Who are the people of Ananda?
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People who enter the spiritual path with great enthusiasm and dedication often find that after the first, exciting stage of fresh discovery, their meditations and prayers are no longer yielding the same results. They have reached an impasse and may not understand how to begin moving forward again spiritually. The answer, as they will sooner or later discover, is service. Though its outward forms can be many, service opens inner channels for divine inspiration to flow through us, sweeping obstacles aside and setting us back on the path to greater happiness and freedom.
In Conversations with Ananda: How We Serve , more than 70 pioneering members of the Ananda communities tell how, by their years of dedicated service, they helped to transform Paramhansa Yogananda’s cherished dream of “World Brotherhood Colonies” into a living reality. Their stories lend eloquent testimony to the blessings that attend lives that are dedicated to serving the Guru’s work.
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Interested readers may order the 647-page trade paperback book on Amazon .
Testimonials for Conversations with Ananda: How We Serve
“Just wanted you to know how much I’m enjoying the book. It’s like having my favorite people come over and share their stories. Wonderfully inspiring!” – Michael Nitai Deranja , Author, For Goodness’ Sake: Supporting Children & Teens in Discovering Life’s Higher Values , and co-founder of the Living Wisdom Schools
“‘What is the purpose of Ananda?’ Swami Kriyananda was asked. ‘To have fun,’ he replied, explaining that by ‘fun’ he meant ‘to feel the love of Divine Mother and share that love with all.’ As a founding member of Ananda, I can say with my whole heart, ‘We have had fun!’ Both by Swamiji’s elevated definition and in the sheer joy of living together in those glorious early years. Thank you, Rambhakta, for preserving that time through this treasure chest of oral history. Future generations will sing their gratitude to have both the spirit and the facts of Ananda’s founding presented in such a clear, natural, enjoyable form. Well done!” – Nayaswami Asha , Author, Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer
The Chapters
Dedication & Introduction Ch. 1 - Nayaswami Jyotish Ch. 2 - Nayaswami Jyotish, Early Days with Swamiji Ch. 3 - Nayaswami Sadhana Devi, the first volunteer workdays at Ananda Village
Ch. 4 - Nayaswami Devi, Women's Roles in a Paramhansa Yogananda World Brotherhood Community Ch. 5 - Nayaswami Asha, Swami Kriyananda’s Advice for Work and Making a Living Ch. 6 - Nayaswami Shivani, Learning to Trust an Inner Flow of Intuitive Guidance Ch. 7 - Nayaswami Haridas, Learning to Be Natural in Our Spiritual Search
Ch. 8 - Nayaswami Jyotish, Running a Business by Spiritual Principles Ch. 9 - Nayaswami Padma, Learning to Serve by Following Our Inner Guidance Ch. 10 - Nayaswami Vidura, Learning to Serve from Our Inner Center Ch. 11 - Nayaswami Vidura, Part 2: Managing a Paramhansa Yogananda World Brotherhood Community
Ch. 12 - Nayaswami Vidura, Part 3: Starting and Running Cooperative Communities for “Simple Living and High Thinking” Ch. 13 - Nayaswami Jaya: Inside Workings of a Paramhansa Yogananda World Brotherhood Community Ch. 14 - Nayaswami Nitai: Bringing Paramhansa Yogananda’s Educational Ideals to Life Ch. 15 - Ric Moorehouse: Blacksmith with a Vision
Ch. 16 - Tim Kretzmann: Craftsman & Luthier Ch. 17 - Paula Sweigert: The Customer Is God Ch. 18 - Nayaswami Gangamata: Work as Service to God, and to God in People. Ch. 19 - Tom Taylor: Customer Service and the Inner Life.
Chs. 20-21 - Gurudas Barrett: What Was It Like to Work Closely with Swami Kriyananda? Ch. 22 - Vasanta Weber: A Spiritual Approach to Human Resources at Ananda Village Ch. 23 - Nayaswami Nivritti: How Three Women Devotees Started a Successful Spiritual Bookstore Ch. 24 - Karuna McDivitt: Running a Successful Surveying Business by Following Spiritual Principles
Ch. 25 - Devamuni Hall: A Life in Business, With Inner Attunement as the Highest, Only Priority Ch. 26 - Nayaswami Gyandev: Bringing Spiritual Truths to Life in Outward Service Ch. 27 - Nayaswami Haridas, Part 2: Early Days at Ananda - Simple Living & High Thinking Ch. 28 - Nayaswami Arjuna: A building contractor fulfills his lifelong dream of building temples
Ch. 29 - Catherine Rice: A mother and accounting professional tells how she runs her thriving practice along spiritual lines. Ch. 30 - Peter Van Houten, MD: How a family physician balances his medical and spiritual lives. Ch. 31 - Nayaswami Mangala: Spiritual tests of managing a busy family medical practice Ch. 32 - Nayaswami Nakula: Balancing construction management and inner peace.
