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Ananda is a worldwide group of individuals who share the search for higher consciousness and the ideal of service to others. We express this service by offering uplifting values and techniques for achieving peace of mind and inner happiness. Ananda, which means "joy" in Sanskrit, was founded in 1968 by J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda) to support others in their quest for spiritual growth. Ananda is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda was the first yoga master of India to take up permanent residence in the West. His teachings emphasize direct inner experience of God, which he called 'self-realization.' Yogananda's teachings are nonsectarian, and offer practical solutions to the challenges of modern life. The Ananda Joy logo (seen above, and at the upper left of all Ananda web pages), represents the soul's aspiration upward toward God, and outward to embrace all beings in its quest for enlightenment. The downward curve shows the corresponding descent of divine grace.