Satchidananda Ashram - Yogaville

Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville^®, located in Buckingham County, Virginia. Yogaville, a non-profit organization, is a spiritual center founded by Swami Satchidananda. A unique living Yoga community, it consists of some of the most loving and diverse people you could ever meet. Situated on the banks of the James River in Virginia with the Blue Ridge Mountains as a majestic backdrop, it encompasses over 700 acres of serene, wooded landscape. Our members have come together from a wide range of different faiths, backgrounds and nationalities to live the simple yet profound teachings of Integral Yoga^®. Our goal is to realize the spiritual unity behind all the differences in the world and to live harmoniously as one universal family while enjoying and honoring the diversity.

Yogaville is the home to and international headquarters of Integral Yoga International, which is the global organization of Integral Yoga. Beginning in 1966 with a handful of friends sitting in the living room of a New York apartment and asking Swami Satchidananda questions, Integral Yoga has grown into an international organization renowned for its teacher training programs and for making Yoga accessible to everyone. There are Integral Yoga Institutes, centers and teachers around the world. The mission of Integral Yoga International is to share the teachings of His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda and the principles of peace, selfless service and healthful and balanced living. For more information on Integral Yoga International please visit www.iyiva.org.

It's impossible for us to transform the whole world overnight. We have to start building a better world somewhere. That is the purpose of Yogaville. Let one little village become a beautiful one, a heaven on earth. Of course, that doesn't mean that you should not do anything for other parts of the world. But remember, charity begins at home.

That is why in Yogaville we are trying to lead a life filled with caring and sharing—and a life with the recognition of our spiritual unity. We are trying to prove in Yogaville—in this one little miniature world—that people from various places come together and can live together harmoniously as one family. If we can't make this little world a happy place to live, a harmonious place to live, then there is no point in talking about global harmony or global peace.

Here, in Yogaville, all are in good company: the company of like-minded people seeking to live easeful, peaceful, and useful lives. If you are in this kind of good company, your mind is more calm. When your mind is more calm, you experience your own inner Self. It's as simple as that. Those who find it difficult to follow any spiritual practices will find an immediate benefit by living in such an environment. They will get great benefit just by leaving the bad company behind, just by changing the environment, and by finding the good company.

That is the purpose of Yogaville. Here we are as one family. We came from various places. We have various tastes, various temperaments, various faces, various beliefs, but we are living here as one family, helping each other. Everyone is growing and helps others to grow. It takes a lot of understanding, a lot of cooperation, and coordination. That's why, when I travel around the globe, I say, "If you want to see a heaven, come to Yogaville."

Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi

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