RESIDENTIAL COURSE: The Essence of Paramhansa Yogananda
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Paramhansa Yogananda had a world mission: to inspire all souls with love for God and to share the teachings and practices of Kriya Yoga. He was sent to the West by Babaji to teach this technique which can bring us to the direct innerexperience of God’s presence.
Whether you are a disciple of Yogananda, or have only just heard of him, you will find this course inspiring, uplifting and full of joy as we celebrate his birthday together on the evening of 5 January!
I’m absolutely certain it’s going to be instrumental in changing the course of religion.'
He said, ‘It’s a new expression.’'
and therefore Kriya yoga is bound to have an enormous impact
on the future of our world. It can’t be otherwise.'
'I once said to him, “Sir, after you are gone, will you be as close to us as you are now?”
“To those who think me near,” he replied, “I will be near.”'
—Swami Kriyananda from Paramhansa Yogananda: a Biography
"When I am gone, only love will take my place."
—Paramhansa Yogananda
God’s Boatman
I want to ply my boat, many times,
Across the gulf-after-death,
And return to earth’s shores
From my home in heaven.I want to load my boat
With those waiting, thirsty ones
Who are left behind:
And carry them by the opal pool
Of iridescent joy—Where my Father distributes
His all-desire-quenching liquid peace.'
—Paramhansa Yogananda— from Whispers from Eternity
Nayaswami Manu has lived at Ananda since 2004, and has been on the spiritual path of Kriya Yoga since 1997. She graduated from the University of Foreign Languages and Literature in Bergamo, Italy, and has been a regular teacher for about ten years. She is a certified teacher of Educare alla Vita (Education for Life), the teaching method developed by Swami Kriyananda, and has taught in the Ananda Assisi school. She teaches a variety of courses including training courses for meditation teachers. She loves to study and deepen the teachings transmitted by the Masters of Kriya Yoga, and shares them with great joy, enthusiasm and energy.
Tyagi Gitanjali Deborah Gregorelli grew up in Colorado, U.S., where she received a degree in psychology. She moved to California in 1980 and lived in the Ananda ashram in San Francisco. In 1982, she has received a certification as a Holistic Health Practitioner. She moved to Ananda Village that year and became involved in the music activities there, eventually directing the choir. In 1989, she arrived in Ananda Assisi where she directed the choir and began teaching. In 2005 she moved to the ashram of Ananda Gurgaon, in India, with her husband Yogindra, returning to Italy in 2010. Gitanjali has been teaching a wide variety of courses at Ananda for more than 30 years. It is one of her greatest joys to share the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. Along with her husband Yogindra she serves as a minister and Light Bearer conducting Sunday Satsangs and other ceremonies.
Tyagi Yogindra Claudio Gregorelli began practicing yoga at a very young age and in the early 80's taught therapeutic yoga in Milan. He was particularly attracted by the books of Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda, and in 1985 he moved from Brescia to Lake Como, where the Ananda Europa community was located at the time.After training as an Ananda Yoga teacher at Ananda Village in California, from 1997 until 2004 he taught yoga and the practices and basic principles of Kriya Yoga, both in the programs at Ananda and in courses and seminars in various Italian cities. He was invited by the University La Sapienza of Rome to teach a two-year course sponsored by a well-known pharmaceutical company, studying the effects of yoga on patients suffering from multiple sclerosis.
From 2005 to 2010, with his wife Gitanjali, he lived mainly in India at the newly founded Ananda community in Gurgaon, spreading the ideals of community life and the teachings of Kriya Yoga through seminars and satsangs in several urban centers of India.
Upon returning to Ananda Assisi, in recent years he has been mainly involved in organizing guest programs and coordinating Ananda's teaching staff.
Nayaswami Uma Macfarlane is a Kriyacharya, Counselor and Raja Yoga Teacher. An astute counselor and teacher, Uma offers a number of classes on Raja Yoga at the Ananda Assisi center.A student and teacher of yogic philosophy and spiritual science for 40 years, Uma lived for many years at Ananda Village in California, where served for a time as secretary for Swami Kriyananda.
She has taught at Ananda communities in the United States, as well in India and many parts of Europe. A native of the England, she brings wonderful wit and charming warmth to her classes as well as obvious depth of experience. She is currently serving in our Assisi, Italy retreat.
Dear friends, we will do our best, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to provide a translation for everything in your program. We apologise for any inconvenience!
The total price of your all-inclusive stay is 540 euros per person (108 euros per day)* if you are in a single room or 400 euros per person (80 euros per day)* in a room shared only with whom you indicate.
We have prepared for you a little guide that you can download and that will help us to welcome you in the best way. You can find it in the MATERIALI section.
