Occupation: Middle School Science Teacher and Faculty Mentor for future science teachers who are getting their university credentials Children: Twin boys Hobbies: Yoga, meditation, bicycling, swimming, reading, hiking. Pets: Two cats (twin girls), a gecko, and a fish Favorite ways to spend time: Hiking or mountain biking on the SF Peninsula and in the Sierras; … Read more
Narya grew up in Venice, Italy. At age eighteen, he took over the family glassware business and built it into a supplier of custom glass to high‑end department stores worldwide, with a clientele that included Middle Eastern oil billionaires. In the late 1980s Paolo sold the business and moved to Ananda Village, where he lived … Read more
Asha Nayaswami is the author of Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer, a 635-page book that reveals the life of a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda to whom the Guru assigned a many-faceted “great work” that included fulfilling his dream of creating spiritual cooperative communities, as well as showing how people everywhere can understand the relevance of spiritual … Read more
“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher,” Narani Moorhouse says with a quiet smile. It’s a January afternoon at the elementary school, on the grassy hill above the “downtown” part of Ananda Village, a thriving, fifty-year-old spiritual community in the foothills near Nevada City, California. The children have skipped down the hill after … Read more
When we spoke, Catherine Kairavi managed the fundraising department of Ananda. (Photo: 2012) Q: I wondered if I should talk to you, since your position as director of fundraising isn’t what many people would normally think of as serving others. But nonprofit businesses are proliferating, and donations may continue to provide an important slice of … Read more
For many years Latika was a financial coordinator for Ananda Sangha, a position that gave her unique insights on how Ananda’s businesses are run. She now works for the Sangha as a fundraiser. (Photo: 1998) Q: What were the particular interests that led you to your present position? Latika: Before I came to Ananda I … Read more
When Nakula moved to Ananda Village in the early 1970s, he started a small dairy that he ran for many years. In the 1980s he moved to Washington, D.C., where he operated his own construction company. When he returned to the community he managed the Ananda Builders Guild, a construction company that was started in … Read more
Mangala is an award-winning registered nurse practitioner who, at the time we talked, worked at the Sierra Family Medical Clinic, a nonprofit facility started in 1982 by Dr. Peter Van Houten, a physician from Ananda Village. Mangala now serves at The Expanding Light guest retreat at Ananda Village, where she is the director of Ananda … Read more
In 1982, Peter Van Houten, MD started a medical clinic in the Sierra foothills outside Nevada City, California, just across the road from Ananda Village. The Sierra Family Medical Clinic (since renamed Sierra Family Health Center) serves more than 9000 patients who formerly had to drive twenty to seventy miles for medical help. The clinic … Read more
Catherine Rice owns an accounting business at Ananda Village that serves clients in and beyond the community. Q: How do you balance your busy work life with your roles as a mother and spiritual aspirant? Catherine: I feel that on some level it’s a dharma, a spiritual destiny, for me to be doing what I’m … Read more