Many years ago Swami Kriyananda had the perspicacity to appoint couples as the leaders of the core Ananda communities. I don't have a global perspective on just how unusual this might be in today's world, but from my own experience I can't think of any other organizations that have such a structure (except "mom and pop" businesses). About the only explanation I recall Swami Kriyananda (SK) offering was the obvious one: citing the benefit of balancing male and female energies.
SK frequently praised and acknowledged the rising visibility and influence of women as both an antidote and a solution to the dangers of too strongly a masculine one. Warfare is no longer a viable response to conflict for reasons that I don't need to dwell upon. Having a couple in a leadership position represented his recognition of the need for a feminine influence. Recently in a talk given by Swami Kriyananda's hand picked successor, Nayaswami Jyotish Novak (who, with his wife, Devi Novak, are Ananda's spiritual directors worldwide), Jyotish commented on how this leadership model is well suited to the need of our age.
Recently, a female student asked me, "Why are there mostly women in this class?" I was nonplussed because I don't really have a factual answer. There's no doubt in my mind (absent actual statistical facts), that the majority of students in Ananda classes and amongst our members are women. Nor is this unusual in "New Thought" organizations or in yoga and meditation organizations (or so I would assume).
My own experience over 39 years as a member of Ananda is overwhelmingly that women jump to accept and successfully carry out responsibilities 2:1 over men. Men, and I include myself, will more likely do so if it's their idea and if they can run it. (Mind you, once in charge, most people, women included, take complete control: for better or less.) I add my experience to that expressed all too commonly by both men and women that women are more energetic, articulate, and perceptive. There are some skills and talents that men, by tradition, or women, by upbringing, excel. Whether due to nature or nurture is of no interest to my thoughts today. I am just saying that in group dynamics, especially perhaps in volunteer or nonprofit type organizations, women leap to the top naturally. More naturally cooperative and harmonious (or so it seems to me), women fit the need of today's culture.
But is this unilaterally positive? No, it isn't! Men and women, and now I wish to move towards the terms, male and female ENERGIES (which inhabit BOTH male and female "bodies"), are simply two sides of the same coin. One simply CANNOT debase the other without debasing him/her self. We need BOTH! Let me explain this in terms that our founder, Swami Kriyananda, did: both by direct experience (that changed his life, and mine, and that of thousands) and in principle.
From time to time, you see, he would comment on the differences in male and female leadership qualities and styles. He rued the fact that Paramhansa Yogananda's organization, Self-Realization Fellowship Inc (Los Angeles, CA) fell into the hands of an all (or mostly)-female Board of Directors not long after Yogananda's passing and continuing, more or less, to the present time. He described how in that organization men were treated as second-class citizens towards whom it was assumed any personal initiative was rooted in the "evil-ego" that men seemed endowed with since birth. Though the women leaders couldn't change the fact that their guru, Yogananda, appointed men to the positions as public teachers, the women were ever watchful and suspicious that if any of them excelled at teaching that it would inflate their ego and a schism was sure to follow. Hence when not teaching, the men were assigned to physical labor tasks such as landscaping or construction; their living quarters were second rate compared to the women. The decades-long leader of that organization was quoted as saying matter of factly, "Women are more spiritual than men."
In addition to jealously guarding their authority from every conceivable, real or imagined threat, the board of directors controlled and ruled upon every minute detail of ashram and organizational life. Little scope was given to anyone else. The unspoken view of public service was, "Let them come to us. We'll decide what we give them (in spiritual teachings), though few are as ready as we who have given our lives to this work." It took fifty years to edit and publish Yogananda's second greatest work (his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita) when he, himself, in the last year of his life announced that it would be published that very same year! In instituting a twelve year lawsuit to "destroy" Ananda (as the judge viewed it), they considered Ananda an interloper who dared to "use" Yogananda's teachings for its own purposes! Admittedly, in the meantime, they developed their lands and properties to an exquisite level of beauty: something we and thousands, as visitors and pilgrims, enjoy to this day.
In SK's years there (the 1950's) as a monk, and indeed, even as one of the leaders (being for a time both Vice-President and a board member), but always being outnumbered by the older women leaders, he found that his expansive ideas and energies were consistently thwarted and worse, viewed with suspicion by them. Indeed, it was no small measure the key factor to his being summarily dismissed from that organization in 1961. We are grateful for that because although his greatest test, his labor gave birth to Ananda.
Consider it from their power of view: the power and magnetism of Paramhansa Yogananda. Those female disciples who served his ministry all those many years were understandably no match, in their role as successors, for Yogananda's dynamic energies. No doubt they were, in fact, somewhat exhausted by Yogananda's ceaseless projects and tireless campaigns. This is not a criticism but an explanation for why, after Yogananda's passing, they "closed the gate" and turned the "place" into a museum. (Admittedly an exaggeration, here, but only somewhat; nonetheless, their devotion to him cannot be questioned.)
Jump forward to Ananda present day: Swami Kriyananda, tireless campaigner, lecturer, writer, and inspiration to thousands, is now gone. Working as we, the first generation, did during his lifetime to support his ministry, we are no match for Kriyananda's dynamic and creative will power and attunement to Yogananda.
Preservation of his works and memory is, in fact, an appropriate priority for us at this time. We have an obligation to preserve the traditions, music, customs, and policies established by our founder. The vast reservoir of music, books, lectures, and other writings left to us by him could keep us busy for a lifetime extracting and adapting their inspirational and practical value in our service to others.
Fortunately, we have a distinct advantage over the pattern that befell SRF because Swami Kriyananda trained and encouraged us to be creative and expansive. He appointed couples as the primary leaders of Ananda. Since his passing in 2013 there's been a veritable explosion of growth and creative endeavors throughout Ananda worldwide.
