Denver Meditation Group
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Paramahansa Yogananda
"Look only for the good in everything, that you absorb the quality of beauty."
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
If you would like to know more about Paramahansa Yogananda and SRF, visit the website for Mother Center in Los Angeles California.
The Autobiography of a Yogi is a spiritual classic written by Paramahansa Yogananda more than 60 years ago. It has been a best seller, translated into 26 languages worldwide.
Swami Yogananda in Colorado
PROLOGUE
The following quotes from our Guru and Sri Mrinalini Mata clearly indicate that devotees who are attuned may feel his holy presence and receive the blessings of the Guru when we are in locations where he walked and stayed. It is in this spirit that we present this documentary of Swami Yogananda in Colorado.
”There is great value in visiting places where saints have lived. …such places are forever permeated with the vibrations left there by the divine souls who walked those grounds. Their vibrations will remain until this earth is dissolved. Where souls have communed with God, there you will find greater communion and response from God. Often such pilgrimages completely change ones life for the better.” From Journey to Self-Realization, by Paramahansa Yogananda, p. 252
”The vibrations of great saints and divine souls remain where they once stayed. Wherever they meditate, they leave a permanent impression of their exemplary lives and God-communion, and all receptive souls may feel those vibrations and behold their presence. That is why it is a great blessing to go to such places.”
”Know that where ever a divine saint, one who knows God, one who is one with God, where ever they have lived, where ever they have walked, where ever they have communed, that blessing, that spiritual power of their life, remains there always. That is the ideal of pilgrimage.” From Look Always to the Light, by Sri Mrinalini Mata
SWAMI YOGANANDA IN COLORADO
”When I confided to a deeply devoted student what God had revealed to me, she said she would arrange a farewell dinner in my honor. My plan was to leave for California the morning after the dinner, taking with me a secretary (Mr. M. Rashid), a good-hearted but unpredictable fellow, and two young men who were students in my classes (Arthur Frey and Ralph Lubliner). We had at that time a little money from classes I had given, and we bought a Maxwell car. (There was only enough money left to last until we reached
"The night before our departure, our hostess drew me aside after dinner and said: "I cannot do very much but please accept this." It was a check for several thousand dollars. I saw the hand of God. I was so overcome, tears of gratitude flowed, and I predicted to her: "You will see a large institution in
The little party of four was very harmonious, and the three boys did all in their power to make Master comfortable throughout the long transcontinental journey. Above is a picture of Master next to their tent and the Maxwell car. They were equipped for camping so they could travel as economically as possible. All of them were happy and singing all the way, chanting over and over, "Engrossed is the bee of my mind on the blue lotus feet of my Divine Mother." By leisurely traveling and camping, Master managed to see and study America and Americans very closely and enjoyed each minute of the trip
Finally, Colorado was reached and the good Maxwell car took Master up the famous Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs (pictured below). It was on his drive up the mountain that he composed his poem Pikes Peak beginning “Ne’er did I expect to roam, On wheels four, Where thousand clouds do soar.”
In his book Journey to Self-Realization Master wrote, Nervousness is the disease of civilization. I remember when some of us were driving up Pikes Peak in Colorado. Other cars were speeding past us on the steep, winding grade. I thought they were hurrying to get to the mountaintop in time to see the sunrise. To my great amazement, when we arrived we were the only ones outside to enjoy the view. All the others were in the restaurant drinking coffee and eating doughnuts. Imagine! They rushed to the top and then rushed back, just for the thrill of being able to say when they got home that they had been there, and had coffee and doughnuts on Pikes Peak. That is what nervousness does. [Pictured below is Swami Yogananda and his entourage in his Maxwell car on their way down the iconic mountain in 1924].
In Brenda Lewis Rosser's book “Treasures Against Time“ (page 81) Master is quoted as saying “Over 5000 miles we traveled went over Pikes Peak in our car. Wish you both saw this wonderful place and were here.“
Master arrived in Denver from Colorado Springs on July 26, 1924 to begin his public lectures. While lecturing in Denver during his 1924 visit, Master stayed at the Hotel Irvington, visible on the left in this 1941 photograph (below). The hotel was located at 10 Irvington Place, on the SW corner of Irvington Place and Broadway. The site is now the location of an urgent care clinic.
Master was welcomed to Denver by Mayor Stapleton on August 1, 1924 and very likely met him in the old Denver City Hall (pictured below). The old city hall was built in 1883 and was located on the northwest corner of Larimer Street and 14th Street. The building was razed in 1936 and is now the site of a parking lot.
