Ananda Worldwide

06/07/2026

"I open my spiritual vision and fly my mind-architect far away into the region of eternity, there to build for myself a measureless temple of space, a sanctuary of silence"
--Paramhansa Yogananda

"I open my spiritual vision and fly my mind-architect far away into the region of eternity, there to build for myself a measureless temple of space, a sanctuary of silence" Paramhansa Yogananda

Build your own sanctuary of silence with like minded people with our weekly offerings:
Wednesday meditation 6:45am - 8am
Thursday Whispers from eternity meditation 8pm-9pm
Friday morning meditation 7am-8am
Sunday evening meditation 8pm-9pm

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06/05/2026

Miracles—Big and Small -- >> We live in a sea of miracles, though we recognize only the big ones and ignore the small ones. In fact, most people can accept only big ones as true miracles at all. One of these occurred with Swami Kriyananda.

Malka, an elderly Indian woman, had come to Ananda Village with a pilgrimage group. After the pilgrimage ended, she went on to visit her sister in New York. Then tragedy struck—she fell and shattered her arm so badly that the surgeon didn’t know if he could set it. It might require amputation. Alone in a foreign country, frightened and in pain, she was unable to sleep. That night Swami Kriyananda walked into her room, sat on her bed, and began to gently stroke her arm. “Don’t worry, Malka, everything is going to be all right.” And so it was. The next day’s operation was a complete success.

The miracle part of the story was that Swamiji was in California at the time. When we told him about Malka, he said, “I have no knowledge of the event.” Then he added something we’ve never forgotten: “But the soul is perfectly capable of acting without permission from the ego.”

Big miracles are so obvious that only the hardened cynics can doubt, but small miracles happen to us every day, and usually we dismiss them as “lucky coincidences.” Such a miracle recently occurred in my own life.

I have a niece with a Ph.D. from Harvard. I got a message from her a few weeks ago. She has a daughter with autism and, being a scientist, was developing a protocol to work with autistic children. Many years ago, while a student in Washington state, she had studied Ananda Yoga. She now wanted to know if there were any yoga teachers whom she could work with online. We connected her to one of our main instructors at The Expanding Light, who also has an autistic child. Finding such a mutually beneficial pairing is, alone, a minor miracle.

But the story doesn’t end there. While at dinner in Seattle just two days ago, we mentioned this to our companions. It turns out that one of them was the very yoga teacher who trained my niece fifteen years ago. Not only that, but he has a Ph.D. in yoga from a university in Bangalore, India, where many studies have been done about yoga and autism. The combination is a match made in heaven!

Life itself is a miracle that God performs daily for us. Additionally, if we channel our willpower in a positive direction, God often subtly augments it. One time Devi wanted to buy a particular game, Apples to Apples, as a Christmas present for our family. She had searched in many stores to no avail. Giving up, she stopped to pick up a few items before coming home. In one of the checkout lines there was a mother struggling with a tired and whiny child. The other frazzled shoppers were avoiding that line, but Devi chose instead to stand behind them and offer silent prayers. When she was about to check out, she noticed the very game she had been searching for beside the cash register. “Is that available?” she asked. “Yes,” the clerk replied, “someone decided they didn’t want it, and we haven’t had time to return it to its shelf.” Mission accomplished—and another quiet miracle.
These small miracles, I would suggest, are more important than the big ones. They are a constant connection between us and God. But like a shy magician, He performs His small miracles without fanfare. It is up to us to be alert enough to recognize His hidden marvels in our lives.

Master begins his great book, *Whispers from Eternity,* with this prayer: “O Father, when I was blind I found not a door which led to Thee, but now that Thou hast opened my eyes I find doors everywhere: through the hearts of flowers, through the voice of friendship, through sweet memories of all lovely experiences. Every gust of my prayer opens a new door in the vast temple of Thy presence.”

