Guiding Principles

Swami Kriyananda gave us two principles which, like moral compass points, guide the Ananda communities. The first is something he saw when visiting the Maharaja of Cooch Behar. The family motto read: Yato dharma, tato jaya. This sloka from the great epic, the Mahabharata, means, “Where there is adherence to righteousness, there is victory.” This ancient “compass point” is the polestar that has allowed India to navigate the turbulent tides of time. If we hold fast to this principle, it will align our actions with the subtle laws of the universe.

Swami Kriyananda’s second principle guides our actions in this world: “People are more important than things.” This helps us get our priorities right, and is especially important for managing groups of people, such as businesses and communities.

We are currently at the Ananda community near Assisi, Italy, giving classes and satsangs, and meeting with friends. It’s been over three years since we last visited, and the changes here are quite amazing. The community and teaching center are extraordinarily vibrant, with people coming from all over Europe, and many moving here. Perhaps Europe is a little ahead of the curve, seeing more clearly the results of all the disruptions—from both pandemic and warfare—that are happening.

We tend to do everything we can to avoid having our lives shaken up, but Divine Mother knows what She is doing. Swami Kriyananda saw that as long as the world was stable, it would trudge along in its familiar ruts, complacent and resistant to change. Divine Mother is making the world less safe, shaking us out of our grooves and forcing us to take a deeper look at our priorities.

A couple of days after we arrived, we met with a small group of future leaders. The difficulties of the last few years were a main topic of conversation. Because the leaders here responded to this crisis by strictly adhering to Ananda’s twin principles, everything is flourishing now. Politicians have fanned the flames of separation with fear and anger, but at Ananda, holding fast to dharma and kindness has allowed the troubled waters to bring people together with great purpose, cooperation, and kindness. One person at the satsang used a phrase that I had never heard but will never forget. She called the virus “Saint Covid,” because of all the beneficial changes and spiritual growth that it’s produced.

There is a palpable sense of grace here at Ananda Europa. As Autobiography of a Yogi tells us, Jesus appeared to the great master, Babaji, in the Himalayas and asked him to send someone to bring the high teachings of the East, especially meditation, to the West. Paramhansa Yogananda was that chosen ambassador. He, in turn, ignited the heart of Swami Kriyananda, and the result is the worldwide work of Ananda.

As I walked these hills, I had a deep sense that a circle had been completed. The steps go like this: 1) Jesus asks Babaji to send these ancient teachings to the West. 2) Yogananda fulfills that wish. 3) He blesses Swami Kriyananda as his disciple. 4) Swamiji founds an Ananda community here in Assisi, which is widely considered to be the very heart of Christendom. 5) Now at the Ananda community, Babaji and Jesus sit side by side on the high altar.

What a lovely sense of completion. The Masters work in very long rhythms to bring about the spiritual evolution of the planet. The current situation is not the disaster that it may appear on the surface to be. It is, rather, one of the steps needed for our awakening.

Let our hearts be grateful for everything that comes to us.

In gratitude,

Nayaswami Jyotish