Episode 9: Vineetha Menon

In this episode, Marydale Ma speaks with Vineetha Menon about a life woven together by devotion, sacred music, and the grace of the Guru. Born into a deeply spiritual family, Vineetha shares how her childhood encounters with great saints planted seeds that never left her — seeds that carried her through a high-powered corporate career, motherhood, and ultimately to Kriya Yoga initiation by Guruji himself in 2004. She speaks with warmth and candor about holding a spiritual life alongside the demands of modern living, the making of her devotional album Rasa — a telling of the Krishna Rasa Lila through the sacred songs of the saints — and the three qualities she returns to again and again: truth, gratitude, and love. A beautiful conversation about finding the divine thread running through every chapter of a life fully lived.

Vineetha Menon was born in the UK and spent her childhood years in India, where wandering sadhus and enlightened saints would visit her grandfather’s home. Through a child’s heart, she experienced their devotion — heard them sing, and listened as they spoke of God. At fourteen, she read the Autobiography of a Yogi, and though it would be some years before the blessing of Kriya came to her, the longing was planted early. She was initiated by Guruji in 2004, and in late 2024 was asked to take over the Kriya center in North County San Diego, where she now serves as Center Leader.

In her outer life, Vineetha Ma spent twenty years in the UK financial services industry before making her home in Oceanside, California, where she owns a yoga studio and is a mother to two teenage boys. She recently released RASA — a collection of rare sacred songs from the saints of her childhood, preserving them for posterity — an album that found its way to the Grammy ballot.

Marydale Ma: Om and pranam to one and all. We’re so delighted that you’ve been able to join us today for Living in Joy. This is a sacred space where we gather heart to heart, breath to breath, to listen, to remember, and to awaken together.

Before we begin, however, I’d like to invite you to gently arrive in this space. Just bring your whole person here, and perhaps if it’s comfortable for you, close your eyes and begin to focus on your breath.

Calming down, slowing down, knowing you’re about to receive a lovely gift that’s so well deserved — that your attention is required in order to truly receive.

So as you begin to settle, feel yourself breathing in and receiving, exhaling and releasing, and let the day begin to just fall away.

Father, Mother, beloved Lord, our divine masters, Gurudev Paramahansa Hariharananda, Guruji Paramahansa Prajnanananda, our Paramguru Paramahansa Yogananda — we bow in gratitude for this sacred moment. May what is shared here go deeply into every heart, awaken love, and guide each soul closer to the joy of their true self.

Om Shantihi, Om Shantihi, Om Shantihi, Amen.

And with that, today I’m deeply honored to welcome a woman whose life weaves together devotion, leadership, sacred music, and service. She’s a mother, yogini, a spiritual steward, and a bridge between ancient wisdom and modern life.

It’s my sincere joy to welcome Vineetha Ma. Welcome, Vineetha. Thank you for being here with us today. It’s just a blessing to share this sacred space with you.

And to begin, I would love to start at the very beginning with you — with the little girl who grew up part-time in India, surrounded by wandering sadhus, sacred songs, and your grandfather’s deep devotion. What did those years, those moments feel like through a child’s heart? And what do you believe they planted in you that still lives today?

Vineetha Ma: First of all, thank you so much for inviting me. I’m so honored to be here, Marydale Ma. So in answer to your question, it was pure magic. The blessing to have had the joy of being in the presence of these great saints — even my grandparents were deeply devout people.

And I remember I’d come back from school and there’d be a load of cars outside, and it would be because a great saint had walked into my grandparents’ home. And to experience that devotion with the innocence of a child’s heart — I would hear Swami Abhedananda Giri, and he would sing in this beautiful, majestic voice. I didn’t understand the words. I had just moved from the UK, so the language was alien to me. I could feel the presence of God in his words, in the entire space. And I think it was an experience that is indelibly planted in my heart.

I just knew I had experienced the divine. And at that tender age, I’d be sitting there with tears streaming down my cheeks, and I just wanted to know more. So I learned some of the prayers and I would sing them in the shower. And all the neighbors loved it when I went to shower because I’d be singing at the top of my lungs — all these chants, all these shlokas, all these songs.

So deeply blessed, deeply magical. And that’s interesting because it was me, my brother, sister, and several cousins — and it affected me more, definitely. I think the devotional temperament was within me. Just a blessing beyond anything. It’s the deepest blessing of this life. Magic itself.

Marydale Ma: It’s so beautiful to hear that the sacred can enter us before we even have words for it — how it simply lives inside of us, quietly guiding us, and then all of a sudden one day it begins to stir and awaken.

