{"id":2093,"date":"2026-08-08T16:39:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/?p=2093"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:39:15","slug":"swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-how-to-answer-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-how-to-answer-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Swami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: How to Answer Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"

For several years in the 1970s I worked as Swami Kriyananda\u2019s secretary.<\/strong> He was often in seclusion, writing The New Path: My Life with Paramhansa Yogananda<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. He had no phone, and email didn\u2019t exist. He lived two miles up a dirt road from the nearest paved route, and his only mailing address was the community’s. I would bring him his letters late every afternoon. Community members respected his privacy, and visitors didn\u2019t know how to find him. If you wanted to see Swamiji, usually you had to go through me.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t an easy position for me. I was very protective of his privacy, which was more important to me than fulfilling other people’s needs.<\/p>\n

Swamiji expressed disapproval of this attitude.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to relate to people in the way I myself would relate to them,\u201d he insisted. \u201cSometimes, of course, you must tell them, \u2018No, what you want isn’t possible.\u2019 But you must never make people feel that my convenience<\/em> is more important to me than their welfare<\/em>. It is not. I am here to serve<\/em>. If circumstances dictate the need to disappoint them, make it clear that you, too, are disappointed in not being able to give them what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swamiji read every letter that came to him. When he had a letter in his hand, he wouldn\u2019t relate to anything else until he had finished reading it. Usually he concentrated so deeply he wasn\u2019t even aware<\/em> of anything going on around him.<\/p>\n

Sometimes he dictated an answer, or gave me key points on what to say. He explained to me how to tune in to his consciousness and write letters the way he would. The longer I worked for him, the more he was able to rely on me to know what to say. Still, he carefully read each letter before signing it. If it wasn\u2019t right, he asked me to do it again, sometimes more than once.<\/p>\n

Here are the guidelines he gave me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“First ask yourself, ‘What kind of person wrote this letter?’ Use your intuition to tune into the ‘feelings of the heart’ that prompted the writing.<\/p>\n

“As much as possible, write back in the same mood\u2014business-like, devotional, joyful, in need of sympathy\u2014whatever it might be. Answer their questions if you can, but (more importantly) respond to the underlying energy of their letters. That is what makes people happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways tell the truth. Be simple and real with people. Keep in mind, however, the difference between truth and mere \u2018facts.\u2019 If you know something is going to work out, you may not want to list all the obstacles that have to be overcome before it does. Emphasize the positive. Think about how the person will feel who receives the letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t praise excessively, if that isn\u2019t what’s warranted. Be supportive, be kind, but say exactly what you mean. Truth has power and is more comforting than platitudes.\u201d<\/p>\n

A man sent Swamiji a collection of poems he had written. On Swamiji\u2019s behalf I wrote, \u201cThank you for sending your beautiful poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Swamiji read what I’d written, he said, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t bad poetry, it was nice. But it wasn\u2019t beautiful. <\/em>What will you say when someone sends beautiful<\/em> poetry, now that you have used up that word on poetry that is merely nice<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThink creatively and lovingly of the person you are writing to. Then ask God to help you answer in exactly the way that is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For several years in the 1970s I worked as Swami Kriyananda\u2019s secretary. He was often in seclusion, writing The New Path: My Life with Paramhansa Yogananda. He had no phone, and email didn\u2019t exist. He lived two miles up a dirt road from the nearest paved route, and his only mailing address was the community’s. … 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-2093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSwami Kriyananda \u2014 As We Have Known Him: How to Answer Letters - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda gave tips for responding sensitively to people's requests for counsel and help.\" \/>\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-how-to-answer-letters\/\" \/>\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: How to Answer Letters - 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