During the Great Depression in the United States, he encouraged readers of his East-West magazine to pool money to buy land where they could practice meditation and simple living in self-sufficient communities.

[1] In April 1932, Yogananda wrote an article in his East-West magazine in which he encouraged people to pool money to buy land where they could grow their own food, educate their children, and live a simple and meditative life in what he called World Brotherhood Colonies.

[1] Yogananda made a return trip to India from 1935 to 1936, and while he was away, his wealthy American disciple Rajarsi Janakananda (James Lynn) purchased a seaside hermitage for SRF in Encinitas, California.

[1] In 1968, inspired by Yogananda's vision of communities, Kriyananda started Ananda World Brotherhood Village on 750 acres (3.0 km2) of woodland in Nevada City, California.

The Ananda movement started by Kriyananda now includes several communities around the world, and its church founded in 1990 has branches located in Palo Alto and Sacramento, California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Assisi, Italy; and Delhi, India.