In the last chapters, I told how Swamiji could use humor to teach us. But he could also be very serious. Walking to Sunday service at the Expanding Light, I was about a hundred yards from the temple when a car drew alongside and the back door swung open. Swamiji smiled and said, “Would you … Read more
I was at Swami Kriyananda’s for a private interview. After we had chatted, Swamiji rose and walked me to the door. Continuing our conversation, he said, speaking forcefully, but with a twinkle in his eye and a trace of humor in his voice, “I’ve told you before – you’re TOO HARD on yourself!” Later, I … Read more
My first three years at Ananda were miserable. I was in an almost unbroken state of inner turmoil, torn by moods and depression, triggered by a sense of my unworthiness. At the deepest level, my problem was that I was much too self-involved. Swamiji tried to help me rise above the turmoil. If he saw … Read more
I’ve mentioned that when I arrived at Ananda I was offered a job in the publications department. It was located in the building that overlooks Ananda Village, its sweeping roof suggesting a descent of divine blessings. One day, someone asked me to take some papers to Swamiji at his home. When I arrived, he welcomed … Read more
Nayaswami Asha invited me to write articles for an Ananda website. Why was I feeling so unwilling? My heart wasn’t in the project. I didn’t want to talk to God about my lousy energy – it was too embarrassing! Finally, knowing I wouldn’t be able to change my attitude without help, I turned inwardly to … Read more
I’m rarely able to go deep in meditation. I was paralyzed from the chest down in my mid-twenties. After two surgeries, I began to recover, but my left leg still has lingering spasticity and my right leg is mildly paralyzed. The nerve currents on the left side of my body and brain dance and crackle. … Read more
When I moved to Ananda Village in 1976, I was offered a job at “Pubble,” the department where Swami Kriyananda’s books were published. Shortly after I joined the staff, Swamiji invited us to his home to discuss some projects. He lived on the other side of the ridge from the main “downtown” part of the … Read more
When I was in my early fifties, I signed up to run a 100-mile race in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. As a joke, I grew my hair long, thinking it would be amusing to start the race looking like an old-time mountain man. I had a difficult time during the race. On a … Read more
The doctors offered no hope for my chronic bronchitis. They stroked their beards and told me I would find it increasingly hard to breathe – I would end my life pulling an oxygen tank. In the final stages, I would lie in bed until I suffocated. I thought, “Stuff that for a lark, there’s got … Read more
Sewell (El Teniente), Chile at night, 1940s. by Nayaswami Rambhakta I was born in a mining camp at 7,000’ elevation in the Chilean Andes, on January 21, 1942. The underground copper mine where my father was employed as an engineer was the largest in the world and was critically important to America’s war effort. The … Read more