Traditional Kriyananda (born James Donald Walters; May 19, 1926 – April 21, 2013) was an American Hindu religious leader, yoga guru,[1][2] meditation teacher, musician, and author.

In 1955, Walters was given the vows of sannyas and was ordained as a Brother of the SRF Order, along with Sarolananda, Bimalananda and Bhaktananda, by then-SRF President Daya Mata and was given the name Kriyananda.

[11][12] Kriyananda founded Ananda, a worldwide movement of religious and communal organizations based on Yogananda's World Brotherhood Colonies ideal.

His father was an oil geologist with the Esso Corporation (since renamed Exxon in the United States), who was then assigned to the Romanian oilfields.

[1] On March 7, 1952, Paramahansa Yogananda was a speaker at a banquet for the visiting Indian Ambassador to the United States Binay Ranjan Sen and his wife at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Because it is a formal order, with an unbroken line of saintly representatives serving as active leaders, no man can give himself the title of swami.

[1][17] Kriyananda remained in India, serving SRF until 1962, when its board of directors voted unanimously to request his resignation.

[20] Kriyananda established Ananda Village as a World Brotherhood Colony in 1968 on 40 acres (160,000 m2) of land near Nevada City, California—his portion of a 160-acre (0.6 km2) parcel acquired with Richard Baker, Gary Snyder, and Allen Ginsberg.

[3] On March 8, 1989, Kriyananda's World Brotherhood Choir from California sang at the Vatican during Pope John Paul II's public audience with 10,000 people in attendance.

[22][23][non-primary source needed] Even though he was controversial and contradictory, he wrote many songs and dozens of books unified by themes such as compassion and humility.

In addition to English, he spoke Italian, Romanian, Greek, French, Spanish, German, Hindi, Bengali, and Indonesian and taught in several of these languages.

[28] In March 2009, the judge ruled that the case was "non luogo a procedere perché il fatto non sussiste" (not to be continued as the matter is without substance).

[31]As written in The Times of India, Kriyananda said: "The purpose of being a Nayaswami is positive; it's seeking a spiritual path instead of rejecting the world around you.