It all began with Alf Knutsen (24.11.1922–10.02.2010) from Borgestad.
 

His father was involved in shipping cargo around the world, and the business originated with Alf’s grandfather, Gunnar Knutsen (19.09.1848–01.12.1928) from Arendal. Gunnar Knutsen was a prominent industrial pioneer and shipowner. He owned a large farm at Borgestad and also operated a factory there. It is said that he always stood by his employees, something they showed their gratitude for in several ways. He served as prime minister in two periods, from 1908 to 1910 and from 1913 to 1921, and played a central role during Norway’s dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905.
 

Alf Knutsen trained as a civil engineer and was employed by Elkem. He was sent to Canada to work in a mine, where he stayed for four years. Later, he said that they climbed ladders with dynamite charges on their backs — extremely dangerous work — but he also emphasized the unusually good working conditions the miners enjoyed.

Over time, Alf felt a desire to do something different, preferably work involving children. Since his father was a shipowner with ships sailing the world’s oceans, Alf decided to travel around the world for one year on his father’s vessels, to give himself time and space to think about his future path.
 

During this journey, he came to Los Angeles. There he rented a motorcycle and rode around to experience the city. On Mount Washington, high above the city, he passed a large wrought-iron gate. Above the gate were the words: “Self-Realization Fellowship.” He stopped and thought, “That is where I am going,” and rode in.
 

There he met some of Paramahansa Yogananda’s first disciples, among them Daya Mata, Dr. M. W. Lewis, and James J. Lynn. Lynn had risen from humble beginnings to become one of the most successful businessmen in the United States. Yogananda gave him the name Rajarsi Janakananda, and he became the first president of Self-Realization Fellowship after Paramahansa Yogananda’s mahasamadhi on March 7, 1952. Since Rajarsi Janakananda died in 1955, Alf Knutsen’s visit must have taken place sometime between 1952 and 1955.
 

After good conversations with the nuns and monks, Alf left with Paramahansa Yogananda’s book Autobiography of a Yogi (in Norwegian En yogis selvbiografi), first published in 1946.
 

Alf was then 37 years old. In a conversation with a clairvoyant nun, he asked whether he would get married. She replied, “Yes, you will meet a wonderful woman named Anna or Johanna.”
 

When Alf later returned to Norway and settled in Tønsberg, he began teacher training at Eik Teacher Training College. There he met Anna, who was a music teacher. They married and remained in Tønsberg.
 

Alf read En yogis selvbiografi with increasing interest. When he later reconnected with his childhood friends and neighbors, the brothers Hans Juul Larsen and Finn Henning Larsen, he pretended after a drive that he had forgotten the book in their car. He knew his friends well and knew the book would interest them too — and it did.
 

It was these three — Alf Knutsen, Hans Juul Larsen, and Finn Henning Larsen — who founded the first Self-Realization Fellowship meditation group in Norway in 1970.

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