There is a traditional Indian expression, "The guest is God." At Ananda, it is truly so. Terraced gardens, a majestic forest, breathtaking views of the mountains, ponds and waterfalls, meandering paths and delicious vegetarian food - all await the visitor just a short drive from Nevada City.

The word Ananda means "joy" in Sanskrit and is an apt name. An omnipresent sense of gladness fills the air. This is not the jumping up and down kind of joy. This is the kind of rapture you feel when your heart swells to see a mountain or you feel the velvet petal of a rose or smell the subtle sweetness of a wall hung with honeysuckle.

To walk along paths lined with lilies and dianthus and to hear the calls of birds and the soft sigh of the breeze in the treetops is to know that deeper bliss.

Ananda was founded in 1968 by J. Donald Walters, who based the community on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic, "Autobiography of a Yogi." From his youth, Walters had dreamed of creating communities based on cooperation, higher consciousness and the ideal of service to others.

In 1968, he began the fulfillment of his dream with the establishment of Ananda village. Believing that what the world needed was a blend of the best qualities of the East and the West - the spiritual insight of the East and the practical efficiency of the West - Walters purchased a hog and peacock farm of mixed meadow and forest and turned it, with the help of many others, into a place of harmony, prosperity and happiness. Ananda is now 840 acres of meadows and forests. More than 250 adults and children live there and visitors from around the world come for study, personal retreat, yoga and meditation.

If you go, first visit The Crystal Hermitage, a large, geodesic-domed building with stunning views of the Yuba River canyon from its wall of windows. Step out onto the sunny deck festooned with lilacs where you can drink in a 180-degree view of the canyon, a turquoise ribbon of river far below and acres of forest as far as the eye can see.

The Crystal Hermitage is surrounded by spectacular terraced gardens of roses, peonies and lavender, all set among rocks and waterfalls. Down a path from the building itself is a swimming pool in front of a rose-strewn balustrade and stage.

Down another path is a gazebo set in a tiny forest. Benches are everywhere, as they are throughout Ananda, affording the visitor opportunities to simply rest or to contemplate more deeply the beauty and serenity of nature.

For another, more rustic experience, drive five miles (much of it over rough, unpaved road and Malakoff Diggins-like scenery) from the main community to the Ananda Meditation Retreat. This is the original home of Ananda, located on 70 acres of secluded forest, where the early pioneers lived in teepees, trailers and the trees.

The Retreat is off the grid, operating entirely on solar and generator power, propane light and heat. The grounds offer walking trails and gardens, stone benches, hideaways, nooks with saints from every religious tradition, a pond with koi and a temple.

The gardens alone make this worth a visit - daylilies, salvia, dianthus, snapdragons, poppies, peonies, roses, foxglove, native grasses, agapanthus, pansies, rock rose, sticky monkey and yarrow, among many others - but there is also a spacious dining room where you can enjoy a hearty vegetarian lunch surrounded by gardens. The great variety of flowers can only be grown because of a deer fence put up around the whole perimeter.

This, of course, did not keep out a local bear who, instead of scaling the fence, cleverly opened the gate, sauntered in, helped himself to garbage and then left.

Return now to the main Ananda community and The Expanding Light office and guest retreat. Here, guests can stay in cabins, guest houses or Ananda's deluxe "Harmony House," where each room is dedicated to a major spiritual tradition. The retreat also features a bookstore, a gift boutique, group dining facilities, meditation shrines, Lotus Lake, more gardens and walking trails.

Although one may hike endlessly throughout Ananda and even follow a trail on BLM land all the way to Bald Mountain, there is plenty of easy, flat walking for nonhikers as well as accessible areas for the physically challenged. The gardens and grounds can be enjoyed by all for a few hours, a day, overnight, a weekend or longer. The staff asks only that you call first, especially if you wish to dine at one of the restaurants there.

Whether you go for spiritual renewal or a simple walkabout through the gardens, Ananda is the place to visit when your eyes crave beauty and your soul needs refreshment. To wander aimlessly through miles of paths and terraced gardens, to hear no sound except that of the birds and the breeze soughing in the trees is to experience the true meaning of tranquility and quietude. And all right in our own back yard!

Ananda is located off Tyler Foote Road. Lunches are $6, dinner $7, a one-hour massage is $65, the Crystal Hermitage Guest House with kitchen and bath, two bedrooms and a meditation room is $95 per night for two nights or more double occupancy.

For information on accommodations, restaurants, 2006 programs, classes, special events, massage appointments or directions, contact The Expanding Light, Ananda's retreat center at (800) 346-5350 or the Ananda Village Main Office at (530) 478-7500.