Sunday Service
Schedule for Sunday Service in Bothell:
9:15 am: Silent group meditation
10 am: Sunday Service
10:10am: Circle of Joy (Sunday School)
Sundays at Ananda Meditation Temple are the highlight of the week and are an excellent occasion for your first visit. Sunday Service is drawn from the ancient meditation tradition of the East and the mystical traditions of Christ, with scriptural readings from both the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita. Service includes music, chanting, a brief period of meditation, inspirational talk, and a beautiful ceremony called A Festival of Light.
Paramhansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi and guru-preceptor for the work of Ananda, encouraged respect for all religions and all forms of sincere worship, service, and meditation. His own line of guru-preceptors include Jesus Christ, Babaji (formerly Krishna), Lahiri Mahasaya, and Swami Sri Yukteswar. Therefore we show particular respect and reverence to Yogananda and these illumined souls who sent him to the West. But our devotion is essentially and always, as he taught us, to God alone, and to the manifest divinity in those whom God sends to earth in human form to teach and uplift others.
At Ananda, each person who comes and participates does so with his or her own, inner realization and recognition. No one form of reverence, belief, or personal relationship to God or the gurus is expected or assumed. All are welcome to the weekly services and meditations. The only suggestion we make is to come with an open heart and an open mind.
Families with children are welcome to come to regular Sunday Service at 10am. Shortly after the service starts, at around 10:10am, children will be dismissed to attend Circle of Joy (Sunday School) in the downstairs classroom. Circle of Joy is appropriate for children ages 4-10. One Sunday a month, parents are also invited to attend a parent support meeting. Read about Ananda’s full children’s offerings here.
Past Recordings
Victory Demands the Courage of Conviction | Sunday Service with Bruce Davis – October 12, 2025
On the path to God we must be prepared that there may be tests and obstructions that will challenge our relationships, our identities and all that we hold dear. To break through we must adopt the stance of a spiritual warrior! Through the use of our discrimination we can sever and purify the attachments that hold us back from becoming
In Surrender Lies Victory with Rick Johnston | Sunday Service at Ananda October 5, 2025
As we begin, the spiritual path can be like talking a flight. We board the plane, taxi out to the runway, maybe sit for a bit until the flight is cleared for take off. Then the engines thunder, and we head down the runway, slowly at first, then with increasing speed until suddenly the ground recedes beneath us. We’re airborne!
Many are the Pathways to Truth with Murali Venkatrao | Sunday Service Sept 28, 2025
When someone close to us — a partner, child, or friend — follows a different faith, it can feel deeply personal. Our times are full of sharp divisions, with many insisting that their way alone is right. Yet Jesus offers another perspective in the Gospel of Luke: “He that is not against us is for us.” His teaching reminds us that
Celebrating Swami Kriyananda’s Discipleship Anniversary to Paramhansa Yogananda | Sunday Service Sept 14,2025
This Sunday is an especially sacred service as we celebrate the spiritual anniversary of Swami Kriyananda’s first meeting and Discipleship to Paramhansa Yogananda.
Ego Friend or Foe? with Nayaswami Hriman | Sunday Sept 7, 2025
Paramhansa Yogananda described the ego “as the soul identified with the body.” Swami Kriyananda advises us to be an ego detective and, in addition, to take note how at night in sleep, we detach our identification from the body and experience peace and freedom. While sleep itself isn’t a solution, it does provide a clue. How? The answer will take