The Baptism of Jesus Christ, Part 2, The Second Coming of Christ](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-baptism-of-jesus-christ-part-2-the-second-coming-of-christ/) - by Swami Yogananda East-West, May 1932 Before I proceed to describe the spiritual experiences of Jesus Christ after his initiation by John, I must tell a few things more about baptism. “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” The Sanskrit Scriptures have a statement exactly parallel to
- [The Baptism of Jesus Christ — Part 1 of The Second Coming of Christ](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-baptism-of-jesus-christ-part-1-of-the-second-coming-of-christ/) - by Swami Yogananda East West, April 1932 “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh
- [The Second Coming of Christ](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-second-coming-of-christ/) - “Jesus Christ is the model for both East and West to follow. God’s stamp, as Son of God, is hidden in every soul. Do away with masks! Come out openly as Sons of God!” —Paramhansa Yogananda East-West, March-April 1930 Yogananda’s Commentaries on the Bible Paramhansa Yogananda’s own words describing the importance of these commentaries, in
- [World Brotherhood Colonies: Ananda Communities — A Way of Life](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/world-brotherhood-colonies-ananda-communities-mdash-a-way-of-life/) - A few times each year, Ananda Village members volunteer to help with special all-community projects. Before beginning a meeting or a project, people gather together for prayers. Ananda Village, founded in 1968, is home to 240 people, a meditation retreat, a school for children, the publishing house for Swami Kriyananda’s books and music (Crystal Clarity,
- [Yogoda World-City Planned](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/yogoda-world-city-planned/) - By Richard Wright, secretary of Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, March, 1937 Swami Yogananda, through the inspiration of God and the Masters, is planning to create a model Yogoda World-City in Bengal, India, where he wants to combine really necessary industries and scientific training of Yoga. Here people of all races schooled in Yoga will be
- [Kamala Silva - A Conversation With Yogananda About Communities](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/kamala-silva-a-conversation-with-yogananda-about-communities/) - Kamala Silva, a life-long disciple of Yogananda, is author of The Flawless Mirror. In this book, she recounts a conversation she had with Yogananda about World Brotherhood Colonies just five months before he passed away in March, 1952. Kamala Silva writes: "On one of the drives along the coast, Master spoke to me about the
- [Yogananda's Statement About Communities, in <em>Autobiography of a Yogi</em>](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/yoganandas-statement-about-communities-in-autobiography-of-a-yogi/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda From Autobiography of a Yogi, original first edition, 1946, Chapter 48 New Year's week of 1945 found me at work in my Encinitas study, revising the manuscript of this book. "Paramhansaji, please come outdoors." Dr. Lewis, on a visit from Boston, smiled at me pleadingly from outside my window. Soon we were
- [Did Yogananda “Change His Mind” About Colonies Late in Life?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/did-yogananda-change-his-mind-about-colonies-late-in-life/) - Since Yogananda's passing, SRF has removed references to colonies in the Autobiography of a Yogi and Yogananda's Aims and Ideals. It is not surprising, therefore, that many SRF members believe what SRF officials tell them: that Yogananda abandoned his dream of World Brotherhood Colonies at the end of his life. Below is the response of
- [The Most Stirring Lecture I Ever Heard — Yogananda’s Passion for Colonies](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-most-stirring-lecture-i-ever-heard-yoganandas-passion-for-colonies/) - (Yogananda’s words are italicized, so you may find them easily) Swami Kriyananda writes in The Path — My Life With Paramhansa Yogananda: Some of my most impressive memories of Master are of his public lectures. They rang with the spirit of a mission destined, he told us, to bring spiritual regeneration to the world. I
- [Kindness and Support, Versus Judgment and Punishment](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/kindness-and-support-versus-judgment-and-punishment/) - Ananda’s Response to the Bertolucci Case December 13th, 1997 by Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) Founder, Ananda World Brotherhood Villages and Ananda Church of Self-Realization The beauty of Ananda is its three-dimensionality. We recognize people as human beings first, not as elements in an institutional machine or demonstrations of an intellectual theory. A motto of
- [Gurus, Celibacy, and Spiritual Authority](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/gurus-celibacy-and-spiritual-authority/) - By Swami Kriyananda Something has come up that, while disagreeable, asks to be aired. It concerns, to begin with, an attack on Ananda Church of Self-Realization, on one of the Ananda ministers, and on me as the spiritual leader of Ananda. But it goes far beyond that, for it affords me a golden opportunity to
- [Part IV — Does SRF Have “Unclean Hands”?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/part-iv-does-srf-have-unclean-hands/) - Reputation-Destroying Lawsuit Against Swami Kriyananda Was SRF Involved? SRF filed its lawsuit against Ananda in 1990 in order to strengthen its control over Yogananda’s mission. It didn’t work. By 1994, SRF saw control slipping away. Instead of enforcing SRF’s trademarks on “Self-Realization” and “Paramhansa Yogananda,” the court canceled them. There was still one way for