Thank you for sharing that. That was just so lovely and sincere. I can see you there as a child, just tears rolling down your face.

Vineetha, you’ve lived across three worlds: India, the UK, and now the United States. How has moving between cultures shaped your understanding of spirituality, of belonging, and what home truly means?

Vineetha Ma: So interestingly enough, the move from the UK to India was probably the hardest one for me. I was a young child and I had to learn a new language.

I think it’s taught me the ability to just be open and flexible and accept what comes. And the spiritual awakening that really came from my time in India — I’ve been able to carry that with me throughout my life, through all the careers I’ve done, the corporate career I had in the UK to now running a yoga studio in the US.

I think for me, it’s been almost immaterial where I’ve been, whether it’s been in the East or the West. The devotion that was imbibed within my spirit, within my heart as a child by the grace of the gurus, has just given me the strength, the resilience to find that joy wherever I am.

So I loved my time in India, and I loved my time in the UK, and I enjoyed every single job I did and I approached it with joy and passion, and I was excited about moving here, and I loved doing the yoga studio, and now running the Kriya meditations as well. I think that the joy that was just put into my heart — the devotion, the love, the gratitude — has just carried me through all different environments with deep joy and gratitude.

Marydale Ma: I can feel that exuding from you. And I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you on several occasions, and believe me, it is truly there — it’s ever present. And you know, that’s so interesting in life when there are moments that touch us so deeply that we’re never quite the same again.

And I know for you, when you were just 14, you read the Autobiography of a Yogi for the first time. Can you take us back to that moment, Vineetha, and share what awakened inside of you as you turned those pages?

Vineetha Ma: Oh, reading the autobiography was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. It was a huge spiritual awakening. For me, it was very, very moving. I didn’t just read — I would read again and again with so much emotion, with tears streaming down my eyes. And the chapter where Swami Yogananda speaks of the Guru’s ashram in Serampore, with Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri — he describes the steps leading up. I could see it. I almost felt as if I had been there. I felt such a sense of, yes, I’m home. I just needed to be reminded.

As a young child living in the UK, I’ll just rewind a little bit, actually — I would say to my mother at the age of three and four, we’d go back to India and I’d say, Mommy, we’re going to Calcutta, aren’t we? She’d say, no, we’re not. I’d never been to Calcutta. And yet I was convinced I’d been. So when I read the autobiography, I was convinced I had been — to the ashram, perhaps in a previous birth. I was a wayward disciple that didn’t quite stay on the line, so I was given another chance.

But deeply, deeply — I wanted to be a yogi. I really, really wanted to. And Guruji — meaning Swami Yogananda — speaks about his experiences with Swami Yukteswar. That, to me, was the most moving part of the book. He was with my master. And I had this deep love for Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Yukteswar Giri, throughout the whole lineage — my deepest attachments. I felt so drawn to Swami Yukteswar Giri and Swami Yogananda. At that point I just felt like I was that divine child who had just been led back. That’s how I felt. It was so much more than a book.

Marydale Ma: Wonderful. I share those feelings, by the way — whether it’s imagination or not. I think I was there many times with Yogananda, with our gurus. And I feel that in some life Sri Yukteswar was my father. And he has a way of just looking at me and saying, what are you doing?

Vineetha Ma: Yes. There was always that little bit of sternness to him. Yes, I know.

Marydale Ma: He’s so firm. Yes, yes.

Vineetha Ma: Because in the autobiography, Yogananda Ji says disciples came and generally went, because they couldn’t deal with the master’s disciplinarian ways. And I always joke that that must have been me — I must have been one of those that stepped out of line, you know, and was told, come back again, my child, you’ll get another chance.

Marydale Ma: Thank God we have another chance in this life. Oh, we’re so blessed.

It feels as though that book didn’t just enter your hands — it entered your destiny somehow. Because before Kriya Yoga fully entered your life, you had built a very powerful professional path in finance, in leadership, in strategy. How did you hold your spiritual longing alongside a high achievement world like that?

Vineetha Ma: It was a practice that I had, and it was chanting, really. From a very young age, my mother and my father would encourage me to praise the Lord. And in fact, the Bhakti Marga, or the path of devotion, is where my family were. It was always kirtans, bhajans — we would sing, we would chant, and my mother would say, don’t listen to pop music in the morning. Say your mantra, say your mantra. Say it and say it until it imbibes within you.

And I’d never understand why — it’s just a word, isn’t it? But I did it anyway. So through chanting, through singing, that’s how I kept the devotion alive. So even if I was on the train going to work, I’d be chanting my mantra in my mind. I would sing while I was cooking. I would sing to my Krishna. It was chanting that kept me on the path. So even though I had this powerful job and then children and family, it was music — it was the devotional chanting that really kept me going, because at the time I didn’t know how to meditate. Often there was no time to meditate. I’d be getting a seven o’clock train, getting home at half past six in the evening, cooking, cleaning — you know the drill. Prepare for the next day.