An August 2, 1924 Rocky Mountain News article stated “Swami Yogananda, noted Indian educator, lecturer and traveler, paid a special visit to Mayor Stapleton yesterday morning, bedecked in a dazzling orange turban and golden gown” similar to the picture below.
The Rocky Mountain News article also said that Swami Yogananda told them that he is traveling with his secretary across the country by automobile, being the first East Indian of high station to do this. Saturday morning he arrived from Colorado Springs on his way to San Francisco, having started from New York two months ago. Being the owner of two large schools in India he is studying intimately educational conditions and schools in America.
“Your mayor impresses me as a very able man,” Master explained in an interview later. “I told him of the beautiful country and city you have. In some respects it is more beautiful than India; in other respects India is more enchanting.”
On August 7th Master gave a talk on International Welfare to the Optimists Club in the Metropole Hotel. An August 8th Rocky Mountain News article quoted Master as saying, Wrong psychology and human hatred are the causes for warfare. If there were not war machines, men would fight with their hands. It is only by individual good will towards international welfare that individual welfare receives its greatest benefits.
The Metropole Hotel, where Master gave this talk on August 7th, was located at 1756 Broadway in downtown Denver (pictured below circa 1930. It was built in 1891 and was a “significant luxury hotel”, billed as one of the first “fireproof” hotels in the country. It had an ornate “vaudeville showhouse”, whose interior was decorated in East Indian themes. The Metropole was recognized as one of the three grand hotels in Denver at the turn of the century along with the Brown Palace and Savoy. The hotel was demolished in 1984). It is now the site of the Republic Plaza Building.
At the end of his talk in the Metropole Hotel to the Optimists Club Master read his poem Pikes Peak for the first time to an audience. Following is his Pikes Peak poem, which is published in his book, Songs of the Soul, page 114.
Pikes Peak
Ne'er did I expect to roam
On wheels four
Where thousand clouds do soar-
The dangerous, darksome path
With tricky winding W curves that climbed
And glided secretly
Full fourteen thousand feet above the sea-
The home of dark-hued clouds, so gamesome free,
That watched with heavy binding vapor-shroud
To cast 'round stranger's steps
That dared to tread in stealth
Their realm of scenic wealth.
And I did swoon
To spy, by light of miser moon,
The deep, deep hollow hall of space below-
Dimly adorned with weirdsome light, aglow
On pictures of twinkling, sleeping cities;
Shadowy trees, leaves inert in resting breeze;
And tall soldier-stones, and valleys,
Bright in silhouette.
The moonlight dim
Did slowly, strangely change to light of dawn.
There stood the temple-observatory,
Vacant and solitary.
Alas, O Royal Phoebus!
Where were thy swarming lovers,
As blushing red thou didst burn
In earliest hour of dawn?
The test of biting chill
Drove all the votaries away,
And all was still;
I alone was left
With thee upon the hill.
Thou wert aflame,
Yet calmer art thou now,
With silvery brow, spreading o'er all sleeping things
Thy wakening glow.
They did awake:
The trees breathed deep;
The streamlets opened twinkling, crystal eyes-
All creation rose from sleep.
O Sun, redeemer of darkness! Now I know:
All things, all wakened creatures
Are looking in wonder
Not at thee, but at the Unseen Wonder
That through thy glow
Mutely thou wantst to show.
Where went the cold?
Rebuked, it fled, that troublesome chill of old.
I loved the breathless subtle air,
So pure and clear,
That chokes the gross
And burns the dross
Of those that love
To worship Thee in breathless state, oh, far above
The roar and din of tipsy senses.
There on Pikes Peak
I met all minds;
I asked the winds,
Pursued the rainbow,
Begged the pure white clouds
(Which sailed unknown so proud)
To tell me if they saw
Him whom I'd just spied
Whose One Face to see I'd tried
Midst bewitching, bewildering, diverse crowds
Of scenic faces.
And in joy I cried aloud,
'See Him hide
Beneath the beauty tide!'
Swami Yogananda’s 1924 Lectures in Denver
Master's first free public lecture in Denver was given on Sunday August 9, 1924 on the subject of “Success and Abundance,” as illustrated in this Rocky Mountain Newspaper advertisement.
