I Built a Community Rooted in Practice, Service and Peace - Babaji
Journey
This is the third of three stories about Babaji’s relationship with Sonoma.
🟩 I Visited Sonoma and Heard the Sound of the Divine Mother – Chapter 1
🟨 I Chose Sonoma as a Place of Stillness – Chapter 2
🟥 I Built a Community Rooted in Practice, Service and Peace – Chapter 3 (You are reading this story.)
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Through Sonoma Ashram, Babaji created a place where Sonoma residents and visitors can slow down, develop spiritual practices and learn to live with greater kindness, acceptance and forgiveness. His contribution to the community is rooted in practice, service and peace.
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At Sonoma Ashram, we provide an environment of tranquility where the struggles of life can dissolve and a simpler, more authentic way of being can unfold. The Ashram is also a school where people can learn how to live with meaning and harmony.
We give people time and space to reconnect with their highest ideals, with an emphasis on kindness, acceptance and forgiveness—for themselves and others. In the Ashram’s atmosphere of love and trust, people can form healthy habits, establish a spiritual practice and strengthen their ability to maintain inner peace.
The intimate scale of Sonoma Ashram is one of its strengths, and we maintain it intentionally. I live at the Ashram and spend most of the year there, continuing the teachings of Aghoreshwar, practicing yoga and meditation, and offering support and guidance to the Sonoma community and visitors from around the world. I also travel to the East Coast, Mexico, Europe and India to spend time with an extended community dedicated to practice, service and peace.
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Babaji’s community involvement grew directly from the reason he stayed in Sonoma. Rather than measuring service by size, the Ashram emphasizes sustained personal attention and a peaceful environment. Its contribution is to give residents and visitors practical space to reconnect with their values and carry greater steadiness into their lives.
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This story was adapted from material published on the Sonoma Ashram Foundation website and provided for this Sonoma Stories profile. The material has been edited for length and clarity while preserving Babaji’s experiences and meaning.
