Anand Douglas Mark Stickney became a disciple of Yogananda and embarked on the path of Self-realization in 1973. He lived for many years at Ananda Village, California.

His experience, shaped by deep meditation, is highly appreciated by students of Raja Yoga.

In 2005 he was authorized by Swami Kriyananda to give initiation into Kriya Yoga.

He is co-spiritual director, together with Kirtani, of the Ananda community in Assisi, Italy. He often travels in Europe giving lectures and seminars on Self-realization and Kriya Yoga.

Arudra (Antonijo Slisko) is of Croatian origin, but has been living in Italy for many years. Since he was young, his thirst for understanding and his great interest in consciousness, understood as the fundamental reality, have led him to explore meditation and spirituality, searching for tools to live increasingly in harmony with that higher consciousness.

In 2008, at the end of high school studies, he discovered Paramhansa Yogananda and his teachings and began his journey as a disciple. Since then, he has dedicated his life to living in contact with the Divine and sharing with others the many practical ways to experience It and bring it into their lives.

Since 2009 he has lived in Italy, in the spiritual community of Ananda near Assisi, a community founded on and based on the teachings of Yogananda. At Ananda, in the Yoga and Meditation Retreat, he leads courses on meditation, Superconsciousness, intuition, and how to spiritualize and transform one’s consciousness by sharing the principles and tools that have changed his life. Additionally, Arudra serves as coordinator of Ananda's meditation groups in Eastern Europe, also as minister and kriyacharya (a person authorized to transmit initiation into the sacred technique of kriya yoga).