Sri Aurobindo Sadhana Peetham:
A Center for Integral Yoga
in Lodi, California

Drive through California’s Central Valley, past rows of vineyards and open fields, and you’ll come to a quiet 3-acre property. A main building and a few outbuildings surrounded by gardens with trees and flowers and winding pathways. For many in the Integral Yoga community, the sun-filled grounds and light blue buildings are a true spiritual home. This is Sri Aurobindo Sadhana Peetham, known to many simply as the Lodi Ashram. It is one of the few centers in the USA that house the Relics of Sri Aurobindo.

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The name says a lot about the place. In Sanskrit, a peetham is a sacred seat fortapasya, or spiritual discipline. The name was given to the community in 1993 by arevered elder of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. This was around the time the ashram relocated from Southern California, its original setting, and reincorporated with a clear aspiration: to become a place consecrated to the practice of Integral Yoga in a collective ashram setting.

The Lodi Ashram has long been a haven for devotees of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother from around the world, as well as frequent travelers to and from Auroville, eager to maintain a connection while abroad. Over the years, numerous Aurovilians andAshramites have visited and stayed there.

REMEMBERING DAKSHINA

The ashram’s story is closely tied to Dakshina, one of the original founders and thelongest serving resident of the ashram. She is remembered by all who knew her as someone whose life was deeply consecrated to the work of Sri Aurobindo and theMother, and whose daily devotion and hard work were indispensable to the ashram’s maintenance and progress over the years.

Dakshina had a gift for turning devotion into practical work. Much of this energy ofwork went into Auromere, the ashram-owned business, which imports and distributes Ayurvedic body care products, books, incense and other products from India. These days, Auromere is a very popular natural toothpaste brand. A percentage of the annual proceeds go to Auroville and other projects in India like the Icchapur School for Integral Education in Orissa. Customers also regularly donate for tree planting in Sadhana Forest, Auroville. The rest supports the maintenance of the ashram.

Dakshina was also active in the broader community outside the Lodi Ashram. She served on the board of the Foundation for World Education and supported the building of Mother’s House for guests visiting the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. She was a frequent visitor to Pondicherry and Auroville, where she is remembered on Auroville’s website. Dakshina passed away in 2022, and the present community now looks to carry that work forward in the same spirit of dedicated service.

THE RELICS COME TO LODI

One of the most meaningful moments in the ashram’s life came in April of 2008. That spring, Dakshina traveled to Pondicherry as the ashram’s representative to receive and carry Sri Aurobindo’s Relics from Pondicherry to Lodi. On April 19, they were enshrined in a marble enclosure in a room specially built for the purpose, an extension of the Meditation Hall at the Lodi Ashram.

Alok Pandey spoke at the installation ceremony, and his talk was later published in the Collaboration journal. Dakshina also gave a moving account of the journey of the Relics installation, published in the same journal. Read Dakshina’s account, “A Journey of the Relics”. Over 200 people were present on that day.

DAILY LIFE AT THE ASHRAM

At its heart, the ashram is a place for those who, in the Mother’s words, “wish to serve the Divine.” Residents aspire to give themselves in all their parts and activities to a collective sadhana, and the community provides food, shelter, basic necessities, and a field of work in return.

Not an escape from the world, but a place where a new kind of life, guided by a higher consciousness, can take root.

Sri Aurobindo’s vision of an ashram

That life is also practical, where karma yoga, or spiritual practice done through work, is a special focus. Throughout the day, the residents are busy at work with the regular maintenance of the ashram and grounds, and in the Auromere business which is the main support of the ashram’s livelihood.

Dakshina arranging a flower offering at the Lodi Ashram.

THE LARGER COMMUNITY

Although the ashram’s original purpose was for the intensive practice of yoga among its residents, welcoming and serving the larger Integral Yoga community has become just as important. Each month brings a day-long collective yoga retreat on the third Saturday, where between 25 and as many as 50 participants come from the larger area to focus on a concentrated theme or topic in Integral Yoga.

During the week there also are regular study groups and meditations, mostly in person but some also on Zoom, and the annual Darshan Days are each marked with their own program. Talks, presentations, and musical offerings appear throughout the year.

For more information about visiting, the regular programs being offered or to sign up for the ashram’s newsletter, visit sasp.collaboration.org.

A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

The community also continues to collaborate with and support Auroville, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, organizations in the USA like SAA, FWE and AVI USA, all working in their own way towards the ideal of human unity and the divine life on earth.

For nearly thirty years, since the ashram moved north from Southern California, residents and guests have often felt the ashram required a larger space for its future growth. While dreams and efforts to acquire some of the adjacent properties were often shared, it had not been possible to realize them in the past. Now, we are in a unique situation where two of the properties adjacent to the ashram have come up for sale, or will be soon put for sale.

As the opportunity to purchase one of these properties will not come very often, the SASP Board has decided that now is the moment to take advantage and pursue it. Strategically, expanding the footprint of the ashram to one of the adjacent properties will secure road access for the ashram, provide for a future expansion of the facilities, and expand the current capacity for housing of residents and guests.

The path forward is still unfolding, and community support is needed to raise the required funds. The goal is to raise 1.8 million dollars in grants, loans or pledges within the next 6 months. Some of this money will come from the ashram and Auromere’s own reserves. Whatever happens, the aspiration remains: to give Sri Aurobindo and the Mother’s work in Northern California room to grow.