After becoming delusional with several religions that I felt took advantage of me (or my finances), I thought I’d be better off with a guru. This would turn out to be a view I would later shift against, for I currently believe that masters, gurus and dogma are the anathema of spiritual growth. However, at an earlier time in my life I thought a guru or spiritual teacher would be necessary.

After showing around for a guru, I came to the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. Yogananda was a wise spiritual leader that came from India to America in the early 1920’s. He wrote many treatises on how Christianity was but an extension of Hindu philosophy. His writings on the Christian New Testament were very deep and insightful (such as his work, “The Second Coming of Christ.”) To sum his views into a single statement: Yogananda spiritualized and personalized the Christian Bible. Rather than a top down statement of facts (like a literal second coming), Yogananda viewed the spiritual work of Christianity personal – the “second coming” being the return of Christ Consciousness to the aspirant or seeker.

After reading the “An Autobiography of a Yogi,” based on the life of Yogananda, I was very impressed. It had the magic and mysticism that enticed me, with an ethical paradigm. Looking for a group based on his writings I found two main sources: SRF (Self Realization Fellowship) and Ananda.

I believe SRF was the original organization that Yogananda founded in the 1920’s. After Yogananda’s death in the early 50’s, there was some drama within SRF. One core member (Swami Kriyananda) was ousted and started his own variation of Yogananda’s teachings in a group called Ananda. Ananda had a working village or community in California, which is still functioning today.

I tried reaching out to SRF initially, but I didn’t receive much in the way of feedback and their group had no online classes or interactive presence at the time. Ananda, on the other hand, was online and active. They had live courses over the internet, and were technologically stable (this is way before Zoom was a thing).

Unlike some other groups, Ananda didn’t ask for money. At least not much in the way of income. The teachings on Paramhansa were mostly free. They took donations, but Sunday services were open to the public for free. Online courses had small amounts of payment to help with the center. At the time the costs were minimal. Unfortunately, it seems they have followed the path of many others by selling online/pre-recorded courses for $80+. If I sound disapproving of that, well I am. In their defense, I noticed that the had a free essentials course. Other than that, the courses no longer are offered under a yearly subscription, but now a cost per course.

Other Resources

Ananda