Showing posts with label communities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communities. Show all posts

Sunday, July 10, 2022

America Today and the Spread of Intentional Communities

Hello friends, I have not written a stitch since January this year (2022). Videos have eclipsed writing, or so it might seem these days. Videos are evanescent, however, and require a greater commitment of attentiveness than writing which many people can scan quickly (and then re-read if a deeper interest in the subject is triggered).

There is a video series on Benjamin Franklin by Ken Burns. And the end of Franklin's life, after the Constitution of the United States had at last been ratified by the states, Franklin publishes his views on the compromises that were needed for the states to agree. On the one hand, Franklin acknowledged the value and significance of that document and the intentions behind it; on the other hand, he also acknowledged that the continuation of slavery represented a score that was yet to be settled in achieving the stated goals of American independence.

Thus it is simply a fact that the birth of this nation could only have happened by a delicate balance between the federal government and the states. The consent of the governed is an essential premise in the American system but it is circumscribed by the consciousness of the governed. Democracy works poorly if the citizenry and its leaders are corrupt, selfish, and deeply biased or divided, unwilling to compromise and cooperate. In the face of chaos and paralysis, a natural impulse is to want a strong and authoritative leader. We see this in the history of Rome. We see it today.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, touts the efficiency and material success of his nation on the basis of its authoritarian system. Other nations too, it has been said, are now weakened democracies inclining to favor 


authoritarian leaders. The founders of America acknowledged both explicitly and implicitly that the great American experiment would only work with an educated and somewhat enlightened body politic. If society devolves into violence and conflict, the need for safety, security and authority will obviously arise like a tsunami to inundate personal liberties, freedom of speech and much more. 

One of America's great treasures is its diversity and our acceptance of it. At the same time, the push back in fear and rebellion to that diversity constitutes one of the greatest threats to that diversity. Yet it must be also admitted that this diversity itself may pose, or appear to pose, a threat to freedom if, for no other reason, decision making and consensus is paralyzed. I believe that history and biology suggest that diversity is an advantage and a benefit but the perception that it is a threat is a very real threat in itself.

Humanity faces many objective challenges but the greatest challenge is the personal and subjective challenge of consciousness. Fear triggers a return to more primitive responses of "fight or flight." Too rapid changes in society and on the planet are triggering large scale fear-responses owing to mass migrations, technological change, climate change, and economic insecurity and inequality.

Historically, humanity has lived under brutal and authoritarian conditions of one type or another. So it is natural that that many see centralized authority as the remedy for insecurity or chaos. Though while the middle ground of peace and harmony is certainly yearned for, as a practical reality it's never been hardly more than a dream. I admit that a dream bubble did seem to exist for some Americans for a few years (think 1950's) and it has been somewhat true relative to most of the rest of the nations of the world. But, in any case, this bubble of light, if ever did exist, is rapidly fading into the dusk of increasing civil unrest and divisiveness.

A new paradigm is trying to be born. It could be said to have started with the founding of America but its birth was flawed and contained defects born of the consciousness of its times. It still has a long way to go but its characteristics are increasingly clear, attractive, and recognizable. Its salient features are embedded in the America self-image and include freedom to act, opportunities to realize one's cherished dreams, scope for individual initiative and creativity and acceptance of personal responsibility. These qualities tend to extend into a respect for the rights of others and an inclination to cooperate with others. 

In the history of America the shortcomings of its citizens to manifest these characteristics resulted in struggles around the evils of racism and exploitation. A strong national (federal) response to these shortcomings has been the remedy of choice. Since the end of the Civil War, the power of the central government has grown more or less steadily.

But those very salient characteristics are at odds with a strong central authority. Nationalized solutions to social injustice and inequality have the potential to stifle individual initiative and self-responsibility even if some people feel they keep at bay the extremes of wealth and poverty.

This earth is a school, not a resort or paradise. So nothing I might suggest is intended to be a solution. It is, rather, directional. Based on the insights given to us by Paramhansa Yogananda (and including the wisdom of his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, and the views of Ananda's founder, Swami Kriyananda), I believe humanity, led largely by America, is stumbling uncertainly but surely towards manifesting more clearly, if imperfectly, those salient characteristics of individual freedom and initiative.

Individual initiative when guided wisely naturally inclines toward respect and cooperation especially where others of like-mind are concerned. Freedom is infectious; cooperation, rewarding. It is, after all, one way of describing the universal Golden Rule, is it not?

"Left" represents compassion. "Right" represents justice. Compassion should be expressed wisely lest it devolve into enabling the very conditions it seeks to remedy. Justice without compassion favors the status quo. The division between "left" and "right" is a false one, promoted on the basis of ignorance and/or self-interest because, in truth, each have their place and their voice in public and private life.

Nothing can stop the increasing commingling of races, religions and cultures that is taking place in the twenty-first century and no country more than America is experiencing this process at a faster clip. Diversity is here to stay and, as such, will only grow.

What then are its consequences? Diversity can seed innovation and creativity but it can also spread confusion and chaos. The admixture of diverse lifestyles and values might propel some to seek their own "kind." But by "kind" I do not mean the further establishment of ghettos or segregation. Such are physical barriers and such barriers are steadily eroding. Instead, the true "races of humanity" divide along the lines of consciousness, not outward appearance or culture. 

Division of any kind will generate some level of competition or conflict but I'd rather not dwell on that. Instead, my point of emphasis is contained in the fiery words of Paramhansa Yogananda in July of 1949 when, at a Beverly Hills garden fundraising party, he suddenly and inexplicably "sowed into the ether" the prediction that intentional communities would (someday) "spread like wildfire." 

Given that the term "wildfire" is far more threatening than promising (especially in the western states of America, including California where he spoke those words), I have to assume that the spread of communities will come at a time of and as a result of great chaos and conflagration. If this is so, then so be it!

Books have been written on the problems of modern America and the shortcomings of her people. I see no need to emphasize these. Suffice to say, we have lost touch with the simple joys and skills of living in harmony with nature, with one another and with higher values and divine consciousness.

America's resilience and ethos of self-reliance needs to be elevated to include cooperation with one another and cooperation with higher values and consciousness. As the title of a Sunday Service reading at any Ananda temple puts it: "Self-reliance vs self-reliance." We are part of a greater reality. We are not, except by choice or ignorance, separate from the world around us, both natural and divine.

The halting progress towards affirmation of individual initiative is occurring in many ways: the internet, for example, is a symbol and a tool for flattening the hierarchy of information (admittedly also spreading false information); education, of course has been the symbol of progressiveness since the 19th century; the paralysis, indecisiveness and corruption of values of the central government is pushing the pendulum of power back to the states in a motion reminiscent, for better or worse, of the days of the Constitutional battles. Even smaller jurisdictions, like cities, are taking on global issues like climate change. 

The individual is the key to change. Intelligence alone, whether artificial or rational, is not enough. Inspiration and courage, linked with intelligence and reason, are crucial.

De-centralization coupled with voluntary cooperation will be the gold standard of future civilizations (living up to the name of "civil"). It will take centuries for this new paradigm to emerge clearly and successfully, though it will always be imperfect.

