“Renunciation is of the heart. It isn’t what you wear, or the outward rules you follow. When you renounce all for God, you hold that renunciation as a precious secret between you and Him. All your desires, all your ambitions, then, are for Him alone.”
— Swami Kriyananda
The head monks of the Ananda U.S. and India monasteries, Brahmachari Prashad and Nayaswami Devarshi, planting the sacred triveni trees at the Hermitage
Ananda Sangha has monasteries in the U.S. and in India. They serve as dedicated spaces for disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda who have chosen to dedicate their lives to serving their Guru through Ananda Sangha. Ananda was founded by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Yogananda.
To join an Ananda monastery, one must already be a disciple of Yogananda and have received initiation into Kriya Yoga through Ananda. For more information, please email hermitage@anandaindia.org.
Kriyananda began the first Ananda monastery in the early 1970s at Ananda Village in California. As Ananda began to grow mostly into a householder community, the monastery took a back seat to that more urgent priority. In his later years, Kriyananda often stated that it was time for Ananda to start developing and strengthening its monasteries again, given the firmly established spiritual householder approach. Ananda Sangha also has individual monks living and serving at its centres worldwide.
Guru Kripa Forest Hermitage will be exclusively for Ananda India monks to live and serve together, including new monks who will go there for training.
As of late 2023, nine monks are living in houses about a 30-minute drive from the Guru Kripa land. Developing and constructing the Hermitage will take a few years. In the meantime, the monks have demonstrated that the timing is right for a new kind of monastery.
Learn more about Swami Kriyananda’s Vision for Ananda monasteries.
“You were not born merely to make money, have children, and then die! Yours is a glorious destiny. You are a child of the Infinite! Every fulfillment you ever dreamed of lies waiting for you in God. His infinite treasure-house is yours. Why delay? Why waste time on countless detours? Go straight to Him.”
— Paramhansa Yogananda
