Hindu spirituality

TSwami Jnanananda Giri (1929–2015) was born in Zürich/Switzerland. He went to India at the age of twenty-two and joined in 1956 the ancient order of sannyasis (renunciates) who devote their lives to yoga, meditation and self-realization. Swami Jnanananda never left India again. After his guru passed away he led the life of a wandering mendicant. Relying on God alone he travelled far and wide through India, particularly to the ancient places of pilgrimage and to many less known holy sites. His life was rich in encounters with saints, yogis and healers of manifold denominations. This life story he narrates in this book.

Gradually he became a guru himself and gathered a small group of disciples around him. He finally settled in the outskirts of the Himalayan hill station Mussoorie and lived in a tiny hut in the forest. For the last decade of his life this daily rhythm continued in Dehradun at the foot of the Himalayas, in his disciple Maitreyi’s house.