But small intentional communities will be the basis for this shift in human consciousness in the direction of increasing awareness. The path however is strewn with the brambles of war, famine and catastrophe: the necessary price of progress given human consciousness at this time. Those of us with the prescience to "do it now" will silently serve many to come and in the process bring to ourselves an aura of magnetic protection. 

Such communities will run the gamut of form and spirit but the Ananda communities are inspired by Paramhansa Yogananda whose powerful words that day in July 1949 have prompted us to declare Yogananda the "father" of the communities movement. The higher the ideals upon which a community is founded and more vigorously its adherents strive toward them, the greater will be its impact. Ananda communities are based on prayer, meditation and service and are guided by principles of cooperation, respect, simplicity and moderation. 

But whether social, ecological and/or spiritual, the spread of communities is just beginning and, to quote the words of a children's' song, "Nothing can stop my progress."

Ever-new,

Swami Hrimananda!


Saturday, August 7, 2021

Pride Befalls the Devotee?

"Sadhu, Beware" is one of the books (of nearly 150) that Swami Kriyananda (founder of Ananda and direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda) wrote. It, together with the Nayaswami Order that he founded in 2009 (www.nayaswami.org) outlines the new dispensation of consciousness that truthseekers and true devotees manifest in this new era of awakening. In both books, the key is to recognize the need to strive for ego transcendence but only in the context of seeking the true happiness, the bliss, of the immortal soul.

Paramhansa Yogananda noted that renunciates have long had the tendency to become proud of their outward renunciation of family and material life, viewing mere householders as having not made the spiritual grade. The respect and support of society towards monasteries, convents, churches, priests, nuns and monks was sometimes considered owed to them as their monastic right and their ofttimes privileges. I grew up around priests and nuns and later, after nearly two years in a preparatory seminary for the study of the priesthood, when I decided it wasn't for me, there could be no erasing the sense of spiritual failure. As I grew into adulthood I observed many (if in fact thousands or millions worldwide) monks and nuns leaving the monasteries during the turbulent '60's and '70's. The first thing most of them did was to find a partner to marry. Curiously, however, very few abandoned their spiritual goals and idealism. Like me, the old form of renunciation no longer held sway over our heart's inspiration.

Many years later, in 1978 Padma and I were married at Ananda Village, with Swami Kriyananda officiating (today as I write it is our 43rd anniversary). Even then, there was for me a lingering sense that the householder state was, spiritually, a concession to merely human needs and desires. Besides, at that time as for so many centuries before, a dynamic group of monks and especially nuns guided by Swami Kriyananda were the storm troopers during those first challenging but intensely joyful years of Ananda's history. But Ananda was destined to become a community not merely a monastery and so a few years later most of the monks and nuns married (generally, one another). Swamiji taught us that Yogananda's vision of what he called "World Brotherhood Colonies" included individuals in all stations of life and ages. Swamiji felt that the success of Ananda was aided by not having too many rules and not insisting that all community residents live communally, though the example and experience can be very helpful for individuals for at least a period of time.

Paramhansa Yogananda taught that, in accordance with the dispensation given by Mahavatar Babaji to Lahiri Mahasaya (founder of Kriya Yoga in the modern age), all sincere seekers would have access to the highest spiritual teachings and techniques. No longer would priestly secrecy combine with human ignorance and indifference to cause the practical yoga teachings of higher ages to disappear or be relegated to a few monastics in caves and forests.

One would think that the new egalitarian spirit of the modern age would have swept away the pride that can come with spiritual growth. And to a very large extent, it has: especially in the Ananda communities where social status or spiritual roles are not emphasized. But human nature hasn't changed.

I recall Swami Kriyananda noting that the acceleration of spiritual growth that comes with the higher yoga teachings such as Kriya Yoga can, in some people, energize one's ego involvement. The example he would use would be the sunlight streaming through a stained glass window. At night when little light comes through the stained glass, the glass is dark and the panes are not distinguishable. But in the day, all the colors stand out. Thus when more energy goes through the body and mind from deep yoga practice and the intensity of divine service, it illuminates both the beautiful panes of our personality but also the other ones. Hence it is, he taught, that sometimes a person can make significant spiritual advancement and as a consequence and there appears not-so-spiritual traits such as impatience, irritability, and pride, to name a few. 

Swami Kriyananda pointed out the last great test before enlightenment is the surrender of the separate sense of self which we call the ego, In the yoga teachings, spiritual awakening is described as an upward movement of Life Force through spinal centers called chakras in the astral channel called the Sushumna. The last chakra, energy-center, before the Life Force unites with the higher Self is also the location of the ego (at the base of the brain in the region of the medulla oblongata). Enlightenment occurs when, by daily repeated self-surrender, our center of "gravity" moves from the medulla to its positive pole in the forehead: the seat of enlightenment and the location of the Divine Ego

But the steps to enlightenment never proceed in a linear way. Like a great battle between the soldiers of soul vs. ego, there are skirmishes when one side or the other advances and perhaps later retreats. Sometimes lesser identifications and attachments can be washed away by a full-frontal assault on the castle of inner peace by the rising power of the purified ego (sometimes called the power of Kundalini).

Swami Kriyananda pointed out that pride of worldly accomplishment or position is always assailed by the law of duality in the forms of competition, misfortune, personal flaws, or simply by one's death. The example of a successful company that crumbles after the death of its founder is an all-too-common one. History is the study of the rise and fall of nations: rising because of high energy and falling because of pride and inner conflict.

But, Swamiji, continued: the devotee who rises in spiritual power meets no self-balancing pendulum because spiritual power is the very nature of the soul. Wisdom, compassion, intuition, energy, and joy are derived from divine consciousness. It is powerfully magnetic and can bring to one public acclaim. Therefore, the only stain on spiritual awakening until it can be overcome is that usual self-promoter, the ego: the interloper who claims for himself the spiritual powers that have arisen. 

This is just one reason why self-offering (devotion) and humility (self-forgetfulness) are the necessary safeguards recommended to the devotee.  

One form of ego activity, pernicious indeed though hardly limited to devotees, is the tendency to compare ourselves with others. Since Ananda's core mission includes intentional spiritual communities, groups of devotees living and serving in close quarters are especially vulnerable, as were (are) traditional renunciates in monasteries in former times. Generally, most of us, if we do compare our spiritual growth with others, find fault with ourselves. But as Yogananda would put it, "inferiority complex or superiority complex" are two sides of the same coin of the ego. 

Thus, when we tire of berating ourselves, we, "in for a penny, in for a pound," usually become quite aware of the spiritual and human failings of our brothers and sisters. In order to prevent fostering this oscillating ego-centric wheel, each person in the community is encouraged to take seriously the effort to gently re-direct our thoughts God-ward and, in respect to a fellow devotee-friend who might temporarily have entered the magic circle of Maya, to do the same.

Since time immemorial devotees have been divided along such lines as devotion, intelligence (wisdom) and service. Those who go by devotion consider intelligence to be dry and pridefully heady, and service as simply busywork, unmindful of God. Those who go by service tend to think of intelligence or devotion as lacking in usefulness and compassion. Those who go by intelligence look down at devotion as simple-minded and service as using brawn instead of brains, as if in service one forgets the higher purpose of that service, or imagines their service to be more important than that of others. 

