Accomplishments
Kriyananda established Ananda Village as a World Brotherhood Colony in 1968 on 40 acres (160,000 m2) of land near Nevada City, California — his portion of a 160-acre (0.6 km2) parcel acquired with Richard Baker, Gary Snyder, and Allen Ginsberg. The village was actually founded with the signing of the first purchase agreement of a larger parcel of land on 4 July 1969. According to Kriyananda, these communities provide a supportive environment of “simple living and high thinking” where 1,000 full-time residents live, work, and worship together. The establishment of World Brotherhood Colonies was one of Yogananda's central "Aims and Ideals" (published in his "Autobiography of a Yogi" until 1958).
Kriyananda founded various retreat centers: The Expanding Light Yoga and Meditation Retreat and nearby Ananda Meditation Retreat, both located near Nevada City, California, U.S.A.; Ananda Associazione near Assisi, Italy; and Ananda Gurgaon, India.
There are currently (spring 2009) 125 Ananda Meditation groups in 19 countries, all of which were inspired in one way or another by Kriyananda.
Kriyananda stated that at Yogananda's request he devoted his life to teaching. Over the course of sixty years, he lectured on four continents in five languages. He gave thousands of lectures and continued lecturing in Asia, Europe, and America until his death.
Kriyananda met a number of well-known spiritual teachers: Anandamayi Ma; Sivananda Saraswati and his disciples Chidananda and Satchidananda; Muktananda; Satya Sai Baba; Neem Karoli Baba; the 14th Dalai Lama; A. C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada; Ravi Shankar; Vicka Ivankovic, visionary of Medjugorje; and a number of others.
In the early 1960s, one of Kriyananda's inter-religious projects near New Delhi, India, received personal support from India’s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He also had personal contact with Indira Gandhi; with India’s Vice President Dr. Radhakrishnan; and, in 2006, with India’s President, Dr. Abdul Kalam.
In following his guru's guidance that his task would be "writing, editing, and lecturing", Kriyananda wrote about 100 books, each of which he stated was intended to help individuals expand their awareness. Some of the books have been translated into other languages and are available in 90 countries. By the application of Yogananda's teachings, they expand on such varied topics as marriage, education, leadership and success, spiritual communities, yoga, self-healing, art, architecture, astrology, and philosophy, as well as Yogananda's teachings on the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and other scriptures.
One of Kriyananda's books is The Path (revised as The New Path in 2009), which among other things contains details of the three and a half years he spent as Yogananda's direct disciple in Los Angeles. In 2010, The New Path received the Eric Hoffer Award in the Self-Help section, given with the statement, in part "... The author begins with a history of his own life, an outstanding, engrossing narrative rich in vivid detail. An American youth with an early, unrelenting desire to find truth in spiritual experience, he eventually discovers his attraction to Eastern yogic science. A growing fascination and ardor culminate in his becoming a dedicated, chosen disciple of Yogananda."
Kriyananda started Crystal Clarity Publishers and the East-West book shops in Sacramento and Mountain View, California, and Seattle, Washington.
Kriyananda's plays include The Peace Treaty, and The Jewel in the Lotus. He wrote his first play at age fifteen and worked and studied with the Dock Street Theater in Charleston, South Carolina, in his early 20s. Rome's famous Teatro Valle (its oldest still-active theater, built in 1726), hosted “The Peace Treaty” in June 2009.
Kriyananda won poetry and essay contest prizes at Haverford College and also studied under the poet W.H. Auden at Bryn Mawr College.
In 1973, Kriyananda developed a system for educating children called Education for Life. Education for Life Schools state that they offer character development, strong academics, and development of moral strength. The school curriculum is ecumenical; students of all religious backgrounds may attend. There are schools in Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and Palo Alto and Nevada City, California (all U.S.A.); in Italy near Assisi; and one was recently (2009) started in Gurgaon, India. Other schools are adopting the curriculum and ideals of Education for Life. Kriyananda's educational ideas also inspired the Ananda College, a yoga university as envisioned by Paramahansa Yogānanda, located near Nevada City, California.
Kriyananda created Ananda yoga. Yogananda had asked him often to perform the āsanas for visiting guests, in his presence. This inspired him to create Ananda Yoga. It is designed to uplift consciousness, and to prepare the student for meditation. Its distinguishing features are the affirmations associated with postures.
Kriyananda took over 15,000 photographs, many of which he said captured the consciousness of human beings behind the image. His photos have been used on inspirational posters, on album covers, for slideshows, in film productions, and in books.
Kriyananda has created several paintings, which have been used on book covers and on posters.
He has also produced films, as follows:
- Saint Francis of Assisi (narration, music, photography)
- Mediterranean Magic (narration, music, photography)
- The Land of Mystery (narration, music, photography)
- The Autobiography of a Yogi (narration, music, photography)
- Christ Lives! (narration, music, photography)
- Different Worlds (narration, music, photography)
Read more about this topic: Swami Kriyananda