What do a Tai Chi champion from Iran, a published short story author from India and an Italian dancer/actor/writer/painter/sailor have in common?

The Ananda Living Wisdom International Online High School!

Based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, the school's approach was developed by Swami Kriyananda in his book "Education for Life" and further realized by Nitai Deranja,  current co-director of the high school and of Education For Life International. The students are like-minded teens from around the globe who seek to develop maturity, personal excellence, self-discovery and adventure. The curriculum balances academics and the arts with service projects and independent study, engaging body, mind, will, heart and soul. In nationwide standardized tests, the students consistently score in the top ten percentile .

Our guests, Maria Carlotta Campara (Italy), Varsha Kini (India) and Mahnoush Sadat Moossavi (Iran) are the graduating class of 2021.  Rachel has had the distinct pleasure of serving as their teacher this year. In their Performing Arts class, nine students--spanning all four grades, three continents and five time zones, led by our guests, Carlotta, Varsha and Mahnoush are creating, performing and producing a podcast, specifically, a dramatic, scripted audio series entitled, METANOIA WON'T DESTROY YA! which they'll tell you all about in their lively conversation with Rachel that will give you hope for our future!

If you like what you hear please subscribe.

Ananda Live From New York!: https://anandanewyork.org/video/series/podcast/

Living Wisdom International Online High School: https://livingwisdom.org/online/

Support the Ananda Living Wisdom International Online High School Scholarship Fund: https://livingwisdom.org/sharing/

METANOIA WON'T DESTROY YA! (student podcast) available May 12th
on Apple Podcasts and everywhere you get them!
https://www.instagram.com/metanoiawdy/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/AnandaLivingWisdomOnlineInternationalHighSchool

To attend the live, virtual benefit on May 1st, 2021 for the Scholarship Fund,
 visit any of the above-listed school links. 

Hardly could there be a better time to learn about vibrational healing. Cecilia and Vivek Sharma are amazing sources of knowledge and inspiration. Global healers on a grand scale, Kriya yogis and long time disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda, they learned his healing techniques from direct disciple Swami Kriyananda. Serving people from all walks of life, their vast experience includes working with inmates in high and medium security prisons and with Indo Tibetan Border Police. 

Cecilia and Vivek share how raising our vibration is not only a service to ourselves, but also to others and the planet. Through Paramhansa’s hands-off vibratory healing, sound healing and other techniques, they help seekers reclaim balance on all levels and reconnect to their highest potential. 

For Cecilia and Vivek's website, click here

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here

Death is inevitable. It’s also an intrinsic part of life. In Western cultures, however, death is considered a taboo topic which contributes to widespread fear and difficulty in facing it. Self-Realization offers a view of death not as an end, but as a continuation, a transition to another phase of life and potentially a higher plane of existence. 

In this touching interview, Nayaswami Nalini Graeber shares some of the inspiring stories of people facing their own death and the death of loved ones from her book, “Transitioning in Grace”. These stories not only exemplify how death can be a healing experience, drawing us closer to God, but they also offer hope that by engaging in a robust spiritual practice, we too can achieve such soul liberation when our time comes. 

Nayaswami Nalini is a  founding member of Ananda Village, a lifelong meditator and disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. Her spiritual counseling, writing and internet station, Radio Ananda provide ongoing inspiration and support to people around the globe.

To purchase “Transitioning in Grace”, click here

To see the photograph of Nayaswami Nalini with Swamis Kriyananda and Satchidananda (mentioned in the episode), click here

For Radio Ananda, click here

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here

According to Ananda founder, Swami Kriyananda, the true purpose of art is to expand consciousness and connect to the divine. Dana Lynne Andersen’s multi-disciplinary artwork, teaching and activism show us how. 

Visionary founder of Awakening Arts Network and Awakening Arts Academy in Assisi, Italy and online, Dana has been called a “Vesuvius of Creativity” by Robert McDermott, president emeritus of California Institute of Integral Studies. A self-described “Troubadour of Transformation”, Dana’s artistic oeuvre and teaching methods have reached across the globe.

In this magnetic conversation with Colleen and Rachel, Dana shares how art-making is  meditation; and that by entering a receptively relaxed but active state and calling upon higher consciousness,  the artist becomes a catalyst for upliftment, healing and deep transformation.   

For Dana’s website click here.

For Awakening Arts Academy click here

For “Ancient Future” click here

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here

In these tumultuous times, Jayadev Jaerschky shows us how to change the world by changing ourselves. By opening his heart to devotion, he completely transformed from a challenging intellectual to a warm-hearted disciple and teacher who now helps others journey through their own self-transformation.

A common misperception about spiritual people is that they’re above the afflictions of ordinary folks. In an enlightening testimony, Jayadev, the director of the Ananda Yoga Teacher Training Program for Ananda Europa in Assisi Italy, shares his struggles to overcome troublesome personality traits that universally plague devotees and  secular people alike. 

In this conversation with Colleen and Rachel, Jayadev shares his journey from atheist to disciple, eventually becoming a Kriyacharya, authorized to give the sacred initiation of Kriya Yoga. A prolific musician and author, he has produced numerous albums and penned nine books on yoga, including “Kriya Yoga: A Manual to Inner Freedom”. 

To purchase “Kriya Yoga: A Manual to Inner Freedom”, click here

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here

Nayaswami Anandi is the living memory of Ananda. A founding member, she arrived in 1971 and almost immediately began sharing the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. She's acted in key roles over the years, including editor of Ananda's publishing wing, Crystal Clarity books. In this engaging conversation with Colleen, Anandi shares her experience of editing “The Wisdom of Yogananda” book series including “How to Be Happy All the Time”, her journey to Ananda, living as a renunciate, marriage and ultimately taking the Nayaswami vow.

Anandi’s life serves as an example of God’s invisible hand guiding us in ways we might not anticipate or fully understand, such as her surprising attraction and ultimate marriage to Joseph Bharat Cornell, the world-renowned nature educator—at a time when they both lived as monastics. Since their divinely guided union, and still to this day, they co-facilitate nature workshops in Japan, the United States and Europe.

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here

What to do in troubling times? This question is more relevant today than ever. Devalila Veenhof, Director of Ananda Kriya Sangha for North and South America shares key insights with Rachel. She recollects Swami Kriyananda advising devotees in tumultuous times "to love heroically". Even when we can’t be physically present with others, we can still help them through prayers and meditation by broadcasting positive energy and light. 

Devalila has been practicing and sharing Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings for more than twenty years. She created and developed Ananda’s Virtual Community, and generates and teaches many online courses. She describes Yogananda’s perspective of karma as an act of Divine love. The challenges we endure free us of limitations and help us perceive the deeper reality of our soul’s nature. Even when everything falls apart in the material world, we can always tap into Spirit and experience calmness, nurturing and a sense of wellbeing, regardless of outcome. 

On the subject of faith, Devalila shares the saying "Either nothing is a miracle or everything is." It's a question of perception and choice. She invites us to choose the miraculous. Why not believe in what brings us purpose, joy and connection? 

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here
For Ananda Online, click here

“Environment is stronger than will power.” According to Paramhansa Yogananda, who stresses the importance of spending time with other devotees. Nayaswami Premdas’s life serves as a quintessential example of this principle, whether in person or virtually. 

Currently he serves and supports seekers, students and devotees on The Path of Kriya Yoga, the essential teachings of Yogananda, at Ananda Sangha Worldwide. Many people however, still recognize him from the kitchens of The Expanding Light and Ananda Assisi where he cooked oodles of delicious, joy-filled meals.

In this conversation with Colleen and Rachel, he outlines the path of Kriya Yoga and the required steps for Kriya initiation. He also acknowledges Ananda’s unique approach that respects each individual’s spiritual unfolding and their relationship with God and Guru.

Nayaswami Premdas’s spiritual journey is a shining example of how to make the most of the opportunities life presents to us and a testament to the many blessings of Ananda. Like Yogananda said, “... it takes very, very, VERY good karma for a person even to want to know God!”

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here

Whether we consider ourselves spiritual or not, most of us aim to evolve. It’s easy to talk about inner transformation, but hard to do. Daya Taylor, the Spiritual Co-Director of Ananda Delhi and a pioneer of Ananda India shares with Colleen how to go from “talking the talk, to walking the walk”. Having dedicated over twenty-five years to helping others find God, Daya is a living example of Paramhansa Yogananda’s quote: “The channel is blessed by what flows through it”. 

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here

For Ananda New Delhi, click here

For Treasures Along the Path, click here

Despite its increasing global popularity, meditation is often misunderstood. Even in its homeland, India, many Indians remain unaware of exactly what it is and how it works. Shurjo Jha, Spiritual Co-Director of Ananda Mumbai, shares with Colleen insights on what happens during meditation — what to expect and how to gauge success.

Shurjo stresses the need to balance dynamic involvement with deep relaxation in order to access superconsciousness; which, according to Paramhansa Yogananda, lies between the conscious and subconscious.

Learn how meditation hands you the steering wheel to your consciousness and well-being.

For the Ananda Live From New York! Webpage, click here
For Ananda Mumbai, click here