The Advaita Meditation Center began as the Philosophy Foundation in 1970 in downtown Boston. The Foundation soon attracted a large group of people interested in investigating and practicing those traditions that spoke of an underlying transcendent unity and truth in the world and in individuals.
Early Influences
The Foundation was originally affiliated with Leon MacLaren, a powerful and inspirational spiritual teacher who had a rare gift for transmitting deep experience to his students. MacLaren was a student of Shri Shantananda Saraswati, for many years the Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath in northern India. The teachings of these two unusual men formed the heart of the Foundation's work for 25 years. Following their deaths in the mid 1990s, our senior members experienced a growing need for a living connection to the tradition of Advaita.
A New Beginning
In 2005 a number of our members made contact with His Holiness, Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamigal, the Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Math in southern India. This center is the first and foremost of the four Peethams established by the renowned 8th century philosopher saint Sri Adi Shankara, the principal exponent of Advaita (non-dualism). Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamigal is the 36th in an unbroken lineage of student-teacher relationships that lead directly back to Shri Shankara.
A New Name
Reflecting our deepened focus on mantra meditation and other meditative techniques useful for self-realization - and our affiliation with the principal center of Advaita practice - we became the Advaita Meditation Center in 2008.
Broad Interests
In addition to Advaita, we maintain a deep respect for and interest in the relevant traditions of the West, including:
- The underlying principles of the major religions
- The philosophical approaches to experiential unity, such as the Transcendentalists
- The mystics, esoteric teachers and poets who have evoked so many of the same ideas
Readings, discussions and references evidence a deep appreciation for the value of all cultures in directing mind and heart to that which lies beyond form and definition.
For more information on meditation at the Advaita Meditation Center, please contact us at 781-647-0020 or info@advaitameditation.org.
