Introduction

The primary time I noticed Swami Kriyananda was in a tent arrange behind the Beta Chi fraternity home on the campus of Stanford College, in Palo Alto, California. It was late November 1969. He was in his early forties. I used to be twenty-two years outdated.

Often, the tent served as an expanded venue for the events for which the fraternity was well-known. It was the ’60s, although, and all the things was altering. Somebody thought it could be fascinating to ask a swami to talk.

I had attended Stanford College however had dropped out after just one yr. I had hoped to search out academics there who weren’t solely educated but additionally smart. It quickly grew to become obvious to me that my professors, although sensible in their very own fields, had been groping at nighttime for happiness at the same time as I used to be. So I left.

Quickly after, I found the Bhagavad Gita and the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna. Whilst a toddler, I had the sensation that one thing way more vital was happening in life than most individuals had been conscious of. At first, I believed the adults round me had been all in on the key and had been simply holding it again from me as a type of elaborate sensible joke. “Quickly,” I believed, “they’ll reveal it to me.” Solely slowly did I come to know that this was not the case. My mother and father and academics had been good individuals, clever, honorable, and type. For probably the most half, although, they accepted life because it seemed to be and anticipated me to do the identical.

As soon as found Japanese faith, no less than had a reputation for what I used to be searching for Self-realization. Nonetheless, 1 had no thought how you can flip these excessive beliefs into an precise lifestyle. 1 learn concerning the saints of many spiritual traditions, hoping to search out of their instance a option to bridge the hole between principle and apply.

Their tales had been deeply inspiring and 1 had been devoured so completely different e book after from e book.my The circumstances of their lives, although, personal. Catholic monasteries, Indian ashrams, Himalayan caves, leper colonies in the midst of the jungle—their instance proved to be of little sensible worth. My life was turning into certainly one of quiet desperation. Then Swamiji walked into that tent and all the things modified. I used to be within the final row of the bleachers, method up towards the highest of the tent. I had needed to be nearer to the stage, however my companions insisted on this faraway perch. The selection proved felicitous, I daresay, God-inspired, for I used to be instantly throughout from the doorway and excessive sufficient to have an unobstructed view of Swami Kriyananda when he walked in.

Swami means trainer. Ji is a suffix denoting each affection and respect. From the second I noticed him he was Swamiji to me. The picture of Swamiji coming by way of the doorway is as vivid in my coronary heart right now because it was the second it occurred.

He was dressed within the conventional orange robes of an Indian Swami: a protracted unfastened becoming shirt and a sarong-like garment known as a dhoti. He had a neatly trimmed beard and lengthy hair, brownish in colour, which hung straight and skinny down his again.

He was slender, rather less than six toes tall. He moved with a sure grace and appeared like nice power, though extra like a dancer than an athlete. Later I heard the phrase “lion-like Swami.” It described him completely.

The moment I noticed him, the thought flashed in my thoughts, “He has what I need.” With a decided step and what I got here to acknowledge as his attribute posture—straight backbone, barely raised chest in order to satisfy life “heart-first”—he coated the quick distance from the doorway to the stage on the heart of the tent. By the point he reached the platform earlier than I even heard the sound of his voice, I had solid with Swamiji a lifelong bond.

He gave a lecture, however I don’t bear in mind a phrase of what he stated. All I bear in mind is that when he completed, I believed, “That is probably the most clever man I’ve ever met.

One way or the other I picked up a number of details. Swamiji is an American, though he was born in Europe, and spent his childhood there. He’s a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. He had been a part of the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), the group Yogananda based, however now he was on his personal. He lived in San Francisco and taught lessons all around the Bay Space to earn cash for a group he was beginning within the Sierra Nevada foothills, about 4 hours away. He known as the group Ananda.

I owned a duplicate of Yogananda’s basic Autobiography of a Yogi, however I had by no means learn various pages. The devotional tone and the plethora of miracles had not appealed to me. On web page 9, the yogi Lahiri Mahasaya materializes in a wheat subject to ship a religious message to Yogananda’s father. I don’t suppose I even obtained to web page 10.

Now, with renewed curiosity, 1 tried once more. If Swamiji was dedicated to this e book and its writer, I needed to give it one other strive. This time, I used to be enthralled. 1 couldn’t perceive why Autobiography of a Yogi had not held my curiosity earlier than. Later I understood that my first assembly with Swamiji opened my coronary heart not solely to him, however to Paramhansa Yogananda as nicely.

It wasn’t lengthy earlier than I threw my lot in with Swamiji and moved to Ananda.

The thought of scripting this e book got here very early in my time with Swamiji. I’ve at all times had a deep longing to assist others, however till I met him, I didn’t really feel I had something significant to present. Now I used to be wanting to move on to others all that I used to be studying.

I started giving lessons for visitors at our retreat, which I stuffed with tales about Swamiji. I longed, although, to make a extra lasting contribution. Although I hardly felt certified to jot down a e book, I started to jot down down my experiences with Swamiji. Once I spoke to him about it, he was reassuring.

“You don’t must do it now,” he stated, “you are able to do it later if you really feel prepared. I’ll enable you.”

Within the a few years that handed between the primary time we spoke Of it and once I really started to jot down this e book, Swamiji referred to it solely often. It was at all times in my thoughts, although, and, I imagine additionally in his, for I see now all of the methods through which he helped me, simply as he stated he would.

He included me in so many conditions the place I didn’t actually belong besides that to be there helped me perceive the breadth of his work and the depth of his consciousness. At any time when his attitudes or actions had been obscure to me, he would patiently clarify what he was doing and why. No matter I requested, he would reply. On this method, many times, I used to be in a position to check my instinct in opposition to his explanations, till regularly I gained the boldness to jot down this e book.

What follows just isn’t a biography within the standard sense. You’ll study lots of the vital occasions and achievements of Swamiji’s life, however it isn’t a complete account. There isn’t a chronology or sequence to the tales that observe. Typically occasions from completely different time durations and completely different places are included in the identical vignette. It’s a biography of consciousness—Swami Kriyananda as now we have identified him.

Many individuals have shared their tales with me. Some names are included; others have most popular to look within the e book solely as “an Ananda devotee.” When there isn’t a different attribution, the primary particular person accounts are my very own experiences. I’ve additionally described the experiences of others as I noticed them, or discovered about them from Swamiji himself. Names that seem first with an asterisk (*) are pseudonyms.

Except it’s clear from the context that the people concerned are from India, devotees referred to by a single Sanskrit identify are Europeans or People upon whom Swamiji has bestowed these names as a religious blessing. Swamiji’s appointed religious successor, for instance, is Jyotish, which implies internal mild. Jyotish’s spouse and accomplice in main Ananda is Devi, which is a reputation for Divine Mom.

My identify, Asha, means hope.

The identify Grasp refers solely to Paramhansa Yogananda.

Out there from Crystal Readability Publishers