Swami Kriyananda’s life can be seen as a continuous unfolding of discipleship to Paramhansa Yogananda’s ideals. Born James Donald Walters, he met Yogananda in 1948 and, as a young man, entered deeply into the guru-disciple relationship, living and studying at Yogananda’s ashram until the guru’s passing in 1952. During those formative years he took monastic vows in Yogananda’s order and was ordained as a minister, serving within the Self-Realization Fellowship and sharing Kriya Yoga through lectures and classes. These early experiences shaped the rest of his life’s work, which consistently sought to interpret and apply Yogananda’s vision in practical, communal, and devotional forms.

One of his most far-reaching achievements was the founding of Ananda Village near Nevada City, California, in 1968, conceived as a “world-brotherhood colony” based on Yogananda’s ideals. From this seed grew a network of Ananda communities, centers, retreat facilities, schools, and meditation groups in the United States, Europe, and India, including a major community in Assisi, Italy. Within these settings he helped develop educational programs and retreat environments that integrated meditation, service, and daily life, training many students in Kriya Yoga and related practices. His formal leadership role in Ananda eventually gave way to a greater focus on writing and teaching, yet his influence continued to permeate the communities he had founded.

Equally significant was his prolific work as an author and interpreter of spiritual teachings. He wrote a large number of books on yoga, meditation, spirituality, and practical living, including a detailed memoir of his years with Yogananda and commentaries on texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Many of these works sought to make subtle spiritual principles accessible and applicable to modern seekers, and they have been translated into multiple languages. Alongside his literary contributions, he composed hundreds of pieces of spiritual music, including oratorios and settings for Yogananda’s chants, using the arts as a vehicle for inner upliftment and devotion.

His life also included periods of testing and controversy, particularly in relation to Self-Realization Fellowship. Extended legal disputes arose over issues such as the use of Yogananda’s name, image, and teachings, and these court cases shaped how that spiritual legacy could be shared outside the original organization. Through these challenges, he continued to teach, travel, and guide others, eventually spending substantial time in India and Europe while remaining devoted to spreading his guru’s message. At the end of his life, he left behind not only books and music, but also living communities that embody his understanding of discipleship: spirituality expressed not merely in private practice, but in the shared fabric of everyday life.