What does Ananda Meditation^® Teacher Training qualify graduates to teach?

Question

What does Ananda Meditation^® Teacher Training qualify graduates to teach?

Answer

Nayaswami Diksha

Director of Ananda Meditation Teacher Training
Ananda Village, California

Graduates of Ananda Meditation Teacher Training often ask, “What can I say I teach?” Yes, you are qualified to teach:

• A variety of sitting positions
• Various breathing techniques to relax the body and calm the mind
• Use of affirmation and visualization
• The Hong-Sau technique of meditation

But often that’s too long. You need a short name that will enable you to communicate your offering to the public. After all, other teachers of meditation have such names: Transcendental Meditation, Vipassana, Mindfulness, etc. What name could you use? Certainly using "Hong-Sau" would not be the best marketing approach.

Ananda feels that it is appropriate and truthful for you to say "Ananda Meditation," even though what you are qualified to teach is only a subset of Ananda Meditation, which also includes AUM Technique, Kriya Yoga, and a number of associated practices.

Ananda is in the process of trademarking “Ananda Meditation,” so if you use the phrase “Ananda Meditation” or “Ananda Meditation Teacher,” please add the ^® superscript: Ananda Meditation^®. You don’t have to insert it for every occurrence; it’s fine to add it just once or twice on any document or web page, as we have done here.

Of course, if you mix Hong-Sau with other practices from outside the Ananda teachings, then it's not appropriate to call what you teach "Ananda Meditation."