Nonetheless, it is a distinct possibility that the gender imbalance either simply reflects the new phase of preservation that follows Kriyananda's passing or will influence Ananda's directions towards consolidation and preservation of what has been established. Either way, it seems to me that it will be a long time before anyone has the energy and magnetism to make any substantive contributions or initiate new directions to Swamiji's legacy. This is not necessarily a problem; at least not yet.
A balance of energies is necessary even if minor fluctuations naturally occur. When Kriyananda would speak of the gender differences in terms of leadership he would say things like the male influence tends to be expansive and impersonal; the female, personal and nurturing. And, he would add: we need both. To use an outdated archetypal image: someone has to go out and hunt to support the home, and someone has to stay home to protect it and its offspring.
With our modern awareness and sensibilities we can now distinguish between the biology of a person and their "energy." "Male" and "female" in this discussion refers not to bodies but to the dominant direction of interest of a person's energy. At the same time, we are asking for trouble if we pretend that biology doesn't influence consciousness! (Consider the world of entertainment and advertising to see the emphasis placed upon gender distinctions and traits in attracting success and sales.)
In Ananda's current phase of consolidation and preservation, appropriate though it is, an invisible, magnetic shield silently says, "This is what Ananda is." Implied in this is the even less conscious thought: "don't think to change it." It is as though we could be saying: "Ananda has come of age and is maturing in our self-identity and confidence around who we are. We have arrived for we now possess the spiritual wealth of our founder: his attunement with Paramhansa Yogananda!"
In contradistinction to the statistics of the gender makeup of Ananda membership, it is worth noting that our rapidly changing culture surrounding gender awareness makes it possible for women to confidently and openly express male energies, and, for men to express feminine energies. (I am not referring to sexual orientation.) To some degree, this potentially undermines the observable statistical imbalance and may, in fact, suggest that there's very little imbalance. But I have no way to measure that and my own experience of people is that most of us are distinctly influenced by biology.
Nonetheless, since we have no equivalent "Swami Kriyananda" to embody the expansive public service energies that are part and parcel of our "work," we, left to our own tendencies, might too easily prefer to shepherd our existing flocks with the care and compassion such duties require (and thus, unaware of the consequences of our actions, perhaps "closing the gate" behind us to protect them).
During his lifetime and in the building of Ananda, Swami Kriyananda instinctively established a dynamic, yet fruitful, "tension" between caring for our "home" (the various residential communities and the needs of our members) and engaging in public service; between nurturing our membership and serving the public. His books tended, generally, to reach out to the broadest segment of the public with interesting and varied topics that could show the underlying message of unity and spirituality beneficial to all through meditation, philosophy, parenting, marriage and much more. By contrast, those to whom he appointed to lead the communities that he had established were given the role to tend and nurture the needs and spiritual welfare of individual members. Outreach, though important, was and generally still is limited to a local service area and directed towards students and members.
Not long after Swami's death, Ananda's worldwide leadership affirmed our commitment to outreach and public service. Recently this was reaffirmed and focused towards SK's successors: Jyotish and Devi Novak. But that's easier said than done because our generation of leaders does not have the public recognition or karmic role of SK. Not surprisingly, the resources committed to outreach lag behind the resources committed to what we are used to making as our priority: the maintenance and growth of the communities, and the training and support of our members. Perhaps this is as it needs to be for now. We can coast for a while on the lifelong public service of our founder. But just how long?
In all fairness (returning now to the gender identity of Ananda members), yoga and meditation probably does attract more women than men. Perhaps our statistics are in line with the reality everywhere at the present time. Nonetheless, the frequency and clarity with which Swami Kriyananda commented upon the need for male energy should be a warning to us. A true leader is compassionate and understanding and good with people. But we cannot expect all future leaders to express all aspects of the ideal leader, and certainly not in their younger years as they are learning and growing. A potential leader might prove, at first, to be a gadfly of new ideas (just as SK was long ago) or even critique. (Just as some of the brightest students in school are not those who are the teacher's pet.)
It is true, as he, himself wrote, that the devotee (male and female) must begin the spiritual search with qualities of humility, devotion and receptivity, but strength and will power, too, are essential to spiritual growth. Given the dynamics of cultural conditioning in modern times, and as Swami Kriyananda found himself a victim of, it is all too easy to assume that softer qualities are spiritual and outward flowing energies are egotistical. Easy, in part, because so often true: but not always!
For, in fact, the emergent form of spirituality rejects the historic tradition that expansiveness is born of ego. The time for rejecting the world in the name of spirituality is rapidly vanishing. The time for "bringing Spirit to "work" in the world" is gaining acceptance by virtue of the need in our times. Men and women of greater awareness express this instinctively. But the old habits cling and resist as well.
In the last two weeks or so, and taking place at the Ananda Community and Center near Assisi, Italy, was a gathering of younger members, many of whom have leadership potential for the future. Ananda IS making an effort to nurture and recognize leadership qualities. SK taught us that in group dynamics and organizational activities, leadership, while not better or more important than other roles, is, nonetheless, a necessary talent, role and skill. Given the positive changes in culture and consciousness away from hierarchy, leadership energies tend to be mistrusted even if the role remains essential to any successful venture. We must avoid that inviting view, born of an extreme affirmation of egalitarian principles. "All men are created equal" is a pleasing affirmation (applicable, truly, to our potential) but quite obviously is untrue in actual fact.
It is my hope and prayer, and expectation, that the present leadership of Ananda, wherever situated, will have the wisdom (and the remembrance of the example of our founder, Swami Kriyananda) to recognize and nurture leadership qualities in those men and women inspired to serve the public work of Yogananda in the world today and in the years to come.