But it was music, and sacred music really, that I think kept me there. And my parents are so devotional, and my grandparents were so devotional. My mother would always say — she’d say, Bhagwan ko pakad — hold on to Krishna with all your might. Just hold on to him. Whatever you do, wherever you go, just hold his hand. Every day that was the advice. So chant your mantra, hold on to Krishna’s hand. Repeat it, repeat it, repeat it — the guidance from my mother. It just invites you to keep doing it and it becomes a habit. And now I realize I wake up in the night and the mantra is just going in my mind. It’s just there. It’s in the heart. It’s just repeating. So I think it’s that — the power of the mantra — that’s kept me and led me on the path, and led me towards Kriya Yoga in fact.

Marydale Ma: Beautiful. And it sounds to me as though all of these past lifetimes with the masters already had you in the practice of mantra and of singing with your glorious voice — you are no stranger to this at all.

And then, as Grace often does, the path finally finds us. Vineetha, can you share the story of how and when Kriya Yoga came into your life — switching you from a bhakti focus to Kriya, which is a different type of practice altogether, and yet it’s not, is it? It’s still devotion.

Vineetha Ma: No, it’s not. Oh, totally.

Marydale Ma: What did it feel like to be initiated by Guruji himself in 2004?

Vineetha Ma: Oh my goodness — a blessing beyond comprehension. I had picked up the autobiography again, I was reading it on my way to work on the train, and again, tears streaming down my cheeks. And very soon after, I longed, I longed, I longed to get initiation. This was a time before the internet had really taken off — I think it was just in its fledgling stages. I knew India was doing initiations. I knew there was an ashram in the US. But I picked up a random newspaper on the London Underground, just flicking through it as you do — and then there was a page saying: Kriya Yoga initiation. I sat there like, whoa.

And I was living in London at the time. I’d never heard of Prajnanananda. I think I had to send in by mail — I don’t even know if there was online registration. But I remember going on the Friday night, not knowing what to expect. And then Guruji walks in. I mean, I had been in the presence of so many great saints, and others that were perhaps not quite so — if you know what I mean.

Marydale Ma: I do.

Vineetha Ma: And when I was in Guruji’s presence, I thought, wow — he is of the lineage of Swami Yogananda. And he spoke that night and I was just totally smitten, absorbed like a devotee. Oh my. And to have been initiated with his touch — it makes me emotional. I’m very grateful. Blessed. It’s a blessing beyond.

Marydale Ma: Yes. Yes. Jai Guru, Jai Guru.

Listening to you, it feels as though everything before that moment was quietly preparing you for it. However, you were open and available and you heard the call. And you know, the masters find us when we’re ready and not a moment sooner.

So bravo, well done. And looking back now, Vineetha, do you see a divine thread weaving together your engineering mind, your MBA, your work in banking, and your life as a yogini and spiritual leader? How do these worlds speak to one another within you?

Vineetha Ma: Oh, to me they don’t even collide. To me they just almost flow into each other, because everything that I’ve learned, everything I’ve experienced from being in a very structured corporate environment — it opens up avenues of creativity, because you need creativity to be able to make even a corporate job come alive. Otherwise there’s no innovation, there’s no new thinking.

So for me, the creativity and the innovation, the structure, the rigor that you get from working in a corporate environment — I think that has played in so beautifully to how I now am a yogini running a yoga studio. Because a lot of studios can be very strong on the concept of yoga but have failed because they’ve lacked the corporate rigor — the ability to actually structure a business in a way that’s profitable and sustainable, with proper customer service processes and such like.

And I think having had the experience in a corporate background has set me up to be so much more resourceful — to build a business that manages its overhead in a proper way, to service customers, to find efficient ways of working, and to have sales processes that work for the customer and for the business.

So I think for me, everything has just woven together so beautifully. This is the best thing I’ve ever done. But what’s interesting — you’ve mentioned the corporate, the banking, the engineering — and I will say the extra layer is actually the grace and the peace and the calm that you get from doing Kriya, that allows you to deal with all the drama that comes. And it comes, you know — you’ve been a yoga studio owner yourself.

Marydale Ma: Yes.

Vineetha Ma: There is daily drama. But to be able to see that — to see somebody who’s maybe playing up, getting a little bit annoyed — and you just look back and think: this is a manifestation of God. This is a lesson. How do I deal with it?