Master's Sunday August 9, 1924 lecture was given at 8:00 p.m. at the Unity Center and Unity Church Universal, Community Chest Auditorium located at the corner of 14th and Welton Streets in downtown Denver. This picture of the building (below) was taken in the 1950s. It was torn down many years ago and now is the site of the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel.
The picture of Master below was taken in 1924 and was used in his advertisements such as the Rocky Mountain News ad above.
Master's second and third free public lectures were given at Barnes College Auditorium (in the Barnes Commercial School), located at 14th and Glenarm Streets. His talk on August 11th was entitled 'Mastering the Subconscious Mind' and his talk here on August 13th was entitled 'Magnetic healing.' The picture of the building below was taken in 1920.This building is still standing, although the auditorium where Master spoke is no longer present in the building.
On Thursday August 14, 1924 Master gave his final free public lecture entitled 'Concentration and Life Force.' His lecture was given at the Denver City Auditorium, located on 14th Street between Champa and Curtis Streets. It was built in 1908 and originally had a capacity of 12,500. The picture below was taken in 1929 of the NW corner of the auditorium (14th Street and Curtis).
Denver Civic Auditorium in 1929
The brick building had neoclassical features including terra-cotta trim, domes, pediments, quoins, dentiled cornice and corner towers. Flagpoles extended from the domes and an awning was on the facade. Originally, the building was a multi-purpose structure: it accommodated concerts, operas, the 1908 Democratic National Convention, theatrical shows, conventions, basketball, auto shows and even circuses.
Below is a picture of Master standing next to a poster on the Champa Street side of the NE corner of the Denver City Auditorium advertising his final free public lecture, location indicated in the previous picture.
The picture of the auditorium below, taken in 1934, shows the NE corner of the Denver City Auditorium at the corner of 14th Street and Champa Street. Note the sign on the Champa Street side of the building (left center). This is the location of the picture taken of Master standing next to the sign advertising his final public lecture in the auditorium (see below).
Below is a recent picture of the Denver City Auditorium where Master spoke in 1924. Note that the domes have been removed from the roof. The red circle on the lower left in this picture is the location where Master was standing next to the poster advertising his final free public lecture. This location is on the Champa Street side of the NE corner of the building.
Following is one of the advertisements placed by Master in the Denver Post Newspaper, August 14, 1924
Below is a picture of Master on the stage in the Denver City Auditorium speaking on August 14, 1924. A November 1925 East-West (Self-Realization) Magazine article stated that Master spoke to a 'cultured audience' of 3,000 people in the Denver City Auditorium, where the city organist played 'The Song of India' when Master entered for the lecture.
Below is a close-up of Master standing on the stage. 'The city of Denver vibrated to Swami Yogananda the love for Nature and health-giving life', said the November 1925 East-West magazine. In a letter to Doctor and Mrs. Lewis, who were two of the earliest disciples of his in Boston, Master said that the Denver auditorium 'is bigger than Symphony Hall in Boston'.
Following are a couple of recent pictures of the Auditorium where Master spoke to 3,000 in 1924. The auditorium has gone through numerous renovations over the years. Most recently, the historic shell of the old Auditorium Theatre was rebuilt and named the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, honoring 'Denver's First Lady of Opera', who helped make the opera house possible. It opened as Opera Colorado's new home on September 10, 2005.
A November 1925 East-West Magazine article stated that a large class of Yogoda students was formed during Masters visit to Denver in 1924 with the helpful cooperation of Mrs. F. Simmons, Mrs. Tedrow, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Thus, the Denver Meditation Group was formed in August 1924. The November 1925 East-West Magazine article says, “the city of Denver vibrated to Swami the love for Nature, health-giving life, and the great personality of Judge Ben Lindsey.“ Master met Judge and Mrs. Lindsey (pictured below) and they became good friends and studied Master's Yogoda System. Master was highly delighted to find in Judge Lindsey one of the greatest practical educators, whose knowledge has been derived from the pages of human life, as well as a deep and original thinker offering excellent solutions to many social problems.
Swami Yogananda’s Visits to Colorado, 1926-1929
Master visited Colorado several times from 1926 to 1929 but didn't give any public lectures again until 1931. Masters' trips to Colorado during this time period were to visit devotees such as Dr. Frances Buchanan and her daughter Mary, seen below with Master.