Then there are basic differences between those who incline to be more personal and those who incline to be more impersonal. Given that we have a body and personality, these distinctions can never be absolute. But this parallels the ages-old debate of whether God is personal or impersonal. Each side scoffs at the other as if one side of a coin could call the other side debased!.

Those whose tendency is more personal imagine those who work impersonally in organizing, planning or outreach ministry to be lacking devotion or, worse, seeking ego aggrandizement. Those who incline to be more impersonal see those who are personal as ego-active and lacking in non-attachment, preferring one person over another and dividing people into camps. 

Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda spent a large portion of their lives giving public lectures, writing books and traveling to share the teachings of this new dispensation of Kriya Yoga. Yet, they had innumerable personal relationships that were deeply meaningful, loving and supportive. Each encouraged their respective members to find ways to serve that were suitable to their own natures and dharma. The wide range of activities that were spawned in selfless service of the high principles of Self-realization included cafes, farms, bookstores, retreats, publishing, workshops, books, clothing store, and yoga centers. 

Both are necessary. God is personal in you and me and impersonal in Infinity and in creation. God doesn't care that much WHAT we do but HOW (and with what devotion) we conduct our activities. Yogananda was vilified for using modern business methods to share his teachings. His response was, among other things, to insist that were Jesus alive today he would do the same. The error, he said, is to use religion to make money. It is acceptable, he said, to use modern business methods to share spiritual teachings. 

Swami Kriyananda would sometimes remind us that some "name" on the Ananda mailing list might be the greatest saint among us. He gave examples of what an important service it is to let the world know about Yogananda's teachings for our new age.

Whether in the medieval times in the heyday of worldwide monasticism or in everyday organizational dynamics, 20% are the tried and true. But these would not find an outlet for their lifestyle were it not for the public or larger support of the 80%. The 80%, in turn, benefit from the inspiration and example of the 20%. Both are needed just as in the same way we rest at night; have hobbies; playtime; downtime as well as focused time.

Our world is rapidly changing. To say so is almost trite, these days. The transformation from aggressive self-interest and depletion of natural resources to a more balanced, healthy, and cooperative lifestyle is taking place in different forms and venues throughout the world: from the boardroom to the classroom to the village, jungle, mountains, and plains. The very inclusive outlook that is the essence of the precepts of Vedanta and the "Perennial Philosophy", as well as the very essence of science, suggests that we view all as parts of a great symphony of Life where the real Doer is God working through those who will offer themselves to the Divine will. Respect and appreciation for the individual's right to walk their path of life are essential for the benefit of all.

Joy and blessings to all,

Swami Hrimananda!


Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Virus Induced Game Changers: Trends in Process

Swami Kriyananda, founder of the worldwide communities movement of Ananda, and a direct disciple of the great yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda (whose life story, "Autobiography of a Yogi," is now a spiritual classic and a modern scripture) often expounded on the Hindu calendar and its segments (called "Yugas") of rising and falling consciousness.

The source of his comments can be found in the Introduction to the book "Holy Science" written by Swami Sri Yukteswar (guru of Yogananda) at the behest of the now-famous Mahavatar, Babaji.

Swami Kriyananda's insights into the unfoldment of human consciousness were expressed in innumerable recorded talks, essays, and books--too numerous to reference. Ananda members, Byasa (David) Steinmetz and co-author Purushottama (Joseph) Selbie, authored an excellent book -- "The Yugas"-- on this subject.

I do not, therefore, want to repeat the groundwork offered to us by the drastic re-calibration of the Hindu calendar offered to the world by Sri Yukteswar in a mere few paragraphs in the introduction to his abstruse tome. If you want an orientation to human history that turns the modern narrative on its head, well, you'll enjoy "The Yugas."

Swamiji, however, would often peer into the future seeking insights to changes and trends in world culture. The one book I can reference in this regard is "Religion in the New Age." (It is a collection of essays on many subjects.)

There are several trends that I want to share that Swamiji spoke of:


  1. "Small is Beautiful." In this age, which I call the Age of the Individual, an egalitarian age, knowledge is increasingly being offered to everyone. The former hierarchy of education and concomitant power is being "flattened" and the accessibility of information via the world wide web is both symbolic and practically speaking an excellent illustration of this trend. "Think global; act local" is a bumper sticker that also expresses this trend. In America, it is my "theory" (and I'm sticking with it, ha, ha) is that Hurricane Katrina first introduced American society to the need to fend for oneself, whether individually or in local groups. I recall in the early 2000's being in Beverly Hills, CA on Rodeo Drive (the absolute epitome of wealth and celebrity status) seeing banners put up by the city government urging its citizens to focus on disaster preparedness! The failure of the large public utility, Pacific Gas & Electric in California has given those residents a huge incentive to produce energy locally. I could go on and on. Big is out. The federal government in America is paralyzed with divisiveness. States, counties, and cities are dealing with global issues like climate change, plus innumerable other issues, not least of which at this time, is the Coronavirus COVID-19. During the sheltering-at-home phase, seed companies are out of stock as millions are planting gardens. This trend is easy enough of observation. Ironically, the big issues facing our planet require cooperation on national and international scales even as large-scale entities, including corporations, are less and less the trendsetters and leaders of society. The lesson, however, must not be lost rather than only regretted: we (you and me) have to BE THE CHANGE WE SEEK! It's THAT simple.
  2. A movement away from cities. Since the beginning of the so-called Industrial Revolution, millions of people have migrated from agricultural life to the urban (and later, suburban) life. This trend is not wholly finished in some countries. But the trend that may be only just beginning is a rebound of the post World War II movement to the suburbs. Unfortunately, suburban life simply paved over natural habitat and copied urban life but with a nice green lawn, perhaps a swimming pool, and a few planted trees. But that trend and impulse still exist: a desire to live more in harmony with nature; it is deeper than conscious recognition that cities are toxic by their very nature. Toxic not just in terms of water and air but even by their artificially restless intensity. Sheltering at home has connected millions with the simplicity of home life; cooking real food; reading a book; reaching out to friends, neighbors, and family; having time for thoughtful reflection; prayer and meditation. A calm life is a real life. While young people, restless and adventurous, eager to live at the edge of their senses and taking risks (because believing they are invincible) may yet always tend toward urban environments, the far larger population is, or will be, gradually, drawn to natural living.
  3. Both of the above trends flow easily and naturally into acceptance of conscious, intentional communities of like-minded, ideal-driven people banding together. This banding or tribal trend (I don't care for the world "tribal" it makes me feel like I want to go beat on a drum and grunt rhythmically) can take place virtually, in service projects, in politics, in religion, education, and of course most naturally, residentially. Yogananda is deemed by Ananda members worldwide to be the "patron saint" of communities. In the 1940's he enthusiastically experimented with a community that included not just monastics but householders. It was premature but even after he disbanded it he continued to the end of his life to wax enthusiastic about its future prospects. He predicted that someday communities would "spread like wildfire." We haven't seen this, for sure, but the two trends mentioned above flow, as I said above, easily into the channel of the communities movement. However, I will admit that these last two trends (away from the cities and the rise of intentional communities) are still very nascent though any number of events could accelerate their unfoldment (like a pandemic!).
The ecological movement, perhaps more than any single trend, might be said to have begun the awakening awareness of the natural world and our interdependence upon it. Admittedly, this is perhaps a superficial statement but it works well enough for me and my life experience (being a baby boomer). In combination with a separate awakening toward what we used to innocently call "Eastern philosophy" the concept of our interdependence has filtered deeply into human consciousness. Science, our real religion (as a culture), says "it is so" and this is enough for us.