In thoughtful recollection,
Nayaswami Hriman
This blog's address: https://www.Hrimananda.org! I'd like to share thoughts on meditation and its application to daily life. On Facebook I can be found as Hriman Terry McGilloway and twitter @hriman. Your comments are welcome. Use the key word search feature to find articles you might be interested in. To subscribe write to me at jivanmukta@duck.com Blessings, Nayaswami Hriman
Showing posts with label Self-Realization Fellowship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Self-Realization Fellowship. Show all posts
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Monday, October 19, 2015
Ananda & SRF: Part 5 - What the Future May Hold
Since these posts appear in reverse order, scroll down the blog page and at the very bottom is a link that says "Older posts".....click on that to find the first two articles. Sorry for the inconvenience. Next time I'll post last first.
Part 5 - Conclusion: What the Future May Hold
Part 5 - Conclusion: What the Future May Hold
I cannot separate my Ananda life experience from my thoughts here,
but I do feel that my visit to the SRF shrines gave me some deeper insight and
appreciation for our fellow SRF gurubhais and for the differences between SRF
and Ananda.
The SRF shrines need to be stewarded, preserved and protected.
Ananda members need, in our communities, to support ourselves as we share the
teachings and serve our guru’s nonsectarian work. To do this, we must build
meditation and yoga centers, residential communities, retreat centers, publish
books, create schools for children, and much more. All of this must, by the
necessity of our material circumstances and by the necessity of our own ideals,
must come from the efforts and support of our own members. We have never had,
nor would it have been good or right for us to have had, an endowment.
So naturally, and without regard to our past differences, we
express and share PY's teachings with different styles. Yet, when I think of
those monastics who are truly living the life, I see the same twinkle of joy
and vibration of wisdom that we were blessed to have in Swami Kriyananda.
Even in his will and written legacy, Swami Kriyananda enjoins Ananda
members to hold in respect and love SRF: its leaders, members, and monastics.
He wants us to be open to cooperate with SRF, if ever the opportunity is found,
as equals and with mutual love and respect. Each will remain independent and
separate; each must be focused on our respective dharma and special manner of
expression, forged in and by the crucible of our own history and training.
It is not easy for those of the conflict generation to forget,
forgive and reconcile. Like a grease stain on a white shirt, it will never
entirely be the same. Time may heal by the anesthesia of forgetfulness or the ignorance
of future generations, but for those who experienced the years of conflict, it
is difficult to erase the scars of wounds forged and incurred on the
battlefield of the past.
And yet, it will happen. It IS happening. We ARE devotees of a
great master. "Only love will take my place," PY told us. There is no
other way. Ironically, this phase may be the real spiritual test,
greater even than the battles of the past (where black and white were crystal
clear, each according to his point of view)! But it must and will take place.
It takes place, however, person to person. Institutional memories are long and,
well, “institutionalized.” The hard shell of past portrayal will only be
cracked by softened, attuned individual hearts and souls, warmed by the
sunshine of the guru’s grace and wisdom.
This pilgrimage showed me the truth that this forgiveness and
reconciliation will come and is taking place. The pace or form of it is
certainly not mine to know, but of its progress, even if halting or taking two
steps back before progressing again, I have no doubt. This, I feel, is a
blessing I have received from our pilgrimage, and it is a grace at least as
great as the spiritual vibrations of my guru felt at the SRF, sacred shrines,
for, in fact, there is no difference.
Joy to you!
Swami Hrimananda
Ananda & SRF: Part 4 - Swami Kriyananda & Ananda
Part 4 – Swami Kriyananda
& Ananda
Not only was Swamiji very young when he came to Master, but the
guru was in his final and more withdrawn years of life. Swami himself was
inspired by the expansive universality and power of these teachings. But on a
personal level he stood, he often told us, in “awe” of his guru. The thought of
any form of familiarity was unthinkable. (This did not, apparently, stop the
young “Walter” from pestering his guru with many questions.)
Added to this, was the fact that Swamiji’s own dharma and inspiration
was to share these teachings. Yogananda had no need, at least from Swamiji, for
personal service; others held those roles. Yogananda, in turn, focused his training
of the young monk, Walter, who later took the spiritual name, Swami Kriyananda,
on the teachings themselves. Within months, the Master appointed Walter in
charge of the other, older (and longer term) monks; he soon gave a kriya
initiation; began teaching, editing, and writing. He wasn’t even 25 years old!
Thus we find, here also, a difference between SRF and Ananda. The
one inclines to view Yogananda more personally with the teachings standing in
the (now absent) guru’s stead (in the form of those impersonal, bi-weekly
printed lessons); and the other, Ananda, inclined to emphasize the teachings as
universal and as having personal and creative application in each person’s daily
life. The first generation of SRF leaders seem to have established and accepted
the fact that their guru was gone and what remained was for the organization to
take on a caretaker role of sharing the teachings of the Master bereft of his
magnetic and transforming presence.
The latter, Ananda, by contrast, was conceived and born after the
guru was gone and with the mission to experiment and see how to apply those
teachings to daily life. This was to be done through the dynamic and very personal
vehicle of the “world brotherhood colonies” that Yogananda sowed “into the
ether” by his “spoken word” at the garden party in Beverly Hills in 1949. The
difference is understandable and not noticeably different in the beginning, but
over time, like non-parallel lines, becomes widely divergent. SRF’s removal,
after Yogananda’s passing, from the “Aims and Ideals” of SRF of the goal to establish
and support world brotherhood colonies follows this distinction just as much as
Ananda’s dedication to this ideal supports this divergence.
