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In the closing paragraphs of his spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda describes a conversation with his first disciple in America, Dr. M. W. Lewis, of the need for intentional communities founded on a spiritual basis rather than for mere economic or social reasons. For many cities, towns, and villages simply grow around a factory or a port; their residents sharing little more than a desire for employment and the comforts of a regular income. There is tremendous power, however, when people gather together for higher purposes, especially to help one another grow spiritually. Let's face it: practices like yoga and meditation aren't always understood by worldly minds: "What? Sit there with my eyes closed doing nothing?" is a common response! Indeed, it's a great challenge to live a more spiritually centered life when surrounded by the doubt, cynicism, and even fear of others. As Yogananda said, "Environment is stronger than will power." It makes sense, then, to surround ourselves with others of like mind who will support (rather than discourage) our spiritual efforts. In such an environment, one's own efforts are magnetized and amplified. It was for this reason that Yogananda strongly encouraged spiritual aspirants to gather together and create "world brotherhood colonies" wherein a new way of living can be explored and developed (see Yogananda on Communities). When Ananda's founder, J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda) came to Yogananda in 1948, he had already nurtured dreams of founding communities based on high ideals and not on mere worldly convenience. He was deeply inspired by Yogananda's endless enthusiasm for the same concept and vowed, during the very garden party at which Yogananda spoke the quoted words above, to make that dream a reality. Ananda is the fulfillment of that dream, as told in A Place Called Ananda (read online). The original community was founded in 1968 and continues to flourish today on nearly 1,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Nevada City, California. Since those early years, a number of other smaller residential communities have been founded in Sacramento, Calif., Palo Alto, Calif., Seattle, Wash, Hopkinton, Rhode Island, Assisi Italy, Gurgaon India, and here in Portland, Oregon. There are also many centers and meditation groups around the world that are growing toward communities of their own. As Swami Kriyananda writes in one of his most recent books, Hope for a Better World (read online), small, focused communities are the key to solving many problems of modern society. Currently more than a thousand people are living in Ananda communities. But this is just a beginning: Yogananda predicted that intentional communities would spread "like wildfire." Our residential community is open to all who share in this ideal. We invite you to join us.
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"This
day marks the birth of a new era. My spoken words are registered in the
ether, in the Spirit of God, and they shall move the West....
Self-realization has come to unite all religions.... We must go on - - not
only those who are here, but thousands of youths must go North, South,
East and West to cover the earth with little colonies, demonstrating that
simplicity of living plus high thinking lead to the greatest happiness!"