My First Teacher

I enrolled in the Temple of Kriya Yoga Hatha Yoga Teacher Training in 1999, the year after I graduated from college. It was a yearlong commitment of training and self-study to become a Registered Yoga Teacher at the 200-hour level. I completed my yoga teacher training and learned how to support different bodies in the experience of asana. I began teaching yoga everywhere I could think of all across the city. I enjoyed this role, and it was fulfilling to me professionally, however, the thing that brought me peace was studying the sacred texts and attending Sunday morning meditation. I read every book Kriyananda wrote.

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Each Sunday, I would venture out on my 3-block walk to the Temple. The beautiful sounds of the Temple of Kriya Players would greet me as I walked down the stairs of the Temple into the meditation room. I would join in singing Temple favorites like Om Namo Shivaya and Om Ganesha while the feeling of peace began to fill my heart. Kriyananda would lead the group in a meditation, sharing stories of the sacred texts and relating them to modern life. One of his signature sayings about encountering challenging people was ‘bless them and get out of their way’. He also was fond of saying, ‘do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy’? He shared the mandate to live with ‘constant practice and continual dispassion’. He taught me that ‘the world is in anguish because the minds of men are in anguish’ and to ‘smile first’.  Every meditation ended with a blessing, ‘Be thou blessed, be thou blessed, be thou triply blessed so you may be an even greater blessing to all those you meet’. These words to live by have stuck with me throughout the years and guide me to this day. 

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I continued my studies at the Temple for over ten years until I moved to Austin in 2010. I tried to stay connected as much as was possible as I built a new life 1,200 miles away. I still visit the Temple every time I am home. In April of 2015, my beloved Sri Goswami Kriyananda completed his maha samadhi at 87 years old. He had been teaching yoga in Chicago since the 1950s spreading peace and love to all he met. I carry Kriyananda and everything he taught me in my heart. He was my first teacher.

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Dr. Jennifer Vasquez