The percentage of souls in human form whose hearts awaken and seek the Divine Presence hidden behind the multitudinous forms of matter will, for a long time to come, remain small. But just as God in the Old Testament was willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous souls could be found, so too this small percentage will always have an outsized impact on society at large. More so, however, in an age of awakening consciousness (as Swami Sri Yukteswar described these times). 

Even while yoga and meditation encircle the globe, those who practice these for the purposes of seeking enlightenment will remain, even among this already-select group, a relatively small number. But, again, their influence is profound. We who are followers of Yogananda, especially Ananda members, have been taught by Swami Kriyananda to view the influence of Yogananda and his teachings to be representative of and instrumental to the awakening trends of consciousness on planet Earth at this time. This is not a claim of pride or exclusivity but derives from the history of the lineage of Self-realization as Yogananda revealed it. 

A new form of spirituality is desperately needed in the world today. Faith traditions have ossified into rigid dogmas and rituals. They, despite their profession of the primacy of God's love and the example of their own saints, are forces for divisiveness rather than harmony. India's long tradition of tolerance and universality is uniquely suited to bring together the "best of East and West" (quoting Yogananda-ji). 

Swami Kriyananda included in his insights as to future trends Yogananda's prediction that "Self-realization" would become the religion of the future. Unlike other disciples of Yogananda, Swamiji had no false expectation of a new Catholic church. Rather, he explained that even mainline faiths would, in time, come to see that the most important feature of their faith was one's personal relationship and experience of God and that meditation offers the most effective form of achieving that. This follows the trend into the Age of the Individual. Spiritually this translates into Self-realization as the spiritual expression of the age.

Perhaps more cynically, even institutions (perhaps especially institutions) have an impulse toward survival. In the facing of a trend of decreasing numbers of adherents, one can be sure that each faith will "miraculously" re-discover their own prayer and meditation traditions and will, seeing the "light" of the trend of meditation amongst their followers, announce a new revelation! But, why not. It is true, after all.

So, while you are sheltering at home with little to do but read a long essay like this, I hope you've enjoyed the prospect of "hope for a better world." (Title of one of Swamiji's books!).


Joys to you,

Swami Hrimananda
sheltering on Camano Island WA

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Are Yogananda's Predictions of Challenging Times About to Begin?

This question surfaced in a recent email from an Ananda member. While the occupation of making predictions is one to be avoided, it is impossible not to ask this question (for those of us who are familiar with Yogananda's warnings given publicly during the last few years of his life (which ended March 1952).

Many of you (readers) know well these warnings because Ananda's founder, Swami Kriyananda, repeated them often.....all the way to his passing in 2013.

So, yes, of course it's a good question. On the other hand, the thought of our being yet another "doom and gloom cult" is distasteful to me and to you, too, I am sure.

Interestingly, Jesus Christ predicted pretty much all the same things, or so he was quoted in the New Testament. Thus it is that such predictions can be viewed from the inner side of the soul's personal journey, or (or is it AND/OR) from the outer side of history. Surely warfare, violence and pestilence have never ended in the history of humanity! So predictions of doom and gloom are always BOUND to come true at some point.

Nonetheless, Yogananda, the guru and spiritual teacher for many of us and an inspiration for millions, and, Swami Kriyananda, Ananda's founder and inspiration and guide (and friend), have shared these warnings.

So, for what it's worth, my two cents is YES. We are on the brink of an immense change in history. 70 years since the last so-called "World War" is probably a record stretch of relative peace: punctuated as most of the people in the world know all too well with endless series of rebellions, conflicts, ethnic cleansings, and mini-wars (and a few lesser mini-pandemic threats).

Why bother to make note of the belief by millions (of us) that humanity needs to wake up to the unsustainability of our rapacious, unconscious lifestyle?

To humor my odd sense of humor: here's what my personal crystal ball is showing me. (You can take this to the bank....more bad humor, sorry.) An economic downturn, aka depression, the like of which history has never seen. The impact of this is too immense to even bother to quantify. It makes the COVID-19 virus seem small by comparison.

From the collapse of the wealth of nations and people will come war, disease and the usual panoply of humanity's griefs. I'm not going to repeat the details of what Swami Kriyananda shared of Yogananda's warnings as it is not important right now for you and me. What is important is to "see" that life is not returning to normal.

Now, it's true, as it is in every disaster (natural or man-made), there are some who will in fact not only prosper (economically) but who will rise to the occasion with courage, enthusiasm, creativity and inspiration. For these, it will be the "time of their life!" There will also be scoundrels. Gun sales, I have read, are up. Lawlessness is certain to increase. We have already seen an increase in burglaries.

So what it means for you personally is impossible to predict. It could, in fact, mean little or nothing at all. But you'd be foolish to make that assumption. The karma that is unfolding is, like a world war, bigger than an individual and will engulf millions if not billions.

Most of my readers probably meditate, pray, and serve. Most of you are followers of Yogananda and likely members of Ananda worldwide. So we already know that "the only way OUT is IN." Inner strength; devotion; care for others; meditation; prayer....we acknowledge that death and disease (as Lord Buddha came to see) is a common lot of all beings. Why fuss over it beyond taking care of the body temple "for God-realization."

So these reflections do not have for their purpose a call to action, per se. Rather, let us adjust the glasses through which we see the world and see what is, I believe and many others as well, a world in partial dissolution and partial recombination. Yogananda, through his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, sees our planet in an upward arc of awakening though we are yet in a relatively materialistic age: an age of buy and sell; what's in for me; but also awakening to our interconnectedness.

So unlike some doom and gloom sales pitches, this is NOT the end of the world. It's the inevitable trauma from the breakup of an old-world structure and the emergence of a new world consciousness. After difficult times, Yogananda predicted there would be 200 years of world peace (because we'd be sick of warfare!)

But lest you, like many of us in the 1960's, imagine life is going to suddenly be wonderful: forget it! The rich will always govern and, to quote Jesus Christ, "the poor you have always with you." It is the expansion of awareness of global consciousness that is the requisite emergent change. This awareness can be plundered for personal gain or offered on the altar of global good.

In time, that is to say, in the centuries to come, the rigidity and fixity and prejudice of religion, nationality, race, caste and gender will steadily dissolve into acceptance of differences as manifestations of a shared and beneficent reality. the differences don't need to change. It's attachment and fixed identification with them that will soften.

Harmony with Mother Earth and all creatures will eventually surface as an accepted goal by at least a majority.

In the meantime, however, there is a "war' to fight: fear vs courage, for example; selfishness (hoarding) vs sharing; faith vs hopelessness; God realization vs Ego affirmation. It is an inner battle, not an outer one. Paramhansa Yogananda thundered: "The time for knowing God has COME!" (Through meditation and kriya yoga). THIS is the spiritual purpose for individuals all the time, but especially now for us as a whole.

