{"id":1794,"date":"2025-03-08T16:08:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T16:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/?p=1794"},"modified":"2025-03-08T16:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T16:08:14","slug":"swami-kriyananda-stories-ch-29-people-like-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-stories-ch-29-people-like-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Swami Kriyananda Stories — Ch. 29: People Like Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Crystal Hermitage grounds are a delight.<\/strong> In the summer months, Swamiji would often invite the community members to the hermitage for a \u201cgarden party.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lovely, curved swimming pool that follows the contours of a grassy terrace. It has a blue-tinted bottom that gives the water a cool, refreshing look.<\/p>\n

At a garden party soon after the pool was built, a few of us brought bathing suits and dived in.<\/p>\n

As a boy, I had spent hours daily in summer at the municipal swimming pool. We lived in Exeter, a small town in California\u2019s Central Valley where the summers were hot and the large city pool was inviting.<\/p>\n

I loved to swim underwater and developed the ability to hold my breath for a long time. The lifeguards would throw pennies in the deep end for us boys to chase. It was an unfair contest, because I always got to the pennies first. But I would get bored and let the other boys have their chance.<\/p>\n

When I dove into the Crystal Hermitage pool, it brought back those summer memories. The water was special. I knew that it was blessed. I felt wonderful, cruising silently through the depths.<\/p>\n

At another summer party. I stood by the pool, chatting with a friend. Swamiji walked over, and after we had exchanged greetings, my friend said, \u201cWe were talking about marketing Ananda\u2019s books and events. We were wondering what kinds of people we should direct our advertising to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without hesitation, Swamiji said, \u201cPeople like us.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t remember the rest of the conversation, but his words lingered. I wondered, \u201cWhat kind of people are we?\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, I decided, \u201cWe are people who enjoy Swami Kriyananda\u2019s books and feel nourished by them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I realized that it wasn\u2019t the whole story.<\/p>\n

I had visited the community for the first time in 1974, when I spent ten days at the Meditation Retreat. The moment I stepped on the property, I thought, \u201cThis place feels like home.\u201d<\/p>\n

I spent most of that first visit talking with the members. And I realized that all of them were, in some indefinable way, a lot like me.<\/p>\n

Outwardly, they were unique and individual. They were artists, carpenters, businessmen, mothers, ministers, monastics, teachers, doctors, accountants, and healers. But there was a quality, like a subtle fragrance, that united them.<\/p>\n

They shared a yearning for something meaningful and true, and a commitment to open themselves to a higher source of wisdom, joy, and love, and to share it with others.<\/p>\n

What defined the Ananda members, beyond their outward roles, was something in their eyes. It was not a thing, but a vibration that was sweet and appealing.<\/p>\n

Swami Kriyananda said, \u201cIf you want to get to know me, listen to my music.\u201d I sing his music often. On my way to the grocery, I\u2019ll warm up in the car with a little chanting, then I\u2019ll sing the pieces we\u2019ll be performing at Sunday service.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll occasionally drive the \u201clong way\u201d to the store. Trader Joe\u2019s is a five-minute drive, but I\u2019ll take a scenic route through Portola Valley, driving twenty miles for a bag of frozen pineapple.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll sing Swami\u2019s songs, and often an uncanny thing will happen. I know most of the songs by heart. I sing tenor in three groups, so I\u2019m often \u201con\u201d to perform because tenors tend to be in short supply. Yet I find that I don\u2019t get tired of the music.<\/p>\n

When I began singing with the choir, I feared that if I sang \u201cBrothers\u201d or \u201cThere\u2019s Joy in the Heavens\u201d too often, I might wear it out \u2013 the songs would become stale. How sad! The inspiration would evaporate, and I would be bereft of the pleasure of driving mile after mile for the simple joy of singing.<\/p>\n

Instead, I found that the songs held no end of inspiration.<\/p>\n

In my early days on the path, I wrote a letter to a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, Brother Bhaktananda, asking for his advice on how I could develop more devotion.<\/p>\n

He replied: \u201cFathomless depths of love for God lie hidden in the human heart, waiting to be uncovered by the Guru\u2019s liberating discipline.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Meditation taps those inner springs of devotion, which nourish us more surely than the blood in our veins. We never tire of it. And it is in Swamiji\u2019s music.<\/p>\n

Last night, we sang for a group of people who weren\u2019t part of Ananda. I prayed to Master to help us empty ourselves of ego-attachments so that he might touch the audience through us. \u201cHelp us to sing as one voice, and inspire these people to discover the love and joy hidden in their own hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to say whether they were inspired, but as we sang \u201cBrothers,\u201d \u201cPeace,\u201d \u201cTruth Can Never Die,\u201d and \u201cA New Tomorrow,\u201d I felt God\u2019s sweetness, beauty, and warmth extending to them. I realized that all people are Ananda<\/em>, because we are made of the joy that flows in the fathomless depths of our being.<\/p>\n

From \u201cBrothers\u201d: \u201cThough words and customs vary, like waves upon the sea, one life beneath the surface binds everyone to me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I love to explore what Ananda is, and who I am, by singing Swamiji\u2019s music. He said, \u201cEveryone at Ananda should sing this music.\u201d It is beautiful because it nourishes us at the level of the soul. It lifts us, because it is of the substance of which we are made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Crystal Hermitage grounds are a delight. In the summer months, Swamiji would often invite the community members to the hermitage for a \u201cgarden party.\u201d There\u2019s a lovely, curved swimming pool that follows the contours of a grassy terrace. It has a blue-tinted bottom that gives the water a cool, refreshing look. At a garden … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSwami Kriyananda Stories — Ch. 29: People Like Us - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 59-year disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda reveals what unites and defines a spiritual family.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-stories-ch-29-people-like-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swami Kriyananda Stories — Ch. 29: People Like Us - 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