{"id":2050,"date":"2026-04-04T15:50:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2026-04-04T15:50:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:50:43","slug":"swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-for-your-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-for-your-sake\/","title":{"rendered":"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: For Your Sake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>\u201cI don\u2019t think I have the spiritual depth to carry through with the job you have given me,\u201d a devotee wrote to Swamiji.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not asking you to do this job because it will help others,\u201d Swamiji answered. \u201cI am asking you to do it because it will help you develop the qualities and consciousness you want for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another devotee, after suffering a painful disappointment, decided to renounce worldly life and become a monk. At that time, however, there was no monastery at Ananda. He decided to create one by putting up a building where the monks could live.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told Swamiji I was going to raise money and do this,\u201d the man said later. \u201cSwamiji\u2019s response was two-fold. First, he went into his wallet and pulled out $50, which he donated to the project. Then he said simply, \u2018Buildings alone do not create monasteries and communities. They are created by people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nothing came of the monastery project, and a few years later the man got married. \u201cWith Swamiji\u2019s permission, I kept the bills he gave me,\u201d the man said later, \u201cas a reminder of his encouragement and support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t start from the point of whether or not a project will succeed,\u201d Swamiji explained on another occasion. \u201cMy starting point is whether or not it will be spiritually beneficial to those involved. If it is, I encourage it, even though I may know in advance it will come to nothing. The mere effort will help people develop the magnetism eventually to succeed, if not in this project, then in some other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the same way, even if success is guaranteed, if the project is not spiritually beneficial for those involved, I won\u2019t encourage it. Even if it is something Ananda needs, I\u2019ll wait for years, if necessary, until there are people for whom the job is spiritually right before putting my support behind it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if no one comes, I\u2019ll give up the project. To act in any other way would be <em>using<\/em> people, which is contrary to every principle of our path.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think I have the spiritual depth to carry through with the job you have given me,\u201d a devotee wrote to Swamiji. \u201cI am not asking you to do this job because it will help others,\u201d Swamiji answered. \u201cI am asking you to do it because it will help you develop the qualities and &#8230; <a title=\"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: For Your Sake\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-for-your-sake\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: For Your Sake\">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-2050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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