- [Part III — Does SRF Own Yogananda?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/part-iii-does-srf-own-yogananda/) - SRF Claims the Public is Confused by Ananda’s Actions SRF’s hope in filing their lawsuit against Ananda was to gain control of the way Ananda communicates with the public. There were three prongs to this aspect of SRF’s legal attack. (1) SRF registered trademarks on certain terms including “Self-Realization” and the name “Paramahansa Yogananda” (“however
- [Part II — Can Eternal Truth Be Private Property?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/part-ii-can-eternal-truth-be-private-property/) - SRF Claims Ananda Infringed Its Copyrights SRF considers itself the guardian of Paramhansa Yogananda’s spiritual heritage. They want complete control of his writings, all photographs of him and recordings of his voice. SRF believes that Yogananda intended for SRF to have this control in order to ensure the “purity” of the teachings. Many of Yogananda’s
- [Part 1 — SRF Seeks Monopoly on Yogananda’s Teachings](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/part-1-srf-seeks-monopoly-on-yoganandas-teachings/) - Religious Freedom Threatened “Sectarianism is anathema to religion. Only shallow people think, ‘Mine is the one, true way. All other ways are false.’“ —Paramhansa Yogananda, The Essence of Self-Realization Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) believes that they are the sole authorized channel for the dissemination of Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings to the world. Responsibility for Yogananda’s mission, they
- [Why Has SRF Spent Millions Suing Fellow Devotees?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/why-has-srf-spent-millions-suing-fellow-devotees/) - “Our One Father, we are traveling by many true paths unto Thy one abode of Light. Make us feel that the diverse religions are branches of Thy One Tree of Truth. Teach us to chant in harmony our love’s many expressions unto Thee, that we may hear Thy Song’s refrain in all our tender chants
- [Movies, Recordings, Photographs, and Writings of Yogananda Still Unpublished by SRF After 50 Years](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/movies-recordings-photographs-and-writings-of-yogananda-still-unpublished-by-srf-after-50-years/) - “For the sake of the true seekers all hidden truth must be revealed for their benefit.” -- Paramhansa Yogananda, Inner Culture, February 1939 Yogananda may well be the most prolific realized master of recorded history. Books, articles, poems, scriptural commentaries flowed through his pen almost effortlessly, carried along by divine inspiration. The wisdom of the
- [Krishna Added to the Altar](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/krishna-added-to-the-altar/) - Krishna Added, Altar Pictures Rearranged These are the pictures and the two arrangements Yogananda used for the altar during his lifetime. In an SRF temple, there are six masters on the altar. In an Ananda temple there are five. SRF includes Krishna on the altar, Ananda does not. People often ask, "Why did Ananda
- [Gurus on the Altar](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/gurus-on-the-altar/) - Painting Presented as Miraculous Photograph and Other Changes to the Gurus on the Altar SRF may claim copyrights to some photos referred to in this text, and for that reason we have not included them. We have provided you with references so you can compare them yourself. The altar as Yogananda made it Devotees are
- [Why Edit the Words of a Great Master?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/why-edit-the-words-of-a-great-master/) - Excerpted from the Editor’s Preface The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained by Paramhansa Yogananda edited by Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters), published 1994 Readers may consider it strange that the words of a wise man should require editing. People often confuse wisdom with intellectual learning, or with the pleasure some deep thinkers find in making
- [Changes to <em>Whispers From Eternity</em>](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/changes-to-whispers-from-eternity/) - Whispers from Eternity: Original and Edited Poems Compared Two books with the same title Many devotees consider Paramhansa Yogananda's collection of spiritualized prose poems, Whispers from Eternity, to be his most beautiful and inspiring book. The first edition, copyrighted 1929, was received with rave reviews, heart-felt praise by writers and poets, and deep appreciation by
- [Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/) - Excerpted from the “Editor's Preface” The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained by Paramhansa Yogananda edited by J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda), published 1994 Readers may consider it strange that the words of a wise man should require editing. People often confuse wisdom with intellectual learning, or with the pleasure some deep thinkers find in making
- [SRF Makes Changes After Yogananda’s Passing](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/srf-makes-changes-after-yoganandas-passing/) - Facts not commonly known In 1956, SRF removed from Autobiography of a Yogi the miraculous photograph of Lahiri Mahasaya and replaced it with a painting of Lahiri. There was no indication a switch had been made. It wasn’t until 1998 that the actual photograph was returned to the book, and the painting identified. In 1958,
- [Letter From Swami Kriyananda in Response to a Letter From a Friend](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-swami-kriyananda-in-response-to-a-letter-from-a-friend/) - Letter from Swami Kriyananda in response to a letter from a friend This letter was written to a friend who thought I should not have pointed to my own accomplishments. (Actually, I never think of them as my own.) She also suggested I might not have told Brahmananda that, according to my understanding, he still
