A First-Hand Personal Account

Inspiring Stories of a Direct Disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda
Who Spread the Master’s Teachings to the Whole World

For thirty-nine years, Nayaswami Asha faithfully recorded the extraordinary life of a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda.

Her book, Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer, introduces us to a key figure who played a central role in introducing the guru’s mission to the world. The story of Kriyananda’s unswerving devotion to his great Master’s cause is profoundly uplifting and instructive.

We present here the complete 635-page book. You can purchase a paperback, Kindle e-book, or Audible audiobook on Amazon.

The Book

Author’s Note: A “Great Work”
How I met Swami Kriyananda, and how this book came to be written.
1970-1971
Days of Simplicity, and Great Joy
I move to Ananda and begin my life with Swamiji.
1962
A Step Back in Time

Swami Kriyananda’s Dismissal by SRF
1972
Early Days of the “Great Work”

Daya’s disapproval; a landmark book on modern science and eternal values; India and Anandamayi Ma
1973
Planting Roots: A New Movement for the Masters
Compassion vs harsh judgment; a whirlwind trip to LA; first songs; Yogananda’s world prophecies
1974
Early Seeds — New Growth

Acquiring more land; early writings on the arts; “The secret of prosperity is creativity”; in India with Anandamayi Ma; a Paramhansa Yogananda ministry through song; the communities movement
1975
Challenges Worldly & Spiritual

Outreach; Spirit progress and the need for service; financial tests; SRF’s negativity; the Bicentennial Liberty Committee!; first public statements on SRF
1976
The Fire and the Reaction

The forest fire that burned 21 of Ananda’s 23 homes; the inspired response; Ananda extends its spiritual outreach; Swamiji’s role in his guru’s work; his respectful stance toward SRF
1977
Ananda’s Outward Service Grows

Don’t waste time feeling unworthy!; India!; publication of The Path: My Life With Paramhansa Yogananda; birth of the Joy Tours; further statements on SRF

1978
The Joy Tours
On the road; full speed ahead!; Ananda in Southern California?; starting a health food store

1979
Outreach & Instruction

Ananda’s outreach continues; bringing the teachings into our everyday lives; tips for effective public speaking; Ananda House; travels in Europe

1980
World Predictions and Yogananda’s Work
Cataclysmic changes: a warning and a promise; a foothold in Italy; building The Expanding Light guest retreat; insights: Ananda and SRF; new land and opposition; secrets of service

1981
A Year of Major Changes
Relaxing after years of intense activity: photography, Hawaii, marriage; Ananda Village incorporation campaign and controversy; householder dharma; a partner departs

1982
Defining Ananda’s Mission

Opposition challenges our faith; “Dharmocracy”; Yogananda’s mission: a single organization, or a divine dispensation for the whole world?; spiritual qualities of America

1983
Devotional Currents, and a Major New Musical Composition
Italian import: devotion!; nature channels at Ananda; Crystal Hermitage takes shape; the need for self-honesty; composing the oratorio, “Christ Lives!”

1984
Spiritual Movements Are Spread Through the Arts
Satan tries to stop the music; new spiritual movements spread through the arts; a movement of inner communion; the need for places of pilgrimage; freezing in Como; the Master as a dear and loving friend

1985
Religion in Dwapara Yuga
A new religious order for an Age of Energy-awareness!; a new service: spiritual pilgrimages; visiting with an Italian saint; a new monasticism; Swami meets with Daya at Mt. Washington; marriage to Rosanna; religion in Dwapara Yuga

1986
Pilgrimage to Los Angeles
A letter to Daya; an Ananda pilgrimage to Yogananda’s Southern California shrines; a new book on Master’s ideals for educating children; Daya lies about Kriya; Ananda starts branch communities; a new Festival of Light

1987
Paramhansa Yogananda and Spiritual Communities
A beautiful statement on the need for spiritual communities; A Festival of Light: the purpose and meaning of spiritual ceremonies in Dwapara Yuga; Cities of Light: Paramhansa Yogananda’s dream of cooperative spiritual communities

1988
Standing On Our Own
We are a new expression — it will take centuries to spread this new understanding; hip surgery: “Watch my smoke!”; many hands make a miracle; SRF and Ananda — the truth must come out; we are what we become through that which we do

