The School of Life:
An Inside View of Ananda College of Living Wisdom
By Matthew Fredrickson


Swami Kriyananda has stated that the true goal of education is maturity, “the ability to relate responsibly to realities other than ones own.” When I first heard that, I wondered how maturity could have anything to do with education, though it also resonated on a deep level. I began to understand this concept more clearly during my first visit to Ananda College of Living Wisdom in June 2005.

At that time, the college was in its infancy and it was called the Ananda Institute of Alternative Living. During the spring of 2005, I had more or less decided that I wanted to attend the Institute beginning that fall, but I wanted to visit the campus before making a final decision. I arrived on a soggy evening in June 2005, the day before the annual graduation ceremony and student presentations.

The moment I stepped through the perimeter gate, I knew I was home. I gazed in wonder at the lush botanical garden; felt the deep stillness permeating the air. I could hear the silence. I perceived it as some soft and distant familiar melody echoing off the treetops before drifting away with the lightest breeze. I stopped for a moment, listening, as if my ears, from years of habitual sensory overload, were longing to hear some sound or commotion; a loud voice, maybe, or agitated movement; something. But there was nothing, and I instantly loved it all: the serene natural landscape, the forest, the simple and beautiful buildings and the wonderful people. As I met them all, one by one, each person seemed like an old, dear friend.

The first person I encountered on arriving was Phil (now Narayan) Romano. He was sweating from a strenuous run he had just completed but he smiled and cheerfully greeted me. I told him that I was interested in becoming a student and had come for a tour of the school. He explained that he was one of the monks at the Retreat. He didn’t look like any kind of monk that I’d ever imagined. He seemed like an ordinary person. However, his sparkling, steady eyes betrayed his possession of something that very few people in this world have – joy. We chatted for a few minutes. Listening to him speak, I wished that one day I could be so calm and joyful.

After we parted, I walked toward the main office to pay for my lodging. Suddenly I knew that what I was going to learn at this school would far surpass intellectual knowledge. Intuitively, I understood that attending this school would be an adventure toward self-understanding and self-discovery. Everything else I was seeking from education – my passion, talents, and career direction – would flow from that center of knowing.

The Ananda College classroom has evolved tremendously during my four years as a student. However, certain characteristics of the teachers and the whole classroom experience remain unchanged because they are the natural result of soul-affirming, experiential education: the essence of Education for Life philosophy.

The setting of Ananda College of Living Wisdom is the most obvious aspect of the school that makes it immediately unique. Its location within the Ananda Meditation Retreat provides students with something seldom found in a college environment – peace and quiet. To understand oneself requires introspection, and silence is a prerequisite for introspection. It’s hard to believe that the majority of college students today learn anything at a traditional college with its chaotic dorm life and media-saturated materialistic atmosphere. If a person really wants to understand life and delve into the exhilarating search for truth, he must unplug those electronic distractions, shun the madding crowd, the noise and dizzying circus of the world, and just listen.

The small size and serene environment of Ananda College not only provides ample space for reflection, but it also requires that the students become active participants in the classroom. With a maximum of ten people in a class, the contribution of each person becomes integral. Additionally, the professors have a significantly increased ability to give students individualized attention. This aspect of the small school environment is extremely rare in traditional colleges.

When I was attending a medium-sized university years before I came to Ananda, I remember being in a Math class in a lecture hall with one hundred other students. It seemed strange. How, I wondered, could the professor even begin to know his students? Did he even want to? Actually, I liked this particular professor. He was funny and entertaining, and he explained difficult mathematical concepts with clarity. During class, he made jokes using common English phrases such as “There is a method to my madness,” Except he would say, in his thick Arabic accent, “There is a reason for my madness.” I didn’t know if he was deliberately saying it wrong, but it was amusing.

I thought it would be valuable to know him on a personal level, to seek his advice or find out how he’d ended up in the United States. I felt the same way about my U.S. History teacher. His class was much smaller, perhaps only forty students. He spoke with casual certainty about a variety of historical events and why they were significant in making the United States the country it is today. I’ve always found history fascinating, and making an “A” in his class was effortless for me. I also did well in math, and all my other classes, but an indefinable something troubled me. What, I wondered, did this historical personage, that important date, this crucial fact, or mathematical formula have to do with anything? Every subject seemed compartmentalized, unrelated and irrelevant to my life.

I was doing very well – on paper. I was making good grades, mostly A’s in fact, but something was terribly wrong. I should have been happy, but I wasn’t. I was rapidly spiraling downward into a confounding despair. What is wrong with me? I wondered. There was no course available to address this problem. Nobody could explain why I felt so hollow inside, and what I could do about it. I dropped out of school before finishing my first year, and then lost nearly a decade in a sort of numbed-out fog.

When I finally came to Ananda College, it was everything I had ever hoped for in a school, but it turned out to be a much greater experience than I’d ever imagined possible. The classes ranged from Yoga, Creativity, and Dharmic Business to Education for Life, math, history, and foreign language. More important than the subjects themselves was the common thread uniting them – spiritual awareness. The teachers of Ananda College are not only intelligent people and experts in their fields, but they are also dedicated truth-seekers who are genuinely interested in helping the students learn their lessons.

The lessons themselves come in two forms: academic and life. The teachers are more concerned with helping students learn their important life lessons using academics, the arts, and physical exercise as tools for achieving that end. Not to say that the usual, traditional subjects that one finds in college aren’t important, but they must be understood in a greater context. A history class, for example, when seen as only as a list of dates long forgotten and people long dead, seems meaningless. However, when discussed in the context of human evolution, such as from the viewpoint of the Yugas (Vedic cycles of time), the whole subject becomes enlivened with meaning and immediacy.

Even within this expansive perspective, the teachers of Ananda College are more concerned that the students grow on an inner level. Every student is able to develop a personal relationship with each teacher that is courteous and professional, but also friendly.

What is a more valuable lesson? That a person learns all the important dates of when who did what to whomever because of whatever? To speak up in class when he has a viewpoint to share? And discover a sense of self-worth by offering insights that others find worthwhile? Because the students and teachers know each other well, and live together in a small community, teachers are aware of their students’ personal challenges and aspirations. Therefore, each teacher tailors his or her approach to each student in a way that encourages the latter’s growth toward maturity.

Indeed, it took me a few years even to recognize certain challenges I faced within myself. For instance, I sincerely believed, for a long time, that I really didn’t have anything valuable to contribute in a classroom setting. I reluctantly participated in class discussions, and kept what I said to a minimum. My teachers recognized this challenge and helped me to overcome it during my four years at the college. They made a point of calling on me in class, they asked for further explanations, and even lowered my grade if I wasn’t contributing positively. They knew what would motivate me to discover, sooner or later, that my perceived lack of self-worth was only a mental construct. Actually, I came to realize, it was a product of reverse egoism rather than humility. All human beings are souls, in their essential nature, neither superior nor inferior to anyone else. When I finally understood this, I was stunned by the simple yet hard truth of it. It is one of the most important things I’ve learned while a student at Ananda College.

What if all young people could learn such lessons while attending college? What if, through becoming aware of their spiritual nature, they discovered the deep longings of their hearts? What if, from that space of inner knowing, they were then encouraged to pursue their true passions while also learning practical, time-tested methods for becoming mature, successful human beings? The world would be a profoundly different place.








Matthew Fredrickson (right) with classmate Ryan Nakade in Paris, France during the most recent Ananda College of Living Wisdom study abroad trip.

Matthew Fredrickson (right) with classmate Ryan Nakade in Paris, France during the most recent Ananda College of Living Wisdom study abroad trip.