The Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland (or Oakland Ashram) is a

Siddha Yoga Siddha Yoga is a spiritual path founded by Swami Muktananda (1908–1982). The organization states in its literature that the Siddha Yoga tradition is "based mainly on eastern philosophies". It also states that it "draws many of its teachings f ...

retreat site in the Golden Gate neighborhood of

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, on the east side of San Francisco Bay. It was the second

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

established by the Indian meditation master

Swami Muktananda Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa (16 May 1908 – 2 October 1982), born Krishna Rai, was a yoga guru, the founder of Siddha Yoga. He was a disciple of Bhagavan Nityananda. He wrote books on the subjects of Kundalini Shakti, Vedanta, and Kash ...

, the first being Sri Gurudev Ashram, now

Gurudev Siddha Peeth Gurudev Siddha Peeth is an Indian ashram run by the Gurudev Siddha Peeth Trust and serving the Siddha Yoga path. It is situated between the villages of Ganeshpuri and Vajreshwari in the state of Maharashtra, north-east of Mumbai. On the Siddha Y ...

, in Ganeshpuri, India.

History

When Swami Muktananda was on his second world tour in 1975, it became clear that he needed a permanent center in the United States where people could spend time with him and do the Siddha Yoga practices of chanting, meditation, and seva, or selfless service. His devotees acquired Hotel Stanford in a depressed part of Oakland and transformed it into an

. The Oakland Ashram is where Swami Muktananda (also known as "Baba") first began teaching his devotees about the ancient philosophical teachings of

Kashmir Shaivism Kashmir Shaivism or Trika Shaivism, is a nondualist tradition of Shaiva-Shakta Tantra which originated sometime after 850 CE. Since this tradition originated in Kashmir it is often called "Kashmiri Shaivism". It later went on to become a pan ...

.Meditation revolution p.96 It is also where he developed Siddha Yoga Dham Associates and the other organizational aspects of Siddha Yoga. The Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland is modelled after an ancient

gurukula A or ( sa, गुरुकुल, gurukul) is a type of education system in ancient India with ('students' or 'disciples') living near or with the guru, in the same house. The guru-shishya tradition is a sacred one in Hinduism and possibly ap ...

, or center of spiritual learning. The ashram offers a variety of events and retreats in which longtime practitioners as well as newcomers can explore the spiritual teachings and practices of Siddha Yoga.

References

External links

Official Ashram Website
Asian-American culture in Oakland, California Ashrams Buildings and structures in Alameda County, California Hinduism in California Indian-American culture in California {{California-struct-stub