Yogananda’s many efforts to reach out past the monastic life — establishing
a school for children at Mt. Washington, a Yoga University, a world brotherhood
colony in Encinitas, a farm, a cafĂ©, etc. etc. — all were ultimately abandoned.
It would be natural for those monastics to consider that he also abandoned the ideals
that inspired him to try. (Swami Kriyananda taught us that while it wasn’t the
right time in American history for these projects to succeed, Yogananda’s
efforts signaled his guidance for future disciples. In part, Kriyananda’s view
is based on the simple fact that until his guru’s death in 1952 Yogananda spoke
forcefully and frequently about the ideal of communities.)
Returning to my original point, it seems to me that from the very
beginning, the SRF monastic experience contained the seeds of "us and
them." When many years later SRF became financially endowed, they could at
last afford to remain apart from the need to depend upon public acceptance.
PY's autobiography has immortalized him in the public mind. This is the
Master’s legacy. It also has minimize the need for his SRF children to do more
than mostly hold up the “Autobiography” and continue to offer the lessons.
(There’s the annual convocation, and travel by the monastics to various centers
worldwide, as well. Both of these are primarily offered to its own members.)
The world, like Elvis Presley or the Beatles, would simply have to
come to them.
In quite a contrast, Swami Kriyananda founded the first Ananda
community in the hectic heyday and backyard of the San Francisco-based hippy
movement with its "back-to-the-land" and anti-establishment culture.
It was communal in spirit and it was communitarian in form. Though a magnetic
spiritual leader, Swami's ("SK") intention was to manifest PY's ideal
of intentional communities. It was not simply to create another monastery.
This required a more participatory and involved approach rather
than a traditionally hierarchical one. SK never had a financial endowment and
from the beginning needed and welcomed the support, commitment and creative
contributions of others. I won't go further to describe his enlightened,
supportive leadership and wisdom, but suffice to say, by contrast, Ananda's
very communitarian mission required
fostering an openness and inclusivity markedly different than that of SRF.
Next article is Part 5 - Conclusion: What
the Future May Hold
Ananda & SRF: Part 3 - Our Respective Narratives
Part 3 – Our Respective
Narratives
Setting aside any residual feelings between Ananda members and SRF
monastics for the battles we once waged against each other, I can understand how
card-carrying SRF members might be treated differently from the general public.
Members would be disciples; disciples would come on pilgrimage, treating these
places as sacred ground, attuning themselves to the vibrations of the guru. Thus
the impulse to create and validate membership credentials would arise
naturally. And, once a visitor presented his credentials, he might be welcomed
more warmly than the many casual visitors.
Even if there had not been a long, drawn out lawsuit or preceding
years of SRF displeasure, Ananda members would occupy some kind of middle
ground between SRF members and the general public. But given the simple fact of
Ananda not being a part of SRF and the reality that Swamiji and Ananda were
viewed akin to apostates, it is not surprising that for decades Ananda members who
visited these shrines encountered from the hosting monastics mixed and confused
signals ranging from welcome to disdain.
Most younger monastics, having little knowledge of or interest in Ananda,
or any personal animus toward Swami Kriyananda (whom they never knew), were at
least cordial if not welcoming. (If they knew anything at all it would have
been presumably negative.)
So, you see: quite apart from our particular and specific challenges
with each other, we would have been grouped primarily with the general and
unknowing (and “heathen”) general public! Polite, yes…..but….
This idea of Ananda members being “neither fish nor fowl” played
itself out in our recent visit. Our hosts were friendly and warm and, as is
natural and their training as docents, shared stories of the history of the
property we were visiting and stories of Master and his disciples. What they
presumably did not know was that the stories (even some of the historical
anecdotes) were as well known to us (from Swami Kriyananda) as to them. In some
cases they were likely repeating stories told them by others who were much more
distant in time from the occurrence of those stories than Kriyananda was (who
personally knew Master and heard many stories from him, first hand).
The experience was both surreal and disconnecting. We of course
appreciated their sincerity and presumed their innocence but whereas other
visitors would be naturally appreciative of the effort, we couldn’t help feel
distanced for it made our discipleship invisible (or, worse case, considered of
no value).
Another facet of these stories is a distinction we have found commonplace
between SRF monastics and Swamiji over many years, many visits, recordings, and
publications. Swami rarely told a story of Paramhansa Yogananda that didn’t
convey a spiritual lesson applicable not only to himself but to his audience.
By contrast, the stories we heard on our tour, apart from the
merely historical ones, portrayed the guru as sweet, charming or otherwise being
very human or relating in a human way to his close disciples. The lesson of
such stories was at least as much the message that those direct disciples were
greatly blessed as how charming or sweet the Master was. But no lesson — useful
to us — accompanied the story.
This, too, hints at an even deeper distinction (though not an
absolute one) between SRF and Ananda. It has to do with the extent each has
inherited a view of Yogananda as either unique or as timeless; as personal or
as universal.
The narrative goes something like this: Swami Kriyananda came to Paramhansa
Yogananda as a young man, age 22. The other close disciples had, in the case of
SRF’s leaders, been with the Master many more years, meeting him not only when
they, too, were young but when Master himself was much younger and in a
different phase of life. Charming, gracious, a powerful orator, and mixing affably
with the low and the high of society…...
It is not surprising that the early and close disciples related to
their guru in a more personal manner. Think what they went through together;
how small was their group; how personal and particular was the form of service
they rendered to him (cooking, cleaning, paying bills, etc.) living in close
quarters. None of these were appointed as public teachers as Master was the
guru. (Who could possibly represent him adequately!) With few exceptions, he
appointed men to public roles and with few exceptions these men betrayed him by
taking pride in their roles and even competing with their guru for attention.
