Swami Kriyananda talks about his multicultural upbringing and early disinterest in formal religion and the pervasive feeling of life’s superficiality. Kriyananda says he was driven by a profound quest for meaning that led him to an interest in astronomy and later the arts but neither field satisfied his existential questions. His continued search turned him towards spirituality and explorations of the Bhagavad Gita and other spiritual texts. These studies awakened a desire in him to live a life devoted to seeking God.

His spiritual search and quest took him from New York to Los Angeles where he found his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, who accepted him as a disciple. Yogananda’s teachings on love, acceptance, and the true nature of the ego resonated deeply with him, shaping his destiny and lifelong dedication to promulgating and disseminating the teachings of Yogananda and the path of Self-realization.