Watch this beautiful live performance of a shortened version of Swami Kriyananda's acclaimed play "The Peace Treaty", filmed at Ananda Village in California during Spiritual Renewal Week on July 2nd 2022. Directed by Devaki Soupios.

"The Peace Treaty" reflects the tension and unrest of our own times, and offers a solution: If we want peace on earth, expansion of our sympathies, though difficult to achieve, is the means. There exists somewhere, perhaps in the middle of the great Atlantic Ocean, a fairly large island. It lies far away from any continent, and few know of its existence. It may even exist in another dimension, or in some alternate universe. Crystal Island, this little-known place is called. It is a haven of peace and beauty. In certain respects it resembles lands we all know, but in others it is unlike any place on earth. . .

Thus begins the introduction to "The Peace Treaty", a poetic and profound play by Swami Kriyananda. It starts with the victorious conclusion of a righteous war. The evil aggressor has been defeated. There is a chance finally to plan for a lasting peace. The five clans who inhabit Crystal Island hope that a formal peace treaty will be adopted and signed by all the lords of the clans. But pride, vengefulness, selfishness, and the usual dreary catalogue of human failings intervene. Gradually it becomes clear that what is really needed is a transformation in human consciousness.

"The Peace Treaty" reflects the tension and unrest of our own times, and offers a solution: If we want peace on earth, expansion of our sympathies, though difficult to achieve, is the means. Written in the spirit of Shakespeare, the language beautifully expresses the rhythms of modern speech, while ennobling it. Kriyananda has created a drama with humor and intrigue, the underlying theme of which is as serious as the universal longing today for world peace.

Find out more about the play from the director.

Buy the book

ABOUT SWAMI KRIYANANDA

In 1948 at the age of twenty-two, Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) became a disciple of the Indian yoga master, Paramhansa Yogananda. Yogananda is best known for his spiritual classic, *Autobiography of a Yogi*. At Yogananda’s request, Swami Kriyananda devoted his life to lecturing and writing, helping others to experience the living presence of God within. He taught on four continents in seven languages over the course of 65 years. His talks, his music, and his many books have touched the lives of millions. An advocate of simple living and high thinking, his more than 150 books emphasize the need to live wisely by one’s own experience of life, and not by abstract theories or dogmas. A composer since 1964, Walters has written over 400 musical works. His music is inspiring, soothing, and uplifting. He taught meditation to thousands and has initiated many into the life changing technique of Kriya Yoga. His books and teachings on spiritualizing nearly every field of human endeavor include business life, leadership, education, the arts, community, and science. He is known as the “father of the intentional communities movement,” which began in the United States in the late 1960s, fulfilling Yogananda's dream.

Find out more at https://www.swamikriyananda.org/

Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nayaswamikriyananda

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kriyananda

On this last day of classes, relax and enjoy hearing how disciples personally practice keeping spiritually uplifted. This morning's speakers have all been conscientiously living and practicing Yogananda's teachings. As they share how they keep their inspiration strong, you will no doubt gain insights for uplifting your own spiritual life.

With Badri Matlock, Erin Vinacco, Brahmacharini Lakshmi, Tyagi Dhyan and Tyagi Shanti, recorded during Ananda's Spiritual Renewal Week Saturday July 2, 2022.

Join your energy with hundreds of truth seekers, and strengthen the Divine light within yourself and the world over. We all have a role to play in the upliftment of consciousness. When we uplift ourselves, we open a door for Divine grace to uplift others. Through Paramhansa Yogananda’s practical teachings, learn how to be a master of your energy, to live more consciously in your true Self, and how to share from your center Divine inspiration and joy with others. Whether you come in-person or join us online, Spiritual Renewal Week will leave you feeling spiritual renewed in body, mind, and spirit.

With Nayaswami Hriman, Nayaswami Jaya, Nayaswami Pranaba, Nayaswami Jyotish and Nayaswami Devi, recorded during Ananda's Spiritual Renewal Week Friday July 1, 2022.

