Dear Friends and Members of Ananda,

We step soon into a new year as 2009, draws to a close. This last year and, indeed, the decade closing behind us has been a tumultuous one in America and around the world. At this moment in time, the daily message of the national media suggests cautious optimism on the economic front, even if often betrayed by contrary indicators and peppered with caveats.

Swami Kriyananda, the founder of Ananda and the leading spokesman and direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, has a message too and it’s not lacking in clarity nor is it cloaked in qualifiers. He warns us of troubled economic times on a scale beyond anything we have ever known. He warns of other challenging possibilities as well. But his is not a message of pessimism. It is an invitation to live for high ideals and to make them practical. His message therefore doesn’t differ greatly from that of many voices urging humanity to make courageous and bold changes in thinking, acting, and living.

Most people make difficult changes only when it is too late or when there is no choice. Wiser people make changes when the “handwriting is on the wall.” But the wisest of all make changes because it is simply the right thing to do, even if unpopular or not understood at the time. Many forward thinkers warn us that the “too late” stage is rapidly approaching, even as millions of individuals and small groups of people are already exploring the more harmonious lifestyles that will eventually be required. Ananda Communities have embodied sustainable living long before the term came into popular use.

Paramhansa Yogananda came to the West to bring a message of hope — and warning. He came to plant seeds of change for a new era. He came with a new dispensation to express timeless truths in a new light. His message of hope for a better world is based on fostering a growing understanding among humanity that as children of God, we are One. He saw that only by cooperation could God’s children, of every race and nation, live together in harmony with all life. He saw that we must outgrow narrow-eyed self-interests, prejudices, and greed made increasingly destructive by our mastery of the laws of nature.

But what is sustainability? Most people think sustainability means driving a hybrid car, recycling, or not using plastic shopping bags. But just look around and you’ll see that the details and yardstick of sustainable living changes over time and from place to place, and country to country, for it is relative to the needs and understanding of people. So perhaps the real sustainability begins with our own consciousness, and expands outward into practical and appropriate harmonious living?
Indeed THIS is the essence of Yogananda’s teachings and Ananda’s worldwide work. Witness the paralysis in the U. S. Congress, or the disappointing attempts at international treaties on global warming! Fixing these problems through legislation and treaties, however right and appropriate on their level, is nonetheless an unsatisfying compromise at best and at worst, may be far too little, too late!

To “sustain” means to conduct one’s life with consistency and balance, like a long distance runner. In health, it means to adapt a balanced diet and exercise, and moderation in all things; in relationships, it means to bring respect, integrity, service, and self-giving love as appropriate; in our work, it means to learn cooperation, creativity, and concentration; and in spirituality, it means to seek union with God through service and meditation.
Meditation teaches us to concentrate, to become calm, and to open our hearts to that higher and ultimate reality we call God. As we do so, we begin to live by and to be sustained by higher consciousness as OUR consciousness. We discover that our self is our higher Self, our true SELF. From this flows naturally and intuitively the attitudes and behavior described above as sustainability in health, relationships, and work.

And thus it is that Ananda’s work and contribution to society is both elemental and essential to human consciousness. It is, in fact, at the other end of the spectrum of walking picket lines or drafting legislation or treaties. Creating sustainable intentional communities is a natural outgrowth of our spiritual practices and precepts. From this, in turn, comes the equally organic impulse to enjoy nature; to grow healthy food; to create businesses where like-minded people can serve; to explore natural forms of healing, and so on. Consciousness has no limits. Unlike changes mandated by governments from above, changes in consciousness can spread naturally and quickly, like wildfire.

We urge our friends to take seriously the challenge of making the lifestyle changes that will sustain you body, mind and soul. Begin with daily meditation. Learn how to find or create intentional community, in whatever form is helpful to you. Consider seriously the warnings from every quarter regarding the possibility of disruptions in economic activity or daily life, from any number of possible causes. Start with creating an emergency food and other supplies. From there build a long-term food storage supply. Even if you live in an apartment, learn to grow herbs or simple food items, or participate in supporting  local community agricultural (Ananda Community is starting a CSA in January!). Diversify your financial resources away from currency-based holdings into paying off debt, acquiring property or other tangible goods you can live on, and investing in currency alternatives.

Yogananda predicted challenging times but only for the purposes of ushering a new age of greater awareness and harmony. For living in these “interesting times” we have a rare opportunity on a grand scale to make great spiritual progress, and for two reasons: the first reason flows from the grace and wisdom of an avatar sent into this age for that purpose; the second, flowing from the first, is that extreme conditions can provide an opportunity for heroic opportunities, spiritually speaking, to help others as we help ourselves.

Each one of us can find our proper “place” in these urgings. It doesn’t have to take the same form for everyone. Ultimately sustainability is as unique and individual as each one of us. It is directional, primarily. New Year’s is the moment to affirm our new directions, and to affirm them in concert with others of like mind. May 2010 for each of us be filled with the ever-conscious, ever-present, ever-expanding joy of God’s wisdom and strength guiding and sustaining us.

Joy to you in this new year!

Nayaswamis Hriman & Padma McGilloway