{"id":2023,"date":"2026-02-28T16:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T16:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/?p=2023"},"modified":"2026-02-28T16:55:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T16:55:22","slug":"swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/","title":{"rendered":"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him:  Hello, Great Souls!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>(From Asha Nayaswami)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>I started as Swamiji\u2019s secretary, but soon the job expanded into being his personal assistant and sometimes cook and housekeeper.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For several years during the mid-1970s, unless he was out of the country or in seclusion, I spent hours with him almost every day. His schedule varied, and his needs were unpredictable, so I avoided making any plans that might interfere with my service to him. On the rare occasions when other responsibilities took me away, Swamiji accepted it graciously, but I suffered. Serving Swamiji was my first priority.<\/p>\n<p>He paid my salary from his own wallet, but to him I was not an employee. I was a friend, and he saw my service to him as an act of kindness and generosity on my part. Even when he had a specific request, he put it in such a way as to leave me free to accept or reject it. It was as if, at night, he wiped away every expectation, and was genuinely surprised and delighted the next day when I showed up to help him again.<\/p>\n<p>During most of the time I worked for him, he was writing <em>The Path<\/em>. He spent many hours a day at home alone, writing.\u00a0 In the late afternoons, Seva and I, and sometimes a few others, would often come over to see him. By then he had accumulated a stack of edited manuscript pages for me to retype. This was the last book he wrote on a typewriter; after that, he used a computer. He was eager to get the clean copy, and I was eager to do the work, but he never related to me as \u201cthe person who comes to retype my manuscript.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHello, Great Souls!\u201d he would say when he heard us come in. \u201cWould you like some tea?\u201d Usually the subject of work only came up after the tea had been served.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have edited quite a few pages today,\u201d he might say. Or, \u201cI\u2019ve made dozens of changes in the chapter I thought was finished. I think you\u2019ll like what I\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I knew what he was hinting at, so I asked him, \u201cWould you like me to retype those pages for you, Sir?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat would be a great help,\u201d he would say. Then he would insist, \u201cFirst, finish your tea.\u201d If I knew he was particularly anxious to see the retyped pages, I could sometimes persuade him, \u201cI don\u2019t need any tea. I can go right to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A request to cook dinner would follow a similar pattern.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got so involved in writing today,\u201d he might say. \u201cI haven\u2019t had anything to eat since breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Or I might be the one to bring it up, since I knew his habits. \u201cDid you have any lunch today, Sir?\u201d If he had to stop and think about it, it meant he hadn\u2019t eaten. \u201cYou must be hungry \u2013 may I fix you dinner?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat would be lovely.\u201d Sometimes he would add, \u201cPerhaps you and Seva would like to join me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Or he might say, \u201cWhat are your plans for this evening?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have any plans. Is there something I can do for you, Sir?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Only then would he say, \u201cWell, if you aren\u2019t busy, there may be something in the refrigerator that could be turned into a dinner. If I don\u2019t have to cook, I can do a little more writing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An Ananda leader once spoke enthusiastically about a way of working with people he had read about in a book. \u201cWhenever you have to point out a shortcoming to someone,\u201d he said, \u201calways start by mentioning at least two things they do well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat seems <em>manipulative<\/em>!\u201d was Swamiji\u2019s comment. He added, \u201cA sensitive person would see right through it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The respect Swamiji showed us was not a technique to get something <em>from <\/em>us. It didn\u2019t matter what role we played in his life, to him we were all \u201cGreat Souls,\u201d children of God, and that is how he has always related to us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(From Asha Nayaswami) I started as Swamiji\u2019s secretary, but soon the job expanded into being his personal assistant and sometimes cook and housekeeper. For several years during the mid-1970s, unless he was out of the country or in seclusion, I spent hours with him almost every day. His schedule varied, and his needs were unpredictable, &#8230; <a title=\"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him:  Hello, Great Souls!\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him:  Hello, Great Souls!\">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-2023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls! - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda treated those who worked most closely with him over the years.\" \/>\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-hello-great-souls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls! - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda treated those who worked most closely with him over the years.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-28T16:48:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-28T16:55:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"runbei\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"runbei\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"runbei\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7297117c02b456f58126add9232d886f\"},\"headline\":\"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls!\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-28T16:48:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-28T16:55:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":693,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/\",\"name\":\"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls! - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-28T16:48:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-28T16:55:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"How a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda treated those who worked most closely with him over the years.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/\",\"name\":\"Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer\",\"description\":\"Completing a great work for his Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/2008ish-Swami-Asissi-pclearcropped-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/2008ish-Swami-Asissi-pclearcropped-1.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":360,\"caption\":\"Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7297117c02b456f58126add9232d886f\",\"name\":\"runbei\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dc92d5f44de57fae95f6be74ce6c15a8c81470ba79f0e3cc2f2a7aaf3f958efc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dc92d5f44de57fae95f6be74ce6c15a8c81470ba79f0e3cc2f2a7aaf3f958efc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dc92d5f44de57fae95f6be74ce6c15a8c81470ba79f0e3cc2f2a7aaf3f958efc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"runbei\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\\\/story\\\/author\\\/runbei\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls! - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer","description":"How a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda treated those who worked most closely with him over the years.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls! - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer","og_description":"How a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda treated those who worked most closely with him over the years.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/","og_site_name":"Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer","article_published_time":"2026-02-28T16:48:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-28T16:55:22+00:00","author":"runbei","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"runbei","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/"},"author":{"name":"runbei","@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#\/schema\/person\/7297117c02b456f58126add9232d886f"},"headline":"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls!","datePublished":"2026-02-28T16:48:15+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-28T16:55:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/"},"wordCount":693,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/","url":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/","name":"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls! - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-28T16:48:15+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-28T16:55:22+00:00","description":"How a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda treated those who worked most closely with him over the years.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-hello-great-souls\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: Hello, Great Souls!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/","name":"Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer","description":"Completing a great work for his Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#organization","name":"Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer","url":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/2008ish-Swami-Asissi-pclearcropped-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/2008ish-Swami-Asissi-pclearcropped-1.jpg","width":960,"height":360,"caption":"Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/#\/schema\/person\/7297117c02b456f58126add9232d886f","name":"runbei","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc92d5f44de57fae95f6be74ce6c15a8c81470ba79f0e3cc2f2a7aaf3f958efc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc92d5f44de57fae95f6be74ce6c15a8c81470ba79f0e3cc2f2a7aaf3f958efc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc92d5f44de57fae95f6be74ce6c15a8c81470ba79f0e3cc2f2a7aaf3f958efc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"runbei"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/yoganandafortheworld.com\/story"],"url":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/author\/runbei\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2023"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2024,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023\/revisions\/2024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}