Louisiana’s Baton Rouge is home to the Datta Temple & Hall of Trinity. One of a growing number of Dattatreya temples worldwide, it was built under the direction of the Avadoota Datta Peetham organization in Mysore, India, the Baton Rouge Datta Temple is the third constructed outside of India.

The Datta Temple & Hall of Trinity follows the teachings of Dattatreya, the aspect of God as Supreme Philosopher, as presented in the ancient Hindu scriptures. They believe that anyone who is “treading the path of Truth” in whatever form, is practicing the teachings of Dattatreya. On July 20, 1997, the temple was inaugurated by His Holiness Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji, the founder of the Avadoota Datta Peetham.
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Hacienda de Guru Ram Das is the home of Yogi Bhajan, the 3HO Foundation (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization), and Sikh Dharma International. The center in Espanola, New Mexico, is a community of approximately 300 devotees to the Mother Ashram for Sikh Dharma in the Western Hemisphere. The Guru Ram Das is a 16th-Century saint known as the Guru of Miracles. Although most of the members are practicing Sikhs, the center welcomes spiritual seekers of all faiths to visit. Sikh is an Indian religion that began 530 years ago and means “seekers of truth.” Their goal is to create abundance, peace, and prosperity throughout all of humanity. The Espanola ashram was founded by Yogi Bhajan in 1970. He named it the Mother Ashram and called it Hacienda de Guru Ram Das, which means “home of the wisdom of service to all.” The center is located in Northern New Mexico amidst the beauty of the Southwest.
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Only about a mile east of Greenwich Village on Manhattan Island is New York’s first downtown Hindu temple. The Ramakrishnananda Yoga Vedanta Mission is set right in the heart of the Big Apple, a location that is usually anything but serene! That doesn’t stop the disciples of the Mission’s founder, Swami Ramakrishnananda.

It was in 2003 that Swami Ramakrishnananda, who had only recently come to the United States, was asked by his Gurudeva (spiritual teacher) to start a formal institution with the purpose of spreading his teachings and sharing his heart. The Mission is founded with the purpose of teaching the Hindu religion on a large scale and to work toward peace and harmony among all religions. Their purpose also includes training and education about hatha yoga, as well as other aspects of spiritual and physical health and well being.
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Overlooking the majestic Colorado Rocky Mountains near Boulder is the Shoshoni Yoga Retreat, a yoga teacher training center, retreat facility, and residential ashram. This picturesque center is open year round and offers yoga classes, Sanskrit chanting, meditation walks, and vegetarian meals for participants. Their desire is to train individuals in classical Hatha Yoga with an emphasis on breath awareness, and to incorporate the principles of meditation and chanting to enhance one’s practice and create happiness from within.
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Taos, New Mexico, is home to the Hanuman Temple and Neem Karoli Baba Ashram. Founded by a few of the American devotees of Neem Karoli Baba after his mahasamadhi (leaving the body) in 1973, this temple and ashram combo serves to continue the teachings of Neem Karoli Baba and to provide a place for his devotees to gather. The groundwork for the project was laid in 1977 when one of the senior devotees suggested a murti (holy statue) of Hanuman be carved in India and brought to America for installation in a temple. Since then the project has grown almost organically to its present location and size.
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Since its birth in 1989, the Mata Amritanandamayi (MA) Center has organized and sponsored Amma’s North American visits each year as she tours the United States. Run by volunteers, the center is overseen by executive director Bramachari Dayamrita Chaitanya. Through its various community projects and workshops, the MA center supports several charity organizations which feed the poor and homeless, support battered women’s and children’s shelters, and support the elderly and sick.
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Anyone who loves the Beatles has heard of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, but did you know he started a project of opening 3,000 Peace Palaces around the world? One such palace is the Maharishi Peace Palace of Bethesda, Maryland. Like all the palaces in the project, both those already built and those still in the planning stage, the Bethesda Peace Palace is dedicated to spreading the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and to training people in the science of Transcendental Meditation, or TM. Another of the primary functions of the Peace Palaces like the one at Bethesda is as an alternative to modern medical practice, offering instead a variety of ancient and modern non-medical healing techniques.
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Arunachala (uh-roo-NAH-chuh-luh) Ashram is part of the legacy of Sri Ramana Maharishi, a south Indian saint who lived around the turn of the last century (the late 1800s). Arunachala is the name of the hill in the town of Tiruvannamalai, in southern India, upon which the original and flagship ashram is located. The New York ashram is one of only two outside of India, the other being in Nova Scotia.
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Spiritual splendor can be found at the Mount Madonna Center, a conference and retreat center located between Santa Cruz and Monterey in Northern California. A community designed to nurture the creative arts and the health sciences, Mt. Madonna follows the principles set forth by Baba Hari Dass, a silent monk and ashtanga yogi master. This blissful place of spiritual growth is sponsored by the Hanuman Fellowship, a non-profit organization created by the students of Dass in 1971.
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One hour northwest of New York, nestled in the Catskill mountain foothills, is the Ananda Ashram. This gorgeous retreat center is dedicated to teaching the universal principles of yoga and Vedanta, and to the exchange of culture between east and west. Open all year, it welcomes visitors of all faiths, origins, and cultures.
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While Hinduism in general has been very accommodating of the westerners who’ve approached it, very few American ashrams offer the level of meaningful integration with the western lifestyle that the Yoga Satchidananda Ashram does. They do it coming and going! While extending a warm welcome to newcomers, they deliver the ongoing support necessary to turn starry-eyed yoga practitioners into credentialed yoga teachers.
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If you are in the Chicago area and you would like to experience Hinduism at its purest, be sure to check out the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago. Founded by a community of Hindu immigrants in the late 1870s and early 1980s, this temple is built on the basic Hindu idea that all spiritual practices are valid. Its two temple buildings are devoted to a wide variety of deities intended to serve the needs of many different Hindu traditions.
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Nestled in the quiet historic east valley amidst the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the Upaya Zen Center. Heading the monastery in this residential Buddhist community is Joan Halifax Roshi, a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and author. She is the founder, Abbot, and head teacher at Upaya. This active Buddhist community offers practices and teachings on engaged Buddhism and on how the modern person can live in the world responsibly with kindness, compassion and wisdom. Upaya’s mission is to encourage, develop and support a sincere and dedicated Buddhist practice community of those engaged in social and individual transformation.
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Would you like to visit a large and beautiful temple near an equally large and beautiful beach? If so, then the ISKCON temple in Los Angeles is for you! Named New Dwarka and featuring the presiding deities, Their Lordships Sri Sri Rukmini-Dwarkadisa, the Los Angeles International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple and ashram compound is less than three miles from the world famous Venice Beach. Set in a residential area just off of Venice Boulevard, it has eight buildings for the accommodation of devotees and two large buildings that house the temple itself and the offices of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, ISKCON’s publishing and book distribution branch.
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The administrative center for the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) and its home, the Mother Center of the SRF is a beautiful complex on the crest of Mount Washington in Los Angeles, California. It was here in 1925 that Paramahansa Yogananda (Pahr-ah-mah-hahn-sah Yoh-gah-nahn-dah) founded the SRF. In the nearly 30 years that followed he lived and worked at this center, bringing the light of Kriya yoga to the west, as he was instructed to do by his Guru, Shri Yukteswar. His rooms here have been preserved as a shrine and there are exhibitions of his personal items in the library and in the reception hall.

