A Christmas Message from Paramhansa Yogananda December 1950 May Christmas wish for you this year is twofold: that the consciousness of Christ be manifest in you through deep meditation, and that your exemplary actions will persuade others to abandon their evil or worldly ways and become spiritual. Both meditation and action are necessary or the spiritual path, for they contribute toward individual and mass evolution. It is not God s will to develop spiritually in a selfish way, i.e., without extending help to others who are suffering. So remember always to render service to mass evolution, while seeking the Father through regular practices of deep meditation. The more one develops spiritually, the deeper becomes his or her love and compassion for humanity. Accompanying love and compassion is the desire to uplift humanity from the throes of ignorance and war and the consequent suffering they bring. However, you must remember to make God first in your heart always. The Father will not be content with second place; He must reign first and foremost in the most tender center of your being your heart. Through His blessings and grace alone are you able to develop and help humanity emerge from its ignorance. Meditate regularly and practice Kriya Yoga faithfully with all the concentration of your mind and the intensity of your heart. On Christmas Eve meditate for many hours in the presence of other devotees. Dedicate this extended meditation to the achievement of the love of God and the attainment of World Peace and Brotherhood among all nations. Share your gifts (material, mental and spiritual) with the less fortunate on Christmas. This will make your holiday a real one. The gifts need not be expensive but practical ones: durable clothing (new or used) for those who need it, canned and dried foods for people who find them difficult to obtain in their countries, a friendly visit to the physically afflicted, a word of comfort to the depressed, and spiritual manna to those who are seeking the love of God. You can help distant as well as local people in these ways. Be ambitious for God. Keep seeking Him through meditation and keep working for Him. This will give you the spiritual emancipation you are seeking. Christ and the great ones showed through exemplary living that it can be done. So follow their footsteps quietly and humbly. God bless you always. May your every day become a Christmas of ever-new joy, love, peace, and wisdom in God and the Gurus. With deepest blessings, Share your gifts (material, mental and spiritual) with the less fortunate on Christmas. This will make your holiday a real one. Paramhansa Yogananda
Creating Your Christmas Happiness By Paramhansa Yogananda You have given up hope of ever being happy, cheer up. Never lose hope. Your soul, being the reflection of the ever-joyous Spirit, is, in essence, happiness itself. If you keep the eyes of your concentration closed, you cannot see the sun of happiness burning within your bosom; but no matter how tightly you close the eyes of your attention, it nevertheless remains a fact that the happiness rays are ever trying to pierce the closed doors of your mind. Open the portals of calmness, and you will find a sudden burst of the bright Sun of Joy right from within yourself. The joyous rays of the soul can be perceived if you interiorize your attention. This can be done by using the architect of your mind to enjoy the beautiful scenery of thoughts in the invisible, tangible Kingdom within you. Do not search for happiness only in beautiful clothes, clean houses, delicious dinners, and soft cushions and chairs. These will imprison your happiness behind the bars of externality or outwardness. Rather, in the airplane of your visualization, glide over the vast tracts of Fancy, beholding the limitless empire of thoughts. There behold the mountain ranges of unbroken, lofty, spiritual aspiration, for improving yourself and others. Glide over the deep valleys of Universal Sympathy. Fly over the geysers of enthusiasm, and the Niagara Falls of perpetual wisdom, plunging down the hoary crags of your Soul s peace. Soar over the endless river of intuitive perception to the Kingdom of His Omnipresence. There, in His Mansion of Bliss, drink from His fountain of Whispering Wisdom and quench the thirst of your desires. Dine with Him on the fruits of Divine Love in the Banquet Hall of Eternity. If you have made up your mind to find joy within yourself, sooner or later you will find it. Seek it now, daily, by steady, deep, and deeper meditation within, and you will surely find everlasting happiness. Make a steady effort to go within, and you will find your greatest happiness there. In that land of everlasting Christmas and Christ-Omnipresent-Festive-Consciousness you will find Jesus, Krishna, the Saints of all religions, and the great Guru preceptors, all waiting to give you a floral reception of ever-new, everlasting happiness. Celebrating the birth of omniscient, omnipresent Christ-Consciousness in your consciousness on the joyous Christmas festivity of your inner awakening, you will find the unbroken happiness of your dreams. On the Christmas tree of Christ Consciousness hang your material desires, to remain forever. Give unto Christ all the gifts of love and devotion. Let Him, on the Christmas morn of your spiritual wakening, break open the gorgeous presents of your heart offerings, sealed with the tears of your golden joy and bound with the cord of your eternal fidelity to Him. He accepts only the gifts of sacred souldreams, and His acceptance will be His greatest gift to you; for, if He gives anything to anyone, He gives nothing less than Himself; and in giving Himself, He will make your heart big enough to hold Him. Then your heart will throb with Christ in everything. Enjoy this festivity, the birth of Christ in your mind and soul, and in every living atom. Recipes, Copyright 1926-1934 by Swami Yogananda, From East-West and Inner Culture Magazines Open the portals of calmness, and you will find a sudden burst of