So for me, it’s all just woven together. And I do believe that even becoming a yoga studio owner and taking on this role — that was the will of the gurus, because that is the space that we now use for the initiations. Everything was decided by our gurus. Because we have a huge space and we can fit 50 people there. The guru said, yes — you will do this corporate work, you will learn how, and then we’ll have you open a yoga studio, and it will be opened up for Kriya.

Marydale Ma: And that is grace. That absolutely is grace.

And through your studio, your work with Kriya there, and most tenderly as a mother — you’ve created physical sanctuaries. Your studio in Oceanside, of course, where people often arrive carrying stress, or grief, or longing — we don’t know. And yet they leave feeling a little bit more whole. And as you so beautifully said, it’s been through your preparation as a yogi and as a Kriyavan that you’ve been able to hold space for all those souls.

And now as a mother of two teenage boys — I’ve been there, I’ve raised teenagers, and now I’m raising grandchildren who are teenagers once again, so I know that teenagers are a whole part of humanity onto themselves. You have two boys. How do you gently weave devotion and spiritual values into their daily lives in a way that feels lived rather than taught?

Vineetha Ma: That’s a really good question. I’m still figuring it out, Marydale Ma. I still haven’t got all the answers, really. They grew up as little children — I would make them sing, I would make them chant. So they’ve had that background. They’re at an age now where the world is so enticing — friends, high school, one’s in high school, one’s in community college, so there’s so much that draws them out.

And I have realized that lecturing them is not the way — I’ve tried and failed. But I think they see — for example, they come downstairs and they see Mommy meditating, and then they see Mommy chanting, and they see me sing. They see me live my values. And I think that is the best thing I can do for them, because they will come back, they will come to the fold in their own time. Right now, Maya — the world is attracting them. They’re young. But I think they will look back and they will see: yes, Mom used to meditate.

And I always say to them, you know, the world can only give you so much. My children, spend five minutes a day when you wake up — just say, thank you. Thank you for this bed. Thank you for my home. Thank you for my health. And if you have a problem, just take a moment to talk to God. He’s not some unfeeling spirit. He can be as close as your heart.

And I share my experiences in a way that they can comprehend — the little miracles that happen all the time. Now you see, that’s the hand of God in our lives. And they’ll say, yeah, it’s true actually. And I think the best thing I can do is to show them by example.

Marydale Ma: Boy, you said a mouthful. I couldn’t agree with you more. We have to live our own lives, be authentic and genuine in our beliefs. And then the children pick that up. They may not be able to verbally share with us what they’re feeling or seeing or knowing, but they do get it. And I know if it’s any consolation — now that my children are pushing toward 50, I have heard them say many times, Mom, do you remember when you said this? And I’ll say, wait, were you listening? You actually heard that?

Vineetha Ma: Oh, it’s reassuring to know, for sure. Sometimes I see them and I think…

Marydale Ma: Yes, and they do. They truly do. And your children, your sons, are so blessed to have you and your parents and their grandparents. Because if it’s true that we all incarnate into certain families, around certain souls, they’ve had a very auspicious birth. So congratulations on that.

Vineetha Ma: Thank you so much.

Marydale Ma: And now I’m just going to switch gears just a little bit, Vineetha. Your life literally sings. It literally sings. I have heard you sing, and it is just the voice of an angel. And I know that you have always been devotional through your voice and through praise and bhakti — but then you’ve been able to take it out to the world at large and have recorded this wonderful album, Rasa. What moved you to preserve the sacred songs of the saints from your childhood and then share the love story of Krishna, Rasa Lila, with the world? Can you tell us about that journey?

Vineetha Ma: Before I met Guruji, we had a guru from my childhood who gave me my mantra. So I have, in my life, three main gurus that I say have touched my life. One was Swami Abhedananda Bharati, who was the guru of my grandparents. The second was Swami Krishna Premi Maharaj, from whom I received my mantra initiation. And of course Guruji, from whom I received Kriya.

So I went to see Sri Krishna Premi Maharaj in 2024 — it was the last time I saw him. And I’d gone to visit him, and he sat with me, and he started talking about Vrindavan. He started talking about the beautiful Nidhivan, where the Rasa Lila took place. And he said, do you remember when we went? Do you remember when I took you there? And that was the last time I saw him.

I went to see my sister, and I was singing some of these songs. And she said, Vineetha, I haven’t heard these for 35 years. Please record them. And I was like, I can’t do that — I’m just a housewife, I’m a yoga teacher. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the training. But on the way back on the plane, on that 24-hour flight, I started thinking, there’s something here. My sister has mentioned it. She’s mentioned these songs in particular. My guru talked about Nidhivan and the Rasa.

