The ashram is another world, an abode in the rolling hills of Agoura, California, 40 minutes north of Los Angeles. A clear-water creek meanders among massive oaks, refreshing the land and inner landscape of a serenely beautiful sister some call Swamini. Most know her as Alice Coltrane, master musician and wife of the great saxophonist John Coltrane. “I love these trees,” I tell her, feeling their presence as keenly as I sense hers—abiding, deeply rooted, always reaching for the light.
For years I had been curious to know how this woman, who grew up in the Baptist church in Detroit, had come to found an ashram, Sai Anantam, where some 30 people live, and another 50 come to nourish the spirit. I wanted to visit and speak with Sister Alice about her spiritual life and her beloved husband, John, who died 39 years ago.
It seems strange to write of John Coltrane in the past tense when his spirit remains so vital and present for so many. “John Coltrane lives!” my husband, Khephra Burns, wrote in liner notes for the album Tribute to John Coltrane. “Lives !…in the courage of artists standing naked before the world, as Coltrane stood, baring his soul for Love’s sake, clothed only in the cry of the preacher, the prophet, the mystic.”
John would have turned 80 on September 23. His death from liver cancer in 1967 left Alice with a daughter, Michelle, from a previous union; and sons John, Jr., who died in an automobile accident at 17; Ravi, a tenor and soprano saxophonist; and Oran, who plays guitar and alto sax. Alice Coltrane—composer, pianist, organist, harpist— had been off the scene for 26 years when she released Translinear Light in 2005. In the interim she founded the ashram in a San Francisco storefront, moving to Agoura in 1982. It was here that I spent a night and a glorious day with the gifted healer and teacher.
Credit: Kwaku Alston
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What are your core spiritual beliefs here at the ashram?
I believe that meditation is the highest spiritual practice, the pathway to God. Our studies of various religions take us a distance. Great lectures by revered, saintly souls may take us even further. However, to know God as Spirit, as consciousness, as truth, we have to engage ourselves so that we can experience the
omnipresent God in everything. Meditation to me is the way.
What is it about the meditative state that allows us to know God’s presence?
The mind is always busy. Even when we are not speaking, the mind is active—thinking, planning, worrying, deducing, rationalizing, speculating. The mind is a great gift, but it has to be quieted
down in order to feel, hear and see the presence of God. Meditation is not a philosophical or intellectual pursuit. It is spiritual. When you quiet your mind, you can enter a world of clarity, peace and understanding. You will always find something of value from meditation. If you need to calm down and be more patient, meditation should become a part of your life. You will operate more smoothly, work more efficiently and proceed more confidently and in control of your life.
This ashram is a place of peace. But how do we, who aren’t living in so idyllic a spot, stay peaceful in the face of so many competing personal pressures, with our hearts hurting for our neglected community and our children? How can meditation help with these things?
If we are worldly oriented or adversely affected by life’s challenges, we cannot give the children the time, attention and guidance they need. But we can receive healing and direction from meditation itself.
You don’t have to adopt an Eastern religion. You just need to set aside 15 minutes a day to be still. Keep a little notebook near you to record your experiences. You are going to find there is something in those notes that you require in your life, your family, your work, on your spiritual path. Just as it is fire’s nature to burn, it is meditation’s nature to heal, to bring peace and uplift you beyond your worldly environment and transport you to a higher plane.
What is your chosen path, your religion?
Mine is a Vedic, Eastern path. The name comes from the Vedas, the world’s oldest known scriptures proclaimed as emanations from God and compiled during meditation into Four Testaments by the saints and rishis, or holy men. The rishis would write on stone or palm leaves to keep a record of the spiritual renderings and transmissions, and then impart them to the people. Vedas and other scriptural literature always come through meditation by holy men and women of God. The Vedas are teachings for life, family, government, military warfare, arts, sciences, marriage and, moreover, spiritual guidance for liberation and self-realization.
Throughout the world today’s women’s voices have been silenced. Women have been greatly repressed. But thousands of years ago women were respected as sages and wisdom carriers.
Oh, yes, a lot of scripture has revealed the lives of great ladies of spiritual wisdom. Anasuya, known as mother of the gods; she was powerful, loving and beautiful. Sita Devi, consort of the Lord of the Treta Yuga (an ancient period of time) was known for her forbearance and great faith in God in the midst of opposition. Sarasvati, known as the mother of learning, intelligence and knowledge. Mira Bai, a queen and ardent devotee of the Lord was despised by family members, jailed and prosecuted by authorities. Joan of Arc was burned. Believers know that Mother Mary, mother of Christ, was highly empowered and revered.
As was Mary Magdalene.
Yes, she also was great. And now more people are finding out that she was one of Christ’s highest initiates.
But so castigated. The truth about her wisdom and power are little known.
Well, that has been the problem. Women have been held back and limited throughout the centuries. Creation could not have been rendered, not even considered, let alone be brought into manifestation without woman. She is principal, a powerful energy. She is first.
Now how does that square with the Adam and Eve story? Many people do take the Bible’s powerful stories, metaphors and allegories literally.
We concretize them, which is a big mistake. In the Bible Adam represents reason—brain, calculating, deducing, rationalizing, speculating. Eve represents sentiment—emotion, feelings from the heart. The point is not about Eve being made from Adam’s rib or that she was a temptress, a sinner, disobedient and to be blamed for the Fall. The point is that we all have both male and female aspects and must balance both. We’ve not looked to the inner meaning. The Bible is so encoded with wisdom. God has given us everything for our understanding.
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