Spiritual Centers & Shops on the West Coast

Centers

Self-Realization Fellowship, founded in 1920, by Paramahansa Yogananda An international non-profit society for self-realization offering a Home-Study Lesson Series, instructing the practice of techniques and lessons.

www.yogananda-srf.org

Vedanta Society of Southern California, established in 1930 is a temple and residence center with a “jungle-like garden with orchids, ponds, secret passageways and hidden shrines…”

www.vedanta.org

Zen Center of Los Angeles, founded in 1967, ZCLA teaches the philosophies of Zen Buddhism, while offering classes in sutra, zazen and chanting work. For an on-line class schedule, please visit:

www.zcla.org/news/may2004cal.html

Zen Center of Orange County, Introduction to Zen Workshops, with a residential Zen Center, which assists individuals in structuring and developing a regular practice in family and daily life, with regards to relationships, work, stress, anger, and difficult emotions.

www.zcla.org

TriYoga Malibu Center, Offering instruction by Swami Kali Ray and others, offering workshops, teacher trainings and satsang. Their philosophy is based upon Being Vegan, “Pure food is to the body as positive thought is to the mind. Both forms of nourishment are the basis for a peaceful life.”

www.triyoga.com

Khandakapala Buddhist Center, western Buddhism temple in Los Angeles, CA; with a peace garden, meditation room and bookstore, dealing with challenges positively, and learning to maintain an inner sense of calm.

www.meditateinla.org

Shops

Bodhi Tree, a bookstore on Melrose feauring, “world’s finest collections of instructive and challenging spiritual books from all disciplines, Eastern and Western,” in addition to “statuary, incense, greeting cards.”

www.bodhitree.com

Shiva Imports, located in Santa Monica, CA has an extensive inventory Eastern statues, and spiritual candles.

www.shivaimports.com/

Now & Zen, Founded in 1995, based in Boulder, Colorado, “mail-order and online house offering, the essentials of Zen products, for example chimes, gongs, etc. with the philosophy of, “quality of thought and stillness of being.”

www.now-zen.com/


John of God The Brazilian Healer Who’s Touched the Lives of Millions by Heather Cumming and Karen Leffler

| by News Release

In this first authorized personal portrayal John of God: The Brazilian Healer Who’s Touched the Lives of Millions, John of God’s translator Heather Cumming and photographer Karen Leffler bring you inside the Casa de Dom Inácio and into John of God’s personal life. The authors retell the story of how João de Deus, an uneducated tailor, embarked upon his life of service at age 16 after being visited by a vision of Saint Rita of Cascia. John of God, a full trance-medium, leaves his body in trust to the care of disembodied spirits called Entities, all of whom were remarkable people in their own lifetimes. These include King Solomon, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and Doctors Augusto de Almeida and Oswaldo Cruz.

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The Andean Codex by Dr. J.E. Williams

| by Cheryl Shainmark

The Andean Codex is an exhilarating first hand account of one man’s shamanic journey in Peru — written with warmth, simplicity and an eye for detail — the author fully captures the beauty of the sacred sites and the wisdom of the indigenous people with whom he trained. Loaded with spiritual and ethical guidelines from a culture that pre-dates the Incans, this book is a must read for anyone who is concerned about their own spiritual journey, or the environmental and ecological issues facing us now.

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Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet by Sidney D. Kirkpatrick

“This biography has been an incredible story that was quite worth reading into. I was truly taken aback by most of Edgar’s accomplishments and still dropped my jaw on a number of the incredible ones. This has easily been the most believable and least questionable book about a practicing psychic I’ve read.” Although this book is quite a few years old, it is still one of the best, most renowned biographies on Edgar Cayce to date.

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Does Faith Healing Really Work? by Dr. Danny Penman

| by Dr. Danny Penman

David Cunningham, Spiritual Healer, has had many successes healing from love. ‘Dean Radin , of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California,has ‘found compelling evidence that one person’s positive healing thoughts has a noticeable impact on another’s mind and body.’ This article on Spiritual and Faith Healing reaches from us to the scientific community, bringing with it names such as Professor Harald Walach, Dr. Randolph Byrd, Professor Peter Fenwick, and more.

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A Fortuitous Meeting by Merryn Jose

There are times in life when we meet someone for what we think is a brief moment, but energy is sent out into the future, changing and expanding our lives together…

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New Years Letter from Michael Brown: Completion, Transformation, Transition – Part 2

| by Michael Brown

2007 is going to be a year in which it is recommended that we get out of bed each morning and immediately exclaim “Ayissh!” regardless of what is happening. The roller coaster that started moving down the slope at the beginning of 2006 has not only picked up momentum, but it is now entering the sharp turns, flipping us upside down, inside out, and any which way except “the expected”. More outer activity will unfold for us individually within 2007 than in the past six or seven years put together.

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New Years Letter from Michael Brown: Completion, Transformation, Transition- Part 1

2007 is more significant than mere words can express. Only actions driven by a dedication to accomplish authenticity, integrity, and intimacy will “appreciate” such a great opportunity as is gifted to us within this period of time. Words fail hopelessly when attempting to convey the profound gift of being in human form at this juncture of our individual and collective evolutionary experience.

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Grandmothers Council the World by Carol Schaefer

| by Carol Schaefer

As the wise women, curanderas, shamans, and healers of their tribes, each Grandmother brought to the council new visions and prophecies for humanity, their tribes’ rich and varied sources of wisdom, and each tribe’s unique and secret teachings for living within the Divine Order of all things. Their International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers met with other wise women elders – Alice Walker, Gloria Steinem, Carol Mosely Braun, Wilma Mankiller, Tenzin Palmo and H.H. Sai Ma, among others – whose insightful contributions are also included in this book.

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Waking the Global Heart by Anodea Judith, Ph.D.

| by Cheryl Shainmark

Waking the Global Heart is part history, part myth, part ecology and more. Judith explores where we’ve come from and where we are now in order to better understand where we are going. Her approach is based on Western history and values but only because as she says, those are the very values that pose the greatest threat to the world. As the author points out, we need to explore the underlying assumptions and beliefs that have led us to this critical stage.

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