the bright Sun of Joy right from within yourself. Paramhansa Yogananda
Wake Up and Accept the Gift of Life by Paramhansa Yogananda, from Inner Culture Magazine, December 1935 and 1936 Take this Christmas celebration seriously and through deep and sustained meditation invite the Christ to manifest himself to you. Jesus himself said that to all those who received him, he would give the power to become the sons of God. Why not make yourself ready to receive him now? It is easier at this season than at any other time, for the whole world is filled with a spirit of good will, love, and peace. The entire cosmos celebrates this season of joy for the light that permeates all space. Do not waste your time That is the real reason why we celebrate his birthday in order to remind ourselves of the divine qualities of Jesus and to awaken ourselves to a realization of the enlightening, loving Christ presence in our own consciousness. If you want real emancipation, do not waste your time. Do not go to bed until you make the contact with God. Do not go to sleep unless you feel that He is with you. If you will do this every day, you will see such happiness come into your life that it goes beyond all understanding. Follow the way of the Christ and do not give up. Spend more time in solitude If you would experience this joy, spend more of your time in solitude. Remember, the only real happiness is in communing with God in meditation. Although you meditate two or three hours at night, and then sing and talk to him, at first you will find no response. Then, suddenly, a light will appear. Suddenly a fragrance will come. This is the way God manifests himself to man, but it requires great persistence on your part. Give extra time to meditation for at least the week preceding Christmas. Take several hours the day before, and be sure to meditate on Christmas morning. Accept this great gift which the Father meant for you. Do not let Jesus living and His suffering be in vain. He came to bring you joy and glory and peace and light. These he offers to you always but with special tenderness and love at this holy season. Wake up and accept the gift of life.
How to Celebrate Christmas by Paramhansa Yogananda, from East-West Magazine, December 1932 This excerpt from an article by Paramhansa Yogananda, titled How Christ Consciousness Descends into Human Consciousness, could well be called How to Celebrate Christmas. May the power of this message inspire you to an ever-deepening attunement with God and Christ within. When Christmas comes, people usually think of buying gifts for their loved ones. A few think of the beauties of Christmas music and church services. Most people revel in the festivity of the Christmas tree, with its glimmering tinsel and the gifts around it. It is good to celebrate the birth of Christ with songs, dinners, and the exchange of gifts; but if material festivity becomes the only purpose of all the Christmas celebration, it is a pity, and nothing is gained. Let us learn how to make our celebration of Christmas a real commemoration of the holy life of Christ, to make it a spiritual and uplifting experience. I saw a shotgun adorning a Christmas tree, and I remarked to the owner, Madam, that shotgun for a present is an insult to the Christ within man. Thou shalt not kill. A gun means death, murder, revenge, brother fighting brother. For that reason it is out of place in the celebration of the birthday of the Prince of Peace. The lady took the gun away, and placed there a child s Bible instead. We must remember that on Christmas Day we should exchange not only useful gifts, but God-reminding gifts. The original meaning of most religious symbols and holy days is usually forgotten. Most people think of Christmas as an ordinary festivity and forget Christ, the master of ceremonies. Christmas and Christ are used for festivity, and the great spiritual significance of Christmas is lost sight of. As in a picture show, the principal attention of the audience is on the story of the picture, and not on the music; so in Christmas entertainment, the principal attention is on the material celebration-and Christ, though a most necessary part, is pushed into the background. We should rejoice that such a holy Being as Christ was given to serve as an ideal of perfection for deluded mankind to follow. Indifferent, unconscious honor shown to Him will not do any good. Christmas should be so used that it may materially, mentally, and spiritually give us at least a new impetus to start in the Christ Path of Truth with the beginning of the new year. With the coming of Christmas, do not let your consciousness sink into the well of turkey dinners, exchange of gifts, dances, festivities, and cocktail parties. A well of material thoughts is not a fit place in which to celebrate Christ s birthday. Instead, take your consciousness from the pitfalls of material festivities and enter the secret door of silence with closed eyes to behold the vast altar of peace spread eternally above, beneath, to the left and to the right, in front and behind, within and without. If you go deeper, you will meet Christ coming to you in His burning robes of bliss, like the rising aurora, and your joy will dance in every atom of space. Then open your eyes, behold your little body and say, The Christ-Bliss is descending on the altar of my thought, feeling, and devotion. Meditate upon the statement: Christ-Peace is descending into every tissue and cell of my body as health.
