eside beautiful Kootenay Lake in Southeastern British Columbia sits Yasodhara Ashram, the teaching and retreat centre founded by Swami Sivanada Radha in 1962. With it’s guest lodges, teaching rooms and Temple of Divine Light, set amongst forest, orchard and farm, Yasodhara offers a welcoming, gracious, and intense place for people to pursue spiritual life. Swami Radha herself was one of the world’s most highly respected spiritual teachers, inspiring others by her willingness to lead a life of purpose and quality, come what may. Since her death in November 1995, her work continues through the teachings offered at Yasodhara, the various Radha Houses, and through her books, tapes and videos.
Born in Berlin in 1911, she became a popular author and a solo concert dancer. She emigrated to Canada in 1951, and first settled in Montreal. From an early age she had begun to question the meaning of life, and it was this search that took her to India, after her guru, Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh appeared to her during a meditation in 1955. She was initiated by Sivananda as a sannyasan, a Swami in the Saraswati order, and sent back to the West to "update the Teachings for the Western mind."
Upon her return to Canada, she worked unceasingly to fulfil the promise she had made to Sivanada. Her approach to the Eastern teachings was straightforward, accessible and intensely practical. Her goal was to help people discover the purpose of their lives and to guide them in achieving spiritual and emotional independence.
I spent three years at Yasodhara in the mid seventies, and it offered me a place to work (karma yoga), study (jana yoga), and to learn about devotion (mantra and bhakti yoga). Though I never became a disciple or devotee of Swami Radha, the supportive atmosphere and grounded teachings found at Yasodhara are gifts that I continue to value. I thank and honour her for the discipline, vision and perseverance necessary to establish the ashram, and for a life attuned, in her words, "to the Most High."
For a complete catalogue of Swami Radha’s books, tapes and videos, write to Timeless Books, PO Box 9 TB, Kootenay Bay, BC V0B 1X0. For their program brochure, write Yasodhara ashram, Yoga study and Retreat Centre, PO Box 9, Kootenay Bay, BC V0B 1X0, or call 800-661-8711, or 250-227-9224.
See also 
Beside beautiful Kootenay Lake in Southeastern British Columbia sits Yasodhara Ashram, the teaching and retreat centre founded by Swami Sivanada Radha in 1962. With it’s guest lodges, teaching rooms and Temple of Divine Light, set amongst forest, orchard and farm, Yasodhara offers a welcoming, gracious, and intense place for people to pursue spiritual life. Swami Radha herself was one of the world’s most highly respected spiritual teachers, inspiring others by her willingness to lead a life of purpose and quality, come what may. Since her death in November 1995, her work continues through the teachings offered at Yasodhara, the various Radha Houses, and through her books, tapes and videos.