- [Asha Praver to Brother Brahmananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/asha-praver-to-brother-brahmananda/) - Asha Praver to Brahmananda Dear Brahmananda: When Swami Kriyananda was expelled from SRF, everything was taken away from him—everything except his discipleship to Master. And that, too, his own gurubhais tried to take away, by trying to destroy his faith in himself. Despite this, and many other obstacles, Swamiji not only persevered in his determination
- [Terry McGilloway to Brahmananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/terry-mcgilloway-to-brahmananda/) - Terry McGilloway to Brahmananda Swami Kriyananda recently received a letter from you in response to his own letter to Sister Mrinalini. Your personal endorsement and praise of Mr. Flynn is shocking to me and was added incentive to write this letter, for I, too, know something of Mr. Flynn. Your comments are yet another demonstration
- [Padma to Mrinalini Mata](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/padma-to-mrinalini-mata/) - Padma to Mrinalini Mata Dear Mrinalini Mata, The letter that Brahmananda wrote to Swami Kriyananda on your behalf expressed the very concern that Swamiji has for SRF: that Flynn’s influence already has affected, and will further destroy the spirit of the members of SRF. I conclude from the fact that Brahmananda wrote on your behalf,
- [Jyotish Novak and Vidura Smallen to Brahmananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/jyotish-novak-and-vidura-smallen-to-brahmananda/) - Jyotish Novak and Vidura Smallen to Brahmananda Dear Brahmananda, In light of the fact that we recently met with you, we feel that it is important for us to respond to your letter to Swami Kriyananda. For you to send a letter that is purposely insulting to both Swami Kriyananda and Ananda is belittling to
- [Swami Kriyananda to Brother Brahmananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/swami-kriyananda-to-brother-brahmananda/) - Swami Kriyananda to Brahmananda Dear Brahmananda: I will not sink to your level of disrespect and discourtesy by calling you Mr. Wohl, though it was after addressing me as Mr. Walters that you signed yourself Brother Brahmananda. You presume to judge me as unfit to be called a monk. In fact, it is not likely
- [Brother Brahmananda to Swami Kriyananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/brother-brahmananda-to-swami-kriyananda/) - Brother Brahmananda to Swami Kriyananda Dear Mr. Walters: Your letter of September 29, 2001, addressed to Mrinalini Mata has been brought to my attention because of my involvement with the Ananda litigation. She has nothing to say to you. Your experiences with Mr. Flynn have obviously been different than mine: I know him as an
- [Swami Kriyananda to Mrinalini Mata](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/swami-kriyananda-to-mrinalini-mata/) - Swami Kriyananda to Mrinalini Mata This correspondence began with a letter by Swami Kriyananda on September 29, 2001, to Mrinalini Mata, vice president of Self-Realization Fellowship. The letter was written in the middle of the night. Most of his letter is paraphrased here. It began: “It is 3:00 a.m. I have just awakened from a
- [Meditation Retreats and Ananda Worldwide](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/meditation-retreats-and-ananda-worldwide/) - Thousands of guests visit Ananda's retreat centers each year. Programs are offered in meditation, yoga postures, and the yoga philosophy brought to the West by Paramhansa Yogananda. Guests may stay as little as a day, and as long as they wish. There are also special retreat programs for Kriyabans, meditation group leaders, meditation teachers, as
- [Paramhansa Yogananda’s Legacy for Education and Children](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/paramhansa-yoganandas-legacy-for-education-and-children/) - by Nitai Deranja The year was 1920 when Paramhansa Yogananda received the vision that called him to the West. It took place in the storeroom of his school in India. He wrote in Autobiography of a Yogi, “Tears stood in my eyes as I cast a last look at the little boys and the sunny
- [Paramhansa Yogananda’s Predictions for the SRF Presidency](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/paramhansa-yoganandas-predictions-for-the-srf-presidency/) - “How you all will change the work after I am gone! If I came back a hundred years from now, I just wonder if I would even recognize it.” —Paramhansa Yogananda to Daya Mata, A Place Called Ananda New Delhi, India December 27, 2003 by Swami Kriyananda An ex-monk of Yogoda Satsanga Society (India’s sister
- [An Appeal to Reason, From Paramhansa Yogananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/an-appeal-to-reason-from-paramhansa-yogananda/) - Master, shortly before his mahasamadhi, gave us the ultimate secret of spiritual organizing. Daya Mata had asked him, sadly, “Master, when you are gone, what can ever replace you?” “When I am gone,” he replied, smiling tenderly, “only love can take my place.” from The Path, by Swami Kriyananda To Daya Mata he once exclaimed,
- [Can We Talk? A Challenge to SRF Ministers to Debate With Ananda Ministers](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/can-we-talk-a-challenge-to-srf-ministers-to-debate-with-ananda-ministers/) - Dear Brothers and Sisters: Recently at the book fair in Chicago (June, 2001), two lifelong devotees of Yogananda met. Under normal circumstances, they were so close in their beliefs and understanding of the spiritual life, that they might have been brothers. But in the current environment of hostility and litigation by SRF, they were like
- [My Years With SRF — My Years With Ananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/my-years-with-srf-my-years-with-ananda/) - One Devotee’s Story by Nayaswami Rambhakta I joined Self-Realization Fellowship nearly thirty-four years ago, in August, 1967. I took Kriya Yoga initiation in 1969 at the SRF headquarters in Los Angeles, and until 1970, I attended services and meditations at the SRF churches in Fullerton, Redondo Beach, and Hollywood. I was a member of the