Place Christ on the altar of your business and possessions. Say, I possess these things in Christ. Then meditate on the statement, My Christ-Peace has descended upon every member of my family, upon my country, and upon my world. Behold Christ-Peace descending upon your body, upon your possessions, and extending to your neighbors, to all countries, and onto the united altar of all hearts and all creatures. Let Christ-Bliss extend from your body to all lands-to America, Asia, South America, Europe, Australia, to the solar system, to the island universes, and to all beings. Meditate upon the following: My Christ-Peace is descending upon every living thing, upon every living star, upon every speck of matter and space. Celebrate Christmas upon the altar of the vast inner silence, and upon the sanctuary of every desire, every living thing in the world, and the Cosmos. Then will you know Christ as the Divine King ruling in the heart of all finite Creation
Why Celebrate Christmas? by Paramhansa Yogananda Is it right to use the birth of Christ for material rejoicings involved in decorations, Christmas dinners and the exchange of gifts, or is it right to worship the coming of Christ only in Spirit? Christ is only suggested in social Christmas festivities, but He is seen and felt as an everlasting, ever-joyous fact in the cradle of divine ecstasy. Unless you make the effort to really get acquainted with the ever-living Christ, born as new wisdom and new happiness within you, I am afraid you will let the precious instructive Christmas season pass by without heed. I am not telling you to omit the social festivities. What I want is that you not omit the paramount spiritual factor in your Christmas celebration. Add to your social celebration of Christmas the celebration of bringing Christ a second time in your meditative consciousness. Prepare yourself to celebrate Christmas in the real way: 1. Make your heart an altar of Christ-love. Love all races as the uniform dwelling place of the omnipresent Christ. 2. Forgive all your imaginary and real enemies even as Christ forgave His adversaries. 3. Govern all the actions of your life with the honesty and fearlessness of Jesus Christ. 4. Behold the omnipresent joy of Christ in all men, in all saints, in all creatures, in the star-peopled cosmos, and in the temple of your own thoughts. 5. Exchange spiritual gifts by giving your good qualities to those who need them and by receiving the soul-qualities of those who are great and who love you for your own good. 6. Exchange gifts with the thought of giving Christ the gift of your heart and receiving the gift of Himself in the cradle of your calm consciousness. 7. Make the unknown Christ known within yourself by seeing Him born a second time as the ever-new, ever-increasing joy of your daily deep meditation. Make your heart an altar of Christ-love. Love all races as the uniform dwelling place of the omnipresent Christ. Paramhansa Yogananda
The Oriental Christ by Paramhansa Yogananda, from East West Magazine, 1930 Jesus was an Oriental, by birth and blood and training. The Wise Men of the East, or East India, came to confer about Him when He was born, knowing Him to be one of the greatest message-bearers of Truth. I am not saying that Jesus Christ learned everything from the Great Masters of India, but it has been definitely proven that Jesus was connected with the High Initiates and the Masters of India. In the Unknown Life of Christ, by Nicholas Notovitch, the Russian author tells how he went to Tibet, hoping to study Tibetan literature, hand-written on papyrus scrolls. Because of the secretiveness of the Lamas, it was impossible to find a trace of what he wanted; but a strange miracle happened. Just when he was returning fruitlessly to India, he fell from a cliff and broke his leg, and was taken back to the Monastery to receive the necessary care! The Tibetans are very hospitable to their invited or stricken guests. While the injured man was recovering, the head lama asked him what he wanted. He said, Read to me the papyrus scrolls! From these sacred scrolls he secured conclusive evidence that Jesus Christ s name was Isa, meaning Lord, which afterwards was pronounced as Jesus. He conferred with the Masters on Yoga and great problems of human upliftment, living with them at the Monastery; but at age fifteen, it is said, they tried to get Him married, so he fled. I don t blame him. But, alas, those who do not marry, repent; and those who do marry, repent. That is why I am glad I am married to the Infinite Nature and Spirit. There is never any hurt and disappointment in that kind of marriage. The sacred scrolls further revealed that as Jesus Christ was visited by the