For those of us who are active, participating and committed members of Ananda worldwide: We were born for this and trained for this by Swami Kriyananda.

"The only way OUT is IN!"

Joy is within you.

Swami Hrimananda
Seattle WA

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Message and Messenger: the Return of the "Spokes of the Wheel" to Ananda's work

What is the outward, public work of Ananda? Are we promoting Yogananda-ism? Or, are we about Communities? Do we represent a new paradigm of living that blends ideals with practicality? That substitutes cooperation for competition? That replaces exploitation with harmony and sustainability? That promotes simple living over acquiring ever more possessions? That encourages moderation and self-control over heedless self-indulgence?

It has been oft been repeated, indeed, stated by Paramhansa Yogananda himself, that a world spiritual teacher has a dual mission: to liberate the souls of close disciples, and, to uplift humanity at large.

We see this even in the life of Jesus. In the gospels where the disciples chide Jesus for speaking in parables, Jesus makes it clear the distinction between those who hear but don’t understand (the public at large) and those who are his own (disciples).

When Swami Kriyananda founded Ananda there were two distinct aspects to his personal ministry at that time: communities, and, hatha yoga. This was not a coincidence. Both were interests of Yogananda that Self-Realization Fellowship Inc. did not foster.

But there is another aspect to Ananda’s work that is embedded in its founder’s spiritual ‘DNA.’ He himself told audiences often that when he read the “Autobiography of a Yogi” and travelled immediately to Los Angeles by bus from New York City in 1948, he had two intentions: one, personal soul-freedom; the other, to share these teachings with others.

Swamiji often said that the twin children of his soul’s desire were offspring that were at odds: being a hermit and sharing the teachings. Sharing the teachings won, hands-down. 

Interestingly, the same is said of our guru, Paramhansa Yogananda. Yogananda wanted to flee to the Himalayas in his early life until he embraced his divine mission to serve publicly. The tension, if that’s what one calls it, co-existed uneasily in the lives of each of them.

As it should, in fact, in our lives as well. The one supports and nurtures the other. Yes, history is filled with would-be and de facto saints who lived alone. But, truth-be-told, these are outnumbered statistically with saints in, but not of, the world. But, no matter: the age in which WE live is one, we are told, where bringing “Spirit to life” is the leading spiritual impulse and dharma.

Swami Kriyananda spent his public life writing, lecturing and editing, even as his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, instructed him. Swamiji described his work specifically in the twin terms of outreach into daily life balanced by the inner life. He wrote books, plays and music on subjects such as leadership, education, marriage, astrology, architecture, time travel, different cultures and countries of the world, and even politics. He also wrote commentaries on the great scriptures of East and West. He wrote church ceremonies for weddings, christenings, funerals, “confession,” and a glorious Sunday worship Service imbued with poetry, song, an imaginative metaphor-story, and a deep personal blessing.

Even in the last phase of his life which, perhaps we could say began with his move to India and the founding of Ananda’s work there, during which he donned the robe, mantle, and persona of the Indian swami (and what in India would be called a guru even if not a true, or sat, guru), he wrote a masterpiece course called “Material Success through Yoga Principles!”

Nonetheless, in this last phase of life he entered fully the being-ness and garb of a disciple of a great master, the avatar Paramhansa Yogananda.

For perhaps this reason, and unquestionably other reasons as well, after Swamiji’s passing in 2013, Ananda’s work worldwide has emphasized discipleship to Paramhansa Yogananda. A cursory review of the many websites worldwide would show this clearly. Nor was this a change or a new phase. The central ministry of Ananda based in California has long offered courses in the teachings towards the goal of kriya yoga (the essence of discipleship). So long as Swamiji did the spokes, the heart of Ananda was free to emphasize kriya yoga and discipleship.

During the active and public lives of both Swami Kriyananda and Paramhansa Yogananda, their topics, lessons, and teachings were for the “man on the street,” Mr. Everyman. Overcoming nervousness, becoming a success in business, choosing the right partner in marriage or business, vegetarian recipes for health, healing techniques and much more.

But during the last 50 years of Ananda, the heart of Ananda focused primarily on discipleship and kriya while Swamiji toured, lectured and wrote of “applied spirituality.” Now that Swami Kriyananda is no longer in the body, the question remains: will we offer the “spokes of the wheel” (as Swamiji called the more practical, public, how-to-live teachings) on an equal basis? Or, are we simply proponents of Yogananda-ism?

To the rescue of the public aspect of Yogananda’s work (and by extension, Ananda’s) comes the offer from highly-placed individuals in India to establish an Institute precisely for this purpose! Since 2013, I have spoken privately to friends of my concern that the spokes of the wheel will fall off the hub unless we consciously energize it. As if in answer to my personal prayer, and, far more importantly, in answer to the obvious dharma of Ananda, has come a powerful reminder and (presumably) opportunity.

Sometime around 1989, Swamiji hired a small plane from Grass Valley (a half hour away from Ananda’s original and largest community, Ananda Village) to fly to Portland, Oregon. With him, he took two couples. Padma and I were one of the couples. Our mission was to see a building in downtown Portland that could be the headquarters of Crystal Clarity, Publishers. Padma was the director of publishing and Swamiji was in the heyday of his writing the spokes of the wheel. Publishing was growing, but it was also facing silent but effective resistance from the residential community and management at Ananda Village. This was no dark and evil plot. Rather, it was the growing pains and relative interests of various parties.

Publishing was symbolic and energetically expressive of Swamiji’s public ministry. Its products had nothing to do with life at Ananda Village. Life there was always a struggle, financially and otherwise, as it was also for the outreach ministry, including publishing. 

Publishing’s need for funds and personnel sometimes ran headlong into the needs of the Village and its departments and businesses and need to cover overhead expenses.

Without ever expressing it (in my presence, at least), it seems obvious that Swamiji was purposely contemplating relocating the “spokes” ministry away from the Village and out into a city. Perfectly understandable, in fact. 

As we walked this large, old, and almost prison-like building in Portland, the two couples had to contemplate family life (with children) in this hulking edifice in downtown Portland. Thankfully for us, Swamiji decided against it. He, too, was turned off by its institutional vibration.

The point of the exercise, however, was, and remains lost on the minds of Ananda residents there; and, I should add, for good reason. Ananda Village is the spiritual origin, center, and heart of Ananda’s work. Swamiji wants its vibration to remain high and pure as much as possible. It makes perfect sense that the spokes ought to be and go “out.” But has it died on the very vine that should nurture it?

Years later, and not long before Swamiji’s passing, (2011?), a large rural facility was acquired by the members of Ananda in Portland. (Portland, again, you see!) It had been, decades before, a boarding high school run by Seventh Day Adventists. Swami Kriyananda was supportive of its acquisition. How much he said about it I don’t know beyond what I heard him say. But his emphasis each time was upon the facility’s use for what Yogananda called a “Yoga University.” He did not see it as another Ananda Village community. Yogananda himself decades ago spoke of the need for such places of public instruction and experimentation where yoga precepts and practices could be offered to “everyman.”