- [Letters From Richard Wright: Arrival in India](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letters-from-richard-wright-arrival-in-india/) - Inner Culture, November 1935 Excerpts from a letter written by Richard Wright who accompanied Yogananda to India Bombay, August 25, 1935. Dear Friends: Lo and behold! India at last! The magic pattern of entrancing India is gradually taking form before our very eyes even in “anglicized” Bombay. Incidentally, this hotel pictured above is the largest
- [Letters From Yogananda: Arrival in India](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letters-from-yogananda-arrival-in-india/) - Excerpts from Yogananda’s letters from Calcutta Inner Culture, November 1935 Sept., 1935. Here we have arrived amidst unprecedented welcomes, garlands, Maharaja Kasimbazar, flowers, a flock of autos, and motor cycles greeted us at Calcutta where we arrived by train from Bombay. Stayed two days at Wardha with Mahatma Gandhi. I spoke at Mahatma’s in the
- [News From Italy, Athens, Israel](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/news-from-italy-athens-israel/) - By S. E. M. Inner Culture, October 1935 After leaving Rome, the Swami and his party journeyed to Athens, enjoying every bit of the way over mountains and through numberless tiny villages which haven’t changed for centuries. The sunrise over the Apennines, viewed from the rim of the cone of Mt. Vesuvius, was especially thrilling.
- [Letter From Sri Yukteswar](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letter-from-sri-yukteswar/) - Letter from Sri Yukteswar to Yogananda Inner Culture, May 1936 11 August 1926 Child of my Heart, O Yogananda! Seeing the photos of your school and students, what joy comes in my life I cannot express in words. I am melting in joy to see your Yogoda students of different cities. Beholding your methods
- [India](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/india/) - By Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, November 1935 India is the epitome of the world in everything-a land of all kinds of climates, religions, commerce, arts, peoples, scenery, stages of civilization, and languages. Her civilization dates back many thousands of years. Her great seers, prophets, and rulers left records behind them that prove the great antiquity
- [If I Visit India](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/if-i-visit-india/) - Poem by Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, May 1935 After four and ten years, when I behold Thee, My India, I shall roll in the dust at Thy Feet, And I shall behold the scenes where childhood laughed, wept, and dreamed. And I shall weep for the familiar flowers of faces that are plucked from the
- [Poetry](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/poetry/) - Banks of Eternity by Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, September 1939 At last I found the banks of eternity and there I sat, musing, to plunge, swim, and melt in that ocean of immortality. Melting myself within Myself, I became the ocean of luminous light. All dream waves of many incarnations have melted into the sea
- [Nations, Beware!](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/nations-beware/) - by Swami Yogananda Inner Culture, March 1937 WHY do world suffering and world misery arise? When people all over the earth are happy and prosperous they are in tune with God, and the entire vibrations of the earth in relation with the planets are harmonious. But as soon as one nation starts fighting with another
- [Success Through Unity](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/success-through-unity/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, May 1936 People build their aspirations and form their desires according to their prenatal and postnatal influences. Heredity and national, social, and family characteristics, tastes, and habits mold the life of a child. Children, in the beginning of their lives, are about the same everywhere, but, as they grow older
- [Healing the Sick World](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/healing-the-sick-world/) - by Swami Yogananda East-West, June,1933 The wall of creed and the blinding greed for gold has divided human hearts. They live behind these self-erected prison walls of dogma and have lost sight of the Altar of Oneness on which Thy Temple of omnipresence is built. Let us pulverize these walls of money, name, power, and
- [Increasing Awareness](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/increasing-awareness/) - by Swami Yogananda Inner Culture, October, 1935 All knowledge comes from the inner source, from the soul without limitation. How are you going to find out all the mysteries of the body and all the mystery of divine things in one short span of human life if you do not tap your inner source, which
- [Your Most Important Engagement](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/your-most-important-engagement/) - by Swami Yogananda East-West, Jan.-Apr. 1927 First come first served. That has been mostly your worst calamity. The unwelcome habits that came earliest in your life have kept you quite busy now and have crowded out many worthwhile things of life. The social world moves on the wheels of certain habits. Few realize whither the
- [Finding the Joy in Life](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/finding-the-joy-in-life/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, 1936 You want a thing as long as you are not able to get it; when you have secured it, sooner or later you will tire of it, and then you will want something else. Have you ever tried to find that will-o’-the-wisp of “something else” which you seek at