Wise Men of the East, so He paid them a return visit to Tibet and conferred with the Great Masters. Jesus then went to India to confer with the Masters there; and after preaching the Message in India, he went to Asia Minor. He wanted to spread His message universally. That is why the West, with all the wonderful devices of the practical Occidental mind, is in the East today, dominating it. But mark you, the Eastern soldiers are not silent. The West has power and strength; but the East is armed with silent philosophy not to conquer lands, but to conquer souls, with love, service, and kindliness. We are all children of God, we have always been, and will be always. The differences come from prejudices and prejudice is the child of ignorance. We should not be proud of being Americans or Indians or Italians or any other nationality, for that is but an accident of birth. Above all else, we should be proud that we are children of God, made in His Image. Isn t that the message of Christ? Above all else, we should be proud that we are children of God, made in His Image. Isn t that the message of Christ? Paramhansa Yogananda
Realizing the Christ Presence by Paramhansa Yogananda Do not think of Christ as a helpless little baby, for although He was the tiny baby Jesus, within His consciousness was omnipresent God. Otherwise, how could He, when only a young boy, talk in a manner that startled even the wise men? While He had a little boy brain, behind it and manifesting through it was the Almighty spirit of God. The universal spirit of Christ Consciousness was with Him from the beginning. That is the real reason why we celebrate His birthday in order to remind ourselves of the divine qualities of Jesus and to awaken ourselves to a realization of the enlightening, loving Christ Presence in our own consciousness. It is a pity that so many people forget entirely the real purpose of the Christmas celebration and lose themselves in the material side only of the joyous festivities. Christ has been unknown to you because you have kept the gates of your devotion closed. Take this Christmas celebration seriously and through deep and sustained meditation invite the Christ to manifest Himself to you. Jesus himself said that to all those who received Him, He would give the power to become the sons of God. Then why not make yourself ready to receive Him now? It is easier at this season than at any other time, for the whole world is filled with a spirit of good-will, love, and peace. Even the entire cosmos celebrates this season of joy for the Light that permeates all space. You must remember what Jesus was in reality. He was created a human being and went through all the struggles and suffering of a human being but He came through victoriously. That is why He can be an example for us, an ideal toward which we may strive. If He could succeed we may also. We must live life unselfishly as He lived it and must continually practice the one method for realizing the presence of that Almighty Grace within the method of persistent meditation. You must go so deep within the great silence that you feel the one life which pervades all Creation. Then you will find the Christ Presence. Christ must come in the cathedral of silence. Christ must be born in the cradle of each loving heart. So, instead of enjoying just the material aspects of this Christmas celebration, make your heart a cradle where Christ can be born again. You must prepare your consciousness. Be sure that love and good-will go with your gifts, and be sure to recognize the spirit and the hand of the Father in those you receive. Give extra time to meditation for at least the week preceding Christmas, take several hours the day before, and be sure to meditate on Christmas morning. Accept this great gift which the Father meant for you. Do not let Jesus s living and His suffering be in vain. He came to bring you joy and glory and peace and light. These He offers to you always but with especial tenderness and love at this holy season. Wake up and accept the gift of life. Christ is the joy felt in meditation. Christ is the perception realized in the deepest hours of silence.
Clear away all the bars of material desire and let Christ into your heart. Open the portals of devotion and meditate until the Christ child is born within you. May you have a very merry Christmas, and may you receive the greatest gift that anyone can wish for you the perception of the Christ spirit in your own heart. May you feel His presence on Christmas day and every day throughout the new year. Open your hands to receive the wonderful gift of Light meditate. Meditate until you get results. The answer is sure if you persist. Love, serve, meditate.