* Price of membership card not included (18€)
Sunday 1
17:30-19:30 Spiritual practices
19:30 Dinner
20:30 Orientation
Monday 2 - Wednesday 4
7:00 - 8:45 Morning spiritual practices
8:45 Breakfast in silence
11:00 - 13:30 Morning lesson
13:30 Lunch
16:15 - 17:30 Ananda Yoga
17:45 - 19:30 Recharge and meditation or techniques lesson
19:30 Dinner in silence
20:30 Evening activities
Thursday 5
6:30 Special meditation for Yogananda's birthday with Purification Ceremony
8:45 Breakfast in silence
11:00 - 13:30 Morning Lesson
13:30 Festive Indian lunch
16:15 - 17:30 Ananda Yoga
17:45 - 19:30 Recharge and meditation or techniques lesson
19:30 Dinner in silence
20:30 Master's Birthday Celebration
Friday 6
7:00 - 8:45 Morning spiritual practices
8:45 Breakfast in silence
11:00 - 13:30 Morning Lesson
13:30 Lunch
Services
The total price of your all-inclusive stay is 540 euros per person (108 euros per day)* if you are in a single room or 400 euros per person (80 euros per day)* in a room shared only with whom you indicate.
- full board from the evening of arrival to lunch on the day of departure
- all meditations and guided sadhana
- Ananda Yoga classes
- the course and materials (if any)
- the essentials for your practice: meditation cushions, yoga mats, Aum-board
- kirtan and other evening programs
* Price of membership card not included (18€)
Accommodation: information and prices
Cost table
Attention: During the Covid-19 period the prices below are no longer applicable. The correct all-inclusive price for each course can be found on its individual page.
| Single room with bathroom | € 72.00 |
| Single without bathroom | € 61.00 |
| Double room with bathroom | € 56.00 |
| Double without bathroom | € 48.00 |
| Triple room with bathroom | € 48.00 |
| Triple without bathroom | € 41.00 |
| Dormitory (4-5 beds) | € 36.00 |
Note: To the price of lodging and food, you have to add the price of the seminar, that includes all activities: Energization Exercises Lessons, yoga and meditation and evening activities (on most evenings).
Payments can be made in cash, by Eurocheck, credit card (MasterCard and Visa), Bancomat. We can’t accept cash over 1000.00 euros.
Opportunity
Next time you come to Ananda, sign up for the program Yoga in Action to get a taste of community service and receive a discount on the cost of the course. You can choose the option Yoga in Action for any course where this program is available and you can continue with this option as long as you wish. Your service project might change each day.
When we learn to serve with the right attitude, this is a spiritual practice and is called Karma Yoga. The daily practice of Karma Yoga is a joyful and practical spiritual discipline that will benefit every aspect of your life.
At Ananda, there are two levels of the Yoga in Action option:
Yoga in Action Level 1
75€/course of 5 days
With Level 1, you will serve for a period of one and a half hours. This experience gives you a chance to contribute to the beautiful atmosphere of Ananda.
Yoga in Action Level 2
35€/course of 5 days
Yoga in Action Level 2 is only available if you have had prior experience of the Yoga in Action Level 1 option, or any of the Community Living Programs. With Level 2, you will serve for a period of three hours, split into two periods of daily service.
How to Register for This Program
In the page of the course you want to participate to, you will find, if available, the special price of the course with Yoga in action level 1 and 2. When you sign-up on the website or call or write us to book the course, just indicate that you wish to participate to the Yoga in Action Level 1 or 2 program. It’s that easy. Once you arrive at Ananda you will need also to complete a Yoga in Action Form and return it to our reception office.
How to book
You may make your reservation directly here on the website or by phone (+39 0742 813620) or email (info@ananda.it). Your booking needs to be confirmed by our reception office. For courses held online, there is no need to indicate the details of your stay (date of arrival, departure…).
For courses held at our center in Assisi, please indicate your arrival and departure dates and times, the program you wish to attend, your preferred accommodation, your address, phone and email. If you need to modify your reservation, please inform us at least one week in advance.
Our reception office is open from:
Monday to Saturday 9:30-1:30pm, 2:30-5:30pm
Sunday 9:30-11:30am, 2:30-5:30pm
For on-site courses, the programmes start on the evening of the day indicated.
If you cannot arrive during office hours, please let us know in advance.
Please contact us to check what translations are available. Courses, both on-site and online, may be cancelled if there are fewer than five participants.
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This course is offered only in Italian. For information, see our Italian site.
4 Days
This weekend course is dedicated to Kriya Yoga, a true philosophy of life that teaches how to raise energy levels, master out-of-control emotions, refine perceptions and cope with life's trials with calmness, centerdness, and inner strength.
Weekend
3 Days
In his book The Holy Science, Swami Sri Yukteswar, Guru of Paramhansa Yogananda, provides a skillful and accurate comparison of passages from Hindu and Christian scriptures. In this book, he illustrates the universal evolution of consciousness, energy and matter, and demonstrates the fundamental harmony inherent in all the great spiritual teachings of East and West.
3 DAYS