Swami Kriyananda

One of Paramhansa Yogananda’s foremost disciples, Swami Kriyananda was the founder of the Ananda. He met his Guru in 1948 when he was only 22 and dedicated the next six decades of his life to sharing the teachings of Sanatan Dharma and Kriya Yoga, until his passing in 2013.

Swami Kriyananda was a prolific writer with his work spanning more than 150 books. These books are revised and expanded commentaries on Yogananda’s teachings. Books such as the Essence of Bhagavad Gita, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, The Revelations of Christ and The New Path (Swami Kriyananda’s autobiography on his time with the Guru) have been his noteworthy contributions in highlighting some of his Master’s most important work.
He was a trained musician and composed over 400 pieces of music (solos, instrumentals, choir, chants, etc). Through his music he channeled higher states of consciousness and helped innumerable listeners to attune themselves too.

Swamiji’s work continues to inspire readers and devotees to be better disciples, be supported on their own journeys, and especially to help them learn and practice meditation and Kriya Yoga.

Swamiji’s Early Life

Born in Azuga, Romania, on May 19,1926 as James Donald Walters, Swami Kriyananda’s search for self realization began very early in life.

As a child, at night, he would see himself absorbed in an inner radiant light and his “consciousness would expand beyond the limits of my body.” He always felt, even as a child that there “must be some higher reality. Another world, perhaps, radiant beautiful, harmonious, in relation to which this earthly plane represented mere exile.”

His early childhood was spent in Rumania where he was surrounded by nature and music. Swamiji described himself as reserved, pensive and forever questioning as a child.

When World War II hit Europe, at the age of 13, Swamiji moved back to America with his family. Through his schooling in America, his thirst for knowing God and the need to ‘know’ more about life as he was living it, grew stronger with each passing year.

A semester before his graduation from Brown University he left it, in search of God.

The disciple meets his Guru

After he left college he spent nearly a year or so trying to become a writer/playwright. However, even that was not satisfactory. He felt that until he himself knew truth, he would only be sharing his own ignorance with people through his writings. And so Swamiji decided that he would lead a simple life, spent in contemplation of God.

As chance would have it, during this time, he happened to visit a famous bookstore. There he found books on the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga, Upanishads, Ramayana and Mahabharata. He also saw the Autobiography of a Yogi and Paramhansa Yogananda’s picture he said “affected me strangely. Never had I seen any face radiate back to me so much goodness, humility and love.”

The moment he finished reading that book, he took the next bus out of New York, and travelled for 4 days and 4 nights to Los Angeles in search of Paramhansa Yogananda. Arriving in Los Angeles on September 12, 1948, the first words Swamiji said when he met his Guru were, “I want to be your disciple.” Swamiji was immediately accepted into the monastery and went on to spend the following three and a half years in the presence and grace of Paramhansa Yogananda, until the latter’s passing on March 7, 1952.

Read More