Step 1 � The Art of Meditation: Basic Practices

In just a few weeks, you can experience the benefits of meditation in your
life�inner peace, health, and spiritual awakening. Ananda is one of the oldest and
largest centers for meditation training in the Sacramento Area. Thousands of people
from every walk of life have learned to meditate in Ananda classes over the past
forty years. A 3-week class series is offered each month. If time doesn�t permit
you to attend the full series, single Saturday sessions are also offered each
month. Look for Meditation I Class Dates in our calendar.
Step 2 � Energy and Focusing the Mind

The secret of success in life, and in meditation practice, is to be able generate

energy at will and direct it where you wish. Yogananda developed the Energization
Exercises, which you will learn as an integral part of this series, as well as
deepening your practice of the techniques in �Learn to Meditate.�
Step 3 � Devotion: Opening the Heart

As meditation deepens, we begin to experience something greater than ourselves.

Whether it is called the higher self, the soul, or God, it is another dimension of
awareness. How do we relate to it? What is its role in our lives? Explore
meditation as a means of inner communion, the awakening of the heart, and the
beginning of what Yogananda calls the �divine romance.�
Step 4 � Disciple to Guru Relationship

If a student wishes, he may become a disciple of Yogananda. In a simple ceremony, a

vow is taken asking the help of the guru in finding our way to inner freedom. Says
Yogananda, �The purpose of a guru is not to weaken your will. It is to teach you
secrets of developing your inner power, until you can stand unshaken amidst the
crash of breaking worlds.�
Step 5 � Expanding Your Awareness � The Aum Technique

Meditation has often been called �the listening part of prayer.� After we have done
our share of talking, meditation leaves an opening for the Divine to respond. Learn
how to expand your awareness to embrace much more than you thought possible, with
techniques especially designed to cultivate devotion and heart qualities.
Step 6 � Kriya Yoga Preparation

Kriya should be given to �all who humbly ask for help.� However, some preparation
is necessary, to make the body and mind ready to receive the power created by the
practice of this technique. It was Babaji who requested that Yogananda bring the
Kriya meditation technique to the West as �an instrument through which human
evolution can be quickened.� Yogananda wrote that Kriya is �the most effective
device of salvation through self-effort ever to be evolved in man�s search for the
Infinite.� Yogananda writes more about this technique in �The Science of Kriya
Yoga,� in Autobiography of a Yogi.
Step 7 � Kriya Initiation

Kriya initiation is offered regularly at Ananda Sacramento. For more information

about initiation or ongoing support for your Kriya practice call (916) 361-0891, or
email the Ananda Sangha at: center@anandasacramento.