- [Message from Yogananda “Have I Found God?”](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/message-from-yogananda-have-i-found-god/) - Inner Culture, May, 1938 This is a message of my heart to you. Read, mark, inwardly digest, and put my thoughts into practice. Ask yourself: “I have been following a religion, or have been changing one for another, but have I found God?” If you find your answer unsatisfactory to yourself, try to sincerely get
- [Message from Yogananda to his Los Angeles Yogoda Students](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/message-from-yogananda-to-his-los-angeles-yogoda-students/) - From Swami Yogananda East-West, March-April, 1926 America, India, and the world expect a great deal from you. I have called Los Angeles the Spiritual World Army Headquarters (see my article on “World Appeal for Recruiting a Spiritual Army” in this issue). You must live up to that title. Never mind how good you have been,
- [Message to All Yogoda Students](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/message-to-all-yogoda-students/) - From Swami Yogananda, East-West, April 1932 Dear Ones: With this new year, make an undying resolution: “To behold the Spirit in the Light of regular practice of the Yogoda Lessons, and to establish a Yogoda temple in every heart.” So, daily, meditate deeply, at the same time spreading the message. Live Yogoda, talk Yogoda, and
- [Questions and Answers: Happiness](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/questions-and-answers-happiness/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, December 1938 On Happiness Question: “Will you please tell us something about happiness?”—R.J.R. Answer: There are many kinds of people in the world­good and evil, restless and meditative, ignorant and wise, happy and sad. Tell the evil person to be good and the restless person to be meditative, and he
- [Swami Yogananda’s Banquet Speech Convocation, 1937](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/swami-yoganandas-banquet-speech-convocation-1937/) - Swami Yoganandaji brought the Yogoda Convocation banquet speeches to a conclusion with the following words: “I cannot express in words my appreciation for all the kind things that you have said to me tonight. I am deeply grateful for your devotion and strength of spirit and the words which came from your heart. I pray
- [Oriental Christ](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/oriental-christ/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda East-West, March-April 1930 Jesus Christ was an Oriental. Therefore, his teachings were derived from Oriental environment and heredity. Truth is not a monopoly of the Orient or the Occident. The sunlight, though pure silver, appears to be red or blue when looked upon through red or blue glasses; so, also, does pure,
- [Who Was Jesus Before the Last Incarnation? Elias and Elijah The Second Coming of Christ](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/who-was-jesus-before-the-last-incarnation-elias-and-elijah-the-second-coming-of-christ/) - by Swami Yogananda Inner Culture, September 1934 “And all bear Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said: ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ And he said unto them: ‘Ye will surely say unto Me this proverb: “Physician, heal Thyself; whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum,
- [Introduction — The Three-Fold Meaning of the Hindu and Christian Bibles](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/introduction-the-three-fold-meaning-of-the-hindu-and-christian-bibles/) - The Second Coming of Christ by Swami Yogananda East-West, April 1932 (This lengthy introduction preceded some of the early articles on both the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita.) Intuitionally Perceived Spiritual Interpretation of Words Spoken by Jesus Christ (To be studied every day conscientiously and meditated upon by true Christians, true devotees of God, and
- [How to Establish World Brotherhood Colonies](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/how-to-establish-world-brotherhood-colonies/) - by Swami Yogananda Excerpted from “How to Burn Out the Roots of Depression by Divine Methods” by Swami Yogananda East-West Magazine, April 1932 The Root of Depression is Selfishness Individual, social, national, international, and industrial forms of selfishness are the children of universal selfishness. Selfishness is the wrong mode of living, inaugurated by human beings
- [Build Self-Sustaining Colonies Now](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/build-self-sustaining-colonies-now/) - By Paramhansa Yogananda Excerpted from “Destroying Depression by Super Science Power” New Super Cosmic Science Course, 1934, Lesson 5 Let every man gather from five to ten thousand dollars, and, in groups of thirty, let them build self-sustaining, self-governing colonies, starting with California. Do not spend the principal of the money, except what is necessary
- [Long-Time SRF Minister Abandoned in Her Elder Years](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/long-time-srf-minister-abandoned-in-her-elder-years-2/) - Kamala Silva’s Story Kamala Silva first heard Yogananda speak in 1925, at a lecture to which her mother had brought her. Soon thereafter, she became a close disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda’s. She was ordained by him as a minister, and served as a householder-minister for SRF in Oakland, California. She was one of SRF’s most
- [Why Has Community Lifestyle for Householder Devotees Been Ignored by SRF?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/why-has-community-lifestyle-for-householder-devotees-been-ignored-by-srf/) - “I got so involved in thinking about world-brotherhood colonies last night that my mind got away from me. But I chanted a little, and it came back.” — Paramhansa Yogananda during a public lecture (quoted in The Path: My Life With Paramhansa Yogananda, by Swami Kriyananda) Why is SRF Suppressing Yogananda’s Teachings About Spiritual Communities?