And then I came back and I wrote a list: if I were to record an album, these are the ones I would do. I wrote them down randomly and sent them to my mother. And my mother said, do you realize the songs you’ve listed, in the order you’ve listed them, tell the story of Rasa Lila? And I thought, there’s something very special here. There’s something here that I need to do.

I thought, I may not be the most polished and I may not have classical training, but if I don’t do this, nobody will. So I put some feelers out — where would I record, who would play the instruments. And I kid you not, I came back from India on the 5th of March. By April, I had the producer, I had all the musicians. I was sitting at my keyboard — I don’t play an instrument, I never learned — plunking out, trying to figure out chords for these songs, writing things down, recording demos on my iPhone. By the 9th of June, we were in the studio in Encinitas recording the album. People, resources, the musicians — all the talent I needed just showed up when I needed it.

Beautiful connections. The songs I’d heard Swamiji sing — I didn’t even know who had composed them. My mother sang songs as a child — I didn’t know who had composed them. And I’m trying to figure all this out. And I started meeting people — a wonderful lady in New Jersey who I was told to speak to. She says, tell me about the album. She’s in her eighties. I tell her — that’s a song Swamiji would sing. And she says, my mother wrote this song. My uncle wrote this song. Oh, it was phenomenal. It was like the hand of God was directing this music.

There were producers I worked with — a gentleman named Rushil Ranjan in the UK, up and coming, phenomenal musician. He produced two of the songs. I was a nobody, Marydale Ma — I had no professional experience to my name, nothing at all. I reached out. He came on a call. He was so inspired by my mission. I said, look, Rushil, I just want to preserve this music. It is so beautiful. And he said, I’ll work with you.

Another gentleman in Lithuania — I reached out randomly. I heard a song in a yoga class and I liked the vibe. And I said, hey, can we do this? And then several months later he responds and said, let’s have a call. So we’re on this WhatsApp call — and he’s a house musician. He plays progressive house in Lithuania. So we’re on this call and he starts chanting a Krishna mantra to me. He’s a Krishna devotee who used to go to ISKCON. I mean, what are the chances? I listen to a random song in a yoga class, I reach out — and he’s a Krishna devotee — and he says, I’ve been praying for a project like this. I would love to support you.

And then it was just magnificent, miraculous. The album is done. It is yet to reach the world fully. And again, you know, I go to Guruji, I go to Krishna — how is this music going to get out there? Because right now it’s on Spotify and no one knows about it. I haven’t done much yet. But I know that will come somehow. The answer will come. Because it’s a blessed piece of music. And each song — these are not songs where someone wrote lyrics to rhyme. No. These were songs sung by saints in moments of ecstasy — in that moment, they sing, there is a direct connection to God. These are blessed songs of the saints that have just come together to tell this beautiful story.

Marydale Ma: What grace.

Vineetha Ma: And I want it to be a musical. I want this to lend itself — I performed it once in Encinitas — but it’s a story, and it has invocations from Srimad Bhagavatam, which is the scripture dedicated to Krishna and Vishnu. And then the invocations with the songs weave the story through, and it lends itself to a musical with dance and devotion. The vision’s there, and somebody will do it one day — maybe after my time, I don’t know. But I just now want the world to hear this music.

Marydale Ma: Well, now it has wings of its own, Vineetha. You have been called, you answered, and all those that were needed to make it into a reality have done their jobs. And now, believe me, with all that — you know that this has wings. God and Guru are not going to let it become stagnant at all.

Vineetha Ma: Thank you for reminding me of that.

Marydale Ma: Absolutely. And when you’re offering a devotion — it reached something as worldly as the Grammy ballot, which I understand it did. What did that moment feel like in your heart — not just as an artist, but as a spiritual seeker? That must have blown your mind.

Vineetha Ma: It did. Yes, it was very heartwarming to know that it even reached the ballot, because everybody submits — the Grammy doesn’t accept all of them — but they thought it was worthy of being considered. And as part of the process, I met a whole load of musicians who were also submitting, and I had such beautiful feedback from so many wonderful people.

People like Jharnavi Harrison — I don’t know if you’ve heard of her, but she’s a devotee of Krishna, and she sings beautifully. Jharnavi reached out saying, Vanamali Vasudeva is just so beautiful. And it was just wonderful to connect with other like-minded souls. It felt so, so blessed.

It didn’t actually get nominated, but that’s okay — it got to the ballot, which is huge. And it was never about me as an artist. It was about: I want the world to hear this music. Listen to it. It is so beautiful.

