A Sacred Beginning (1988)
I first met Swami Sukhananda in the summer of 1988. It was long before we both became Swamis. We were Jayne Boys and Susan Oughtred in those days. She had just spent 11 months at Yasodhara Ashram, having taken part in the YDC, then staying on to offer Karma Yoga. She came to us from a job in the Civil Service in England, and after a month on the course she took an abrupt turn, quitting her government position in order to go deeply into Swami Radha’s teachings and explore her vision of supporting Swami Radha’s work in Europe.
Answering the Call in England
As Jayne began her journey home, she stayed for a few days at the Calgary Shambhala House (as the Centres were named then) where I was the director. We made a warm connection during her brief stay and I drove her to the airport with the hope of meeting her again sometime in the future.
Arriving back in England, Jayne quickly began to contact bookstores letting them know about the availability of Swami Radha’s work and Timeless publications. As well, she invited everyone she knew to come to the satsangs she was offering on Sunday evenings in her home on Roper Road, Canterbury. Hatha Yoga was and is an integral part of her own practice and quite quickly, a large following of students was coming to the Hatha classes she was offering.
Once bookstores became aware of our publications, Jayne made contact with a distributor and agreed a contract with them to distribute Swami Radha’s books and recordings in the UK. All this in her first few months back home. She also kept a store of books and recordings in her home to sell to people who came to the classes she was offering and to ship to people in Europe as the interest in Swami Radha’s writings grew.
That was a start, but Jayne wanted to spread the word further. She began submitting articles about the Ashram and Swami Radha’s teachings to the Yoga magazine, Yoga and Health. She wanted people to know, ‘hey, there’s an incredible place to go to deepen your practice of Yoga, and deepen your understanding of the sacred teachings.’ She also wrote engaging articles for the Ashram journal, Ascent, describing how opportunities were opening up for her in England and Europe as she dedicated herself to Swami Radha’s work.
The First Radha Centre: A House Dedicated to the Light (1990)
Swami Radha, very pleased with what Jayne was doing to support her work, asked me in 1990 to go to Canterbury to dedicate Jayne’s house as a Radha Centre – the first one. At that time, I was the President of the Friends of Radha Foundation, which oversaw all the houses in Canada and the USA. I was pleased to be able to go to Canterbury and meet her again.
Up until that time, the houses of Swami Radha were called Shambhala Houses. As a result of Jayne’s house being dedicated to Swami Radha, within a year, all the rest of the centres in Canada and the US were renamed “Radha House” in honour of Swami Radha’s 80th birthday in 1991.
When I arrived, we had a celebration with her students to honour the fact that, along with everything else Jayne had been doing in that first year and a half, she had completed all her book reflections and could now return to the Ashram in the summer to take further Teacher Training courses. I was delighted to be able to give her the certificate showing she had completed the YDC and the reflections.
It was wonderful to see what Jayne established in such a short time in England, and to witness her deep caring for the students who were attracted to the nectar of the teachings. I also found, when I arrived, that Jayne had gone back to university to take teacher training so that she could support herself in order to continue to make Swami Radha’s work known.
Expanding the Circle of Light (1993)
I returned to Canterbury again in 1993 on my way to spend a year in Linz to help open a centre there. At this point, Jayne had received encouragement from Swami Radha to build a conservatory on the back of her home – full of light, looking out over her garden. We had a big celebration with all her students and friends to formally open the space to all.
During that short visit, we set up a booth in London at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival, a huge interdisciplinary event showcasing Yoga, New Age, and a considerable number of other offerings – there were literally thousands of people in attendance for the week it was open. We showcased Timeless books and videos of Swami Radha, which we played on a small TV. The traditional photo of Swami Radha was in the forefront of the booth, and again and again, people stopped and looked at her, making comments about the kindness in her eyes, then staying to watch videos, look at the books (we had lots of sales) and take pamphlets about Radha House Canterbury. It was a tremendous opportunity to spread the word to a large and diverse group of people.
The Mantra as Protection and Blessing (1995)
In 1995, I had returned to Canada from a time in Europe. That summer, Swami Radha asked me if I would go to England again for a few years so that Jayne could come to live at the Ashram to deepen her experience of Ashram life and living the teachings in community.
Then, there was a wonderful opportunity. On September 8, 1995, Swami Radha offered a Mantra Pronouncement, open to all who wished to take part. There is a story of Krishna who, as a young child, lifted a mountain like an umbrella to hold it over the people of a village to protect them from a terrible storm. One hundred twenty-eight people came from all over to bow before Swami Radha, and receive the Hari Om mantra. It seemed to me that this is what Swami Radha was doing with the Mantra Pronouncement, offering the Mantra as a vast protection for all who were receptive.
Jayne was receptive and had been at the Ashram for the summer. She called her school principal, telling him she would be late returning to her teaching job and he gave her unequivocal support. The other person who was at the Ashram then was Danuta Karpinska, a long-time student and supporter of Radha House Canterbury. Both received the Mantra, and so another step was taken in solidifying the Teachings in the UK and Europe.
Jayne and I returned to Radha House, Canterbury, that September and lived together for the year 1995/96, when she then moved to the Ashram. On November 30, 1995, Swami Radha passed into the Light, her work complete. Jayne and I flew out for the special ceremonies taking place at the Ashram the week after her passing. Students and devotees from all over the world came to honour Swami Radha and her legacy
Giving the Teachings a Lasting Form
Flying home to the UK, we read over the Charity application Jayne had written for the entity now called The Radha House Association (RHA). It was accepted in 1996 and so Swami Radha’s works and teachings now had a form to contain them in the UK.
I remained in Canterbury holding the teachings there until 1998, when Jayne returned again to carry the Teachings forward.
A Life of Steadfast Devotion
It has been gratifying and deeply touching to see Jayne’s ongoing commitment to keep her goal and her promise to bring the Teachings to Europe. In 2013, Jayne deepened her promise when she was initiated into the ancient order of Sanyas as Swami Sukhananda Saraswati.
Swami Sukhananda’s dedication has inspired and encouraged a strong group of devotees to help carry the work forward and some have taken the steps to Mantra Initiation. And so the work in Europe continues to expand with many holding the Teachings and the Light.
Jai Swami Sukhananda/Jayne Boys, bearer of the Light…May Swami Radha’s work continue to grow.
–Swami Jyotihananda