Ananda & SRF - Part 2 - Yogananda comes to America
Part 2 – Paramhansa
Yogananda comes to America
So, let's roll back the film of our vision to the early days of
Yogananda's life in America. When I look at old photographs of Yogananda
("PY") taken during the 20's and 30's I observe among the many faces that
surrounded him people who seem clueless as to the true nature and consciousness
of the “Swami” (and avatar) standing beside or in front of them. Not only
clueless but many seem positively worldly, even skeptical.
It must have been difficult for him in America. What a "great
work" PY had to do to overcome prejudice and to dig deep to find fertile,
intuitive souls from the midst of the frenetic and materialistic American
culture. There's an oft repeated story that at one lecture, attended by
thousands (as most of his lectures were during his "barnstorming"
days touring the cities of America), PY was congratulated by a student on the
size of the crowd. PY replied, perhaps wryly, "Yes, but........only a
handful will take up this teaching."
And, sure enough it was true. PY had to struggle against great
odds and crushing indifference and ignorance, to share his message of
Self-realization to Americans. Only a small handful became disciples committed
to serving his work with him. This small band included those who lived with him
at Mt. Washington during those first two decades and a half. During the Depression
of the 30’s, he said they grew tomatoes and other vegetables there simply to have
enough to eat.
But even during Paramhansa Yogananda’s final years and after his
acclaimed autobiography had been published, Swami Kriyananda described Mt.
Washington headquarters as a “hotel,” with students checking in and out, as if
the guru there didn’t meet their standards! Swamiji quotes Master describing
the final days (or years) as including a housecleaning, “many heads will roll,”
he stated. And indeed, as Swamiji recounts in his own autobiography (“The New
Path”), many monks left. In his lectures, Swamiji would sometimes make the
comparison to Jesus’ life when, near the end of his ministry, the Bible says “and
many walked with him no more.”
In the book, “American Veda,” by Phillip Goldberg, he describes
Paramhansa Yogananda’s innovation to send out mail-order lessons in meditation
and philosophy as revolutionary in his generation as was the Sears Roebuck
catalog in a prior generation. It made accessible to people at great distances Paramhansa
Yogananda’s high spiritual teachings, even kriya yoga – people who would never, otherwise, have had
access to them.
But, it also created a gulf of time and distance between the
Master’s close disciples (who printed and sent them out) and the faceless students
they served. The very format of the printed lessons, impersonal by necessity,
only contributed to the gulf between them.
Thus, it seems to me that from the very beginning of Paramhansa
Yogananda’s ministry, there was a chasm between the public and the close
disciples. Jesus, too spoke to large crowds, but few, perhaps only the 12, shared
his life and served his ministry full-time. While this was presumably no surprise
to Paramhansa Yogananda, it could have only engendered confusion, insecurity,
fear and doubt, even, perchance, resentment among the close disciples.
Swami Kriyananda, in both writings and lectures, would sometimes
explain the many hardships, and, yes, even lawsuits, PY had to endure during
his life. Those hardships and betrayals were experienced therefore also by the
close-knit spiritual family of the monastic disciples who surrounded and served
him, and, who would naturally want to protect him, feeling also the hurts of
betrayal and apparently failed ventures.
This gap, then is what I perceived visiting these shrines. The
worldly consciousness of those thousands of visitors (at least suggested by
their perfect tans and figures and their up-to-date, chic fashions) contrasted
with the ego transcendent aspirations of the monastics create a climate not
unlike a zoo where each species observes the other with curiosity or
indifference (but certainly not understanding or warmth). The monastics who live
at these places serve as ushers and docents, greeters and hosts, to the curious
general public who appear, day after day, wanting to take from these shrines
their beauty but who do not stay, who make no commitment, offer no (or little) support
and who may never come back again. The monastics are not unlike museum guards
and might easily inclined to be mute and withdrawn.
And, what I know from visiting temples and shrines elsewhere in
the world, curiosity seekers (and even lesser devotees) will sometimes pinch
items to take home for their collections or private devotions. Relics and
furniture must thus be protected in such places. (There were security guards at
the Encinitas grounds.)
Next article is Part 3 – Our Respective
Narratives
Ananda & SRF: Why so Different?
This begins a five-part series inspired by a recent visit of Ananda members from Seattle to southern California where Paramhansa Yogananda had his home and headquarters from 1925 to 1952. Each segment will be posted separately to be read at one's leisure. (Reminder: my views are entirely my own.)
Part 1 – We Visit SRF Locations
in Southern California
I and 30 other members of the Seattle Ananda Sangha spent nearly a
week in the greater Los Angeles area visiting the places where Paramhansa
Yogananda lived and taught. Swami Kriyananda also lived and taught in most of
these same places during the last 3.5 years of Yogananda's life and, between
there and India, for another roughly 8 or 9 years following Yogananda's passing
in 1952. During this time and before being ousted from Yogananda's
organization, Swami Kriyananda was Vice-President and a member of the Board of
Directors for some of those years in "SRF."
As most readers of this blog are keenly aware, Ananda was sued by
SRF and it took some 12 years for the suit to be put to rest. It cost both
parties millions of dollars. Though Ananda was assessed with minor monetary
damages for duplicating and selling two audio recordings of Yogananda's voice,
Ananda's rights to represent Yogananda's teachings, name, image, etc. were
upheld. A book, "Fight for Religious Freedom," authored by Ananda's
main attorney, Jon Parsons, details some of the history and issues. But today I
am not writing about that long and difficult struggle that has so shaped and
focused Ananda's work ever since. This is not an apologist effort, for either
side, nor am I focused on any other aspects of Ananda or SRF beyond the topic I
describe below.
