We are very pleased to announce that the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple in Berkeley, California — the temporary location of the former SRF Richmond Temple — is now open for regularly scheduled services and Sunday School programs.

Easter greetings from the ashrams of Paramahansa Yogananda, and warmest wishes that you experience the joyous resurrection of spirit that is the perennial promise of this holy season.

Helping sincere seekers experience a deeper connection with the Divine is what inspires all of us in the ashrams of Paramahansa Yogananda. We are constantly seeking to improve the ways in which we serve you. In this spirit, we wanted to share with you some noteworthy new initiatives that will help us — with your assistance — to continue to spread the soul-liberating teachings of our Guru effectively and economically.

The year 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of the reintroduction of the ancient science of Kriya Yoga into the modern world. It was in 1861 that Lahiri Mahasaya met the deathless guru Mahavatar Babaji in the Himalayas and received initiation into the sacred soul-science. As Paramahansa Yogananda has written: “This auspicious event did not happen to Lahiri Mahasaya alone; it was a fortunate moment for all the human race. The lost, or long-vanished, highest art of yoga was again being brought to light.”

In response to growing interest around the world for the soul-liberating teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, recent months have witnessed numerous translations of SRF books and recordings into other languages.

In a special segment on “Classic L.A.,” ABC-TV’s Eye on L.A. paid homage to the landmarks and luminaries – “from A to Z” – that are “enduring and endearing” parts of the Los Angeles landscape. And, for the letter “Y,” the subject  chosen was Paramahansa Yogananda – who has introduced millions of seekers to yoga through his spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi, and who chose Los Angeles for the international headquarters of his Self-Realization Fellowship in 1925.

“Heavenly Father, bless me that I develop all the seeds of spiritual power and success that are within me, and that I use them to please Thee, whom I love more than all Thy gifts.” 

“Make your heart an altar of Christ-love…so that you may love all people, seeing in their body-temples the dwelling place of omnipresent Christ.”
 

— Paramahansa Yogananda

“Break the limitations of caste, color, race, religious prejudice, and inharmony, that the cradle of your heart be big enough to hold within you the Christ-love for all creation.” 
 

—Paramahansa Yogananda 

At Thanksgiving — a time that draws together family and friends to celebrate in loving appreciation all we have received from the Giver of every good gift — we in Paramahansa Yogananda’s ashrams join you in offering to God our hearts’ gratitude. We send you our special remembrances and love, and prayers for our spiritual family around the world, conscious always that your divine friendship is a most treasured blessing.

 

SRF Website: Connecting Paramahansa Yogananda’s Worldwide Family
Thanks in part to your gifts to the Voluntary League Appeal, Self-
Realization Fellowship’s new website was launched in April 2010, with the hope that it would become an online global ambassador of our Guru’s teachings.

In response to growing interest around the world for the soul-liberating teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, recent months have witnessed numerous translations of SRF books and recordings into other languages. 

 2011 Program Highlights
This summer the SRF "How-to-Live" Youth Programs for boys and girls were held during successive weeks at Camp Arbolado in California's San Bernardino Mountains. the programs are based on Paramahansaji's ideals of all-round development of body, mind and soul.

 A Global TeleSummit on Peace
Self-Realization Fellowship’s Brother Anilananda, minister-in-charge of the SRF Temple in Hollywood founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1942, was one of the featured speakers during PeaceWeek 2011, which took place September 15–21. PeaceWeek brought together “peace-builders” from around the world — from Nigeria to India — for what was described as the largest global telesummit for building a culture of peace, culminating with the International Day of Peace on September 21.

The Lotus Tower at Hollywood Temple: Protecting a Spiritual Landmark
The Lotus Tower at the entrance to SRF Hollywood Ashram Center is a unique landmark on Los Angeles’ famed Sunset Boulevard. To followers of Paramahansa Yogananda, it is a monument to the message of his life and spiritually unifying teachings — so vitally needed in our world today.

El Yoga del Bhagavad Guita, the Spanish language edition of Paramahansa Yogananda’s The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita, recently won awards for both Best Religious Book (Spanish or bilingual) and Best Spiritual/New Age Book (Spanish or bilingual) at the annual International Latino Book Awards (ILBA), held May 25, at El Museo del Barrio in New York City.

In May, Self-Realization Fellowship’s Portuguese translation of The Science of Religion by Paramahansa Yogananda was released during a special gathering in São Paolo, Brazil.