By whatever term one might use, and for my purposes at present, this facility (Laurelwood Academy), I believe, symbolized for Swamiji the same basic thrust that our adventure to downtown Portland represented for him: a place where the how-to-live teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda could be explored and shared. Illustrative of what seems to me to have been his obvious intention is the simple fact that at that time, Swamiji asked the Ananda College to move from Ananda Village to this new facility. Coincidence? Deja vu?

As an aside and in respect to a topic not quite in the centre of my own experience to comment upon is our thriving and successful centre in Italy: Ananda Assisi. It is my impression, or, ok, opinion, that its success has been in direct proportion to its emphasis on the universality of raja yoga. Europe is even more inclined, I feel, to be drawn to the language of academic-style instruction, and through the efforts of a few key leaders there, this has developed and matured. And, there are, of course, deeply committed and attuned disciples at the heart of this work.

Here in Seattle, I associate our success (outwardly speaking) with the concomitant success of our long-running Raja Yoga Intensive. When I took it over in 1994 it was attended by just a handful of students. But over the years I purposely emphasized its universal aspects and made no effort whether by intention or word to use the course as an integral part of training in kriya yoga (aka discipleship) even if, at the same time, the course was a prerequisite for kriya training. 

Consequently and not surprisingly only a relatively small percentage of its graduates (maybe, 15%) went on to kriya training. Among those who did, there were some who acknowledged that they would never have gone forward had their raja course experience been oriented around kriya. They needed time and practice before the resonating vibration of the path of kriya yoga emerged in their consciousness.

So here Ananda is with this invitation coming from India (of all places—where discipleship is its "mother's milk") to establish just such an institute. We are being rescued from our own impulse to promote Yogananda-ism to sharing the message (not just the messenger) in our public service.

In the Seattle area, we established the Institute of Living Yoga just after the new blue-roofed temple was built. Our initial offerings of course curricula in how-to-live areas did not at that time take hold. Instead, the teacher training courses (yoga and meditation) did. But the time is coming when we can expand our offerings. In part this is because we have matured; our acceptance and recognition in the community has expanded; and, we built a separate structure specifically for the Institute.

The disadvantage of this beautiful eight-sided, blue roof tiled dome is that it speaks the language of discipleship. Visitors enter the building, curious but cautious, wondering if they are allowed to visit, despite the fact that our simple wooden sign announces “All are Welcome.” Each visitor says the same thing: “I have been driving by here for years and wondered what this was.” It feels private. The building is set far from the street: away from the “man on the street” and away from the busy marts which surround us. This is lovely. It is right. But it speaks to the “hermit not the householder.”

By contrast, the Yoga Hall, as we call it, is close to the street. Its simple design is at once elegant and refined while yet familiar and inviting.

For those of younger or at least a newer generation drawn to Ananda’s work, a pioneering opportunity is needed. We have wondered, and, indeed, our newer members have also wondered: “What can I do? How can I contribute?” They see the founding generation of the Ananda communities as having struggled against great odds, blessed by the living presence, friendship, and guidance of Ananda’s founder in his younger, more approachable years. “But what about us?”

It is no coincidence, you see, that the “mission of the spokes” is calling to us. This part of “Master’s” great work can be theirs. Of course, newer members also need to go deep and become grounded in their discipleship lest what they share is not of this ray (of spiritual vibration sent by Yogananda and his lineage).

There should always be a dynamic tension, or play, between the outer and inner man and soul. God did not manifest this creation in order to condemn it, but to offer the opportunity to pierce its veil of maya that we might see “God alone.” We cannot achieve moksha, liberation, by fleeing from our karma or the creation (one and the same thing). 

Meditation, devotion and divine attunement are of the soul. If we go out into the world driven by egoic impulses, past habit or karma, we may achieve good karma but we, relatively speaking, only postpone our liberation. But if we deepen our attunement and act in harmony with the divine will, our public service will accelerate our liberation and be able to spiritual uplift others towards their own.

Joy to you!

Swami Hrimananda!

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Decline and Fall of Reason : an Essay

[At once I apologize for the length of this article. I could see no way to chop it up into segments.]

At the time of the American Revolution, Reason reigned on the throne of the hearts and minds of enlightened men and women. The Declaration of Independence is, if anything, a reasonable statement of self-evident precepts. From that point until the 20th century, the western world was filled with hope that the future held unstoppable advances in education, health, prosperity and peace.

That triumph of reason was stained from the beginning, however, by the bargain made with the devil of slavery. Reason began taking more pummeling later in the nineteenth century when rapid industrialization revealed the horrors of low pay, child labor, toxic work environments and mind-numbing, heart-stifling repetitive work. The first generation of the “Captains of Industry” flaunted their immense wealth squeezed from the tight fists of their vast monopolies.

The first half of the twentieth century produced not one, but two world wars, unmasking even further reason’s dark sides showing that a self-styled master race can justify any amount of violence and evil.

It is true that the Second World War was fought to defend reason in the form of freedom yet the ugliness and violence of that war (which ended with the blinding light of the atomic age) began to blur the lines between right and wrong. Wholesale destruction of the great cities (non-military targets) of Germany and the nuclear destruction of two cities in Japan were simply the quid pro quo collateral damage of an ugly war. The Cold War which followed was largely fought in a gray mist where right and wrong vanished into the murky shadows of espionage, regime change, and cynical affirmations that “the end justifies the means.”

While the 1950’s in America saw a resurgence of optimism, dark clouds of fanaticism clustered around the political purges of Senator McCarthy and rising corporate greed fueled warnings from the likes of newscaster Edward R. Murro regarding the future loss of innocence and integrity in the news media. Ditto for the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about.

The dawn of the 1960’s brought hope with a new and young president but this too was quickly marred by upheaval and turmoil in race relations and rebellious antiestablishment lifestyles. Very soon cries of despair arose over three consecutive assassinations of great leaders and anguish over the insanity and hypocrisy of the Vietnam War.

Fast forward to 2017, more or less, and what do we see? Fake news? A kind of “Battle of the Bulge” is occurring with a resurgence of prejudice, hate and suspicion of “foreigners.” On the world wide web anyone can post their craziness. Now there are more conspiracy theories than ever before. (Whatever happened to the Trilateral Commission? Out of commission?)

Whereas in former times a doctor was God and hospitals and clinics his temple, now we have to do the research and advocate for ourselves, while trying to figure out the labyrinth of insurance options and coverage. We routinely question medical and scientific studies which are too often funded by self-interest groups or tampered with by self-promoting scientists. Doctors simply give us a panoply of drugs and say, “Try this and let me know how it works!” 

We cannot trust the food we eat. We are beginning to grow our own.

Albert Einstein’s failure to find the “theory of everything” combined with theories of chaos and randomness are such that researchers either chase the almighty buck or are only interested in new but marginal breakthroughs. Quantum physics has taken science to the brink of non-matter, even to the edge of consciousness: down the rabbit hole, effectively, toppling the fortress of “either - or” reason and destroying the kingdom of matter.

Liberals are “ultra” and insist that the government owes everyone everything at no cost while the conservatives want to turn the clock back so they can protect their high caste status and their portfolios from the coming avalanche of change. All that matters is “What I want.” Or, “What I believe.” And, “What’s in it for me?”

The noble concept of a pluralistic society whose elected representatives work together to reach compromises in order to achieve a more “perfect union” is now sadly beyond our very ability to imagine it.

Only a serious threat from an enemy (military, economic, political) or a catastrophe of enormous proportions (pandemic; earthquake; gigantic and irrefutable climate change) could unite this or any other nation into concerted action.

There remains however: HOPE FOR A BETTER WORLD. Idealism is on the rise; a sense of our shared interests and kinship, whether under God or on the earth or both is small but growing. 

The popularity of yoga and meditation—veritable symbols of peace and harmony—continues unabated throughout the world. We now have an International Day of Yoga. It originated with a yogi who is the president of the largest democracy in the world (India). It is not, however, likely that sanity and enlightened reason will return to our nation or planet anytime soon.

Because, let’s face it: the god of reason has been dethroned. Frankly, it hasn’t worked very well anyway. Reason has not stemmed the tide of ignorance and prejudice. Reason has not reduced substance abuse, addiction or violence as if it were a vaccine injected by the needle of education. Reason alone, without help from religion, reveals the Golden Rule but the Golden Rule does not rule.

We of an eastern bent of mind who espouse the precept that life ebbs and flows between opposites are not in the least dismayed by these trends for we know as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus averred that Panta Rhei (all is flux). But the pendulum of opposites is never simple. If it were, then humans would see through its illusion too easily. There are also movements which we could call spirals, rising and falling which appear to make each new turn a twist and each new twist appears unique.

We are seeing a cycle that is the decline of the much vaunted and arrogantly affirmed western claim of superiority based on enlightened reason. The cycle of rational inquiry perhaps had its visible beginnings with the Renaissance, moved into the Age of Exploration and Reformation, gave birth to the Age of Enlightenment and independence, which in turn, propelled by the exponentially increasing revelations of science, birthed the industrial age and on and on.

Now, with reason cycling down into increasing disrepute, we find taking its place a rising tide of passion. Passion is crazy; intense, unpredictable; riotous; compassionate, innovative, merciful, cruel and so much more! Passion is the active manifestation of feeling. And feeling, whether mild, medium or intense, has a dark and a light side. We can call the dark side of feeling the emotions of a contractive nature and the light side the expansiveness of inclusive feeling.

By emotions I mean the contractive affirmation of selfishness or egoism as in “raw” emotions based on “fight or flight,” fear, greed, anger, prejudice, attachment (etc.) or other unexamined biases. By expansive and inclusive feeling I refer to calm certitude, unselfishness, non-attachment, and intuitive insight. Expansiveness of feeling is essentially intuitive for it sees wholeness or connection where ego-affirming emotions can see only differences. Intuition accepts (and embraces) a broader reality than only oneself, while emotions affirm the limited reality of one’s ego, opinions, desires and fears.

Expansive elation leading to connectedness with all life can found anywhere and everywhere: in nature; in being in love; in extreme sports; in tragedy or success; in space to astronauts observing our earth; in prayer and meditation; and on and on.

By contrast, negative emotions are the all too familiar emotions of polarized politics, pride and prejudice related to social status, clinging to one’s opinions, distrust and competition between nations over trade or influence, consequences of globalization, racism, abortion, gender issues, and on and on.

At the same time, we, including you, reading this article, see the gentler tsunami of rising unity, harmony, sustainability, creativity, inventiveness, kindness, humanitarian efforts, peace and harmony.

Returning to the fall of reason, we can no longer trust sources of reason. By “sources of reason” I mean facts and purveyors of facts.
Facts are supposed to be aspects of reason because objectively verifiable. But now we don’t really know what is fact and what is speculation or false. We don’t really know who to believe when the person or subject matter is unknown to us personally. Take the simple but crucial topic of climate change. Outside the scientific community of those studying the subject, we are dependent upon what we read and hear. Inside the scientific community there is no unanimity on what is a complex subject of study. Added to these reasonable difficulties are the irrational ones arising from self-interest (on both sides) and the emotions born of recalcitrant opinions (each claiming facts). The situation can be found on other issues, such as health care, welfare, gender definitions, and religion--to name just a few key topics.

The failure of religionists to practice what they preach has given rise to a growing rejection of orthodox religion in favor of being “spiritual but not religious.” Spiritual vs religious means one is oriented to one’s own personal experience (and, yes, sometimes one’s own private beliefs). The popularity of yoga and meditation are excellent examples of those seeking personal experience in preference to dogma or empty rituals.

The worldwide network of Ananda communities stands for a lifestyle that will unquestionably grow in popularity in this century because such associations give people who share their ideals or beliefs a practical way to “walk their talk” together. Communities can be residential, work-centric, issue-centric, or virtual. And yes, people with negative values can form them as well. Either way, if you can’t believe what you read and can’t trust people you don’t know, what else can you do but find others who believe as you do. I don’t say this cynically. I say this clinically! The alternative is to drown in society’s mayhem and confusion.

Looking ahead, I see a decline in centralization of power. While this decline began with a change in consciousness (the affirmation of individuality and attendant rights) as all such great shifts do, its primary symbol today is the world-wide-web. Its founding ideals are those of the United States. Here in the United States we see a shift of power from the central government to states and local governments. Paralyzed as we are at a national level, cities and states are taking positions on climate change, immigration, marijuana, and many other issues which might otherwise have been, or should be, more effectively dealt with nationally. Health care may yet join those ranks. So, too, I predict welfare and other social safety nets may go the same way. Small intentional communities are its logical and ultimate manifestation.

[As a reminder: the delicate balance between states’ rights and the power of a national government began at the birth of America! But mostly through the twentieth century power shifted to the national government with turn of the century formation of the Federal Reserve, the creation of the federal income tax, and the consequences of two world wars and the Cold War. Now it is shifting back even at the very moment when the big issues of the nation and of the world call for leadership and cooperation! Sigh!]

Splintering of large groups into smaller ones began visibly with the breakup of the Soviet Union and client states. The splintering continues throughout the world as smaller groups (ethnic, tribal, racial or religious) assert their independence, their rights, and their self-identity. They often do so violently. This will continue for a very long time, even if future wars, depressions, pandemics and catastrophes will, from time to time, give renewed, but temporary, power back to national or international governments.

The movement of consciousness in the direction of individual rights and freedom will continue even though technology provides powerful control mechanisms into the hands of centralized powers (whether governmental, private or corporate). Orson Well’s novel, 1984, had the date wrong but was an accurate prediction of future possibilities. Fortunately, technology is a two-edged sword for it has also been a key to empowering the individual through communication, education, and awareness.

In short, we are moving towards increasing disruptions and chaos. There’s no turning back. Instability is steadily rising in the United States and there’s no “reason” to foresee its abatement. Local police forces are heavily equipped and highly trained, nothing less than armed militias. Prisons, we are told, are overflowing. Can you imagine the impact of disruptions in food and fuel? Or, reductions in social security, welfare, or food stamps and other forms of entitlement? The American standard of living has nowhere to go but down as that of other nations continues to rise. We simply cannot continue to consume more than our share of natural resources nor purchase the vast majority of our goods from other countries with nothing but our over-valued currency to offer in exchange.

