Swami Kriyananda trained and authorized as “Ministers” many experienced Ananda teachers. About them, he says:
“Ananda ministers must do their best to speak from God’s inspiration within, and from the Ananda teachings, and not from their own merely human opinions…Our job as ministers is to guide people on this inward path of Kriya.”
In addition to teaching, the “Lightbearers” officiate at such ceremonies as the Festival of Light, the “Purification Ceremony”, weddings, baptisms, the “Astral Ascention” and funeral services.
What are Ministers & Lightbearers?
In the Ananda Sangha community, minister is used in the original and essential meaning of the word: one whose role it is to serve.
For many Sangha members, the core motivation for their spiritual quest becomes union with God. Their path includes attunement with the Guru, cooperative service to his cause, and Kriya yoga meditation. The outward position one holds within the Sangha makes little difference. Regardless of their place within the community, each individual’s spiritual advancement creates its own magnetism that will beneficially influence others. In this broader sense, many of us are ministers, even without that official title.
Nevertheless, our spiritual leaders always look for ways to give individuals the opportunity to serve more fully. When extended observation of a devotee substantiates their dharma to serve in a more public function, the prospect of confirming their ministry in an official way arises naturally. Swami Kriyananda offered the following criterion:
“We observe them over a long period of time, and when we see that in times of severe trials, they do not lose their commitment to their service and the highest good for all, we consider them ready.”
This wisdom really applies to all of us. Spirit is exactly that which makes us rise above personal concerns, emotions, and setbacks. The more we have of transcendent Spirit, the more naturally we want to see and serve it in others. Sri Gyanamata, Yogananda’s most advanced woman disciple, wrote in one of her letters: “I have come to measure spiritual advancement, not alone by the light that surrounds one when he meditates or by the visions he has of saints, but by what he is able to endure in the hard, cold light of day.”
In community life a particular function is allotted to Lightbearers. These individuals are empowered by our spiritual directors to act as channels for the Masters, when they bless devotees or spiritual seekers by touching their spiritual eye or their heart chakra. Naturally, all Lightbearers are ministers, but not all ministers need to become Lightbearers. Here is the way that Swami Kriyananda has described this form of service:
A Lightbearer is one whose very presence uplifts the consciousness of others.
Initially ministers and Lightbearers were “created” only in the “nursery” of geographically circumscribed Ananda communities. But as meditation groups and Ananda centers were formed in cities all over the world, Kriyananda expanded this practice to include kriyabans who serve in more heterogeneous settings.
So, dear friends, if you need help or counseling in your spiritual life, feel free to turn to one of the ministers or Lightbearers you will find in the list below. They are there to serve you!
Ananda Washington Lightbearers
Nayaswami Nivritti Steenstra
Ananda Lightbearer Nivritti Steenstra co-founded the Ananda Community and East West Bookshop.
Nayaswami Padma McGilloway
Nayaswami Padma, is the co-spiritual director of Ananda Washington. She is also a Kriyacharya, Lightbearer, and teacher of Ananda.
Nayaswami Hriman McGilloway
Hriman and his wife Padma are the Spiritual Directors of Ananda Washington, Kriyacharia, Lightbearer, and teacher of Ananda.
Nayaswami Jamuna Snitkin
Nayaswami Jamuna has been part of Ananda since 1972. She has been an art student, a social worker, a librarian, a manager of the first East West Bookshop, a part of the Ananda Seattle church staff, a teacher and most importantly, a devotee of Paramhansa Yogananda and student of Swami Kriyananda.
Murali Venkatrao PhD
Murali Venkatrao PhD, Lightbearer and teacher of Ananda. He
is currently the Director of yoga teacher programs at the Ananda
Institute of Living Yoga in Bothell, WA, and a Professor of Yogic
Physiology at Vivekananda Yoga University in Norwalk, CA. Read More
Nayaswami Lajjana
Ananda Lightbearer.
Ananda Washington Ministers
Rick Johnston
Ananda Minister and Blue Lotus Temple office manager.
Christy Johnston
Ananda Minister and Community Manager.
Nayaswami Carole
Community Maintenance Manager.