Last week, then, as we toured the SRF places, I could not help but
ask: "Why are we (SRF and Ananda) so different?" This wasn't a “good
vs. bad” question. It is a curious and inquiring one. Members of SRF,
especially referring now to its monastic members who are the stewards of these
shrines, are obviously devoted to Yogananda, practicing the kriya yoga
meditation techniques, and sincere in every possible way. Yogananda's living
spirit and grace surely brings to them, as much as anyone, and possibly more
than to most, the soul awakening and personal transformation that disciples of
a great guru seek.
And, in fact, those whom we met, our hosts, were gracious, kind,
centered and indeed everything one naturally expects from devotees who are
deeply committed.
What, then, do I mean by "different?" To keep my
thoughts focused, clear and simple, I would say the differences are typically
described as follows: the one (SRF) is more reserved and the other (Ananda) is
considered more “open.” The one, SRF, is run by monastics (monks and nuns) and
the other (Ananda) includes families, singles, and couples as well as a small
contingent of monks and nuns. So the simplified “reserved” vs. “open” fits the
picture well enough for my purposes today.
But why? Aren’t we both followers of the same spiritual teacher?
Yes, but here’s my theme for this article: I believe that the circumstances of the
founding and early history of each organization has influenced the character of
each.
As we toured the beautiful gardens at the Encinitas Hermitage on
what was a typical weekday, I observed many other visitors besides our tour
group. Most visitors did not look especially like disciples. It is the same at the
Lake Shrine in Los Angeles, which is better known to the general public and
which sits on the outskirts of one of the world’s most populace cities. At both
of these wonderful places, one more or less observes a wide range of visitors
attracted simply to the beauty, serenity and peace of the place. Based on the
testimony of people I’ve met over many years, I believe that many visitors have
no idea who Paramhansa Yogananda was (or, if so, only generally), or his
teachings or organization.
It was in observing the steady flow of casual visitors that the seed
of my thinking was planted.
Before I begin let me say that most of what I learned about the
life of Paramhansa Yogananda and the history of SRF was from Ananda’s founder,
Swami Kriyananda. Other sources include Yogananda’s own writings and voice
recordings, the writings of other direct disciples, my own, personal
observations, and the testimony of other Ananda members. I am not going to
constantly give resource quotes for the statements I am about to make, as it is
a mixture of all of these sources. Beyond these sources I will admit out front
that I have very little personal experience or personal contacts with SRF and
its members. In my years at Ananda since the late 70’s I’ve had little interest
in the personalities, activities, opinions, writings or ministry of SRF leaders
or any particular interest in SRF’s organizational activities or policies.
Part 2 – Paramhansa
Yogananda comes to America - next article
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Reflections upon a life: Swami Kriyananda, 1926-2013
On Sunday morning, April 21, near Assisi, Italy at his home, Swami Kriyananda breathed his last upon this earth. Born May 19, 1926 as James Donald Walters of American parents living in Romania, Swamiji was born and died in Europe. In his dignity and habits, he was a European. In his soul, he was, as it were, a rishi clothed in the garb of a yogi from India; and in his love of life, of people, his vitality and creativity, he was just as truly an American. He was of an older more dignified and noble time and yet he was younger, an Atlantean who delighted in the latest technologies of our advancing and ascending age.
The more one lives centered in the soul, in the Self, the more one's life becomes a crystal, reflecting truth in an infinity of rays of color, shape and form. Personal and appropriate with those whom he conversed and served, and yet impersonal reflecting not his likes and dislikes but the truth that we are each children of the same Light.
I was privileged to represent members and friends of Ananda in the greater Seattle area at the memorial service for Swamiji held in the Temple of Light at the Ananda Center near Assisi, Italy (home of St. Francis of long ago). This Service took place on Wednesday, April 24. A video recording of that service can be found on YouTube at http://youtu.be/uIWskubxCt4
Because I had leave for Italy right away I could not attend our own Service held in our Meditation Temple in Bothell on Monday evening, April 22. You can a video recording of that Service at http://www.Ustream.com Search on AnandaSeattle.
Swami Kriyananda was a direct disciple of the now famous yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, whose life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, has become a spiritual classic in our time. Swamiji spent the same amount of time with his guru as the disciples of Christ spent with Jesus (about three plus years). Yogananda, despite being in a relatively withdrawn phase of the last years of his life, nonetheless permitted young "Walters" to "hang out with him" and ply him with questions. Yogananda shared many stories from his "barnstorming" years travelling across America giving lectures and classes to thousands. Yogananda, like Vivekananda decades before, became quite a sensation and sought-after speaker in American intellectual and liberal social circles.
After Yogananda's death in 1952, the young monk, who in 1955 took the spiritual name Kriyananda, rose rapidly in his guru's organization (Self-Realization Fellowship, aka SRF) as its foremost public representative. He traveled widely in America, Europe and India. As his zeal for sharing his guru's teachings grew and took on more expansive forms, the senior disciples of SRF became alarmed and, perhaps drawing on the example of male teachers groomed by Yogananda decades earlier who later betrayed Yogananda, finally decided in 1961 to dismiss Swami Kriyananda from SRF's membership and nip in the bud what they could only imagined was an ambitious ego instead of a dedicated disciple bent on spreading his guru's message of Self-realization.
As difficult emotionally as his dismissal was curt and unexpected, it did make possible the founding of Ananda in 1968. Only by separation from SRF (which he himself would never have sought) could Swamiji be free to establish intentional spiritual communities ("world brotherhood colonies" as Yogananda called them) and author some 150 books on a wide range of subjects inspired by Yogananda's teachings and spirit.
