KRIYANANDA As We Have Known Him SWAMI KRIYANANDA As We Have Known Him
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SWAMI KRIYANANDA As We Have Known Him SWAMI KRIYANANDA As We Have Known Him Asha Praver C O N T E N T S Introduction 9 15 Copyright © 2006 Hansa Trust 1. Moments of Truth All rights reserved Library of Congree Cataloging-in-Publication Data 2. God Alone 59 Praver, Asha. Swami Kriyananda - As We Knew Him p. cm. 3. Divine Friend 103 Includes bibliographical references & Teacher ISBN: 978-156589-220-0 1. alsdkajsdfòkljd 2. alkdsjfalsdkfjasdlkj 3. alsdkjfadslfkjsdlfkj 173 R155.F36Jdkdkf 2006 610’.92 - dc34 4. From Joy I Came [B] 2000000000 183 Printed in Canada OR USA 5. First Impressions 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 6. In Service to His Guru 225 Design by Tejindra Scott Tully Thanks to all the photographers, known and unknown, who have so lovingly contributed to this book. 7. For Joy I Live 285 8. Through All Trials 331 I Sing Thy Name Crystal Clarity Publishers 14618 Tyler Foote Road Nevada City, CA 95959 USA 9. Grace 399 Tel: 800.424.1055 or 530.478.7600 [email protected] email: www.crystalclarity.com 10. In Sacred Joy I Melt 439 I N T R O D U C T I O N Vivid in My Heart The first time I saw Swami Kriyananda was in a tent set up behind the Beta Chi fraternity house on the campus of Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California. It was late November 1969. He was in his early forties. I was twenty-two years old. Usually the tent served as an expanded venue for the parties for which the fraternity was famous. It was the ’60s, though, and every- thing was changing. Someone thought it would be interesting to invite a swami to speak. I had attended Stanford University, but had dropped out after only one year. I had hoped to find teachers there who were not only knowledgeable, but also wise. It soon became apparent to me that my professors, though brilliant in their own fields, were groping in the dark for happiness even as I was. So I left. Soon after, I discovered the Bhagavad Gita and the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna. Even as a child, I had the feeling that something far more important was going on in life than most people were aware of. At first, I thought the adults around me were all in on the secret and were just holding it back from me as a kind of elaborate practical joke. “Soon,” I thought, “they will reveal it to me.” Only slowly did I come to know that this was not the case. My parents and teachers were good people, intelligent, honorable, and kind. For the most 9 part, though, they accepted life as it appeared to be and expected me He was slender, a little less than six feet tall. He moved with a to do the same. certain grace and gave the impression of great strength, although Once I discovered Eastern religion, at least I had a name for what more like a dancer than an athlete. Later I heard the phrase “lion-like I was seeking: Self-realization. Still, I had no idea how to turn these Swami.” It described him perfectly. high ideals into an actual way of life. I read about the saints of many The instant I saw him, the thought flashed in my mind, “He has religious traditions, hoping to find in their example a way to bridge what I want.” With a determined step and what I came to recognize the gap between theory and practice. as his characteristic posture—straight spine, slightly raised chest so Their stories were deeply inspiring and I devoured book after book. as to meet life “heart-first”—he covered the short distance from the The circumstances of their lives, though, were so different from my doorway to the stage at the center of the tent. By the time he reached own. Catholic monasteries, Indian ashrams, Himalayan caves, leper the platform, before I even heard the sound of his voice, I had forged colonies in the middle of the jungle—their example proved to be of with Swamiji a lifelong bond. little practical value. My life was becoming one of quiet desperation. He gave a lecture, but I don’t remember a word of what he said. Then Swamiji walked into that tent and everything changed. All I remember is that when he finished, I thought, “This is the most I was in the last row of the bleachers, way up toward the top of intelligent man I have ever met.” the tent. I had wanted to be closer to the stage, but my companions Somehow I picked up a few facts. Swamiji is an American, al- insisted on this faraway perch. The choice proved felicitous, I daresay, though he was born in Europe, and spent his childhood there. He is God-inspired, for I was directly across from the entrance and high a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. He had been part of Self- enough to have a unobstructed view of Swami Kriyananda when he Realization Fellowship (SRF), the organization Yogananda founded, walked in. but now he was on his own. He lived in San Francisco and taught Swami means teacher. Ji is a suffix denoting both affection and classes all over the Bay Area to earn money for a community he was respect. From the moment I saw him he was Swamiji to me. The starting in the Sierra Nevada foothills, about four hours away. He image of Swamiji coming through that doorway is as vivid in my called the community Ananda. heart today as it was the moment it happened. I owned a copy of Yogananda’s classic Autobiography of a Yogi, but He was dressed in the traditional orange robes of an Indian Swami: I had never read more than a few pages. The devotional tone and the a long loose fitting shirt and a sarong-like garment called a dhoti. He plethora of miracles had not appealed to me. On page 9, the yogi had a neatly trimmed beard and long hair, brownish in color, which Lahiri Mahasaya materializes in a wheat field to deliver a spiritual hung straight and thin down his back. message to Yogananda’s father. I don’t think I even got to page 10. 10 11 Now, with renewed interest, I tried again. If Swamiji was devoted were obscure to me, he would patiently explain what he was doing and to this book and its author, I had to give it another try. This time, I why. Whatever I asked, he would answer. In this way, again and again was enthralled. I couldn’t understand why Autobiography of a Yogi had I was able to test my intuition against his explanations, until gradually not held my interest before. Later I understood that my first meeting I gained the confidence to write this book. with Swamiji opened my heart not only to him, but to Paramhansa What follows is not a biography in the conventional sense. You Yogananda as well. will learn about many of the significant events and achievements of It wasn’t long before I threw my lot in with Swamiji and moved Swamiji’s life, but it is not a comprehensive account. There is no chro- to Ananda. nology or sequence to the stories that follow. Sometimes events from The idea of writing this book came very early in my time with different time periods and different locations are included in the same Swamiji. I have always had a deep longing to help others, but until I vignette. It is a biography of consciousness—Swami Kriyananda as we met him, I didn’t feel I had anything meaningful to give. Now I was have known him. eager to pass on to others all that I was learning. Many people have shared their stories with me. Some names are I began giving classes for guests at our retreat, which I filled with included; others have preferred to appear in the book only as “an stories about Swamiji. I longed, though, to make a more lasting Ananda devotee.” When there is no other attribution, the first person contribution. Though I hardly felt qualified to write a book, I began accounts are my own experiences. I have also described the experiences to write down my experiences with Swamiji. When I spoke to him of others as I observed them, or learned about them from Swamiji about it, he was reassuring. himself. Names that appear first with an asterisk (*) are pseudonyms. “You don’t have to do it now,” he said, “you can do it later when Unless it is clear from the context that the individuals involved you feel ready. I will help you.” are from India, devotees referred to by a single Sanskrit name are In the many years that passed between the first time we spoke of Europeans or Americans upon whom Swamiji has bestowed these it and when I actually began to write this book, Swamiji referred to it names as a spiritual blessing. Swamiji’s appointed spiritual successor, only occasionally. It was always in my mind, though, and, I believe, for example, is Jyotish, which means inner light. Jyotish’s wife and also in his, for I see now all the ways in which he helped me, just as partner in leading Ananda is Devi, which is a name for Divine Mother. he said he would. My name, Asha, means hope. He included me in so many situations where I didn’t really belong The name Master refers only to Paramhansa Yogananda.