 

The joy of this sacred season of Christ’s resurrection opens our hearts to feel anew the blessing that his glorious victory has brought to multitudes throughout the centuries. Our souls respond to his triumph over all human limitations because it stirs within us the dormant knowing of our own infinite, immortal nature. Within every human being dwells the glorious, ever-living image of God. Through the lives of such great ones as the Lord Jesus in whom God’s omnipotence and divinity are fully revealed, God calls each of us to resurrect ourselves from anything that impedes the expression of the immanence of His limitless power and blessings from an ego-and matter-bound existence to the unbounded divine qualities and bliss of Spirit.

Dear Ones,

We have been following closely and prayerfully the news of Japan’s devastating earthquakes, tsunamis, and their aftermath. Our heartfelt compassion and concern reach out to each of you who has been affected by these tragic events, and to your beautiful country and its noble souls. We know and hold dear so many there who are Self-Realization Fellowship members and friends. All of Paramahansa Yogananda’s worldwide spiritual family around the globe unites with Guruji in deepest love and prayer to invoke divine help and healing on your behalf at this time of heartrending sorrow and loss.

Sri Mrinalini Mata Elected President and Spiritual Head of SRF/YSS

The Self-Realization Fellowship Board of Directors is happy to announce that Sri Mrinalini Mata has been elected president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India — to succeed the late revered Sri Daya Mata as the spiritual leader of Paramahansa Yogananda’s worldwide work. Her appointment was made by a unanimous vote by the SRF Board of Directors on Friday, January 7, 2011.

 

All of us in Gurudeva Paramahansa Yogananda’s ashrams pray for you and send you our souls’ friendship as we enter this new year together. We thank you, and Guruji’s spiritual family and friends around the world, for your loving messages and remembrances during the Christmas season, and for your many expressions of caring in the past months.

   

On Friday, December 17, 2010, the body of our beloved Sri Daya Mata was interred in a crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glendale.

Members of the SRF and YSS Board of Directors and other senior monks and nuns participated in a brief but sacred ceremony at the crypt in observance of the occasion.

      Updated — December 17, 2010. 

It is with the deepest respect and love for our beloved president and sanghamata that we share with you the news that Sri Daya Mata passed away peacefully on November 30, 2010.

We have planned a number of special observances to honor our revered Mataji over the next few weeks.

High-definition video of the public memorial service held December 12, 2010 is now available for viewing online. 

As we honor the birth of the Christ Consciousness in the form of the blessed Lord Jesus, may your heart be uplifted anew by the joy and hope so strongly felt during this sacred season. The coming of such great ones who purely reflect God’s light strengthens our faith that we too can experience a rebirth from a matter-bound existence to the limitless nature of our soul. We behold in them our own infinite potential to expand our consciousness and manifest in our individual lives and our relationships with others God’s goodness and love...

SRF Youth Services: Instilling the Wisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda in the Next Generation of Devotees 

Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine observed its 60^th anniversary on August 21, 2010. A capacity audience gathered at this beautiful sanctuary in Pacific Palisades, California, to commemorate Paramahansa Yogananda’s 1950 dedication of this world-renowned sanctuary of peace and harmony among all religions.

Self-Realization Fellowship’s 2011 Inner Reflections Calendar was awarded a “Benny,” the highest honor in the 2010 Premier Print Awards, in the category of Diaries and Desk Calendars.

 

Brother (Swami) Bhavananda, a much-loved and respected monk of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, September 29, 2010. 

Brother Bhavananda served Paramahansa Yogananda’s work in India and America for more than 50 years. Many of those years were spent in India, where (known as Swami Bhavananda Giri) he carried much organizational and spiritual responsibility in our Guru’s ashrams and in serving Yogoda Satsanga members throughout the country. 

Fulfilling the Soul’s Deepest Needs

Best Spiritual/New Age Book

The Spanish-language edition of The Yoga of Jesus by Paramahansa Yogananda recently won Best Spiritual/New Age book at the 12th annual International Latino Book Awards (ILBA). The awards were presented in May 2010 at the annual Book Expo America in New York City, the largest book publishing convention in the United States.  

Inspiration for Truth-Seekers Around the World: SRF Unveils New Website 

Every year, SRF monks and nuns travel all over the world, conducting a variety of programs on the meditation techniques and “how-to-live” teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. The programs are hosted by Self-Realization Fellowship centers and meditation groups in the cities visited.