In the presence of miracles,

Nayaswami Jyotish

Continue reading, *Miracles—Big and Small* or share your thoughts with us here, https://www.ananda.org/jyotish-and-devi/miracles-big-and-small/

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Listen to this week’s extra commentary in the blog's podcast: https://www.ananda.org/video/series/a-touch-of-light-podcast/
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New upcoming book releases by Nayaswami Jyotish and Nayaswami Devi:
https://www.crystalclarity.com/pages/reserve-your-copy-of-the-heart-of-service-and-divine-awakening

Read all blogs celebrating Swamiji's 100th birthday here: https://www.ananda.org/jyotish-and-devi/blog/

06/05/2026

06/04/2026

From an article by Swami Kriyananda on how to begin on the spiritual path:⁠
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Spirituality begins when you start thinking what is true. How can I find what life is all about? Do I fit in? You don’t have to think of God right away, unless you already naturally do. But if you will think deeply what is true, you will find that gradually you will be led to the inevitability of their being a Cosmic Consciousness which is the truth, of which we are all a part. It begins with anything that will uplift your heart. Turn it upward towards higher consciousness.⁠
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If we look at ourselves, there are some things that bring our energy downward. Like hatred, anger, jealousy, greed, lust. These things take the mind down. When we think of serving other people, about high ideals; like when we think of beauty, our consciousness goes upward. When the energy is moving upward, you feel more joy, more freedom more fulfilment and this is all the direction of Spirituality.⁠
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To know if Spiritual teacher is a true Guru, you have to go with what you can understand. Nobody can go beyond what he can understand. So if one person inspires you, then follow him, until you find somebody who inspires you more deeply. But there comes a time, when you know that this person is going to lead you to God and he has everything that you could possibly want and that would be what we would call your Guru.⁠
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A Guru’s role is to help you. The Guru, it says in the Bible, as many as received him to them he gave the power to become the sons of God. To receive Jesus, does not mean simply to sign a large line of becoming a Baptist or whatever it might be. It means to receive his consciousness into yourself. ⁠
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You know that you are accessing the Higher self when you feel more free in yourself. It’s a freedom that is self expanding; not self-confining to you. It’s a freedom also that has joy and bliss in it. But when that bliss is a freeing kind, self expanding kind, it comes close to defining the Higher self. You have to experience it. It cannot be defined.⁠
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🕉️Read the entire article at the link below!
https://anandaindia.org/blog/how-to-begin-on-the-spiritual-path/

06/03/2026

☮️ Niyama: Saucha — Cleanliness
Saucha is one of the five niyamas, the do’s” that guide us toward spiritual progress. It means not just physical cleanliness of the body and environment, but cleanliness on all levels — especially in a subtler sense, the purity of the mind and heart.

🌟Swami Kriyananda emphasized:
“Cleanliness of body is important for the yogi. Without physical cleanliness there can be no real beginning at self‑mastery.”

👉🏼 Swipe through this carousel to discover the importance of Saucha (cleanliness) as a practice in meditation, yoga, and daily life.

06/02/2026

Excerpted from The New Path by Swami Kriyananda: ⁠
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People often point to the sufferings of humanity as proof either that God doesn’t exist, or that He doesn’t care for His human children. Paramhansa Yogananda’s answer to that charge was that people don’t care enough about God to tune in to His help.⁠
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Indeed, by their indifference they create the very problems which, later, they lay accusingly at His door. If, in daylight, a person moves about a room with closed eyes, he may bump against a piece of furniture and hurt himself.⁠
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By closing one’s eyes to light, one creates his own darkness. By closing one’s heart to love, one creates his own fear, hatred, or apathy. By closing one’s soul to joy, one creates his own misery.⁠
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In case after case I have seen fulfilled Yogananda’s promise that faithful devotees of his path would be protected. “For those who stay in tune to the end,” he added, “I, or one of the other masters, will be there to usher them into the divine kingdom.”⁠
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Truly, the words of the great Swami Shankaracharya have found justification in Paramhansa Yogananda’s life: “No known comparison exists in the three worlds for a true guru.”⁠
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It is perhaps the greatest sign of God’s aid to His devotees that, when the soul yearns deeply for Him, He sends to that soul the supreme blessing of a God-awakened master to guide it along the highway to Infinity.⁠
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🕉️Read the rest of this chapter at the link below!
https://www.ananda.org/meditation/meditation-support/articles/god-protects-his-devotees/

