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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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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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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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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