The East-West Cultural Center was founded by Judith
M. Tyberg,, a direct disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, to whom
Sri Aurobindo had given the name Jyotipriya, or Lover of Light. On May 1, 1953,
Jyotipriya started the Center in a small room in the home of a friend in Los
Angeles. The Center offered language classes in Hindustani, Sanskrit, Pali and
Greek; courses in the Art, Culture, Religions and History of India; studies in
Comparative Religions and the Sacred Scriptures and study groups in Sri
Aurobindo's and the Mother's works. There were opportunities for research and
Jyotipriya's Oriental Library was open to the public. In 1955, the Center moved
to a home of its own with a 125-capacity auditorium.
After Jyotipriya's passing in 1981, the Center moved to its present location in
Culver City. In keeping with the growing spiritual awareness of the region, it
was decided to focus on the special work of Sri Aurobindo
and the Mother, which is the integral opening to a
supramental source and the consequent transformation of our ordinary life to a
divine life on earth. This emphasis received a firm and permanent binding with
the sanction of Sri Aurobindo's Relics and their Installation on His Birth
Anniversary on 15th August, 1991.
Presently, the Center is primarily concerned with being a place whose spiritual
fount is the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo for individual
and collective transformation. Towards this end, it seeks to increase the
exposure to the Work and Teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and of
Their Ashram in Pondicherry, India ; to promote Indian and Western
spiritual culture as a work of preparation; to provide opportunities to friends
and aspirants to offer in cash , kind, time and/or consciousness to the Mother;
and to foster a collective unity in Sri Aurobindo and the Mother of sadhaks and
devotees, putting each in relation to the whole.
Study groups in Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's
works on Poetry and Art; Interpretations of traditional Spiritual texts; Social
and Political studies, and Yoga and Phiolosophy are held on an ongoing regular
basis; and classes in beginning and advanced Sanskrit are held weekly. A
once-monthly free-forum Spiritual Inquiry group, Special Presentation and
pot-luck supper, bind the togetherness of members as "Mother's children", and
presentations and public events, meant to foster consciousness, are conducted
periodically.
Contact Information
12329 Marshall Street
Culver City, Ca. 90230
Phone: (310) 390-9083; Fax: (310) 390-7763; e-mail:
ewcc@sriaurobindocenter-la.org