Nayaswami Asha on Love, Karma & Staying Steady in a Chaotic World | COACHED

Are you looking at the world right now and quietly wondering, “How am I supposed to stay sane, loving, and useful in all of this?” In this powerful episode of COACHED: Coaching Masters, I, Coach Keren Eldad (PCC), sit down with one of my own beloved teachers, Nayaswami Asha, a senior teacher in the Ananda movement and a direct disciple of Swami Kriyananda in the lineage of Paramhansa Yogananda (Autobiography of a Yogi). We talk about what it really means to live in an energy universe, how the teacher truly appears when the student is ready, and why your deepest breakdowns and crises are often the doorway into a more honest, joyful and spiritually aligned life. Asha shares her story of growing up as a “truth-seeking” teenager in California, discovering the teachings of Vivekananda, and then, at 22, experiencing the life-altering moment of hearing Swami Kriyananda speak at Stanford in 1969 – a moment she describes as instant recognition: “He has what I want.” From there, we explore: life in the early days of Ananda Village, the role of the guru and why real transmission is magnetism rather than information, how to think about karma and reincarnation in a sane, intelligent way, and what it means to stay open-hearted and useful during a time when the world feels more polarized, fearful, and turbulent than ever. If you’ve ever felt trapped in the “gilded cage” of external success, hungry for real wisdom rather than more knowledge, or secretly terrified about where humanity is headed, this conversation will give you language, perspective, and a tangible path back to love, courage, and inner steadiness. What we cover in this episode: Asha’s early life as a seeker and the inner question that guided her: What causes suffering, and what brings happiness? The moment she met Swami Kriyananda and recognized her teacher Living simply at Ananda Village: trailers, gardens, and profound joy The real role of a spiritual teacher: open window, not celebrity guru Why self-realization is not personal-development perfectionism How real joy comes from self-forgetfulness, not self-obsession The shift from an age of matter to an age of energy – and why things feel so chaotic A grounded explanation of reincarnation and karma as a compassionate system How to ask, in any situation: “What is this activating in me?” Why we are here, ultimately, to learn to love – and why love sometimes looks like fierce truth 🎧 Listen to the full COACHED: Coaching Masters series: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 📘 Read GILDED by Coach Keren Eldad: https://tinyurl.com/mtu4n786 🌟 Connect with Nayaswami Asha: Website: https://www.ashajoy.org/ Instagram:   / innerlifewith_asha   🌟 Connect with Coach Keren (With Enthusiasm Coaching): Website: https://www.kereneldad.com Instagram:   / coachkeren