Asha Praver

Asha Nayaswami has been a spiritual seeker since she was a young girl. In 1969 at Stanford University, she heard Swami Kriyananda speak for the first time. Instantly, she recognized him as her spiritual teacher. “I knew the moment he walked into the room that he possessed the consciousness I had long been seeking.”

She soon became a founding member of the new community Swami Kriyananda was starting near Nevada City, California, called Ananda Village, based on Yogananda’s dream of world brotherhood colonies for “simple living and high thinking.”

Swami Kriyananda placed Asha in the role of teaching and counseling soon after her arrival at Ananda. She also served as Swami’s correspondence secretary and personal assistant for many years.

She has served as one of the spiritual directors of Ananda Palo Alto since 1987. Asha is author of Swami Kriyananda As We Have Known Him, a collection of more than 200 stories by people who have been touched by his teachings and spiritual friendship, often in remarkable ways. She is also author of Loved and Protected: Stories of Miracles and Answered Prayers, Ask Asha: Heartfelt Answers to Everyday Dilemmas on the Spiritual Path, and Swami Kriyananda, Lightbearer: The Life and Legacy of a Disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda.

Asha’s video talks and recordings of classes are a spiritual lifeline for people of many faiths around the world. Thousands of students have received training from her and been immeasurably helped by her unusual insight and clarity.