{"id":1855,"date":"2025-05-10T16:16:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T16:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/?p=1855"},"modified":"2025-05-10T16:16:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T16:16:17","slug":"swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-saving-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-saving-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Swami Kriyananda — As We Have Known Him: Saving the Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several people dedicated to ending war and banning nuclear weapons<\/strong> came to Ananda to try and enlist Swamiji\u2019s support for their cause. Their presentation included a graphic description of what would happen if a nuclear bomb hit an American city. Using charts, graphs, and full-color illustrations, they explained how people would be vaporized, incinerated, burned, scorched, and, if that didn\u2019t get them, poisoned by radiation.<\/p>\n

Using fear to motivate people is not a tactic Swamiji admires. When you increase fear, you create more of the very consciousness you are trying to eradicate.<\/p>\n

When the anti-war advocates finally paused long enough for Swamiji to get a word in, he said, \u201cA hundred years from now almost no one who is on the planet now will still be here. Whether we dribble off a few at a time over the next century or all go out at once in one big bang, once we are in the astral world, it won\u2019t make any difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then more seriously he said, \u201cWhen cataclysms come, as my Guru said they will, those who die will be the lucky ones. The real suffering will come to those who live through it.\u201d He paused a moment to let his words sink in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know you are trying to do a good thing,\u201d Swamiji said sympathetically, \u201cand I don\u2019t want to dampen your enthusiasm. But the only way to change the world is by changing consciousness\u2014above all, by changing your own consciousness. Everything else is just a symptom. I prefer to work on the cause, which is consciousness itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

On another occasion, a man presented Swamiji with a long list of ecological disasters that had happened or would happen soon unless something was done to prevent them. He wanted Swamiji to put the resources of Ananda into solving these problems.<\/p>\n

Swamiji listened patiently then said, \u201cWe are already doing exactly what you ask. All the problems you describe are caused by wrong consciousness. If everyone in the world lived the way we do at Ananda, these problems would simply cease to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several people dedicated to ending war and banning nuclear weapons came to Ananda to try and enlist Swamiji\u2019s support for their cause. Their presentation included a graphic description of what would happen if a nuclear bomb hit an American city. Using charts, graphs, and full-color illustrations, they explained how people would be vaporized, incinerated, burned, … 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-1855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSwami Kriyananda — As We Have Known Him: Saving the Planet - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda talks with activists on the best way to bring peace to the world.\" \/>\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-as-we-have-known-him-saving-the-planet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swami Kriyananda — As We Have Known Him: Saving the Planet - 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