Lou Gehrig's Disease

[Listen to Asha read this story]

(Told by Hassi)

My husband was forty years old when he was diagnosed with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was a carpenter—a big, robust man. We have four children; the youngest was three. I knew the medical facts but I still found it impossible to imagine that my husband would never get better, that this disease would weaken him, paralyze him, and then take his life. 

Called on the Carpet

[Listen to Asha read this story]

(Told by Jayadev)

I always tended to be a rebel, getting into arguments with teachers, neighbors, and anyone in authority. 

Even at Ananda I decided, “No one will boss me but God!” For a while I got away with it. No one interfered with my way of doing things. Then Swamiji appointed a new director for our community in Italy. As soon as I saw him, I knew I was in for a hard time.

Soul to Soul

[Listen to Asha read this story]


(Told by Liladevi)

By the time I got to Swamiji’s lecture it was standing room only and I had to sit on the floor of the middle aisle. It didn’t matter where I was in the room, when Swamiji began to speak, I felt as if he were inside my spine, speaking directly to my soul. I don’t know how else to explain it. 

The Love of One Devotee

[Listen to Asha read this story]

(Told by Lalita)

During the hours when Swamiji was having open-heart surgery, I led a prayer vigil in the temple of the Ananda Sacramento community where I lived. A few others joined me, but mostly I prayed alone.

Swamiji was in a hospital nearby, and afterwards I wanted to go see him. Each time I tried, however, so many others were there before me that I couldn’t get in.

It Must Be Lonely

[Listen to Asha read this story]

Adjacent to the lobby of the hotel where Swamiji and a few of us were staying there was a small jewelry store. For hours every day, a woman sat alone behind the counter.

“I never see any customers in there,” Swamiji said.

Chapter 1: Moments of Truth

[Listen to Asha read this story]

“Softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, where principles are at stake.” 

Vedic definition of a man of God

Introduction: Vivid in My Heart

[Listen to Asha read this story]

The first time I saw Swami Kriyananda was in a tent set up behind the Beta Chi fraternity house on the campus of Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California. It was late November 1969. He was in his early forties. I was twenty-two years old.

Usually the tent served as an expanded venue for the parties for which the fraternity was famous. It was the ’60s, though, and everything was changing. Someone thought it would be interesting to invite a swami to speak.