Divine Awakening: The Mission of Paramhansa Yogananda and His Disciple, Swami Kriyananda

In July 1969, a twenty-one-year-old college graduate stepped out of a stranger's car in front of a run-down farmhouse in the foothills of Northern California. She had crossed two thousand miles alone, drawn by something she could not yet name. A man with long hair walked toward her, and from him came a wave of energy unlike anything she had felt before. "Something important is going to happen here," a voice within her said.

The man was Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. The day was the founding of Ananda Spiritual Community. And the young woman—Nayaswami Devi—would spend the next forty-four years at his side, helping carry forward a mission that began long before either of them was born.

Divine Awakening is her account of that mission: the great unfolding of consciousness Yogananda was sent to inaugurate, the new way of life Kriyananda built to embody it, and the work that now passes to those of us living at the dawn of this new age. It is a book of vision, of witness, and of invitation.

"This isn't my work. It isn't your work. It is the work of Babaji and Master. They will carry it forward." — Swami Kriyananda

Nayaswami Devi has dedicated her life to the spiritual path that opened to her on that July day. In 1975 she married Nayaswami Jyotish, Kriyananda's “right-hand man” and, later, his spiritual successor. Together they have lectured, taught, and counseled throughout the world, helping others live the teachings of Self-realization through meditation, devotion, and service. The Institute of International Social Development honored their work with the Global Ambassador Peace Award at the United Nations, in recognition of their contribution to fostering world peace. Since 1984 they have been the Spiritual Directors of Ananda Worldwide. Devi is also the author of Faith Is My Armor: The Life of Swami Kriyananda.