06/01/2026

Swami Sri Yukteswar’s first meeting with Mahavatar Babaji in Allahabad at a Kumbha Mela.
“‘What do you think of the Kumbha Mela?’
“‘I was greatly disappointed, sir.’ I added hastily, ‘Up until the time I met you. Somehow saints and this commotion don’t seem to belong together.’
“‘Child,’ the master said, though apparently I was nearly twice his own age, ‘for the faults of the many, judge not the whole. Everything on earth is of mixed character, like a mingling of sand and sugar. Be like the wise ant which seizes only the sugar, and leaves the sand untouched. Though many sadhus here still wander in delusion, yet the mela is blessed by a few men of God-realization.’
“In view of my own meeting with this exalted master, I quickly agreed with his observation.
—From the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramhansa Yogananda

Swami Sri Yukteswar’s first meeting with Mahavatar Babaji in Allahabad at a Kumbha Mela.

“‘What do you think of the Kumbha Mela?’
“‘I was greatly disappointed, sir.’ I added hastily, ‘Up until the time I met you. Somehow saints and this commotion don’t seem to belong together.’

“‘Child,’ the master said, though apparently I was nearly twice his own age, ‘for the faults of the many, judge not the whole. Everything on earth is of mixed character, like a mingling of sand and sugar. Be like the wise ant which seizes only the sugar, and leaves the sand untouched. Though many sadhus here still wander in delusion, yet the mela is blessed by a few men of God-realization.’

“In view of my own meeting with this exalted master, I quickly agreed with his observation.

From the book, Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda

05/31/2026

Some beautiful pics of the wonderful and uplifting event Ananda Sangha Gurgaon had recently to celebrate Swamiji's 100th birth anniversary...thank you to all those who graced the occassion and added your energy!
And gratitude to all the sevakas who served with joy & love

05/30/2026

From a recent blog by Nayaswami Devi: ⁠
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Swamiji always saw the best in everyone. No matter how misguided a person was, Kriyananda never judged—he saw only their highest potential. He rarely gave direct advice unasked for, but often offered subtle guidance whose value revealed itself over time.⁠
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I’d like to share three stories in which Swamiji gave me simple advice that changed the course of my life.⁠
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The first occurred after I’d been at Ananda for only a few weeks. Since childhood, I had been drawn to all forms of dance—ballet, tap, and modern—and had taken dance classes through college. When I came to Ananda, something told me that the time for studying dance was over.⁠
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During those first weeks, I attended hatha yoga sessions led by Swamiji. With a background in dance, I was accustomed to stretching and moving into difficult positions, so the physical postures came easily to me. Being new to the teachings, I began to wonder, “What’s so important about hatha yoga? It seems simple and not very relevant to the spiritual path.”⁠
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Around this time, I was attending one of Swamiji’s classes. I don’t remember the topic, but at one point he totally digressed from it to say: “Because some people are more limber, they can do the yoga postures easily—but they are missing the point by thinking of them as only physical exercises. The goal of the postures is to become aware of the flow of subtle energy, to use affirmations to direct our minds to higher centers of awareness, and to prepare us for meditation.” Having said that, he returned to his original subject.⁠
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It took me a while to realize that he had been speaking directly to me, and to see how oblivious I had been to the spiritual dimension of yoga postures. His indirect advice became a reference point for the rest of my life: Even if you think you understand something, keep striving to go deeper. When a teaching comes from enlightened masters, there will always be something more to discover.⁠
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🕉️Read the remaining stories in this blog at the link below!⁠
https://www.ananda.org/jyotish-and-devi/swami-kriyanandas-guidance/