- [Current Events and News](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/current-events-and-news/) - (Note: These news updates were written in 2002 and 2003, just before and after the lawsuit ended.) The end is in sight for the 12-year lawsuit of SRF versus Ananda - November 2002 (read 1/3/03 update for official settlement) Ananda wins more than 95% of the 12-year case A 12-year legal battle between Self-Realization Fellowship
- [The Art of Gaining Friends](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-art-of-gaining-friends/) - Including: Why Love Your Enemies? by Paramhansa Yogananda excerpted from Inner Culture, March, 1936 Extend all the boundaries of the glowing kingdom of your love, gradually including within them your family, your neighbors, your community, your country, all countries; in short, all living sentient creatures. Be also a Cosmic friend, imbued with kindness and affection
- [Monk Abandoned](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/monk-abandoned/) - SRF Abandons a Loyal Monk A monk and minister for the SRF Church in Phoenix left the order and married. The Board’s official judgment against him was harsh. When he requested permission to lead an SRF meditation group elsewhere in America, the Board, under the guidance of Tara and Daya, refused him, saying, “It might
- [Agree or Resign — How the SRF Work in Europe Was Crippled for Years](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/agree-or-resign-how-the-srf-work-in-europe-was-crippled-for-years/) - Helen Erba-Tissot’s Story Helen Erba-Tissot was a prominent Swiss attorney, and sister of the owner of the Tissot watch company. Starting in 1952, she was also SRF’s main center leader in Europe. Single-handedly she developed the SRF work there, where she brought Yogananda’s teachings to groups in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, and France. Renounce all
- [Former SRF Vice-President Is Persecuted for More Than 40 Years](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/former-srf-vice-president-is-persecuted-for-more-than-40-years/) - My Separation from Self-Realization Fellowship by Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) People have often asked me the reason for my separation from Self-Realization Fellowship. It has never been easy for me to share this story-not because it embarrasses me to tell it, but because it presents my Guru’s work misleadingly: in a political context, rather
- [Long-time SRF Minister Abandoned in Her Elder Years](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/long-time-srf-minister-abandoned-in-her-elder-years/) - Kamala Silva’s Story Kamala Silva first heard Yogananda speak in 1925, at a lecture to which her mother had brought her. Soon thereafter, she became a close disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda’s. She was ordained by him as a minister, and served as a householder-minister for SRF in Oakland, California. She was one of SRF’s most
- [SRF Evicts Widow and Disciple from Family Home, Provided by Yogananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/srf-evicts-widow-and-disciple-from-family-home-provided-by-yogananda/) - Meera Ghosh’s Story During his return trip to India in 1935-36, Yogananda arranged for the marriage of his nephew Ramakrishna to Meera, the daughter of Hari Charan Biswas. Ramakrishna was the only son of Yogananda’s deceased eldest brother Ananta. Srimati Meera Ghosh is a direct disciple and now an elderly widow living in Serampore, India.
