| Home | About AnandaEast | Retreat Calendar | Retreat Programs |
Joy is Within You!
| |
|
|
||||
| |
|
|
||||
|
Joy is Within You! |
|
||||
|
|
Ananda Worldwide
Ananda is a worldwide group of individuals who share the search for higher consciousness and the ideal of service to others. We express this service by offering uplifting values and techniques for achieving peace of mind and inner happiness. Ananda, which means "joy" in Sanskrit, was founded in 1968 by J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda) to support others in their quest for spiritual growth. Ananda is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda was the first yoga master of India to take up permanent residence in the West. His teachings emphasize direct inner experience of God, which he called 'self-realization.' Yogananda's teachings are nonsectarian, and offer practical solutions to the challenges of modern life. The Ananda Joy logo
(seen above, and at the upper left of all Ananda web pages), represents
the soul's aspiration upward toward God, and outward to embrace all beings
in its quest for enlightenment. The downward curve shows the corresponding
descent of divine grace. In
the spirit of full disclosure, we would like you to know... If you'd like to know
more, or talk about these issues, please call. Ananda thrives on open
communication; your questions, even on what may seem to be sensitive issues,
will be well-received and fully answered. Please call (401)377-8007 or
Email
us The establishment of World Brotherhood Colonies was a long time dream of Yogananda. He spoke enthusiastically up until the very end of his life about this dream. In his Autobiography of a Yogi he exclaimed, "An urgent need on this war-torn earth is the founding, on a spiritual basis, of numerous world-brotherhood colonies." (Note: these words were edited out in the late 1950's.) One of the Aims and Ideals of his organization, while he was alive, was "To spread a spirit of world brotherhood among all peoples and to aid in the establishment, in many countries, of self-sustaining world-brotherhood colonies for plain living and high thinking." He spoke of this dream just a few months before his passing to a disciple, Kamala Silva (see link to the passage from Kamala's book below). Ananda is the fulfillment of Yogananda's dream of establishing World Brotherhood Colonies, where spiritual seekers could gather together and practice 'plain living and high thinking'. These colonies were envisioned by Yogananda many years before the community movement began in America. During his lifetime, Yogananda tried to fulfill his dream, but the world at that time wasn't ready for such an unusual approach to life. Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Yogananda, was inspired by Yogananda's ideal, and began the first Colony outside Nevada City, California in 1968. He named it Ananda, which is the sanskrit word for Divine Joy. Since then, Ananda
has grown into a worldwide network of spiritual communities that includes
thriving World Brotherhood Colonies. Ananda Central Ministry near
Nevada City, California: Ananda Colonies: Other Ananda Teaching Centers:
More Ananda Meditation Groups: Ananda East West book stores: Sign Up to be on Ananda East's email list to receive the latest news from Ananda East |
|||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
