Ananda Forest – Perfect Joy

Ananda Forest has followed many paths in his 64 years. He graduated from Yale Law School, taught English at a progressive private school in Brooklyn, worked as a carpenter and mechanic in upstate New York, and co-founded a shamanic teaching center in Vermont. Until recently, he lived in Brattleboro, Vermont and divided his time between teaching anthropology and history at the local community college and pouring water in sweat lodge and singing kirtan. He studied shamanism for ten years and later became a devotee of Neem Karoli Baba and Amma. Ananda has been involved with twelve step programs for over 25 years and his journey in recovery directly informs his spiritual path. He is the author of Here for the Joy: A Memoir of Survival, Addiction Recovery, Spiritual Enlightenment and In-Depth Personal Transformation.