Ch. 33 - Latika Parojinog: A master organizer and manager reveals how she brings God into her work. Ch. 34 - Catherine Kairavi: Helping people to expand their hearts by giving to an inspiring spiritual work. Ch. 35 - Narani Moorehouse found profound inner fulfillment as a teacher and disciple. Ch. 36 - Nayaswami Asha shares her thoughts on what it means to be a member of a Paramhansa Yogananda church and spiritual community.
Ch. 37 - Narya Tosetto reveals how he balances his spiritual life with running a successful glassware business. Ch. 38 - Julie Hilborn shares her life as a teacher and mother of twin boys. Ch. 39 - Kamaladevi Beswick tells how she merged her dancer’s art and her spiritual practice. Ch. 40 - Nayaswami Lilavati tells how she found her spiritual path.
Ch. 41 - Sarah Landau shares a brief profile of her life as a disciple. Ch. 42 - Nayaswami Dharmadevi recalls a difficult lesson in compassion. Ch. 43 - Nayaswami Hriman tells how he discovered that faith is the most practical thing of all. Ch. 44 - Steven Manus shares his experiences learning the value of selfless service in the spiritual life.
Ch. 45 - Atman Goering, an engineer with strong environmental interests, talks about his travels inward and outward. Ch. 46 - Kristina Stone tells how her service feeds her spiritual life. Ch. 47 - Nayaswami Shanti ran the third-largest medical practice in America. Ch. 48 - Aryavan McSweeney tells how his search led him to deeply meaningful service to his guru.
Ch. 49 - Supriya Goldberg remembers her first months on the path of Self-realization. Ch. 50 - Nayaswami Mary Mintey tells how she brought God into her jewelry business. Ch. 51 - Bill Meyer shares how he found Ananda. Ch. 52 - Ron Cantoni tells how he took full advantage of the opportunities to serve his guru’s work.
Ch. 53 - Nayaswami Chidambar reflects on the blessings of joyful service as a spiritual practice. Ch. 54 - David James shares his story as a martial artist and disciple. Ch. 55 - Amara Fiestermann shares her thoughts on the joys of enthusiastic service. Ch. 56 - Dambara Begley describes the challenges and great joy of serving the guru’s work.
Ch. 57 - Nayaswami Roma shares the challenges and joy of service “when the going gets tough.” Ch. 58 - Nayaswami Rambhakta shares the story of a hard financial test and its miraculous resolution. Ch. 59 - Swami Kriyananda shares thoughts on music that uplifts and inspires. Ch. 60 - Cellist David Eby tells how he blends music and spiritual practice.
Ch. 61 - Anaya tells how she finds inspiration as a singer, conductor, and musician. Ch. 62 - Mari Baughman reveals the life-changing joys of singing and sharing uplifting spiritual music. Ch. 63 - Ramesha Nani shares the inspiration of singing high spiritual music. Ch. 64 - Raghu Clark tells his journey from rock and jazz to performing music that inspires.
Ch. 65 - Cindy Gottfried tells how she learned to sing self-forgetfully without strain to serve others. Ch. 66 - Nayaswami Krishna directs the training choir at Ananda Village. Ch. 67 - Saiganesh Sairaman describes his training as an Indian classical singer, and his discovery of Swami Kriyananda’s music. Ch. 68 - Chaitanya has a splendid tenor singing voice. He tells how he found his way from barbershop quartets to devotional Bhakti Yoga.
Ch. 69 - Keshava Betts is a lifelong disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. Ch. 70 - Nayaswami Nirmala recalls touring with the Ananda Joy Singers in the early days. Ch. 71 - Dambara Begley, singer, musican, and all-round cheerful presence, shares his experiences serving others as a spiritual practice. Ch. 72 - Anjali Gregorelli shares her experiences as a lifelong singer and conductor.
Ch. 73 - Nayaswami Dharmadas tells how he found divine joy through chanting and singing. Ch. 74 - Nayaswami Rambhakta recalls a hilarious early encounter with Swami Kriyananda. Ch. 75 - “Morning Song.” Nayaswami Rambhakta describes an experience with singing as a spiritual practice. Ch. 76 - How I Learned to Sing With Inspiration, by Nayaswami Rambhakta.