The Grounds

The center includes a chapel where for years he held services. This chapel is available for prayer and meditation daily. There is also an outdoor “temple of leaves” where he would give classes which you can use for quiet meditation and prayer. This “temple of leaves” is very inviting, practically calling you to sit in its cool embrace and drift off in blissful union with the Divine.

There is an ashram here, populated by monks and nuns of the Swami order. They are the ones who perform all the administration duties of the SRF, which is an international organization that publishes and distributes worldwide the lectures, writings, and recorded talks of Paramahansa Yogananda. Here, at the Mother Center, all publishing and distribution functions for the SRF are done. Busy monks and nuns!

There are many gardens on the Center grounds for you to enjoy, several of which offer stunning panoramic views of the city below.

Daily Activities

Being primarily an administrative center, inspirational services are no longer conducted at the Mother Center, but you are encouraged to sit and meditate in the chapel, on the grounds, or in any of the public spaces the Mother Center offers. For inspirational services or yoga training you are invited to visit one of their other temples or centers worldwide, such as their temple in Encinitas, California, about 100 miles south of Los Angeles.

The Self-Realization Fellowship is based in the practice of kriya yoga, an meditation technique that focuses on the breath and the movement of energy up and down the spine, as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda. They also use several other supporting practices designed by him to condition the body and focus the mind for extended meditation practice.

Just inside the main gate is a Visitors’ Center where you can buy books and recordings. Introductory literature and information for a self guided tour are also available there.

Our Comments

The SRF Mother Center is a great destination for history buffs and those who just want a nice quiet place for meditation. A must see for anyone who has read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, or has an interest in Kriya yoga.

Visiting Hours & Location

Visiting hours for the Mother Center are Tuesday through Saturday, 9am - 5pm, and Sunday from 1pm - 5pm. They are closed on Monday. The administrative offices are open Monday through Friday, 9am - 4:30pm. All times are Pacific Standard Time.

The Mother Center is located right in the heart of Los Angeles at 3880 San Rafael Avenue, on the crest of Mt. Washington, and is easily accessed from both the Pasadena freeway and the Glendale freeway.

Self-Realization Fellowship
The Mother Center
3880 San Rafael Avenue
Los Angeles, California
90065-3298
Telephone: (323) 225-2471

Photo courtesy of Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles