An excerpt:

Brother Anandamoy led the service. Here he is speaking of Mokshanandaji. “Let me reminisce a little about Brother Mokshananda: as a monk, as a minister of Self-Realization Fellowship, and as an exemplary disciple of our guru, Paramahansa Yogananda. Mokshananda was 24 years old when he entered the Self-Realization ashram on March 3, 1952, just 4 days before Paramahansa Yogananda’s mahasamadhi. His name then was Leland Standing…..

I remember very well the day Mokshananda came into the ashram, because I was assigned to welcome him. I watched him walking slowly toward the Administration Building, then up the steps to the entrance. His whole body, all his gestures, his eyes, his face, expressed the one thought: “I have come to dedicate my life to God, to Guru, to Their work.” And he did say: “I have come to stay.” After he had signed the entrance papers and put his things away in his room, he changed straight away into his work clothes and said, “I am ready to work.” That spirit of service remained a dominant characteristic in his nature to his last days.

Hard work was not new to Mokshananda. He told us later that he had grown up on a farm. Before he went to school in the morning, there were chores to do, such as feeding the cows and milking the cows. When he returned home from school, there were more farm chores to be done before he could start his homework.

So we put him right to work……..

While working, he heard another monk call from the outside: “Master is going out!” So I said, “Come let’s go; let’s hurry.” We ran to the side entrance of the Administration Building, where Master’s car was ready. Guruji was standing there. Though Mokshananda came from a strict Quaker background, and had probably never knelt before anyone, he humbly knelt before his Guru. Master very kindly, and respectfully, welcomed Mokshananda into the ashram. It was a very touching picture–I can still see it as if it has happened just this morning. Gently patting the new monk’s head in blessing, Master said to him, “Loyalty is the highest law.” Guruji often said this, but usually it was to impress on us the importance of that truth. But when he said it then to Mokshananda, it was different. It was like an approval. I had the very strong impression that he was praising him; the very strong impression that the Guru was welcoming an old disciple from the past, one who had always been totally loyal.

Much later, Mokshananda told us that just as he had been getting ready to enter the ashram, his father suffered a broken leg. It happened at a time when crops should be planted on the family farm, so it was only logical to his father to ask Mokshananda, who knew all the work, to help out for a month or two. But Mokshananda had written that he was coming on March 3. He later told us, “I felt that the Guru had called me. I had given my word, and I had to keep my word, and I came.” It was not an easy decision to make in that situation. But this gives us a glimpse of the kind of person that he was–one of utter integrity and truthfulness. Above all, he had that discrimination which puts God and Guru above self, above family, above everything else. We find this law in the scriptures: God first. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Later Anandamoyji quotes from a personal letter Mokshanandaji wrote to Daya Mataji after he’d been ill for several months.

“Beloved Daya Ma:

Mokshananda”

Anandamoyji continues. “On Christmas morning we took him up in his wheelchair for the last time to pray in Master’s room. Then we took him to the room where Guruji used to receive members and guests. Daya Mata met him in the hall and they conversed for a few minutes; then Mataji invited him into the reception room where some of the other directors were waiting to greet him. I wish I could convey to you the feeling of that meeting. The presence of Master was so powerful–the whole room was filled with tremendous love. It was a deeply moving experience–utterly overwhelming–not only for Mokshananda, but for all who were there. I thought, “This is the crowning experience of a life of service, of loyalty, of dedication.” Tears of joy and gratitude streamed down Mokshananda’s face, and with the humility so characteristic of him, he said to Daya Mataji, “I wish I had something to offer you.” Almost as one voice, Daya Ma and the other directors assured him, “You have already given everything.”

After that, his health deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away last Wednesday morning. The passing was, as one of the monks who were present expressed it, “as if a mother were holding a little baby in her arms as she slowly, tenderly, gently puts it down on the pillow.” That is how the mortal life left that body and went into the higher realm….. We had no doubt that Master had taken him across. Afterwards, the monks came one by one to pray and pay their respects to a beloved brother disciple. I looked at a large picture of Master that was next to Mokshananda’s bed. I felt such unspeakable joy expressed in Master’s eyes and face, as if to say, “He is with me–all is well.”

The following tribute came from a member of SRF’s Phoenix temple, where Mokshanandji served as minister for five years.

“My heart is full with thoughts about our beloved Brother Mokshananda….I have learned more from him than from any other soul. It was not only from his talks and instructions, so full of wisdom and inspiration, but most of all he demonstrated that he had made Sri Yukteswar’s counsel his own: Learn to behave. His behavior was perfect in every way; he never became folksy or familiar with the devotees, rather he emanated dignity and steadiness, but behind these you always felt his great kindness and warmth. Some of the devotees here called him “our gentle giant”….Brother hardly ever talked about himself; there was no ego in his consciousness. Quietly he turned the attention away from himself–He was grateful for any act of kindness as long as it was directed toward Master or to support his work.

I can hardly think of any good quality that was not evident in our dear Brother Mokshananda’s life. Unassuming, quiet, utterly reliable, punctual to the second, always pushing himself but never others unless they volunteered–his life was a perfect example of what one can become who totally surrenders himself to the guidance of our blessed Guru. I will take inspiration from having known him as long as I live, and will be ever grateful for having learned from him what a perfect SRF monk, minister, and devotee should be.”