The advice given us by Paramhansa Yogananda (one of the great spiritual teachers of our age) is to establish a life of prayer, meditation, service to God through others, and to establish communities of like-minded friends inspired by high ideals and expressed through a simple and sustainable lifestyle. Meditation is at the heart of the inner life wherein the castle of peace can be defended and from which the unassailable joy of the soul can be shared. (For the record, Yogananda foretold difficult times but said that a time would come of several hundred years of relative peace as those who survive the turmoil vow NOT to perpetuate it.)

These solutions are God’s response and gift to those with “ears to hear” and to those with compassionate and courageous hearts. How else best to weather the woes of an age of great instability where we cannot know what is true and who is false; where, in the final analysis, nothing is real but what resides within you. From the cosmic view of the soul, these “interesting times” are wonderful opportunities for spiritual growth. Perhaps many have been, are, and will be born for this purpose and for the purpose of forming a vanguard of higher consciousness to see humanity through a difficult period of history.

There is much to be positive about, notwithstanding my catalogue of apparent pessimism above. Much depends on how quickly and extensively consciousness can shift from emotion to intuition, from “me” to “us.” Yet, at present, the weight of momentum is going in a negative direction. The passions that have been aroused run deep and run violent. And, they have found their voice in a shared, but false, legitimacy. But the long term trend in consciousness is clearly in favor of tolerance and acceptance. It’s simply a matter of how soon the battles and skirmishes can turn the tide to win the war. The more of “us” that stand tall and together, willing to make sacrifices in lifestyle and resources, in prayer and meditation, the sooner the “sun will rise in the East.”

Remember: “The only way out is IN!”

Joy to you!

Swami Hrimananda

Reading references from books by Swami Kriyananda and published by Crystal Clarity, Publishers include: Out of the Labyrinth, God is For Everyone, Hope for a Better World, & Religion in the New Age


Tuesday, October 11, 2016

The Intolerance Born of Life Experience & "Mature" Years: Future of Ananda Communities

The very first Ananda community (near Nevada City, CA) is approaching fifty years of existence. Those of us who came in their twenties are, well, do the math.......yes, in their seventies (more or less). But with the power of yoga and divine grace, we're still kicking and going strong!

Think back, my friends, to the craziness some of us brought to Ananda Village in those years. Skinny dipping, gardening in the nude, serial relationships, food and fasting fads, infatuation with passing spiritual teachers, and on and on. "Lord knows" what else our founder, friend and spiritual guide, Swami Kriyananda put up with. 

He looked through us to our souls' potential. No doubt he saw that for some they would stay a short while while others have been part of Ananda ever since. Yet I suspect many surprised him whether they left or stayed! We've all seen friends, good people, come, and go.

Are we finding, now, that we look askance at the attire (or lack of it), the chatter and the talk, the self-righteous opinions, and the goofiness of some of the young ones who arrive at our communities now? Do we see justification for our coolness in the fact that some do not stay very long? Is that fact perhaps due to our coolness toward them? 

Do we wonder to ourselves whether we should offer the "advice" that life is stern, work hard, stay in line, listen to me? Worse yet, do we actually say it? (Why, are WE bitter for having sacrificed "so much?") In so doing, are we simply manifesting the generational disconnect that has existed since time immemorial?

In case you are on the edge of your seat (still), yes I think we are repeating that same intolerance born of life experience. From whence does this sternness come? 

Still on the edge of your seat, no doubt? Let me tell you, then:

When you've seen people come with high ideals and leave discouraged, not understanding that they didn't or couldn't give it their all, or couldn't find self-acceptance, or couldn't see that their criticism and complaining was hurting them more than the issues they claimed were at stake.....you can't help but want to warn new ones about how difficult the spiritual life is and how precarious is our divine attunement and right attitudes. 

It is natural to want to remind newer ones that sometimes falling off the spiritual path can cost (as Yogananda once mentioned in respect to at least one of his disciples who left the path) many lifetimes before the former spiritual zeal returns that one has left slip so nonchalantly from one's grasp.

We cannot help but see how thin a line it is between the magnetism of playing with the fire of desire versus the fire of devotion and self-offering: the same energy but a different direction.

So, sure, we have our reasons and they are good ones, too, except for one important fact: finger wagging doesn't work. It wouldn't have worked with us, either. We were fortunate that Swami Kriyananda was a wise, spiritual father. He looked toward eternity and saw the perfection of our souls.

And another thing: we don't want to see destroyed by ignorance or lack of awareness or loyalty all that we have worked for most of our lives in establishing these spiritual communities. We don't want to simply hand them over to neophytes who have yet to deepen their commitment through the fires of trials and tribulations (as we have had to do).

So, sure, we have our reasons and they are good ones, too, except for one important fact: it doesn't work! (Am I repeating myself already?)

The solution is to abandon the false perception that comes with the age of physical body and the accumulated experiences of one's present life. Dividing the community into camps of "old" and "young," "leaders" and "followers" is to put a pall of spiritual death upon the very life we all aspire to lead and to share. 

Learning from one another; openness and receptivity; serving, praying, meditating, and playing together. Creating bonds of heartfelt appreciation and respect through listening and calm sharing.

A new member has to go through the "dues paying" of listening, paying attention, learning, struggling and growing; of holding at bay his or her opinions in a state of readiness to learn from the wisdom of experience; the older member has to stay present, awake, listening, avoiding the know-it-all tendency, staying conscious and respecting the ideas and insights, questions, needs and realities of the newer member.

Swami Kriyananda left for us these guidelines for our personal and organizational lives:


  1. "People are more important than things." This is the main one that applies here. The "things" at stake are our view, as leaders and the older generation, of what constitutes spiritual attunement from outer appearances. The people part is the wisdom to give others the time to mature and grow in grace and wisdom. Not to judge others by outer appearances or by lessons yet to be learned or by lessons which are theirs, but not ours, to learn. Compassion and wisdom!
  2. "Where there is dharma, there is victory." We will only be "successful" if we honor what it is right and true, no matter at what cost to ourselves personally (well, within reason!). "What's trying to happen here" is the question Swamiji taught us to ask ourselves when change, or pressures to change, show themselves.
We need to be people-centric not form-centric. All organizations, including intentional communities, churches, and yoga centers, are subject to change in their outer forms and expressions: whether in growth or in shrinking; in material success or acceptance; or, rejection. 

All organizations -- like all organisms -- have an innate impulse to thrive and grow. There's nothing wrong with that if the intention is to serve, share, and grow spiritually in the process (rather than for money or public acceptance and acclaim).

We need to "err" (if indeed "err" it be) on the side of acceptance, tolerance, and growth. Our only measure can truly be our personal spiritual growth in the process, and, the spiritual growth of those whom we serve and accept as community residents or center members.

Swamiji would say, from time to time, "It's not the WHAT, but the HOW!" If we make a group decision that runs the risk of diluting our spiritual attunement but we do it with the intention to serve, welcome, and be open to share with others, we will likely find that Divine Mother will see to it our efforts and errors will be mitigated. As Krishna promises us, "To those in tune, I will make good your deficiencies and render permanent your (spiritual) gains."

When I think of all the craziness Swami Kriyananda tolerated, or all the risky ventures and projects that he, himself, undertook in the name of serving our guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, I am inspired and hope that those who lead this great and good work will carry on in his spirit and in his name.

Joy to you!

Swami Hrimananda