Imagine one cool, fall day you feel compelled to go on an afternoon hike to a nearby mountain famed for its inspired beauty and rumored preternatural qualities. As you amble along the path enjoying the lilting fragrance of the aromatic forest, you finally reach a small clearing where you look up to see the mountainside dotted with intriguing caves. Solitude enfolds you in a juxtaposing beauty and also brings about an uneasiness as you now notice the sun leaving long shadows across the cliffs. Suddenly you are startled from your reverie to see a fellow hiker gesturing to you. Where did he come from?…..what unfolds is an adventure that not only changes your life but the lives for millions in the future.
In a nutshell this was the setting on that fateful afternoon in 1861 when the great master of Kriya Yoga, Lahiri Mahasaya met his guru, the deathless Himalayan Yogi Master, Babaji. The entire extraordinary story is recounted in Paramhansa’s Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi in spectacular detail. The results bestowing the gift of kriya yoga to the common spiritual seeking “householder” like you and I.
Lahiri Mahasaya was the “everyman” yogi. His life was not grand, he wasn’t a movie star, or famous writer, politician, not even a lawyer or doctor, he was a humble accountant living a simple life with a boring job. And yet, he was a Self-realized Master whose disciples eventually became the vanguards of a whole spiritual movement that has now come to the West. Ananda is part of that movement. We share the same Kriya Yoga teachings re-introduced by Lahiri to the modern world. Here in Texas, Our humble Ananda community offers support and spiritual sustenance for any truthseeker, and we invite all who resonate with what they experience with us, to receive the sacred technique of Kriya. Come experience for yourself!
Climbing together toward Self Realization,
Ananda in Texas