About Us

Who We Are:

The Victoria Satsang is Amma's oldest in Canada with the first meetings being held in 1994.

And what exactly is a Satsang?  It is a gathering, either formal or informal for spiritual and inspirational celebration and or discussion.

Since that time our community has grown considerably to include both devotees who have met Amma and are dedicated to following Amma's teachings and activites, to friends of Amma who, perhaps have not yet met Amma, but like to be involved in our spiritual community and activites.

Everyone is invited to join us to celebrate Amma, to grow spiritually and personally through Satsang.

What do we do? Our activities range from formal Satsang (celebration), to chanting, meditation, videos, singing practice (bahjans are devotional music or sung celebration of different aspects of faith, love of humanity, the world and Amma herself).

We also perform community Seva (selfless service) by performing fund raising activites such as Garage sales and selling High Teas, feeding those in need through the program called Mother's Kitchen.

We also play by having potluck meals, group walks in the beautiful nature that surrounds Victoria and sponsoring events such as a Bollywood Night.

Last year some of our satsang members were dealing with severe health challenges, and in response we began to hold a weekly archana evening, with 15 minutes of chanting Lokaha, and a period of meditation. We also try to chant the archana on full moon days.

Special celebrations are usually held on Guru Purnima, Shivaratri and Amma’s birthday, as well as Christmas and New Year’s.

Working with other devotees from around the region, Victoria satsang co-hosted a well-attended Northwest Regional Retreat at nearby Shawnigan Lake in February 2014. Swami Dayamrita attended and helped make it a wonderful, memorable and heart-warming success. See the beautiful report at: http://www.bornecreative.com/PNW-Retreat-2014/PNW-Retreat-2014-Report_300dpi_opt.pdf

Eleven years ago we started an Amma’s Kitchen, making 200 to 300 sandwiches and a big pot of soup for homeless people every Sunday. This involves picking up a large donation of fresh, high-quality breads from Cobb’s Bakery on Saturday evening, and delivering it to Our Place, a local refuge, support and activity centre for the homeless and street people. Our Place provides sandwich spreads, fillings, and soup. Satsang members work with other volunteers to make and serve lunch..

For the past seven years Victoria satsang has raised money to support a mailbox for the use of Circle of Love Inside writers. The mailbox is the required return address for spiritually focused correspondence with prison inmates in the Circle of Love Inside program. It is currently used by seven COLI writers. This contact means a lot to our brothers and sisters “inside”. One wrote: "I don't know if you realize the impact you have on people's lives here. Some people go years without ever getting a single piece of mail. When you set them up with a person who writes them, their whole outlook on life changes." New COLI writers in Canada are welcome to use our mailbox too – email us at the address below.

Our email prayer circle has also been active for about seven years. On request we pray for friends, loved ones and even pets. The satsang also has a small lending library and an Amma’s bookstore.

Our IAM instructors periodically offer both IAM-20 and regular IAM meditation classes and refreshers within Victoria and the surrounding area. This meditation, given to us by Amma, is taught for free and gives us many benefits, such as more energy and reduced stress.

Our Victoria Amma Satsang Facebook page has won hundreds of ‘friends’ with its interesting updates and wonderful Amma photos. Check us out!

If you’re in Victoria, please come and join us for satsang, or attend an IAM class or refresher.  Email ammavictoria@gmail.com, or look for us on Facebook.