Founding the Ananda Spiritual Communities

Gather together people of like mind in the pursuit of high ideals – this was one of Yogananda’s most important instructions for the future. Yogananda envisioned communities where a person could live, work, and go to church all in one place, living for God and serving Him with fellow devotees. He called these communities “World Brotherhood Colonies.”

Taking up the Banner

More than any other of Yogananda’s disciples, Swami Kriyananda has tried to fulfill his guru’s vision of spiritual communities. Six years after his ouster from Self-Realization Fellowship, he founded the first world brotherhood colony in California, called Ananda Village. Unlike secluded spiritual communities comprised solely of monks and nuns, Ananda Village was made of both householders and formal renunciates.

In the beginning Kriyananda had to handle freeloaders and residents who wanted to use the community to pursue their own visions, but over time a stable core developed that was committed to Yogananda’s original intent. Kriyananda guided Ananda members to ask not, “What do I want?” but “What is right?” and “What does God want?”

The trials the fledgling community faced were often intense. In the first decade alone:

• Kriyananda’s first attempts at dome houses were torn apart by high mountain winds after months of labor.
• $12,000 was needed in two weeks – then, to purchase new property, another $13,500 had to be raised in one weekend! (Swami Kriyananda said, “If God wants us to have it, He’ll help to work everything out.”)
• In 1976, a forest fire destroyed 21 of the 22 homes in the main Ananda development. The community faced the very real possibility of bankruptcy.

Why did Ananda survive? Kriyananda based the founding of the community on two principles:

1. People are more important than things;
2. And “Jato dharma, tato jaya:” “Where there is right action, there lies victory.”

With these principles and with their dedication to God, Ananda members were able to face the early challenges and the many others yet to come.

Far from tragic, these and other trials have been essential to Ananda’s growth. Tapasya, or sacrifice, is necessary for bringing anything good into the world. The fire, for example, allowed the community to rebuild with more foresight, and strengthened the resolve of its members. Now they could say more truly, “I live for God alone.”

The Ananda Communities Today

Over 1000 people live in the Ananda World Brotherhood Colonies in America, Italy, and India, which have brought inspiration to people around the world. Interestingly, there is a phase that first-time visitors to one of these communities often go through. They think, “Is this for real? Can there be a place on Earth where people are so kind, so unfailingly decent? So full of virtue?”

Dr. David Frawley, the well-known author on ancient Indian teachings, was once asked his opinion of what the most successful “new age” communities were.

“Ananda, Ananda, and Ananda!” he replied. “The reason for Ananda’s success is that Swami Kriyananda has trained a whole community of people to develop spiritually, and also to develop leadership abilities themselves. The work of Ananda will carry on far into the future.”

The Ananda communities, and the meditation groups that dot the globe, are the kind of group effort that can usher in a new spiritual rennaissance. By example, they demonstrate that much can be done with group magnetism that would be impossible otherwise: running retreat centers, ministries, publishing books and music – and giving others the hope that they, too, can find joy.

Next:

1. 

   Kriyananda’s Books and Music

   When told by Yogananda that his work would be “writing and lecturing,” Kriyananda asked him, “Sir, haven’t you yourself done everything already to present the teachings?” The Master was shocked. “Don’t say that!” he exclaimed. “Much more is needed.”