It is well known that Paramhansa Yogananda started schools in India. He wanted to start schools, similarly, in America. In fact, his first plan for Mt. Washington was to make it a school. But of course he needed first to educate parents to the need for his new form of education. And he must have known from the beginning that this was the case. I cannot but think he announced this concept not as another “idea to be changed toward the end of his life,” but rather as one that he foresaw and desired for the future, whenever the time was right.
SRF has evinced no interest in starting such schools. Ananda, however, saw schools from the beginning of its existence as intrinsic to Yogananda’s community idea. We have several schools in various Ananda communities throughout the world, following the principles outlined in my book, Education for Life, which in turn was inspired by Paramhansa Yogananda’s educational ideals. In this important way also, Ananda has kept alive one of the basic aspects of our Guru’s mission.
Schools are now integral parts of our communities at Ananda Village near Nevada City, California; in our suburban community at Mountain View, California; in the Ananda community near Portland, Oregon; in the Ananda community at Seattle, Washington; in the Ananda community near Assisi, Italy; as a part of our growing Ananda community in Gurgaon, north India; and in our new community near Pune, south India.
Some of our schools teach only the elementary grades, but in some of them we offer education also up through the university level, especially at Ananda Village—a facility which will soon be moved to our new community at Laurelwood, Oregon.
High praise has been given the Ananda schools by persons respected in the field of education.