Join your energy with hundreds of truth seekers, and strengthen the Divine light within yourself and the world over. We all have a role to play in the upliftment of consciousness. When we uplift ourselves, we open a door for Divine grace to uplift others. Through Paramhansa Yogananda’s practical teachings, learn how to be a master of your energy, to live more consciously in your true Self, and how to share from your center Divine inspiration and joy with others. Whether you come in-person or join us online, Spiritual Renewal Week will leave you feeling spiritual renewed in body, mind, and spirit.

Swami Kriyananda remembered, “All the time when Master was with us, he would say, “Be in tune, be in tune.” He talked about it as the most important thing he could give to us, because through that attunement he is able to inspire us with the right decisions, the right understanding, in every situation.” Through attunement we can learn how to view life from a master’s consciousness.

With Nayaswami Dharmadas, Brahmachari Aditya and Nayaswami Asha, recorded during Ananda's Spiritual Renewal Week Thursday, June 30th, 2022

Join your energy with hundreds of truth seekers, and strengthen the Divine light within yourself and the world over. We all have a role to play in the upliftment of consciousness. When we uplift ourselves, we open a door for Divine grace to uplift others. Through Paramhansa Yogananda’s practical teachings, learn how to be a master of your energy, to live more consciously in your true Self, and how to share from your center Divine inspiration and joy with others. Whether you come in-person or join us online, Spiritual Renewal Week will leave you feeling spiritual renewed in body, mind, and spirit.

How do we consistently live and face life’s challenges with uplifted energy? Masters, saints, and sages throughout time have given numerous live, solely dedicated to showing mankind how this is done. They translated spiritual principles into practical application. To quote an affirmation from Swami Kriyananda, “Though my spirit soars in the skies of consciousness, my feet and hands labor here on earth to make truth real to all.”

With Nayaswami Nirmala, Nayaswami Padma, and Nayaswami Narayan, recorded during Ananda's 2022 Spiritual Renewal Week Wednesday, June 29th.

Join your energy with hundreds of truth seekers, and strengthen the Divine light within yourself and the world over. We all have a role to play in the upliftment of consciousness. When we uplift ourselves, we open a door for Divine grace to uplift others. Through Paramhansa Yogananda’s practical teachings, learn how to be a master of your energy, to live more consciously in your true Self, and how to share from your center Divine inspiration and joy with others.

Whether you come in-person or join us online, Spiritual Renewal Week will leave you feeling spiritual renewed in body, mind, and spirit.

Recorded during Ananda's Spiritual Renewal Week Wednesday, June 29th, 2022

Join your energy with hundreds of truth seekers, and strengthen the Divine light within yourself and the world over. We all have a role to play in the upliftment of consciousness. When we uplift ourselves, we open a door for Divine grace to uplift others. Through Paramhansa Yogananda’s practical teachings, learn how to be a master of your energy, to live more consciously in your true Self, and how to share from your center Divine inspiration and joy with others. Whether you come in-person or join us online, Spiritual Renewal Week will leave you feeling spiritual renewed in body, mind, and spirit.

Performed at Ananda Village, Spiritual Renewal Week 2022.

Program:

• Invocation

• Come Gather ‘Round

• Brothers

• A New Tomorrow

• Lord, May We Serve You

• Walk Like a Man

• Secret of Laughter

• The Non-Blues

• Devil Worship

• Truth Can Never Die

• Brave Were the People

• If You're Seeking Freedom

• Hello There, Brother Bluebell

• There's Joy in the Heavens

• Who Is Silvia?

• Woodland Devas

• Life is a Dream

• Home is a Green Hill

• I Live Without Fear

• Peace

You can find more music at https://www.ananda.org/music/

Your chakras influence your consciousness and spiritual growth, the heart center being the most pivotal. Upward, expansive energy from the heart brings solutions for yourself, and the world. Downward, contractive energy produces problems and materialistic thinking, on both personal and global levels. Yogic teachings give systematic ways to delineate the forces that work for, and against you, in the ongoing quest for Self-realization.

With Brahmachari Sagar, Jitendra and Nayaswami Gyandev, recorded during Ananda's Spiritual Renewal Week Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Beautiful and uplifting kirtan at Ananda Village, recorded on June 27th during Spiritual Renewal Week 2022. Introduction by storyteller extraordinaire Murali Venkatrao.

