About Asha

Sometimes the course of a lifetime is determined by a single moment. For Nayaswami Asha, it was her first meeting with Swami Kriyananda in November 1969 at a lecture he gave at Stanford University. Soon after, she moved to the fledgling Ananda community in Northern California where Swami Kriyananda lived, to study with him full-time.

Working closely with Swami Kriyananda ever since, Asha has served at various times as his cook, secretary, and personal assistant, as well as head of publications, marketing, and public relations for Ananda. In the mid-1970’s, Swami Kriyananda asked her to being teaching and lecturing, first at Ananda’s Meditation Retreat, and later throughout the United States.

Asha is a gifted storyteller and a much-respected teacher. Bringing together nearly forty years of close observation to detail (and copious note-taking), she shares with us here some of her most inspired moments with Swami Kriyananda, observed either in person or related to her by others, each one told with her unique blend of sensitive insight, courage, and joy.

Asha is the spiritual director of Ananda in Palo Alto, California, where she has been teaching and serving the public since 1987. This is her first book.

To listen to many of Asha’s recorded talks, or for information about her classes and Sunday services, please see her website: NayaswamiAsha.org.