Despite persecution from SRF long after his dismissal, Kriyananda always espoused, even to the extent of his will and last testament, that Ananda remain open to work cooperatively with and be respectful always of his guru's own work.
Swami Kriyananda leaves behind a worldwide network of communities, retreat centers, meditation and yoga centers, meditation groups and a host of related activities and organizations, including schools for children, a new genre of music, and an entire liturgy of ceremonies inspired by the nonsectarian precepts of Sanaatan Dharma, the essence of Vedanta and India's sacred revelation from ancient times.
Perhaps more importantly, Swamiji's legacy is the bouquet of souls who, with his tender and wisdom-guided nurturing, have flowered in his care. Some have done so directly from his hand; many more have done so through his example, his writings, his music, and the fellowship of souls who are his spiritual children serving the work of a great guru, Paramhansa Yogananda.
Such disciples will nurture other souls making the real work of God through the Self-realization lineage (which culminated in Paramhansa Yogananda) impervious to the assaults of time and the inevitable rise and fall of the fortunes of organizations.
For some sixty-five years of discipleship, Swamiji has traveled this earth writing and lecturing and founding communities. He has done so despite opposition from other fellow gurubhais and despite the burden of a physical body that rebelled against his employment of that vehicle in intense and unceasing divine service. He had three hip operations (one had to be re-done), a pace-maker, suffered from diabetes, had a bout with colon cancer, became increasing hard of hearing (making public life very difficult ) and had a medical chart that left doctors across the globe in awe.
His will power, considerable though it was, was never directed against others. It served him only his discipleship sharing Yogananda's work. In fact, and in retrospect, Swami Kriyananda became the one disciple more than any other direct disciple, who has publicly served Yogananda's mission and thus has earned the self-evident role of Yogananda's principle heir in public service.
For all of his prolific and concentrated effort, Swami Kriyananda maintained personal friendships with hundreds if not thousands. His correspondence (which in recent years morphed into email, and thus, as for everyone else, multiplied exponentially) would have, for most people, been a full-time job. His writings ebbed and flowed but never ceased. During especially creative periods, it took more time for those to whom he would send by email his manuscript drafts for review, than it did for him to write them. Or, so it seemed!
His last book was a re-write of one of his first books: Communities: How to Start Them and Why.
He no doubt overstayed the welcome that "Brother Donkey" (the physical body) offered and by guru's grace remained to see the first of three movies finished. "Finding Happiness" is about the work of Ananda and will be released to theaters in the Fall of 2013. "The Answer" is a movie about Kriyananda's life and a third movie will be about the life of Yogananda.
The work of Ananda has spread to include north, central and south America; Europe and India.
One of the questions young Walter asked his guru was "Will I find God in this lifetime?" The great guru responded, "Yes, but at the end of life, for death will be your final sacrifice."
While the bodies of most swamis are cremated according to custom, a decision has been made to bury Swami Kriyananda's body at his home, the Crystal Hermitage, located at Ananda World Brotherhood Village, near Nevada City, CA. On the grounds of the surpassingly lovely Crystal Hermitage overlooking the north fork of the Yuba River, will his body be buried and atop the grave will be a shrine which tentatively may be termed "Moksha Mandir" in honor of Yogananda's promise of freedom ("moksha" refers to the soul's freedom in God).
A formal memorial will take place in May at Ananda Village (May 18-19). Kriyananda's body is being shipped from Italy back to the U.S. on Monday, April 29.
A great yogi in India was asked by Kriyananda why it was this yogi had no disciples or outer spiritual work. His reply was "God has done what He wanted with this body." Thus it is that the degree of approval or disapproval of the world means little to the sincere lover of God. To do the will of God is the soul's only interest. It matters not, therefore, what name or fame has come, or has been withheld, from the life of Swami Kriyananda, nor yet also, to Ananda, the work he founded in the name of his guru.
Though those close to him would no doubt easily imagine that Swami Kriyananda, free soul or otherwise, will return to help those in need in some future incarnation. But such matters are left to God. Swamiji will be greatly missed but has more than earned his freedom laurels and rest. Those who have known him personally and those many who will know him through others and through the legacy of his work and vibration in generations to come, are deeply grateful.
Adieu great soul, until we find our rest in God alone!
Eternally grateful,
Nayaswami Hriman aka Swami Hrimananda!
P.S. If I have omitted personal reflections or stories of my life and relationship with Kriyananda it is because I deem it not the right time, place, or venue. Perhaps in some other way I might share such experiences.
The more one lives centered in the soul, in the Self, the more one's life becomes a crystal, reflecting truth in an infinity of rays of color, shape and form. Personal and appropriate with those whom he conversed and served, and yet impersonal reflecting not his likes and dislikes but the truth that we are each children of the same Light.
I was privileged to represent members and friends of Ananda in the greater Seattle area at the memorial service for Swamiji held in the Temple of Light at the Ananda Center near Assisi, Italy (home of St. Francis of long ago). This Service took place on Wednesday, April 24. A video recording of that service can be found on YouTube at http://youtu.be/uIWskubxCt4
Because I had leave for Italy right away I could not attend our own Service held in our Meditation Temple in Bothell on Monday evening, April 22. You can a video recording of that Service at http://www.Ustream.com Search on AnandaSeattle.
Swami Kriyananda was a direct disciple of the now famous yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, whose life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, has become a spiritual classic in our time. Swamiji spent the same amount of time with his guru as the disciples of Christ spent with Jesus (about three plus years). Yogananda, despite being in a relatively withdrawn phase of the last years of his life, nonetheless permitted young "Walters" to "hang out with him" and ply him with questions. Yogananda shared many stories from his "barnstorming" years travelling across America giving lectures and classes to thousands. Yogananda, like Vivekananda decades before, became quite a sensation and sought-after speaker in American intellectual and liberal social circles.
