Ananda’s Colony in Europe My wife Lahari and I have had the privilege of serving in many of the ashrams Ananda has established around the world. Since our arrival in the 1980’s, we had 15 years at Ananda Village, 2 in Portland, 2 in Ananda Ashland, 3 in Palo Alto, 1 in Ananda Rhode Island, 2 in Sacramento, 5 in … Read More
Ananda means “bliss” and the first few times I came to Ananda, for short stays of seven or ten days, I immediately felt, as many do, the bliss of living in a spiritual community and in a truly blessed natural environment. In addition, there was all the joy –and apprehension— of discovering a new country, a new language and, not least, … Read More
One the most memorable times of living at Ananda Assisi was when the World Brotherhood Choir sang at the Vatican on Wednesday, March 8, 1989. After celebrating Paramhansa Yoganandaji’s Mahasamadhi on the previous day, community felt a deep blessing as we caravanned to Rome to share Master’s and Swami Kriyananda’s songs as a vibrational-offering for the Spiritual Unity of All … Read More
My nephew, who just turned 17, recently responded to my birthday greeting by saying, “It’s crazy being 17. It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet.” That’s a bit how we “spiritual pioneers” felt in helping to found an Ananda World Brotherhood Colony, even though we were slightly older back then than my nephew is now. It was the mid-eighties, though we … Read More
Whenever I think of what Master meant when he said that small world brotherhood colonies would be the way of living for the future, I think especially about what his purpose was. Because, as we know, his real concern was our freedom in God, our spiritual realization. So he wasn’t just talking about these small communities as a solution on … Read More
To begin I would like to share a poem I wrote about how we cannot capture God in a concept: Not a tree and not a church even not the widespread earth can contain me as I am, omnipresent in all men, in their hearts and in their love, in their thoughts which rise above sorrow, fear and pain to … Read More
Failure is the jumping off point to success. When a door closes in your life, don’t beat on it, hoping it will open back up…look for the open doors. There are no obstacles, only opportunities. These were my unconscious directives in 1973, when my 4-year marriage ended: I didn’t want to dwell on my “failed” marriage and I sensed that … Read More
Ananda’s mission always has been and always will be spiritual. Swami once said about communities, “I’m not interested in communities, except as a place where people can grow spiritually”. We certainly have never considered ourselves an ecovillage, which seemed to us to have a different focus: eco-sustainability. However, several years ago, when Kosha Joubert, executive director of the Global Ecovillage … Read More