- [The Infinite Beloved in All Human Beings](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-infinite-beloved-in-all-human-beings/) - Swami Kriyananda writes in The Path: My Life With Paramhansa Yogananda: Part of the basis for Master’s amazing charisma was the fact that, seeing his infinite Beloved in all human beings, he also awakened in them an inchoate faith in their own goodness. With the impersonality of true greatness, he never accepted the thought from
- [Has SRF Lost Yogananda’s Spirit of Love?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/has-srf-lost-yoganandas-spirit-of-love/) - “When I am gone, only love can take my place.” — Paramhansa Yogananda to Daya Mata Many loyal members of Self-Realization Fellowship, including relatives of Yogananda, have received unusually harsh treatment from SRF in the years since Yogananda’s passing. Individuals have been silent for years. Though we hesitated for many years to publish these stories,
- [The “Blueprint”](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-blueprint/) - from “Who & What is Swami Kriyananda?” by Swami Kriyananda Didn’t Yogananda Give the SRF Directors a “Blueprint”? “Isn’t it true that Master gave the board of directors the ‘blueprint’ for the future of the work?” Swami Kriyananda answers: He gave a few hints and suggestions, true. A carefully drawn blueprint, however? No. What Master
- [Kriya Initiation](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/kriya-initiation/) - Changes to Kriya Initiation from “Who & What is Swami Kriyananda?” by Swami Kriyananda Kriya Yoga Initiation as Church Baptism “Why does Ananda allow people to take the blessing at Kriya Yoga initiation repeatedly, when SRF claims that it should be given only once?” Swami Kriyananda answers: SRF’s higher-ups, who brought with them into this
- [Discipleship Initiation](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/discipleship-initiation/) - Changes to Discipleship Initiation from “Who & What is Swami Kriyananda?” by Swami Kriyananda Ananda’s Discipleship Initiation “Why does Ananda have a discipleship initiation separate from Kriya initiation itself?” Swami Kriyananda answers: This was what Master himself did. Often he initiated people as disciples before they got Kriya. As a personal example, he initiated me
- [More About Editing, Tara, and the Rubaiyat](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/more-about-editing-tara-and-the-rubaiyat/) - by Swami Kriyananda “Why did you publish your own version of Yogananda’s commentaries on the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam?” Swami Kriyananda answers: The book I edited and published under the name, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained was authored by Paramhansa Yogananda, not by me. It was emphatically not “my own version” in the sense
- [Who Owns the Writings?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/who-owns-the-writings/) - Who Owns the Copyrights on Yogananda’s Writings? In the 1946 first edition of the Autobiography of a Yogi, and also in the 1951 edition, Paramhansa Yogananda says on the first page of Chapter 39: “In March, 1935 I had the Self-Realization Fellowship chartered under the laws of the State of California as a non-profit corporation.
- [What Did Yogananda Want?](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/what-did-yogananda-want/) - From “Who & What is Swami Kriyananda?” by Swami Kriyananda Changes in Yogananda’s Books “Why has Ananda made an issue of changes made by SRF in Master’s books, when Master himself requested those changes?” Swami Kriyananda answers: That he requested more than a handful of them is a myth. SRF has effective control over his
- [The Editor, Tara Mata](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/the-editor-tara-mata/) - Laurie Pratt, who later took the monastic name Tara Mata, worked closely with Yogananda on his autobiography. He expressed his gratitude for her tireless and insightful work in his letter of appreciation at the beginning of that book. Pratt was a senior disciple, having come to Yogananda in the 1924. Her work on Yogananda’s autobiography
- [Foreword by Amelita Galli-Gurci](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/foreword-by-amelita-galli-gurci/) - Whispers From Eternity Third edition, 1935 In Whispers from Eternity Paramhansa Yogananda taught us to pray not as beggars but as children of God. This was considered revolutionary in 1929 when Whispers from Eternity first appeared. This teaching has been removed from the ninth edition. In the Table of Contents of the 1981/1949 reprint, the
- [Additional Instructions](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/additional-instructions/) - Whispers from Eternity Third edition, 1935 Prayer Versus Demand (Additional Instructions) by Paramhansa Yogananda We should, as Children of God, Demand and not beg or pray as Beggars. God made man in His image All those who know how to receive Him, by expanding the power of the mind, can realize their sleeping divinity. Being
- [Hints to the Reader](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/hints-to-the-reader/) - Whispers from Eternity Third edition, 1935 Hints to the Devotional Reader by Paramhansa Yogananda Please select a demand from the contents according to your need, and then calm your mind by sitting motionless on a straight chair, with spine erect. With eyes closed, or lifted (if open), meditate on the meaning of the demand selected
- [Key to Demands](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/key-to-demands/) - by Paramhansa Yogananda Whispers from Eternity third edition, 1935 (Please read carefully) Spiritualizing a Prayer or a Demand Just as a wet match, when struck, does not produce fire, so is a mind saturated with restlessness unable to produce the fire of concentration, even when super-efforts are made to strike the Cosmic Spark. The flame
- [Advertisements for <em>Whispers From Eternity</em>](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/advertisements-for-whispers-from-eternity/) - An Ideal Intuition-Awakening Christmas Gift “Whispers From Eternity” By Swami Yogananda East-West, 1929 HIS FIRST NEW BOOK IN SEVERAL YEARS With a Foreword by Amelita Galli-Curci This long-looked for, soul-stirring book for making your prayers work will be ready before Christmas. It is something which you could daily study and use for your all-round progress.