Mary Buchanan (below in a 1934 picture) was born in Colorado in 1906, where her mother, Dr. Buchanan, was a prominent physician. They first met Master in 1925 in Los Angeles at which time Master gave Mary the name Kamala, which means “lotus“ in Sanskrit. Master ordained Kamala as a minister in 1934. Kamala and her husband, Edward Silva, started a Self-Realization Fellowship Center in Oakland in the late 1940s, and thereafter conducted services and assisted SRF activities in the San Francisco Bay area – including plans that resulted in the establishment of an SRF temple in Richmond. For many years she joined the monastics at the International Headquarters for annual Christmas celebrations.
Although Kamala and her mother lived in California in 1924 during Master's first visit to Colorado, Dr. Buchanan had a cabin in the mountains near Colorado Springs where Master was able to visit with them and get away for vacation on at least two occasions during the period 1926-1929. The image below was taken the vicinity of Dr. Buchanan's cabin.
Swami Yogananda’s 1931 Lectures in Denver
Early in 1931 Master left Los Angeles via train, arriving in Denver at the Union Station in July. The Union Station is located at 17th and Wynkoop Streets. He stayed in Denver for about one month, until August 12th, according to a letter sent to Dr. Lewis. The Union Station (pictured below in the 1920s) was built in 1914 and continues to be used to this day.
Denver Union Depot railway station where he first arrived in 1931
In 2012 the Denver Union station underwent a major renovation transforming it into a centerpiece of a new transit-oriented, mixed-use development. The station house reopened in the summer of 2014, hosting the 112-room Crawford Hotel, several restaurants and retailers, in addition to the train hall. Below is a recent picture of the Union Station as it looks today.
Although the pictures below were not taken in Denver (they were taken in Pasadena, California in 1928), Master undoubtedly was greeted warmly by his Denver devotees when he got off the train in July 1931.
During Master's 1931 visit to Denver, he stayed and gave 9 free public lectures in the Albany Hotel, located on the NE corner of 17th and Stout Streets in the Central Business District. The Albany Hotel (picture below in the 1920s) was built in 1885 and hosted the likes of the National Elks Convention, the Democratic national Convention, as well as Wild West show stars Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill Cody. The Albany Hotel was demolished in 1976 and currently is the site of the 29-story Urban Center office building.
Master’s 9 free public lectures were given from July 9th through August 2, 1931 with titles such as, “How to Develop Personal Magnetism.“ Master’s lectures were given in the ballroom of the hotel at 8 PM each evening. There was a “Special Inspiring Musical Program” preceding each lecture. Following are some of the quotes that Master included in the newspaper advertisements:
“4 New Soul-Stirring Free Lectures”
“Hundreds Have Asked for Them!”
“Be Sure to Hear Them—Given by Special Request”
“Hear Every One of These Revealing Lectures”
“One of the World’s Greatest Teachers”
“Famous Philosopher, Poet and Educator From India”
“Educator—Yogi—Metaphysician”
“By the Great Teacher, Who Has Thrilled Thousands With His Dynamic, Soul-Stirring Message”
“The Great Teacher brings you a Vital Message that will stir you in the depths of your very soul!”
“The Great Teacher from India brings you a new vital message that will stir you with its revealing Power!”
“Following the lecture there will be a unique, new and amazing demonstration of mind-power over the body.”
“Don’t Fail to hear the last remaining soul-stirring messages”
“Under the Auspices of the Christian Yogoda-Sat-Sanga Society”
“Denver Demanded to Hear More of This Distinguished Hindu Master”
“Great Lecture”
“A Most Unique Exposition”
“Unrivaled Explanation”
“Unique Demonstration of Mind Power Follows Lecture”
“Don’t fail to hear these last two lectures. Come early as seating capacity has been taxed in the previous lectures.”
“In his final message that will bring you a better realization of what life may have in store for you.”
“All Welcome”
Following are the titles of each of Master’s 1931 nine lectures in Denver:
How to Develop Personal Magnetism Thursday July 9, 1931
Unrivaled Explanation
Developing Dynamics of Divine Love and Real Human Love Friday July, 10, 1931
Mahatma Gandhi and
Super-Science and Art of Concentration for Real Success Sunday July 12, 1931
How to Live Several Years-Ahead of Your Time, by Advance Methods Sunday July 19, 1931
Great Method of Overcoming Nervousness Thursday July 30, 1931
Intensely Beneficial
How Oriental Methods Help Occidental Business Friday July 31, 1931
Very helpful in succeeding by occult law
How to Make your Religion Work Saturday August 1, 1931
This applies to all faiths and nationalities. Ministers of all creeds particularly invited. Swami’s greatest lecture.