The Christmas Mystery by Swami Kriyananda, excerpt from Clarity Magazine, Winter 2000 Thirty-five years ago this month, I wrote a very special song, one that has remained for many people a favorite among my compositions. I still recall repeatedly wiping away the tears that I might see to write. It was a carol, and I gave it the name, The Christmas Mystery. The refrain went: Who ll tell to me this mystery, How a tiny babe in a manger laid Could so many hearts to love persuade? This holy son off Mary! We human beings have a tendency to look at the world around us superficially. Our essential reality is not our outward humanity: It is the eternal soul. For we are not this body with its trappings of nationality, language, and gender. Still less can we achieve self-definition through the religions to which we adhere. Our essential reality is beyond every physical and mental limitation. Life s Sole Purpose This one inner reality, although defined variously in Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism, and though appearing outwardly in the garb of American, African, or Asian, is forever beyond form. Though we, as human beings, are born into imperfection and limitation, our eternal, indeed our only, mission in life is to learn how, through the lessons of earth life, to unite our souls with the Infinite Source of all life. When Jesus said in the Bible, I and my Father are One, he was declaring that he had united his soul with the Infinite Spirit. His words were meant as a challenge and an inspiration to us all to go and do likewise. He was saying that he had accomplished what he had come on earth to help all of us to accomplish: to unite our souls with the endless source of Divine Love. What Is Religious? And that is what all the great religions are about. Theologians have attempted logically to define the eternal truths, but no verbal statement can possibly replace the actual experience of those truths in the soul. The religious spirit is that aspect of human nature which reaches up in longing for eternal realities. And religion is that teaching and code of behavior which inspires and guides mankind toward the fulfillment of this soul-aspiration. In this deeper sense, a self-styled atheist may be more truly religious than many an avowed religionist.. For if he expresses selfless love for others, and serves them with dedication and humility, what, essentially, is missing? Is God petty, that He would reject such a man simply because he doesn t believe in Him with his mind, and embrace all the bigots who worship Him through grandiose prayers while feeling no charity for his other human children in their hearts? Love Has No Form It is a mistake, to narrow our understanding of love by defining it as Christian. Love is not great
because Jesus loved. Jesus, rather, was great because he demonstrated so perfectly the quality of love. Hindus do not love the great truths propounded in The Bhagavad Gita because it was Krishna who taught them. Rather, they love Krishna because he was such an inspiring manifestation of those eternal realities. Human beings achieve greatness only insofar as they manifest higher principles. Always, it is principles that count, not the countless forms in which principles have, at various times through the ages, been decked. Let us then, during this Christmas Season, view the birth of Jesus not only as a particular event in history, but as a particularly sweet expression of a universal truth. Let the birth of Divine Love in that little form two thousand years ago inspire us to conceive and give birth to that Love within ourselves, through the virgin purity of our hearts devotion. In this way, Christmas can become a holy season not for Christians alone, but for people everywhere on earth, regardless of any religious affiliation. The three wise men represented the other world religions in their visit, filled with respect and adoration, to the Christ child. Let us, like them, open our hearts and souls to Universal Love, as it calls out to us from the altars of every religion. Thus, we may solve at last the eternal challenge to our understanding: the Christmas Mystery. The Christmas Mystery (lyrics) Long ago there was a little shed. There three mighty kings did bow their heads To a gentle babe of low degree Whom men called the son of Mary. Who ll tell to me this mystery: How a tiny babe in a manger laid Could so many hearts to love persuade? This holy son of Mary. Shepherds came and knelt in wonder there, Seeing him in light beyond compare, And his eyes that told them all love was he Whom men called the son of Mary. Wonderful it was, that Christmas Day, How from far and near they came to pray, How from far they glimpsed his majesty Whom men called the son of Mary. Could it be that in that little one Spirit s universal love did shine? If it s true, he lives in you and me Whom men called the son of Mary. Who ll tell to me this mystery: How a tiny babe in a manger laid Could so many hearts to love persuade? This holy son of Mary. --Swami Kriyananda
Ananda Coro - Christmas Mystery Video December 23, 2011 Let the birth of Divine Love in that little form two thousand years ago inspire us to conceive and give birth to that Love within ourselves, through the virgin purity of our hearts devotion. Swami Kriyananda
Enter the Portal of the New Year by Paramhansa Yogananda, from Inner Culture Magazine, January 1935 The bells have pealed the opening of the portals of all hope in the New Year. The ever-marching pall bearers of the time have carried the depression, disease, and failure-stricken deceased old year to be delightfully buried in the cemetery of happy oblivion. Do not again conjure up the specter of the trialsome past year to stalk silently on the fields of your Soul forces and scare your determination, enthusiasm, and perseverance away. Behold, through the gates of the New Year, the distant gaudy decorations of future achievements glimmering at you and daringly luring you to give pursuit. Simply watching them with the hope of accomplishment will not count. You must start racing calmly at top speed, performing more miracles of greater speed on the way. You must follow a long trail armed with the pistol of Divine determination and must shoot down the robbers of mental and physical idleness, lack of creative ability, doubt, fear, despondency, and bad habits. The path may be sunlit by opportunities or dreary with trials, but remember to try your utmost, and then try again and again after you think that you have done your best and can do no more. After making such an effort, then, out of the gloom of mysteries, the all-illuminating Light of the Divine Guidance will emblazon your path. Before His Light all messengers of darkness will fly away and His wisdom will clasp the hand of your infant determination and lead the footsteps of your conscious efforts unerringly, fearlessly, through your strength-testing trials to the goal of ever-satisfying fulfillment. Hope and faith in the Divine guidance of your consciously-initiated, continued efforts for material and Spiritual success will quickly lead you to your goal, already dimly visible through the Portals of the New Year. Come, ye brother-idlers, shirkers, and enthusiasts, and, with awakened lasting real and continuous striving follow the golden trail of achievement so clearly visible through the assuring welcoming Portals of the New Year. As you are hoping to return home after the trials of many incarnations, God is impatiently, with a greater burning desire, hoping that you will, of your own Heaven-awarded free-will, soon direct your joyously-willing, truant footsteps to march toward the sanctuary of complete inner fulfillment, there to rest in the homestead of Infinity. May you experience the true meaning of Christmas and march toward the sanctuary of complete inner fulfillment into the New Year.