Marydale Ma: Of course. Yes. And like you — and you have already proven to us that you have, like one of the goddesses with many, many arms, embodied many paths: yoga, NLP, leadership, movement, meditation.

How do you personally experience the meeting point between mind, body, and soul in your own daily practice?

Vineetha Ma: Mind, body, soul. I’ll start with the body — that’s the easiest one. I practice yoga almost every day, maybe five days a week. That’s very important to me. It grounds me, it keeps me healthy. Because I think that to live a spiritual life, you do need a healthy body. And with God’s grace, I’m healthy and able to participate in meditation. That’s why yoga was created, right? Hatha yoga was created so that the body could sit still in meditation without aches and pain.

So yoga is a physical practice for me. I try to eat as healthily as I can. As for the mind and spirit — a spiritual practice is an integral part of my life. My whole day is designed around when am I going to meditate, when do I chant. And so long as I can prioritize that — if I can get my Kriya, if I can get my chanting in — then the day just flows. Everything flows. What I need to get done gets done. I get to do my yoga class. I get to be calm and a loving mother to my children. I get to be the best I can be to my employees, the beautiful teachers that work for me. I can be a great friend to my loved ones, compassionate when I need to be, give the best I can to my members, to the Kriya community here, which is growing.

I think it all comes down to the spirit, really — mind, body, soul. Soul comes first. With Kriya calming me, raising my awareness and my consciousness, everything else just seems to flow.

The days that I… sorry, I’ll say it this way — there are some days where I’m working on a Sunday morning, waking up early, didn’t get time, taught the class, came back, the kids had this, that, and the other. And the days that I don’t get my practice, I can feel it. It’s like, oh, something’s missing. So the next day of course I end up doubling up on the Kriya pranayama. It’s very rare that I miss my Kriya.

Marydale Ma: That’s a testament to what Kriya is and is meant to be in our modern lives. In fact, I think in your own words, you pretty much defined what “living in joy” truly means — that it’s not just an idea, it’s an actual spiritual practice that you return to day after day. And that’s the whole reason why we’ve created these podcasts: for other women, and men as well, to see a bird’s eye view of how people are incorporating this precious ancient practice — that one would think would be obsolete by now — into their lives, and keeping it so fresh as the foundation, the springboard for the rest of their life. And you really are an example of that. I honor you. That was very well said.

A question now — every path has its valleys as well as its light. Vineetha, what challenges have shaped you most, and how has Kriya helped you meet those moments with grace instead of resistance or fear?

Vineetha Ma: Oh, there have been several, several, several — on the personal front. I’ve had a very difficult emotional journey, a bit of a roller coaster, as far as relationships are concerned. But how Kriya has helped me is that through it all, I have had the grace of our gurus. I have been able to go into my meditation, reach out and speak to them, and say: guide me, why is this happening, I don’t understand. But I know it’s your will. Why is this your will? Why is this happening? Of course I sometimes have the little arguments as well, right — you know, as with loved ones.

But I have always felt the grace of our gurus throughout it all. You know, like when my marriage broke up. In fact, it was interesting — as it broke up, I was drawn straight back to the fold, through the initiation in San Diego, right in the nick of time. I came to the initiation on the Saturday and the Sunday, and on the Monday, my husband of eight years asked for a divorce. It could not have been more precise — the timing where our gurus just called me back. And it was extremely painful, because it was least expected. I’m happy to say that he and I have a wonderful friendship still — we’ve worked through it all, and we separated. But after a period of heartbreak, I felt — through my meditation, I would speak to the gurus as we think of them in the chakras. I would speak to each one, and Swami Yukteswar Giri was the one that was closest to me. I felt him shed tears with me at the time. I felt his love. And there was love, but there was also an understanding, and a little whispering in my mind that it’s just karma — it’s just a dream. There’s something that needs to be spent. Let it go. Let the karma be burned. Perhaps something from a previous life. Perhaps karmically something comes to an end. Let it go. Let it go.

And Kriya was my lifeline throughout — hugely so. I don’t know what I would have done without it. But to have been brought back to the fold really — because I practiced on my own for years and I didn’t even know there was a center here in San Diego. The timing — I mean, I just explained it — right there, right then: come back to the gurus, you need us.

And I went to see Guruji, and through all this, I had so much grace, so much love supporting me through this painful period. And yes, I know that we have to experience certain things in this lifetime — the good and maybe the more challenging. But if we can just think: this is an experience, it’s a drama. And as Guruji said in one of his talks — I think when I came to Monroe last year — he said, we come with a backpack. So you come with a backpack, you’re born with it — your good karma, your not-so-good karma. And really what you want to do throughout this life is empty the backpack. Not fill it up too much. Not too much bad, not too much good. You want to utilize it all. And I thought: that’s it — I’m emptying the backpack.