Using Subconsciousness, Consciousness and Superconsciousness for Real Success Sunday August 2, 1931
One of the advertisements placed by Swami Yogananda in the Denver Post Newspaper, July 9, 1931
Master likely displayed posters outside of the Albany Hotel during his 1931 lectures. He may have used a poster similar to the one in this picture below, which he used in Pittsburgh in 1927.
You might recognize the inner picture used in the above poster; we have a copy of it in our social room in the fellowship building (below).
Swami Yogananda’s 1931 Lectures in Colorado Springs
Following his lectures in Denver, Master traveled to Colorado Springs on August 12, 1931 where he gave 3 free public lectures at the Colorado Springs Municipal Auditorium on August 13, 14, and 15, 1931. This auditorium is located at at 231 East Kiowa Street and was built in 1923. The picture below shows the auditorium as seen in 1925.
Recent picture of the Colorado Springs Municipal Auditorium where Swami Yogananda gave 3 public lectures in August 1931
Master gave lectures in the “Little Theatre” (pictured below) located at the left (south) side of the auditorium. This smaller theater is more intimate than the rather cavernous main auditorium and thus was an ideal location to hear an inspiring lecture by Guruji.
Currently, the Little Theater is often used for plays and is called the Lon Chaney Theater, named after the famous actor who was born in Colorado Springs in 1883. Lon Chaney worked at the Colorado Springs Opera House for many years before moving to California in 1912 to act in films such as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Master advertised his free public lectures in the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper (as shown in the August 9, 1931 ad below). The ads stated that Master was ”Direct from Denver where thousands heard this famed Hindu Master.” As usual, Master's free lectures were given at 8 PM each evening and were preceded by an inspired musical program.
Following are some of the quotes that Master included in the newspaper advertisements:
“The Man Who is Thrilling America with His Mighty Messages”
“By the man who has thrilled thousands with his soul-stirring messages”
“Direct from Denver, where thousands heard this famed Hindu Master”
“Under the Auspices of the Christian Yogoda Sat Sanga Society”
“Famous Philosopher, Poet and Educator from India”
“Coming direct from a 2 months engagement in Denver”
“Hear this Distinguished Hindu Master”
“Dynamic Free Lectures”
“The Lecture Treat of the Year”
“Unique demonstration follows this lecture”
“All Welcome No Collection No Admission Charge”
Following his free lectures in Colorado Springs, and prior to traveling back to denver, Master drove up Pikes Peak once again this time with Durga Mata, Karla Shramm, and Durga Ma's brother Dufour.
Swami Yogananda's Dedication of Denver Meditation Group's ”Yogoda Temple”
Back in Denver, Master dedicated the new ”Yogoda Temple” (as he called it) at 939 Grant Street (pictured below) on August 23, 1931. This is the first known meeting location for the Denver Meditation Group. Although the group was formed in 1924 during Master's first visit to Denver, we don't have any information on our meeting locations prior to when the picture below was taken of Master with his Denver students. We don't know when the Group first started meeting at this location either. We met here on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons at 3:30 P.M. until May 1932. Unfortunately, this building at 939 Grant Street was demolished and is now a parking lot.
Swami Yogananda with Denver Yogoda students at 939 Grant Street Temple in Denver, August 23, 1931
Close-up picture of Master taken in Denver on August 23, 1931
Yogoda was the term that Master originally used to describe his step-by-step instructions in the yoga techniques of meditation, concentration, and energization that he taught, including Kriya Yoga, that are now called the Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogoda Satsanga Lessons.
The August 1932 East-West Magazine stated, ”Yogoda is in progress in
”It is one of the most beautiful places in
”The entrance to the
”This home was made possible by Mary I. Dillon whose love for Yogoda prompted not only the gift, but the dedication of her life to God through Yogoda.”
Sometime during this 1931 stay in Denver, some local members helped Master buy a convertible four-seater Ford similar to the one below. How Master thrilled and enjoyed sitting on the very top, using the back seat as a foot stool, taking the full benefit of Colorado's beautiful view.
It was on one of these scenic drives in the countryside near Denver that Master wrote his poem, Scenes Within, which is published in his book Songs of the Soul (page 56) and is reproduced below.
Scenes Within
Many a wondrous scenic face
Denver's horizon grand doth grace.
Yet when I think of the rarer beauties
That lie in human souls,
Rapture calls.