About Paramhansa Yogananda Paramhansa Yogananda (often spelled Paramahansa Yogananda) was born on January 5, 1893 in Gorakhpur, India. He was the first yoga master of India to permanently live and teach in the West. Yogananda arrived in America in 1920, and traveled throughout the United States on what he called his spiritual campaigns. His enthusiastic audiences filled the largest halls in America. Hundreds of thousands came to see the yogi from India. At some packed venues thousands were turned away nightly. A national sensation, Yogananda s lectures and books were extensively written about by the major media of the era, including Time Magazine, Newsweek, and Life. He was even invited to the White House by President Calvin Coolidge. Yogananda continued to lecture and write up to his passing in 1952. Yogananda s initial impact was truly impressive. But his lasting impact has been even greater. Yogananda s Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946, helped launch a spiritual revolution throughout the world. His message was nonsectarian and universal. Yogananda s Guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, sent him to the West with the admonition, The West is high in material attainments, but lacking in spiritual understanding. It is God s will that you play a role in teaching mankind the value of balancing the material with an inner, spiritual life. Yogananda brought clarity to hundreds of thousands of people regarding the ancient teachings of India - previously shrouded in the cultural assumptions and terminology of an era long past. These teachings include the path of Kriya Yoga, which Yogananda called the jet-airplane route to God, consisting of ancient yoga techniques to hasten the spiritual evolution of the student. The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God, said Paramhansa Yogananda in the book The Essence of Self-Realization. He further wrote that Self- Realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God s omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all that you need to do is improve your knowing. If you d like to learn more about Yogananda s life, click here: http://www.paramhansayogananda. com/
About Swami Kriyananda Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters), who left his body in 2013, was a direct disciple of the great master, Paramhansa Yogananda, and an internationally known author, lecturer, and composer. Widely recognized as one of the world s foremost authorities on meditation and yoga, he taught these principles and techniques to hundreds of thousands of students around the world. In 1968, Kriyananda founded Ananda Village in Nevada City, California, dedicated to spreading the spirit of friendship, service, and community around the globe. Ananda is recognized as one of the most successful intentional communities in the world; over 1,000 people reside in Ananda communities in the US, India, and Italy. The European retreat and community located in Assisi, Italy, also serves Ananda meditation groups in Europe and Russia. Ananda Village is also home to The Expanding Light, a world-renowned guest retreat facility where thousands of visitors annually visit for renewal or instruction in many aspects of meditation, yoga, and the spiritual life. The nearby Ananda Meditation Retreat, located on Ananda s first property, functions both as a retreat and as the site for Ananda s Institute of Alternative Living. An advocate of simple living and high thinking, Swami Kriyananda s more than 140 books cover a wide range of subjects emphasizing the need to live wisely by one s own experience of life, and not by abstract theories or dogmas. A composer since 1964, Kriyananda wrote over 400 musical works. His music is inspiring, soothing, and uplifting. Many of his later albums are instrumental works with brief affirmations or visualizations. Chuck Dilberto, of Awareness Magazine wrote, [His] words and music are full of his life and light. His sole intention is to heal, something we could all use during these chaotic times. Through Crystal Clarity Publishers, his works have sold over 3 million copies worldwide and have been translated into over 25 languages. More about Swami Kriyananda, including photos and videos, is available at the official Swami Kriyananda website. Click here to See Christmas Sale Items :
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