About Nayaswami Kriyananda
Nayaswami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) is a direct disciple of Paramhansa 
Yogananda and the founder of Ananda. Kriyananda spent 3-1/2 years living closely with his Guru, Yogananda, the great Indian master and author of Autobiography of a Yogi (available on-line at http://www.CrystalClarity.com/yogananda). He went on to become vice-president of Self-Realization Fellowship, the organization Yogananda founded. After leaving SRF, he founded Ananda in 1968, recognized as the most successful spiritual community in the world.
(Left) A young Donald Walters serving Yogananda, March 1952.
Kriyananda’s books and music have sold over 3 million copies worldwide and been translated into 24 languages. His over eighty published works seminally explore the application of the teachings of Self-Realization to daily life. Topics include leadership, education, creativity, and moral values. His best-selling titles include Meditation for Starters, The Path: A Spiritual Autobiography (which can be read online at http://www.crystalclarity.com/kriyananda), Money Magnetism, The Essence of Self-Realization, Affirmations for Self-Healing, Education for Life, and his best-selling Secrets gift books. (For more information on Kriyananda’s books, visit the website of Crystal Clarity, Ananda’s publishing arm.
A composer since 1964, Kriyananda has written over 400 pieces of original music including spiritual folk songs, an oratorio, instrumentals, and music inspired by seeing the Divine in cultures throughout the world.
His music is soothing, uplifting, and inspiring. Many of his new albums are instrumental works that contain brief affirmations or visualizations. Chuck Dilberto, of Awareness Magazine says, “Kriyananda’s words and music are full of his life and light. His sole intention is to heal, something we could all use during these chaotic times.”
His recent albums include Secrets of Life, Mantra, Life is a Quest for Joy, and I, Omar. As a composer, Walters is best known for the top-selling albums Mystic Harp and Mystic Harp 2, featuring the legendary harpist Derek Bell, of the 5-time Grammy Award-winning group The Chieftains.
In seeking to fulfill Yogananda’s insight that the world needs examples of how to live together in harmony in a complex and diversified world, Swami Kriyananda has founded intentional, spiritual communities in America and Europe which have grown and flourished, offering hope for a better world.
For more news regarding Swami Kriyananda, see Ananda Worldwide’s Web Site at http://www.ananda.org/ananda/kriyananda/index.html.
