Paramhansa
Yogananda on World Brotherhood Colonies
From East West Magazine, 1932
The following excerpts are from an article Yogananda wrote
about his dream of World Brotherhood Colonies. While he
modified the practical details later in his life, this article
is a good example of the principles on which to found Colonies,
and also the strong feelings Yogananda had about starting
them.
Ananda's World Brotherhood Colonies were founded on the
following principles:
"How can we by spiritual methods begin a material
United States of the World?"
"...This is how it should be worked out. Groups of
twenty-five young married couples and single people should
strive hard and concentrate their souls' force by living
economically for five years, until each couple has ten thousand
dollars cash. This, multiplied by twenty-five, would make
a trust-fund of $250,000.
"Some of this should be used to buy and build twenty-five
small cottages, by their own labor, on twenty acres of community-owned
farm land. All butter and milk should be obtained from home-bred
cows, and vegetables should be grown by the members of this
spiritual farm on their own land. Lambs should be grown
for wool for dresses, socks, and other articles...."
"Education for the children of the married couples
should be given in the community schools by the highly educated
parents in a community hall with wooden partitions, or under
the trees in summer. Meditation, the scientific art of knowing
god, should be the ideal aim of all the children.. Parents
should be satisfied with one child and exercise moderation
and self-control in marital life.
"All taxes, the expense of educating the children,
and miscellaneous expenses, should be taken from the interest
on the $250,000...."
"Each spiritual colony should take the vow of plain
living and high thinking, the brotherhood of man, fellowship
of all, joint ownership of land, transportation, education,
food, and money, and they should eat and dress in the community
way, but spiritually each soul in the community must be
unencumbered so that he may develop and advance as deeply
as he can.
"If people would follow the above rules, then God's
world would be harmonious; climates would be better, and
from everywhere pestilence, famine, and disease would flee,
for then all the nations would be as one, co-operating in
international laws of transportation, food, education, and
religion. Forsake luxury, selfishness, and greed for money,
and lead lives of security free from worries. This will
establish universal peace and harmony."
World Brotherhood Colony Links and Resources
A Place
Called Ananda: The Trial by Fire That Forged One of the
Most Successful Cooperative Communities in the World Today
Read the entire book online. The complete story of how Ananda
was founded, beginning with Kriyananda's training under
Yogananda.
Excerpt on
World Brotherhood Colonies from The Path, by
Swami Kriyananda.
Autobiography
of a Yogi Chapter 48: In the first edition of Autobiography
of a Yogi, Yogananda speaks at length about world brotherhood
colonies. Read Chapter 48, from the online Autobiography
of a Yogi, to see what he says.
Yogananda on World
Brotherhood Colonies, from The Flawless Mirror,
by Kamala Silva.
Related
Autobiography
of a Yogi online edition
The New
Path online edition
Streaming Video
of Yogananda
Photo Album
of Yogananda
Articles by Yogananda
World Brotherhood
Colonies