- [How to Read Books and Make Your Home Happy](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/how-to-read-books-and-make-your-home-happy/) - By Swami Yogananda East-West, May 1932 Read only spiritual books which contain self-realization. Such books as the Bhagavad Gita (the Hindu old and new Testaments) and the Christian Bible should not be read as you would read a novel. Read a passage, think about its meaning, then meditate on its truth. Then try to live
- [Letters to Yogananda About <em>Whispers From Eternity</em>](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/letters-to-yogananda-about-whispers-from-eternity/) - East-West, March-April 1930 The principal happening, however, was the advent of “Whispers From Eternity,” Swami Yogananda’s inspired new book. Only once in many years does such a book come into existence, striking an answering chord in every heart. Below are some excerpts from personal letters to the Swami and an extract from a local review:
- [Review of Swami Yogananda‘s Book of Glorious Prayers](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/review-of-swami-yoganandas-book-of-glorious-prayers/) - By James W. Warnack [Church Editor for the Los Angeles Times] East-West, March-April, 1930 Almost startling in its deviation from orthodox conceptions, Swami Yogananda’s new book —“Whispers From Eternity” —blazes a new trail of thought about prayer. The Swami contends that the average supplicant for God’s favor goes to Him like a beggar, and that
- [When I Am Only a Dream](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/when-i-am-only-a-dream/) - By Paramhansa Yogananda Inner Culture, March 1940 I come to tell you all of Him, And the way to encase Him in your bosom, And of the discipline which brings His grace. To those of you who have asked me To guide you to my Beloved's silently talking mind, Or speak to you through a
- [Cosmic Chants](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/cosmic-chants/) - Cosmic Chants - Spiritualized Songs Reprinted from the 1938 edition [Editor’s Note: This interesting and helpful introduction to the early editions of Cosmic Chants has been removed in later editions. Here we find Yogananda’s suggestions for how to use the chants specifically to receive certain spiritual benefits.] Songs or chants are usually inspired through sentiment
- [Yogananda's Signature Changed by SRF](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/yoganandas-signature-changed-by-srf/) - Swami Yogananda becomes Paramhansa Yogananda In July 1914, Swami Sri Yukteswar initiated his disciple, Mukunda Lal Ghosh, into the swami monastic order. Mukunda took the name “Yogananda,” and initiation conferred upon him the title “Swami.” In 1935, after fifteen years in America, Swami Yogananda returned to India. His guru then bestowed on him the further
- [Changes to <em>Autobiography of a Yogi</em> ](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/changes-to-autobiography-of-a-yogi/) - Changes to Autobiography of a Yogi Alter Vibration and Meaning Autobiography of a Yogi is the centerpiece of Yogananda’s spiritual legacy. Swami Kriyananda aptly describes it as “almost alive in its power to convey, not merely ideas, but new states of awareness.” Yogananda said simply, “That’s because it has my vibrations in it.” (The Path)
- [Changes to Yogananda's Poem, <em>Samadhi</em>](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/changes-to-yoganandas-poem-samadhi/) - Chapter 14 of Autobiography of a Yogi, is called “An Experience in Cosmic Consciousness.” Yogananda describes how, through the grace of his guru Sri Yukteswar, “his heart’s desire was fulfilled.” Later in the same chapter, Yogananda says, “I wrote, in my later years, the following poem, ‘Samadhi,’ endeavoring to convey the glory of this cosmic
- [SRF Removes Christian Crosses From Yogananda's Photos](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/srf-removes-christian-crosses-from-yoganandas-photos/) - Christianity is fundamental to Yogananda's mission Yogananda said he came to bring the original teachings of Jesus Christ and the original teachings of Krishna and to show the unity between them. He put Christ at the center of the SRF altar, he named Christ first in the line of gurus, and he said it was
- [New Biography of Yogananda](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/new-biography-of-yogananda/) - Swami Kriyananda's book, Paramhansa Yogananda - A Biography With Personal Reflections and Reminiscences, portrays not only the Master's awe-inspiring stature, but his perfect humanity - his kindness, humor, unceasing bliss, and divine love. Swami Kriyananda lived with Yogananda and received his training during the last four years of the great Master's life, from 1948 to
- [Yogananda on World Brotherhood Colonies](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/yoganandas-zeal-for-world-brotherhood-colonies/) - From The New Path: My Life With Paramhansa Yogananda, by Swami Kriyananda Some of my most impressive memories of Master are of his public lectures. While they lacked the sweet intimacy of his talks with the disciples, they rang with the spirit of a mission destined, he told us, to bring spiritual regeneration to the

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://yoganandafortheworld.com/category/uncategorized/)