Eagerly I look;
Delving deep in valleys of human minds –
In all their sacred nooks.
Colossal mounts of nobility
I find, adorned with every goodly quality.
Marigolds, roses, pure white flowers
Of budding thoughts, their perfume wafting,
Attract me to their bowers.
The blue expanse of amity
Ripples with thrills of endless beauty.
From compassion's mountain-bosom,
Perpetual soul freshness, constant kind looks,
Flow down like brooks.
Founts of matchless love
Bubble forth in the heart
Of this soul-garden, and start
Endless sparkling fancies.
Yet in the land of souls
Blow various breezes;
One warms me, and another freezes.
Pure souls, vital souls,
Breathe living air in me –
To them my doors are open wide and free.
I open my eyes on passing mountain scenes,
Then close my lids
And race in mental aerial plane
To view again the unseen world of souls:
Cities loom, with passions all;
Liquid mazes of desires,
Deceiving mires;
Ego's dark, titanic chasms,
Where faith has never shone.
What lands pass I?
Whose kingdom see?
There, in the land of minds,
And there alone, I find
The real
The beauties and the barren tracts
Of nations all, of souls all.
Yet diverse though this kingdom be,
There lives here but One Reality.
Three thousand miles of land I traveled not,
But through three thousand miles of minds was brought.
I find writ
And well knit
In outer scenes –
Fields, gardens, cities, shops –
The thought vibrations of those myriad minds.
How oft men pass, unheeding, all the beauties
Of familiar paths, and sheltering trees;
In blindness they roam
In the garden of hearts.
In them I long to start
A vision new:
Of Beauty, eternal and true.
Prior to his departure from Los Angeles, Master had instructed his close disciple, Sri Durga Mata, pictured below in 1930, along with another close disciple, Karla Shramm, and Durga Mata's brother, to drive to Denver using Master's first housecar. All of these Los Angeles disciples of Master's were with him during his 1931 lectures in Denver.Durga Mata served as treasurer on the SRF board of Directors until the late 1980s. Her pre-monastic name was Florina Darling.
In the closeup view below of the 1931 picture of Master with his Denver devotees we can see Sri Durga Mata kneeling to the right of Master with Karla Shramm right behind her. We're not positive which person is Durga Mata's Brother in this picture but think that it could be the person circled on the right because of the similarity in his hair color and features compared to Durga Ma.Also included in the picture is Mary Buchanan (Kamala Silva), who was born in Denver and later helped to establish the SRF Temple in Richmond, California, as well as Kamala’s mother, Dr. Frances Buchanan.
Master bought his first ”housecar” in 1930, which was the one that Durga Mata drove to Denver. He later gave that housecar to some devotees and bought a second housecar, which is described in this placard below and is located at the Encinitas ashram center. The housecar was like the modern-day motorhomes with a bed, gas cooking, shower, and bathroom; truly a house on wheels. Master used the housecar a great deal to get away from telephone calls and interviews, to write, travel, and have picnics. At Master's direction, Durga Ma did much of the mechanical work on the housecar including fitting the chassis to the body, painting it inside and out, plus making the upholstered cushions and curtains.
Below is a recent picture of the upper part of Master's second housecar, which currently is stored at the SRF Encinitas ashram center. Visitors to the Encinitas hermitage grounds may tour the housecar during open houses.
Below is a view of the inside of Master's second Housecar. On overnight trips Master slept inside the housecar while the rest of his entourage slept outdoors in sleeping bags. Durga Ma said that they had to hand pump the old gasoline stove every few minutes in order to get any cooking done and that it smoked a lot. She said that Master thoroughly enjoyed the outings in the housecar, and so did the monastics.
Following his 1931 lectures in Denver, Master went on a vacation to the Colorado Springs area in the housecar with Durga Mata, Karla Schramm, and Durga Ma's brother. The picture below is of Pikes Peak Avenue in Colorado Springs. They rented a house, which was a minister's residence. After his vacation, and dedicating the new Denver Temple, Master traveled to Salt Lake City and several Denver members wanted to come back with him. He was in his glory to have a caravan follow him, enjoying the sights of Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and other sights on the way.
Devotees who are interested in going on a pilgrimage "footsteps" tour of the places where Master visited and lectured in 1924 and 1931 are encouraged to do so. Following is a map showing the locations of these destinations in Denver. A detailed pictorial history of the Denver Meditation Group is also in the process of being added on the DMG History page of this web site.
