 | |
| Type | Ashram |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To disseminate the teachings of H.H. Sri Swami Satchidananda |
| Headquarters | Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville Virginia |
| Location | |
| Affiliations | Sivananda Ashram |
| Website | yogaville |
Yogaville, or Satchidananda Ashram, is the Buckingham County, Virginia headquarters of Satchidananda Saraswati's organisation.
The ashram was founded in 1980 by Satchidananda Saraswati, whose western notability stems from his opening of the Woodstock festival. The ashram is the international organizational headquarters of Swami Satchidananda's documented teachings. It is located in Buckingham County, Virginia. The primary goal of guru Yogiraj Sri Swami Satchidananda (1914-2002) was interfaith understanding as a vehicle to world peace. To this end, the LOTUS (Light Of Truth Universal Shrine) was constructed and inaugurated in 1986. Swami Satchidananda had been living in Yogaville, though he was visiting Madras, in South India at the time of his death. [1]
The property in rural Virginia, along the James River, was identified for the community from the air as the swami flew over, looking for land farther south than his ashram in Pomfret, Connecticut. Swami Satchidananda acquired 600 acres in 1979 to form his town, financing it by selling property in Falls Village, Connecticut that had been given to him by Carole King. [1] As of 1986, when the LOTUS was dedicated, around 120 people were living on a total of 750 acres. Reports cited plans to eventually house a population between 600 and 1,000. [2] The ashram in Yogaville maintains a large kitchen and dining room for residents and guests. A 1996 book of favorite ashram recipes has had nine editions. [3] According to the official website, there are around 200 residents as of 2015. [4] In addition to the Virginia and Connecticut ashrams, Yogaville-West was founded in Seigler Springs, California in 1972. [1]
Costing $2 million (financed through donations and tithes) and dedicated on July 20, 1986, [2] the shrine is the centerpiece of Yogaville. The structure is shaped like a lotus flower, features a gold-leaf dome, and houses 12 altars representing Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Shinto, Tao, Buddhist, Islam, Sikh, Native American, and African religions. [1] Blue neon tubes extend from each altar up along the spines of the vaulted ceiling.
Buckingham County is a rural United States county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and containing the geographic center of the state. Buckingham County is part of the Piedmont region of Virginia, and the county seat is Buckingham.
Sivananda Saraswati was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism. He lived most of his life near Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh.
Satchidananda Saraswati, born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder and usually known as Swami Satchidananda, was an Indian yoga guru and religious teacher, who gained fame and following in the West. He founded his own brand of Integral Yoga, and its spacious Yogaville headquarters in Virginia. He was the author of philosophical and spiritual books and had a core of founding disciples who compiled his translations and updated commentaries on traditional handbooks of yoga such as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita for modern readers. In 1991, multiple female members of staff made allegations of sexual manipulation and abuse, more coming forwards after an initial protest. No legal complaints were filed, and Satchidananda denied all accusations.
Alice Coltrane, also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few harpists in the history of jazz, she recorded many albums as a bandleader, beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s for Impulse! and other record labels. She was married to jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, with whom she performed in 1966–1967. One of the foremost exponents of the "spiritual jazz" style, her eclectic music proved widely influential both within and outside the world of jazz.
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam is a set of Vedic teaching institutions founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati. A gurukulam is a center for residential learning that evolved from the Vedic tradition. Arsha Vidya translates to knowledge of rishis (sages).
Buckingham is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Buckingham County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 133.
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, born Malti Shetty on 24 June 1955, is the current guru or spiritual head of the Siddha Yoga path, with ashrams in India at Ganeshpuri and the Western world, with the headquarters of the SYDA foundation in South Fallsburg, New York.
Amrit Desai is a pioneer of yoga in the West, and one of the few remaining living yoga gurus who originally brought over the authentic teachings of yoga in the early 1960s. He is the creator of two brands of yoga, Kripalu Yoga and I AM Yoga, and is the founder of five yoga and health centers in the US. His yoga training programs have reached more than 40 countries worldwide and over 8,000 teachers have been certified.