Chants:

- O God Beautiful (Paramhansa Yogananda, Cosmic Chants 1938)

- Lord When in Darkness (Swami Kriyananda)

- He Bhagavan (Traditional Indian)

- Lord, I Am Thine (Swami Kriyananda)

- Ever New Joy (Paramhansa Yogananda, Cosmic Chants 1938)

Find more inspiring music at https://ananda.org/music/

ABOUT PARAMHANSA YOGANANDA

Paramhansa Yogananda, born in 1893, was the first yoga master of India to take up permanent residence in the West. Yogananda arrived in America in 1920, and proceeded to travel throughout the United States on what he called his “spiritual campaigns.” Hundreds of thousands filled the largest halls in major American cities to see the yoga master from India. Yogananda continued to lecture and write up to his passing in 1952. Paramhansa Yogananda’s initial impact on the western culture was truly impressive. But his lasting spiritual legacy has been even greater. His "Autobiography of a Yogi", first published in 1946, helped launch a spiritual revolution in the West. Translated into more than a dozen languages, it remains a best-selling spiritual classic to this day. [Read free at https://www.ananda.org/autobiography.]

Yogananda brought the path of Self-realization and universal spirituality for daily life. “Self-realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God’s omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all that you need to do is improve your knowing. As the means of attaining this exalted spiritual state Yogananda initiated his followers into the ancient technique of Kriya Yoga, which he called the “jet-airplane route to God.” The path of Kriya Yoga, which combines the practice of advanced yogic techniques with spirituality in daily life, can be learned at https://www.ananda.org/kriya-yoga.

ABOUT SWAMI KRIYANANDA

In 1948 at the age of twenty-two, Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) became a disciple of the Indian yoga master, Paramhansa Yogananda. Yogananda is best known for his spiritual classic, *Autobiography of a Yogi*. At Yogananda’s request, Swami Kriyananda devoted his life to lecturing and writing, helping others to experience the living presence of God within. He taught on four continents in seven languages over the course of 65 years. His talks, his music, and his many books have touched the lives of millions. An advocate of simple living and high thinking, his more than 150 books emphasize the need to live wisely by one’s own experience of life, and not by abstract theories or dogmas. A composer since 1964, Walters has written over 400 musical works. His music is inspiring, soothing, and uplifting.

He taught meditation to thousands and has initiated many into the life changing technique of Kriya Yoga. His books and teachings on spiritualizing nearly every field of human endeavor include business life, leadership, education, the arts, community, and science. He wrote extensive commentaries on the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, both based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. He is known as the “father of the intentional communities movement,” which began in the United States in the late 1960s, fulfilling Yogananda's dream. Ananda is a worldwide movement to help individuals realize the joy of their own higher Self.

Find out more at https://www.swamikriyananda.org/

Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nayaswamikriyananda

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kriyananda

Told by Seattle-local, Bangalore storyteller extraordinaire Murali Venkatrao, who will carry you to ancient and sacred India.

The timeless tale of Shiva Bhakta Markandeya teaches us that fear of death is worse than death itself – but is no match to the power of devotion (bhakti). The great God Shiva has decreed that Markandeya would only live for 16 years. Refusing to accept his destiny, Markandeya defies the summons of Yama, the god of death. Deriving great power from the ancient Mahamrityunjaya Mantra, he stares fearlessly at the face of impending death. When the angry Yama tightens the noose of time around his throat, Shiva himself emerges from within the Lingam and grants him immortality.

Note on sources: While Markandeya’s story appears in Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 12, Mahabharata’s Vana Parva, and Brahma Purana, they all describe his life after he attains immortality. The tale of how he achieves immortality is described in Narasimha Purana; but in this version, it is Vishnu (in the form of Narasimha) who grants him immortality, not Shiva as in the popular tale. The popular tale of Shiva Bhakta Markandeya comes from the poetry of Tamil saint Appar, one of the most revered of the sixty three Nayanar saints. His beautiful verses refer to Shiva as “Kalantaka”, which means Conqueror of Time (and hence death); this form of Shiva can be found in many temples in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Recorded during Spiritual Renewal Week 2022 at Ananda Village (June 27th).

Watch the footage of the beautiful kirtan from the same evening program here (with introduction by Murali)