After Yogananda's death in 1952, the young monk, who in 1955 took the spiritual name Kriyananda, rose rapidly in his guru's organization (Self-Realization Fellowship, aka SRF) as its foremost public representative. He traveled widely in America, Europe and India. As his zeal for sharing his guru's teachings grew and took on more expansive forms, the senior disciples of SRF became alarmed and, perhaps drawing on the example of male teachers groomed by Yogananda decades earlier who later betrayed Yogananda, finally decided in 1961 to dismiss Swami Kriyananda from SRF's membership and nip in the bud what they could only imagined was an ambitious ego instead of a dedicated disciple bent on spreading his guru's message of Self-realization.
As difficult emotionally as his dismissal was curt and unexpected, it did make possible the founding of Ananda in 1968. Only by separation from SRF (which he himself would never have sought) could Swamiji be free to establish intentional spiritual communities ("world brotherhood colonies" as Yogananda called them) and author some 150 books on a wide range of subjects inspired by Yogananda's teachings and spirit.
Despite persecution from SRF long after his dismissal, Kriyananda always espoused, even to the extent of his will and last testament, that Ananda remain open to work cooperatively with and be respectful always of his guru's own work.
Swami Kriyananda leaves behind a worldwide network of communities, retreat centers, meditation and yoga centers, meditation groups and a host of related activities and organizations, including schools for children, a new genre of music, and an entire liturgy of ceremonies inspired by the nonsectarian precepts of Sanaatan Dharma, the essence of Vedanta and India's sacred revelation from ancient times.
Perhaps more importantly, Swamiji's legacy is the bouquet of souls who, with his tender and wisdom-guided nurturing, have flowered in his care. Some have done so directly from his hand; many more have done so through his example, his writings, his music, and the fellowship of souls who are his spiritual children serving the work of a great guru, Paramhansa Yogananda.
Such disciples will nurture other souls making the real work of God through the Self-realization lineage (which culminated in Paramhansa Yogananda) impervious to the assaults of time and the inevitable rise and fall of the fortunes of organizations.
For some sixty-five years of discipleship, Swamiji has traveled this earth writing and lecturing and founding communities. He has done so despite opposition from other fellow gurubhais and despite the burden of a physical body that rebelled against his employment of that vehicle in intense and unceasing divine service. He had three hip operations (one had to be re-done), a pace-maker, suffered from diabetes, had a bout with colon cancer, became increasing hard of hearing (making public life very difficult ) and had a medical chart that left doctors across the globe in awe.
His will power, considerable though it was, was never directed against others. It served him only his discipleship sharing Yogananda's work. In fact, and in retrospect, Swami Kriyananda became the one disciple more than any other direct disciple, who has publicly served Yogananda's mission and thus has earned the self-evident role of Yogananda's principle heir in public service.
For all of his prolific and concentrated effort, Swami Kriyananda maintained personal friendships with hundreds if not thousands. His correspondence (which in recent years morphed into email, and thus, as for everyone else, multiplied exponentially) would have, for most people, been a full-time job. His writings ebbed and flowed but never ceased. During especially creative periods, it took more time for those to whom he would send by email his manuscript drafts for review, than it did for him to write them. Or, so it seemed!
His last book was a re-write of one of his first books: Communities: How to Start Them and Why.
He no doubt overstayed the welcome that "Brother Donkey" (the physical body) offered and by guru's grace remained to see the first of three movies finished. "Finding Happiness" is about the work of Ananda and will be released to theaters in the Fall of 2013. "The Answer" is a movie about Kriyananda's life and a third movie will be about the life of Yogananda.
The work of Ananda has spread to include north, central and south America; Europe and India.
One of the questions young Walter asked his guru was "Will I find God in this lifetime?" The great guru responded, "Yes, but at the end of life, for death will be your final sacrifice."
While the bodies of most swamis are cremated according to custom, a decision has been made to bury Swami Kriyananda's body at his home, the Crystal Hermitage, located at Ananda World Brotherhood Village, near Nevada City, CA. On the grounds of the surpassingly lovely Crystal Hermitage overlooking the north fork of the Yuba River, will his body be buried and atop the grave will be a shrine which tentatively may be termed "Moksha Mandir" in honor of Yogananda's promise of freedom ("moksha" refers to the soul's freedom in God).
A formal memorial will take place in May at Ananda Village (May 18-19). Kriyananda's body is being shipped from Italy back to the U.S. on Monday, April 29.
A great yogi in India was asked by Kriyananda why it was this yogi had no disciples or outer spiritual work. His reply was "God has done what He wanted with this body." Thus it is that the degree of approval or disapproval of the world means little to the sincere lover of God. To do the will of God is the soul's only interest. It matters not, therefore, what name or fame has come, or has been withheld, from the life of Swami Kriyananda, nor yet also, to Ananda, the work he founded in the name of his guru.
Though those close to him would no doubt easily imagine that Swami Kriyananda, free soul or otherwise, will return to help those in need in some future incarnation. But such matters are left to God. Swamiji will be greatly missed but has more than earned his freedom laurels and rest. Those who have known him personally and those many who will know him through others and through the legacy of his work and vibration in generations to come, are deeply grateful.
Adieu great soul, until we find our rest in God alone!
Eternally grateful,
Nayaswami Hriman aka Swami Hrimananda!
P.S. If I have omitted personal reflections or stories of my life and relationship with Kriyananda it is because I deem it not the right time, place, or venue. Perhaps in some other way I might share such experiences.
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