Forty years ago, a small band of people looking for meaning in their lives settled a community on the San Juan Ridge where they could meditate, practice yoga and embark on a spiritual journey.

This weekend, residents of Ananda Village are inviting the public to their retreat on Tyler Foote Road for a three-day celebration of their endurance and growth.

The now-sprawling Ananda Village was the first of seven Ananda communities around the world founded on the principles of world peace among all people.

Urban apartment-type communities have sprouted up across the western U.S. in Palo Alto, Sacramento and Seattle. Outposts in Italy and India are flourishing; another community is being considered in Spain.

But the community on the Ridge “is the mother. There's just great depth here,” said Corinne Hickey, director of marketing for Ananda Worldwide.

This weekend's event is an opportunity for the public to visit the gardens of the Crystal Hermitage, learn about permaculture gardening, yoga, meditation and tour the heart of the community, the Expanding Light Ananda Yoga and Meditation Retreat.

Ananda Village 40th anniversary An anniversary celebration in Ananda Village will be Friday, July 3, through Sunday, July 5, at 14618 Tyler Foote Crossing Road on the San Juan Ridge. • 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday — People can visit the upper gardens of the Crystal Hermitage. • 10:30 a.m. Friday — A panel will discuss World Brotherhood Communities at the Expanding Light Amphitheater. • 8 p.m. Friday — Concert with the World Brotherhood Choir. • 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday — Founder Swami Kriyananda will give a talk, his health permitting. • 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday — World Brotherhood fair with information booths will be held on Ananda Village Green, followed by a vegetarian picnic. • 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sunday — Services in the Amphitheater. • For more information, visit www.ExpandingLight.org

Small beginnings

In 1972, when Parvati Hansen was 25, she moved to the 375-acre property off Tyler Foote Crossing Road that had little more than a 19th-century barn, a publishing house and about 100 like-minded people residents.

“There was nothing here. We had to build everything from the ground up,” Hansen said. “In those early days, I think people were mainly attracted (to the village) because there was a deep spiritual practice that was meaningful.”

From the beginning, founder Swami Kriyananda's message of people being more important than things resonated with his followers and directed the way the village grew.

Kriyananda's teachings combine yoga, meditation and focused breathing, a vegetarian diet and the idea that right action or dharma is the path to happiness.

“All those things when combined together, it gives you a balanced life,” Hansen said.

Now, 250 people live year-round in houses and cottages they rent on the community's 800 acres of farmland and mixed conifer forest.

Nearly self-sufficient, the grounds now include the K-12 Living Wisdom school. About three-fourths of the students come from outside the village. The property also has a market and a thrift store.

Unlike a commune, only about 35 percent of the people living at Ananda are employed there. Others work outside the village, committed to service jobs such as social work and positions with nonprofit organizations.

The Expanding Light Retreat draws people from all over for the day or for weeks at a time to practice yoga, meditate and eat carefully prepared, organic, vegetarian meals.

Overlooking the canyon of the Middle Fork of the Yuba River, the meticulous gardens of the Crystal Hermitage attracted 1,400 visitors this spring when thousands of tulips, planted by community members, were in bloom.

“We really want people to enjoy the beauty here. It's not just for us. We really want to share with others,” said Hansen's husband, Pranaba Hansen.

This weekend, visitors can learn more about Ananda's World Brotherhood through workshops, information booths and a Sunday service. If his health permits, Swami Kriyananda, now 82, will give a talk.

“He is now in a constant state of bliss. He's only in the presence of God now,” Hickey said. “Imagine the best mood you can possibly be in and it never ending. That's what 60 years of being a disciple of Yoga Ananda (can do), what we can achieve in a lifetime.”

Some, like the Hansens, have found a tranquil home at the village for decades.

“Many of the same people have been living (at Ananda Village) for 35 years with love and harmony. The vibrations it builds is just very sweet and deep,” Hickey said.

To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail lbrown@theunion.com or call 477-4231.