1989
“The Greater the Will, the Greater the Flow of Energy”
Important directions for the yoga movement in the West; the power of pilgrimage; the meaning of discipleship; spirituality is the greatest power for good in the world

1990
Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) Files a Massive Lawsuit Against Ananda
The Ananda church changes its name to reflect its role as a legitimate branch of Yogananda’s work; a new book of Yogananda’s words, The Essence of Self-Realization; SRF files a lawsuit claiming it owns everything related to Yogananda; Swamiji sees the lawsuit as a God-given opportunity to break SRF’s stranglehold on the teachings and free them from sectarianism and institutionalism; Swamiji dedicates the Palo Alto Ananda community; the Ananda and SRF leaders meet in Fresno

1991
The SRF Lawsuit: Ananda Fights Not Against Anyone But FOR the Truth
Launching a church; the war in Iraq: discrimination and dharma; Yogananda inspires Ananda’s attorney; The Peace Treaty; Daya’s disregard for truth; Swamiji read the SRF “K-File”; the SRF leaders’ reluctance to examine their basic assumptions

1992
The Federal Judge Rules in Ananda’s Favor on the Two Most Important Issues in the SRF Lawsuit
Ananda rises to the challenge: “Master for the World”; David and Goliath – how to respond to legal attacks backed by great financial resources with a clear intent to destroy; SRF’s secrecy vs Ananda’s openness; Ananda wins the two most important rulings in the case: “Self-realization” is generic, and SRF does not own the copyrights to most of Yogananda’s original writings; a letter to the SRF board regarding vital issues in the case that will define the future of Yogananda’s work – expansion, versus institutional self-protection and control

1993
A Yogananda Centennial Year, SRF Continues to Lose in Court
Celebrating Yogananda’s Birthday Centennial and Ananda’s 25th Anniversary; Religion in the New Age; Master guided people through their attunement with him; Yogananda’s Rubaiyat interpretations; SRF’s many changes to Autobiography of a Yogi; the court nullifies SRF’s trademark in the name Paramhansa Yogananda, rejects SRF’s cease-and-desist motion to prevent Ananda from publishing the original Autobiography.

1994
SRF Opens a New Front in Its Lawsuit Against Ananda
SRF’s last legal resort: persecution; SRF takes Swamiji’s deposition; America’s spiritual future; editing Master’s Rubaiyat and setting the quatrains to music; a post-mortem message from Tara Mata; SRF’s efforts to destroy Ananda’s reputation; rescuing the yoga movement in the West; “The present legal battle is not between two organizations, but between two entirely different concepts of Master’s mission. It is the material expression of a war of ideas happening on the causal plane.”

1995
God Tests Ananda’s Mettle: A Year of Crisis & Triumph
God sends a major financial test, yet Ananda thrives; Gurus, Celibacy and Spiritual Authority receives an overwhelmingly positive response in Yoga International; Ananda is not “a nice place to live” – it is an ashram for people who are seeking God; Divine Mother is molding spiritual warriors who will stand for Truth; blasphemy in the SRF court case; the SRF-Bertolucci connection; Has SRF Lost Its Way?; Swamiji in India; Swamiji delivers a divinely empowered excoriation to SRF’s lawyer: “You enjoy hurting people.”

1996
SRF’s “Tarnishment” Strategy Backfires
What does it mean to love heroically?; crusading for Truth in SRF’s backyard; a new book, A Place Called Ananda reveals the details of his dismissal by SRF; Ananda discovers evidence of SRF’s involvement in the sexual harassment litigation; the court rules that SRF cannot benefit from a scandal that it helped to create

1997
SRF Tries to Prevent Daya Mata’s Deposition and Recover Its Losses in Court

Ananda’s music holds it together: Love Is A Magician and Jon Anderson, My Jo; Ananda chooses the wrong attorney; Paramhansa Yogananda appears to Daya Mata and tells her to “Settle!” (the lawsuit against Ananda); SRF puts on a friendly face to avoid Daya Mata’s deposition regarding its involvement in the Bertolucci case. When Ananda responds with friendship, SRF cynically seeks to regain exclusive “ownership” of Yogananda and his work.

