Swami Kriyananda 
The Need For Spiritual Communities and How to Start Them 

‘Many hands make a miracle;

People climbing together.

Life on earth is so wonderful

When people laugh and dance

And struggle as friends,

Then all their dreams achieve their ends.’

–from ‘Many Hands Make a Miracle’ by Swami Kriyananda


In this book Swami Kriyananda, called ‘the Father of the Communities Movement, ‘ shares the wisdom gained through many decades of study and practice of the principles that make modern communities thrive. Inspired by his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, and his ideal of ‘world brotherhood colonies, ‘ Kriyananda brought these principles to fruition through persistent effort and inspired leadership.


‘Make your ideals practical, ‘ Yogananda advised, and Kriyananda took those words to heart. During his lifetime, Kriyananda (1926-2013) founded nine spiritual communities in the United States, Europe, and India. His network of Ananda communities has been hailed as the most successful in the world.


The Ananda communities were formed on two basic principles–‘people are more important than things’ and ‘where there is right action, there is victory.’ Adherence to these principles is one of the secrets to Ananda’s success.


Whether you are interested in communities from a philosophical perspective or from a practical one–and wish to form your own or join with others in doing so–this book will bring you hundreds of helpful insights into the process–how to start a community, how to make it prosper even in difficult times, and how to see it continue into a bright future.

About the author

One of the foremost spiritual teachers of Yoga principles in the world. In 1948, at the age of twenty-two, he became a disciple of the Indian yoga master and world teacher, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of the classic, Autobiography of a Yogi). At Yogananda’s request, Swami Kriyananda devoted his life to teaching and writing, and helping others to experience the joy and living presence of God within. Over the course of more than sixty years, Kriyananda lectured on four continents in seven languages. His television programs, audio and video recordings of his talks and music, and his many books in twenty-eight languages have touched the lives of millions.
Swami Kriyananda took the ancient teachings of Raja Yoga and made them intensely practical and immediately useful for people in every walk of life, on a daily basis. His books and teachings cover nearly every field of human endeavor, including spiritualizing business life, leadership, education, the arts, community life, and science. He wrote extensive commentaries on the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita.
Swami Kriyananda was also known as the “father of the intentional communities movement, ” which began in the United States in the late 1960s. Inspired by his guru’s dream of establishing spiritual communities, in 1968 he founded the first of what are now ten Ananda communities worldwide. They provide a supportive environment of “simple living and high thinking, ” where a thousand 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. . . . The time has come for people to direct their spiritual awareness als’ downward into matter . . . to everything they do: their work, to education, to family life, to friendship, to their communications with strangers, to the way they build their homes — to all the most mundane, practical aspects of daily, human life."
“Men need now to become God-centered from within, and from that center to see God everywhere, in everything." —Cities of Light by Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters)