Swami Kriyananda Part 1

Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) is one of the foremost spiritual teachers of Yoga principles in the world today. In 1948 at the age of twenty-two, he became a disciple of the Indian yoga master, Paramhansa Yogananda. He is one of a few remaining direct disciples of Yogananda teaching today. At Yogananda’s request, Swami Kriyananda has devoted his life to lecturing and writing, helping others to experience the joy and living presence of God within. He has taught on four continents in seven languages over the course of nearly 60 years. His television program, audio and video recordings of his talks andmusic, and his many books in 28 languages have touched the lives of millions of people. Swami Kriyananda has taken the ancient teachings of Raja Yoga and made them intensely practical and immediately useful for people in every walk of life, on a daily basis. His books and teachings cover nearly every field of human endeavor, including spiritualizing business life, leadership, education, the arts, community life, and science. He has written extensive commentaries on the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita. Swami Kriyananda is also known as the “father of the intentional communities movement” which began in the UnitedStates in the late 1960s. Inspired by his guru’s dream of establishing spiritual communities, in 1968 he founded the first of what are now eight Ananda communities worldwide. They provide a supportive environment of “simple living and high thinking” where 1,000 full-time residents live, work, and worship together. A monastic nearly all of his adult life, Swami Kriyananda is a Swami of the Giri (Mountain) branch of the Swami Order, as was his guru and his guru’s guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar. He is the Dharmacharya (leading according to Dharma) and spiritual guide for Ananda communities and activities worldwide.