1998
The Bertolucci Trial – Its Buffooneries and Its Deeper Meaning
The Bertolucci Trial: a farce from start to finish; the real issues at stake: “I’m taking this for the whole yoga movement.”; was Swami Kriyananda a jivan mukta, as Yogananda told him?; meanwhile, Ananda’s work thrives; Ananda’s concern for the broader aspects of the Master’s mission

1999
Dharmocracy – Right Action – Is the Key to Success
The lawsuit years are essentially over: Ananda emerges larger and spiritually stronger; Ananda’s guideline is compassion, not judgment; Ananda is a very old spiritual family; at Ananda, dharmocracy rules

2000
Preparing for Trial on SRF’s Remaining Copyright Claims
Sharing Yogananda’s universal teachings through music; the singers tour in Italy; the federal appellate court denies SRF’s appeal of its copyright ruling freeing Yogananda’s teachings for the world; SRF asks $33 million in damages; Bertolucci’s attorney is revealed as a prominent long-time member of SRF

2001
Answering Spiritual Darkness with Divine Light

Bringing the Master’s mission online; Yogananda: “After I am gone the monks should have a place of their own.”; SRF’s secrecy – most of the monastics didn’t know about the lawsuit; Ananda protests peacefully and harmoniously at the SRF convocation;  Hope for a Better World: the Small Communities Solution; the September 11 terrorist attacks: “Our duty is to act firmly, even sternly…. No scripture on earth counsels spinelessness. It is sufficient that we not be drawn into hating others.”

 

2002
The Jury Trial Concludes SRF’s Lawsuit Against Ananda

Secrets of living for God; rewriting The Science of Religion, which Master didn’t write himself; SRF is compelled to produce the original manuscript of Yogananda’s Bhagavad Gita interpretations; the court rejects SRF’s attempt to bring the Bertolucci case into the trial; the great present and future dangers of a schism in Yogananda’s work; SRF’s attorney lies to the court and is later summarily ejected from the courtroom; SRF asks $33 million from Ananda for violating its alleged right to the Gita interpretations, and gets nothing; SRF wins a few minor issues and is awarded $29,000; Swamiji says, “SRF had to be able to declare a victory, otherwise they would never have left us alone.”

2003
Making Yogananda’s Teachings Known in India
Giving devoted service despite serious health difficulties: “I’m a little short of breath, but I’m not short of spirit!”; how Yogananda’s work in India suffers from SRF’s misunderstanding; how can advanced disciples be capable of error?; the first Festival of the Joyful Arts; how Ananda’s victory in the SRF lawsuit set important legal precedents for freedom of religion; publishing God Is For Everyone and Conversations With Yogananda; Swamiji starts a work in India to make his master’s teachings known there; The Way of Ananda Sanghis

 

2004
Spreading Yogananda’s Teachings in the Land of His Birth
“India is the guru of the world. You have to reclaim your destiny.”; persecution in Italy and India; Swamiji serves heroically while facing severe physical tests; a Material Success course for Indians seeking to spiritualize their work;  Master gives him the strength to serve; “I love to speak in India because your hearts are open.”

 

2005
From Victory to Victory: Continued Service in India and Italy

Spreading Yogananda’s work in India: “Looking into my Guru’s eyes was looking into Infinity.”; severe tests of the physical body; Babaji is pleased; triumphant talks in Italy; Yogananda is now known throughout India “all because of Swami Kriyananda”; publishing Yogananda’s Gita commentaries in their original, vital form, free of heavy-handed, overly intellectual editing

2006
Daya Mata’s Former Secretary Reveals All

Indian national leaders celebrate the publication of The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita; Swami Kriyananda meets with the president of India; Envisioning an institute of higher learning where the instruction would be grounded in spiritual truth; Look to the saints alone for truth: The Revelations of Christ, Proclaimed by Paramhansa Yogananda; Daya Mata’s secretary of 20 years reveals SRF’s increasing rigidity – “Every charge, suspicion, or intuition Swamiji had ever expressed about SRF, the lawsuit, Daya Mata, her leadership, and the consciousness of the organization, Heidi confirmed.”

2007
Swami Kriyananda’s Service to Yogananda’s Work in India

A flood of new books by Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda; Swamiji’s health issues deepen in severity, while his service to the guru’s work continues regardless: “My life is to serve Master. Nothing else matters.”; Seeds of a new Ananda community in India; YSS’s petty persecution – their monks rejoice when Swami is ill; “I went into surgery with bliss. I came out with more bliss.”

