A Brief Biography
There is a peace and quietness surrounding Swami Kriyananda that give a hint of his spiritual stature.
Many times I listened to him speak, and have always come away feeling refreshed and energized. It is not only his lectures, teachings, and books that shed light on areas of darkness and confusion in people’s lives.
Above all, it is the example of the man himself, the peace and calm that surround him, the spiritual power that emanates from him, pointing the way to each person’s own inner path to enlightenment.
—John Harricharan, Body, Mind, & Spirit magazine
Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) is one of the foremost proponents of yogic teachings in the world today. In 1948 at the age of twenty-two, he became a disciple of the Indian yoga master, Paramhansa Yogananda. He is one of a few remaining direct disciples of Yogananda active today.
At Yogananda’s request, Swami Kriyananda has devoted his life to lecturing and writing, helping others to experience the living presence of God within. He has taught on four continents in seven languages over the course of over 60 years. His teaching, audio and video recordings of his talks and music, and his many books translated into 28 languages have touched the lives of millions.
Swami Kriyananda has taken the ancient teachings of Raja Yoga and made them practical and immediately useful for people in every walk of life. His books and teachings on spiritualizing nearly every field of human endeavor include business life, leadership, education, the arts, community, and science. He has written extensive commentaries on the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, both based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda.
Swami Kriyananda is also known as the “father of the intentional communities movement,” which began in the United States in the late 1960s. Inspired by Yogananda’s dream of establishing spiritual communities, he founded in 1968 the first of what are now seven Ananda communities worldwide. They provide a supportive environment of “simple living and high thinking” where over 1,000 full-time residents live, work, and worship together.
The time has come for people to live lives of even higher dedication than that which inspired monks and nuns of the past.
It is time to direct our spiritual awareness also into matter, into everything we do: work, education, family life, friendship, communications with strangers, the way we build our homes — to all the most mundane, practical aspects of daily human life.
People need to become God-centered from within, and from that center to see God everywhere, in everything.”
—Swami Kriyananda, Cities of Light
