Grand Rapids Meditation Circle of SRF

Self Realization Fellowship in Grand Rapids

As with all chapters of Self Realization Fellowship in Michigan, Grand Rapids traces its roots to the work of Mr. Oliver Black, a dedicated disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda who made it his mission in life to spread the timeless teachings of his guru. It was in the early 1930s when Yogananda met Mr. Black in Detroit and began training him. Not long before his passing, Paramahansaji ordained the spiritually ambitious student as “Yogacharya.” The word is often translated as “teacher of Yoga,” but a closer rendering of the Sanskrit would be “embodiment of Yoga.”  Yogacharya Oliver, as he was often called, maintained his position as a lay minister for SRF over many decades until his passing in 1989 at the age of 96.

Though SRF had a presence in Detroit prior to Yogacharya’s involvement it wasn’t until he took a leadership position that the center there grew to a significant number. It is estimated that he initiated more than 5,000 people into Kriya Yoga. In the early 1960s a young Yale graduate who had abandoned the religious upbringing of his youth began to attend SRF services and ultimately became Mr. Black’s right hand.  George Johnston later helped establish an SRF group in the suburbs of Detroit; and then moved to Grand Rapids, where he did the same in 1976. Since that time The Grand Rapids Meditation Circle has met regularly, beginning in the homes of devotees. Next the Circle met for more than twenty years at the Dominican Center at Marywood. Today the Circle meets at Hruby Hall on the campus of Aquinas College.