 

2008
Paramhansa Yogananda: an Avatar for the Dawning Age of Energy

Swamiji declines chemotherapy: “What matters to me—the only thing that matters—is that I be able to serve God and my Guru effectively for whatever years remain.”; Writing Religion in the New Age: “I am particularly happy to show Master as a Dwapara Yuga leader, since SRF has cast him so firmly in the Kali Yuga mold.”; Presenting Revelations of Christ at Teatro Valle in Rome: “I lived with a Christ.”; Editing Whispers From Eternity: “Whispers is Master’s book, not mine.”; Rajarshi appears in a dream; Ananda Italia is exonerated with an unprecedented legal ruling that frees not only itself but the whole spiritual movement in Europe.; Rewriting The Path: My Life With Paramhansa Yogananda: “What I’ve hoped for above all in writing this book has been to convince you, dear reader, to live more deeply for God.”

2009
God Prolongs His Life So That He Can Continue His Service

Starting a rural Paramhansa Yogananda world brotherhood community near Pune, India; Two Souls, Four Lives, a book about Paramhansa Yogananda’s and Swami Kriyananda’s former incarnations; “I recommend against getting old – but nobody listens.”; “I have given this body to Divine Mother. She may do with it whatever She wishes.”; Reforming the Swami order – founding a new, Nayaswami order; A miracle healing; “The days of institutional religion are over.”; Visiting Medjugorje – “Sometimes, even more so since my visit there, I feel so much bliss in my heart that I find it difficult to bear.”

 

2010
A Year of Blissful Service
Movies about Yogananda and Ananda; “Our human feelings, are, in fact, God’s feelings.”; An ancient Agastya reading calls Swamiji “a blessing to the whole world” and predicts ever-expanding inner bliss, and at the end of life, moksha.; Swamiji’s past life as Alfonso X (“The Wise”) of Spain, son of Fernando (“The Saint”) who was Yogananda in that life; He visits Los Angeles to energize Ananda’s work there – “SRF’s continuing, uncharitable behavior was hurting Master’s work. Another example was needed, one of kindness, compassion, lightness, humor, openness, and a minimum of rules.”; Creating a new course, AKASH: Ancient Keys to Attaining Success and Happiness; “In spite of all the pain, cynicism, and meanness in life, underneath it all, life is bliss.”

 

2011
His Last Years – God Alone Is What Everyone Is Seeking

A new biography of Master: Paramhansa Yogananda: A Biography with Personal Reflections and Reminiscences; For India, Swamiji records 108 television programs on the Bhagavad Gita; Despite dire health problems, still the work goes on; Writing Yogananda for the World – “It is really very simple. There are two ways to approach Master’s legacy: sectarian and nonsectarian. SRF has taken the sectarian approach; Ananda has not.” 10,000 people download the book in the first months; Education for Life: spreading Yogananda’s ideals for education.; “As disciples, we must so absorb ourselves in Master’s outlook, understanding, and, above all, his consciousness, that it is his ray being transmitted to others. In this way Master through us will remain the Guru now and for future generations.”

2012
As Moksha Approaches, Swamiji Continues His Creative Service to His Guru’s Work

Developing a feature film about Ananda; A major talk in New Delhi: “India is far too important to the future of the planet, and to the coming Dwapara Yuga, to remain backward and impoverished.”; A final television series for India; A satsang for school children in Palo Alto; Ananda’s attorney Jon Parsons publishes his book about the SRF lawsuit, A Fight for Religious Freedom; Elisabeth Rohm signs on enthusiastically to play the lead  role in the movie about Ananda; “It is not enough for this movie to touch people’s feelings,” Swamiji said. “It needs to awaken their aspirations. The point is not to impress them with what we have, but to give them hope for the happiness they can have in their own lives.”; Swamiji writes a new series of Lessons in Self-realization: by Swami Kriyananda, written under the inspiration of his Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda; Initial planning comes together for a second movie, The Answer, about how Swamiji found his Guru.

2013
His Final Year: Wrapping Up the Great Work

Completing Finding Happpiness, the movie about Ananda: “I can’t think of any way to improve it. It is just perfect.”; “As an ancient prophecy foretold to me recently, ‘Ananda will become no longer a place: it will become an ideal.’”; He speaks to an overflow crowd of more than two thousand in Chennai.; His last writing project – editing one of his first books, Cooperative Communities: How to Start Them, and Why; His last breath, and final freedom.

 

Afterword
Thoughts on the Life of Swami Kriyananda