Ananda Meditation Center of the South Bay

Tonight was my first night at what was advertised as a free meditation meetup. From 7 pm to 7:35 pm we sat through a boring lecture of coming attractions, future classes, a history of the center and how I should really come next Wednesday to hear the founder, a dysfunctional surfer with anger issues speak to me. I walked out in disgust. Not one minute of meditation instruction was given in the first forty minutes. I thought this was a place to de-​stress and learn how to calm myself. All it did was make my head want to explode.

I just finished the 8 week Art & Science of Meditation course and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning how to meditate. I was hesitant to sign up for the course at first because I didn’t know what to expect but i’m definitely happy that I did. The people at the center are so welcoming and nice that you can’t help but feel peaceful when you are there. I had never meditated before coming to the center but now I feel like I have learned techniques that I can use the rest of my life.

Ananda Meditation is my spiritual home. This is the place I go to when life gets hard, in need of a friend, or to celebrate my joy. Often times, I go just to be silent and remind myself of all the beautiful things life has to offer. I put all my trust and love in these people because they have given me so much without expectations. My life has changed because of their guidance. If you’re in search of quenching your spiritual thirst look no further.
Ananda Meditation offers Yoga classes, Meditation Classes and free weekly lectures. If you have ever wanted to learn how to develop a daily meditation practice sign up for the 8 week Introduction to Meditation. Take home techniques to help manage the daily stresses of life, learn how to deal with difficult people or overcoming anger, resentment or fear. This is also a great place to make friends who are searching for the same things.
Learn to live life, be happy and joyful. If you just want to see what all my fuss is about stop by for a free lecture on Mondays or stop in on the Free Class week.

I go here every week. The people are really fantastic and I enjoy being in their company. The teachings will help you find your inner joy. I’ve been meditating for a year now and it has really changed my life.

I didn’t know how many stars to give this ‘religious organization” but I went with the gut and said four.
Four stars because its a religious organization but not a religious organization. They say they are ‘non-​sectarian’. They teach yoga but not in the western idea of yoga. They focus on yoga according to Paramhansa Yogananda. Yoga in terms of meditation, yoga in terms of using techniques in order to become «Self-​realized». Yoga to come to know your true self.
Okay, so now that some clarification is out of the way I will fill you in on how the place seems to work. There are scheduled series of meditation classes and ‘yoga’ (aka asana) classes. There are courses that teach about the works of the different gurus that they follow including «Autobiography of a Yogi», the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita. They’ve also got a Sunday morning ‘service’ which includes chanting, devotional songs, readings and a sermon. The service is done by the founder of the organization, Jeff, who is full of wisdom and insight into life and seems quite approachable.
The place itself is a storefront in a little strip mall. There is a main room and a gift shop. The main room is painted a calm shade of yellow and has a little bookshelf that houses pictures of their various gurus, the one that would stand out the most would be Jesus Christ.
I have to say that this is something that needs to be experienced. It is interesting to know about this aspect of yoga and the way it is practiced. There is a central organization that it belongs to called «Ananda» and more information could be found here:
Here is a snippet from that website:” Ananda is a worldwide group of individuals who share the search for higher consciousness and the ideal of service to others. We express this service by offering uplifting values and techniques for achieving peace of mind and inner happiness. Ananda, which means «joy» in Sanskrit, was founded in 1968 by J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda) to support others in their quest for spiritual growth”. Apparently there are a lot of «Ananda» communities around the world.
just a bit of politics I read about this ‘religion’ (there always seems to be some kind of politics)…there also seems to be some confusion about Ananda vs. the Self-​Realization fellowship because they both have the same guru thus teach the same type of techniques. The SRF filed a lawsuit, which had been going on for 12 years and just finished, suing Ananda for stealing the likeness of their guru. You can read about it here: www​.ananda​.org/​n​e​w​s​/​s​e​l​f​-​r​e​a​l​i​z​a​t​i​o​n​_​f​e​l​l​o​w​s​h​i​p​.html
so, go, check it out– be open minded because it might seem weird and way out there if you’re not used to it. But, honestly, though the guru thing freaks me out, the basic truth of the place appeals to me. Hey, if I can find everlasting bliss through Self-​realization, sign me up!