Seeing it all along — and when you can see it that way, even challenges, I’m like: I’ve got this karma, go, fine, good, it’s done, move on. That’s how the teachings of our gurus have guided me through. And if I needed to cry, I’d go cry to the gurus. If I needed to complain, I’d go and complain to the gurus: how could you be doing this? What am I to do? You know — real conversations. Because they are living and breathing with us, not just some lofty concept. I truly believe the grace of the gurus is with us.

My grandparents’ teacher, Swami Abhedananda Bharati, he would say: when you bow down to your guru and his feet are there — right there — don’t ever doubt. If we believe that in moments of happiness and sadness, when you speak to the gurus they are listening — then we are never alone, are we?

Marydale Ma: No. No. And you just answered my next question, which was that I know so many women who are listening are pulled between service to the world and devotion to their inner life. And you just eloquently shared how you lean into the living presence of God and the masters with every breath. And that’s certainly exemplary.

Is there any other gentle wisdom perhaps that you might offer from your own journey to other women who are going through trials and tribulations of their own in this modern world?

Vineetha Ma: Two things which I have really, really seen the impact of in my own life.

The first one is truth. And it’s a strange thing to say, but in the context of women going through challenges — I read once, I think it was in Scientific Healing Affirmations, where Swami Yogananda spoke about the importance of truth, of your word. He said: if you speak the truth always — always — somehow the higher self knows that what this person speaks is the truth. If you tell little lies, even harmless ones, the inner self knows: hmm, this person doesn’t really speak the truth. So your intentions, what you wish to accomplish, the journey you want to go down, will not unfold as powerfully as if you spoke the truth. If you speak the truth, then everything will open up.

So that’s one — a huge, huge thing that I have learned. And it’s so easy to slip, isn’t it? Sometimes we’re late for something. I’ve, in my past, ended up going late to work, and said: oh, the traffic was bad. And the truth was that I couldn’t find my shoes, I took too long with my makeup, I woke up late. Now I always tell the truth. If I mess up and forget to put the payroll through, I tell my team: guys, I messed up. I won’t say, oh, there’s a system error. So I’ve made truth an integral part of my life. And I keep telling my children that.

The second thing for me is, through it all — gratitude, gratitude, gratitude. No matter what you’re going through, whatever the challenges are, focus on what you are grateful for. The little things and the big things. It could be the hot water that runs through my tap, the pillow that I sleep on at night, the smile of a stranger. And when you focus on gratitude and what’s positive, the vibration rises — and it will obliterate the negativity. It might take a little while, but it will change your vibration.

So for me, it’s truth and gratitude. And love is the third aspect — just love, love, love. Love, love, love. Sorry, I’m not being very eloquent, Marydale Ma.

Marydale Ma: I think that was more than eloquent. It was marvelous. And for me, I’ll add to that — those particular characteristics in combination allow us to trust. And as women, many of us through our hardships have lost our ability to trust. But through being truthful, through having gratitude, through knowing that everything is love, slowly we can build up that armor of trust once again and go out in the world and be ourselves again.

Vineetha Ma: Yes.

Marydale Ma: And that’s very important. Those three things that you shared with us are extremely important. And of course, they’re elementary in our Kriya practice and in what our gurus have taught us. They preach to us — as Jesus taught too — that the truth will set you free. So these are not new thoughts, but you’ve managed to take them and make them a part of your life.

Because you’ve stood at the crossroads of ancient traditions and modern life — how do you feel the world is most hungry for right now? What do you think people want, spiritually speaking?

Vineetha Ma: I think people want experience. I think it can’t be ritual and it can’t be theory. It needs to be an experience of one’s true self.

I can only use an example of how I try and make this come alive in my own studio, because that’s what I’m closest to right now. We talk about prayer. We talk about the higher self. We talk about being connected with ourselves. And often it is only in rare moments that you feel that — unless you have a practice like Kriya or meditation.

And I will say to my students at the end of a yoga class, in those last five minutes of Shavasana: you see that peace that you feel now? That peace came because for the last 55 minutes you focused on your breath and your eyes, and you focused on being still — through your postures, through discipline, through being in the moment. And this beauty that you’re experiencing comes from within you. I didn’t give it to you. It’s not this room that imparted it. It came from within — that portable paradise that Swami Yogananda speaks about. It’s just been awakened.

And I think what the world needs now is an experience of that. Because there’s too many people talking about it and trying to — you know what, I’m not expressing myself very well. I suppose it’s like: a practice that awakens the inner peace, the true self, the higher self — that is what I think the world needs now.

