“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 monks and nuns in the U.S., India, and Europe. They have offered their lives to meditation and service as disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda. 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, or be working toward initiation. 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 into mostly 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.
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.
Six Ananda monks have been living for the last few years in houses about 30 minutes from the Hermitage land. December 2026 is the target date for moving to the Hermitage.
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
