I Chose Sonoma as a Place of Stillness - Babaji
Journey
This is the second 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 (You are reading this story.)
🟥 I Built a Community Rooted in Practice Service and Peace – Chapter 3
Click the Chapter 3 story title above to continue Babaji’s journey
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A little more than a year after arriving, Babaji founded the organization now known as Sonoma Ashram Foundation. Guided by his guru’s vision, he chose Sonoma as the home of a center where people could find stillness and inner peace.
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A little over a year after I arrived, I established Sri Sarveshwari Samooh, now known as Sonoma Ashram Foundation, at Sky Farm Sanctuary. The Ashram was founded on September 21, 1991, in the presence of Aghoreshwar. The date was the 30th anniversary of his service organization in India, which was also named Sri Sarveshwari Samooh.
I asked Aghoreshwar what the focus of the Ashram in the West should be. He told me: “In India, our organization has many leprosy hospitals, schools and clinics for the poor. But the leprosy of the West is restlessness and it is very contagious. Here you should establish a center of stillness where people can experience the Divinity residing within in the form of Peace.”
The Ashram moved to Carriger Road in 1993 and to its current home on Craig Avenue in 2003. I continued sharing the Aghor teachings I had learned from my guru. In keeping with his vision, Sonoma Ashram became an oasis of stillness—a sacred place where Sonoma residents and visitors from across the United States and around the world gather for learning and personal growth.
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Babaji stayed in Sonoma because it offered a setting in which his guru’s vision could take root. The Ashram’s moves from Sky Farm Sanctuary to Carriger Road and then Craig Avenue reflect steady growth without abandoning its central purpose: providing a place of stillness in a restless world.
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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.