And meditation practice — if it’s not Kriya, even five minutes of stillness where you sit and watch your breath and focus on the fontanelle, and then just glide into peace — that is what I think the world needs now. Teenagers and adults and children alike. There’s too much going on. There’s so much to distract us — social media, the internet — and no one stops and remains still.

And I think if people could develop even a short meditation practice and just experience that for even five minutes, I think this world could just transform and transcend.

Marydale Ma: Amen and amen. I had a conversation with one of our Kriyavan mothers yesterday, and we were talking about praying after meditation and the different things that we pray about. And when I leave meditation, I am always in the moment with my final prayer — it’s not something canned or memorized. And so she asked her daughter, who’s 20: what do you pray for when you’re bowing at the end of practice? And she said, oh, I pray for the same thing every time. I pray that everyone will have a good day. And I thought, oh my goodness, isn’t that perfect? Because if everybody had a good day today, right now, the whole world would shift.

And that’s all based on this young woman practicing Kriya now, getting in touch with what’s important.

Thank you for sharing that. That’s just another confirmation of how precious our particular lineage and our practice is — being able to be quiet and be with ourselves, and to meditate. It’s the key. And all our masters say, meditate, meditate, meditate. I don’t care what you ask Guruji, he’ll say meditate. Meditate more.

Well, Vineetha, this has just been amazing. And before I let you go, I want to go back just for a second to that 14-year-old girl who read the Autobiography of a Yogi. If you had a chance, what would you whisper in her heart today?

Vineetha Ma: Oh, I would say: young lady, you have no idea what you’re in for. No idea the joys, the blessings that are coming your way. That’s what I would say to her. Just keep doing what you’re doing.

And life is going to throw things at you, but you are going to come out strong. You’re going to be guided. You’ve got a legion of angels — our gurus — who are guiding you, looking out for you. Just say your mantra and keep going, keep going, speak the truth.

And be grateful for every moment and every blessing — and the biggest blessing of all being the grace of our Guru. That’s the biggest blessing of this lifetime. Beyond it, no success or health or whatever I’ve earned or experienced — all that pales into insignificance. The biggest blessing is the grace of the Guru, that’s led me through and continues to lead me. How lucky we are to have that. And so many people are searching for it, and we have it. We have Guruji. We have our lineage. We have our gurus guiding us and we have our practice.

Marydale Ma: Yes. Blessed beyond measure. And speaking of blessings — I am not trying to put you on the spot. However, I am going to put you on the spot.

I think that every person listening right now would receive through you such a tremendous blessing — if you would just chant for us, maybe for a minute or two, in closing. A prayer. We would love that.

Vineetha Ma: Of course. Let me take my shawl on as well. So we have a little invocation to the Gurus. It’s beautiful.

It means: to that Guru who, when I simply think of him, the love of God descends upon my heart — to that Guru I bow.

That Guru who, just thinking about him, I lose sight of all my worldly problems — I bow to you.

That Guru whose words are so sweet that even the greatest among us are softened and we melt — to that Guru I bow.

That Guru who sees everyone as all, who blesses everybody without any limitations.

That Guru whose beautiful smile brightens up my entire spirit — I bow to you.

There are many more. I’ve said a few. I’ll chant this now. This is a composition by Sri Krishna Premi Maharaj.

[Vineetha Ma chants a composition by Sri Krishna Premi Maharaj]

Marydale Ma: Ah, beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Vineetha — not only for that wonderful prayer and that chant, but for your time and attention and being so available and transparent to all of our listeners. And to me — it was beautiful, wonderful getting to know you better and having been in your presence and listened to you several times. You’re just so in touch with Source, and you bring that to the earth for us. And I thank you.

And as we close today, remember this sacred conversation with Vineetha. Take it with you. And perhaps these words of Guruji will help you be reminded of her, and of everyone in the world today who is visioning peace and moving forward with grace, with love, and with truth.

Guruji has said that we must live in the world, but let the world not live in you. Be deeply engaged in action, yet inwardly established in divine awareness.

Vineetha, once again, you are such a living expression of this teaching — moving through the world with strength, grace, devotion, and song, yet anchored in the stillness of the soul. May we all remember that too, and live fully and remain rooted in the divine.

To our beautiful listeners, thank you so very much for sharing this sacred space with us. If this conversation has touched your heart, we invite you to continue walking with us. You can find Living in Joy on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe and leave a comment — your reflections help this circle of love continue to grow.

And with that, until we meet again, dear ones: walk gently, love deeply, and live in joy. Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti. Amen.

Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you.