Swami Ramdas was an Indian saint, philosopher, philanthropist and pilgrim. Swami Ramdas became a wandering ascetic in his late 30s and later established Anandashram in Kanhangad, Kerala. He is the author of several books, the most famous of which is the spiritual autobiography In Quest of God (1925).
Kankhal is a small colony in Haridwar in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand state in India.
Shri Gaudapadacharya Math, also known as Kavaḷē maṭha, located in Kavale, Ponda, Goa, is the oldest matha of the Smarthan Saraswat Brahman Samaj. It was founded by Gauḍapāda around 740 AD, whose student was Govinda Bhagavatpada, the guru of Adi Shankara, a highly influential figure in Hinduism. There is also a belief that Gauḍapāda himself established the Shri Gaudapadacharya matha when he lived in Gomantak (Goa). Thus, the matha came to be known as Shri Saunstan Gaudapadacharya matha. Unlike other mathas, Shri Gaudapadacharya matha is not a polemical center established to influence the faith of all Hindus, its jurisdiction is limited to only Dakshinatya Saraswat Brahmins. The Peetadhipathi "head monk" is Śrī Gauḍapadācārya. Smartist Goud Saraswat Brahman Samaj and Rajapur Saraswat Brahmin are its main disciples.
Swami Nigamananda Paramahansa was an Indian yogi, guru and mystic well known in Eastern India. He is associated with the Shakta tradition and viewed as a perfect spiritual master of vedanta, tantra, yoga and prema or bhakti. His followers idealized him as their worshipped and beloved thakura.
Sivananda Radha Saraswati, born Sylvia Demitz, was a German yogini who emigrated to Canada and founded Yasodhara Ashram in British Columbia. She established a Western-based lineage in the Sivananda tradition and published books on several branches of Yoga, including Kundalini Yoga for the West and Mantras; Words of Power. She was a member of the California Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and developed transpersonal psychology workshops to help students prepare for intense spiritual practice. Teachers trained at Yasodhara Ashram can now be found across North America and in Europe, the Caribbean, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Uttarāmnāya Śrī Jyotir Pītham or Jyotir Math is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams established by the 820 CE philosopher-saint Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara to preserve and propagate Sanātana Dharma and Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of non-dualism. Located in the city of Joshimath, Chamoli district, Uttrakhand, India, it is the uttarāmnāya matha or Northern Āmnāya Pītham, amongst the four Chaturamnaya Peethams, with the others being the Sringeri Śārada Pīṭhaṃ (Karnataka) in the South, Dvārakā Śāradā Pītham (Gujarat) in the West, and Purī Govardhanmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ (Odisha) in the East. Its appointees bear the title of Shankaracharya. It is the headquarters of Giri, Parvata & Sagara sects of the Dasnami Sampradaya. Their Vedantic mantra or Mahavakya is Ayamātmānam brahma and as per the tradition initiated by Adi Shankara it holds authority over Atharva Veda.
Sri Naga Sai Mandir is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Indian Spiritual Master Shirdi Sai Baba in Coimbatore in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Integral Yoga is a system of yoga that claims to synthesize six branches of classical Yoga philosophy and practice: Hatha, Raja, Bhakti, Karma, Jnana, and Japa yoga. It was brought to the West by Swami Satchidananda, the first centre being founded in 1966. Its aim is to integrate body, mind, and spirit, using physical practices and philosophical approaches to life to develop the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of individuals. The system includes the practices of asana, pranayama, and meditation to develop physical and mental stillness so as to access inner peace and joy, which Satchidananda believed was a person's true nature. It also encourages practitioners to live service-oriented lives.
Mahamayavi Bhagavan Antle, also known as Kevin Antle or Doc Antle, is an American animal trainer and private zoo operator.
Coordinates: 37°39′56.9″N78°41′8″W / 37.665806°N 78.68556°W
 | This Buckingham County, Virginia state location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |