James Donald Walters was born in Romania to American parents in 1926. When he was in college, he read Autobiography of a Yogi by the Hindu monk Paramahansa Yogananda, which had recently been published. Walters made his way to the headquarters of Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in California and took vows of discipleship.
Walters moved quickly through the ranks of the SRF and was present at Yogananda’s death in 1952. One year later, the SRF published Stories of Mukunda: The Early Life of Paramahansa Yogananda, a short collection of reminiscences by Walters. He took monastic vows in 1955, receiving the name Kriyananda, and became the chief lecturer at the SRF center in Los Angeles.
Kriyananda was elected to the SRF Board of Directors in 1960 and became vice president, but the Board unanimously requested his resignation just two years later. SRF has never publicly disclosed the reasons for this action, but sources have suggested that Kriyananda violated his vows of celibacy and obedience while serving in India both before and during his tenure on the SRF Board. Some allege that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with a young nun while in India.
He was expelled from India by its government in 1962 and denied an entrance visa for the next 10 years, also for reasons that remain unclear but that may have had to do with his handling of SRF finances and SRF relations with the Delhi government under his leadership. He denied any wrongdoing throughout the rest of his life, stating that the separation was due to a testy relationship with Tara Mata, Yogananda’s editor and close disciple, with whom Kriyananda served in India.
Following his departure from SRF, Kriyananda began to independently teach yoga and Yogananda’s philosophy. In 1968, he founded Ananda Village on 40 acres near Nevada City, California, establishing the first of what he hoped would be a number of spiritual communities based on cooperative living. He called these “World Brotherhood Colonies.” He also established the Expanding Light Yoga and Meditation Retreat and the nearby Ananda Meditation Retreat close to the original colony in Nevada City.
In 1983, Kriyananda relinquished his monastic vows and promise of celibacy, and in 1985 he got married. He would later divorce, and would resume his monastic vows and the use of the Kriyananda name in 1995. During that same period, Ananda was embroiled in a legal battle with SRF over the use of Yogananda’s materials and the term “self-realization” that lasted more than a decade. The litigation ultimately ended with a compromise between the groups: The court determined that SRF did not possess exclusive rights to the term or to the name and likeness of Yogananda, and the presiding judge suggested that Ananda retain “Ananda” as a part of its church name, resulting in “Ananda Church of Self-Realization,” to which Ananda agreed.
Former Ananda resident Anne-Marie Bertolucci sued Kriyananda and Ananda in 1994, alleging sexual harassment and fraud. The case went to trial, and in 1998, Kriyananda was found guilty of deception in using the title “swami,” which implies celibacy, despite engaging in sexual relationships with several women over the 30-year history of Ananda. He was also judged to have caused emotional trauma. The jury found Ananda, the church itself, liable for “negligent supervision” of Kriyananda, with a finding of “malice and fraud” on the part of the institution.
In 2004, Italian authorities raided Ananda’s Assisi colony following allegations of financial misconduct, but a subsequent seven-year investigation concluded in 2009 with a ruling that the case was without merit. Kriyananda died at the Assisi colony on April 21, 2013.
Key Sources:
Asha, N. (2019). Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer: The Life and Legacy of a Direct Disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda.
Ball, J. (1982). Ananda: Where Yoga Lives. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular Press.
Bate, J. (2004, March 27). Swami Clear in Italy Case: Ananda Founder Safe from Arrest, Supporters Say. The Union.
Gao, H. (1999, March 10). Sex and the Singular Swami. San Francisco Weekly.
Helin, S. D. Expanding the Light: A History of Ananda, Part II: 1997-1990.
Helin, S. D. Many Hands Make a Miracle: A History of Ananda, 1968-1976.
Kriyananda (1997). The Path: Autobiography of a Western Yogi. Ananda Publications.
Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 