We are delighted to announce the further expansion of our schedule beginning in January, including the return of monthly kirtan meditations and group practice of the SRF Energization Exercises. And for the first time since 2019, we will again host a Thanksgiving potluck luncheon!

Highlights from our Schedule for the Coming Months:

Sunday Mornings: 10:00 - 10:45, Inspirational Meditation Service, followed by the Reading Service from 11:00 - 12 noon.

Tuesday Evenings: Our chapel is open for individual silent meditation. Stay for as long as you like between 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 20: Thanksgiving Potluck at noon, following the 11:00 Reading Service. Details are below. 

Saturday, December 17: All-day Christmas Meditation led by our kirtan group, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. with a 30 minute break at 1:30 p.m. If you are unable to attend the entire day, we ask that you come for the morning session only. Please see more information below. 

Saturday, December 31: New Year's Eve. Although we will not offer a group meditation service at the Center, Paramahansa Yogananda encouraged devotees to meditate during the time of transition into the new year, contemplating lessons learned in the past and affirming new directions for the year to come. Self-Realization Fellowship will again offer a special online meditation through the SRF Online Meditation Center.

Thursday, January 5: Birthday Commemorative Service for Paramahansa Yogananda and on Saturday, January 7 a six hour meditation devoted to our Guru. See further information below.

Beginning Sunday, January 8, we will offer group practice of the SRF Energization Exercises at 9:40 a.m. prior to the 10:00 Inspirational Service. 

Kirtan led chanting and meditation resumes with our All-Day Christmas Meditation and will continue to take place the last Sunday of each month beginning Sunday, January 29. More information is given below. 

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For a complete schedule of Portland Center's upcoming events, please visit our website. In addition, Self-Realization Fellowship will offer online observances for Christmas and Paramahansa Yogananda's birthday.

We invite you to be with us as we share food and fellowship at noon on Sunday November 20, immediately following the 11:00 Reading Service. Please bring a vegetarian dish for eight to ten people that does not need to be heated, or preheated foods can be brought in a crockpot. All are welcome!

Christmas 2022

"At this time, the angels in the ether celebrate Christmas.

 An Infinite Light shone on the earth on that first Christmas day,

and each year at this holy time the ether is filled with that Light.

To honor Christ in meditation is the real celebration.” 

Paramahansa Yogananda,

in The Second Coming of Christ

Many years ago, Paramahansa Yogananda began the tradition of honoring Jesus Christ during this holy season through setting aside an entire day for meditation on him.

Many devotees find this occasion is one of the spiritual highlights of the year, and we are glad that Portland Center will once again offer an in-person All- Day Christmas Meditation on Saturday December 17, led by our kirtan group.

This will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a 30 minute break at 1:30. As an expression of your reverence and devotion, please bring an offering of a fruit and a monetary donation in a plain white envelope. As with all long meditations, if you are only able to attend for part of the day we ask that you come for the morning session.

If you are ill or think you may be contagious, out of consideration for others please meditate at home with the livestream provided by the SRF Online Meditation Center. We also ask that you wear clothing and jewelry that do not make noise when you move, to avoid disturbing the profound meditative silence we are striving for during this special time.

Birthday of Paramahansa Yogananda

The anniversary of our Guru's birth will be observed in a special service on Thursday January 5, beginning at 8:00 p.m. This will be preceded by an optional meditation from 7:15-7:45 p.m. After the service, we will gather in the Sunday School room to celebrate, sharing tea and traditional birthday cake.  

Also, an all-day meditation in honor of our Guru's birth will be held on Saturday January 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a short break at 1:00 p.m. Be sure to arrive a little early, so you will be settled and calm before the meditation begins. Please bring an offering of a fruit as an expression of your devotion to our Guru. 

If you are unable to attend the entire meditation, plan to come for the morning half only. 

Monastics Visit Portland Center

Portland Center warmly welcomed Brother Devananda and Brahmachari Daniel in late September. The opening event was an outing to Mount Tabor Park, where devotees gathered for a walk, picnic lunch, and spontaneous kirtan with Brahmachari Daniel. He also conducted the evening program, filling in for Brother Devananda who had unexpectedly tested positive for Covid and was in quarantine.

Saturday morning's meditation with technique review was well attended, as was the evening satsanga. To our surprise and delight, Brother Devananda joined Brahmachari Daniel in responding to the satsanga questions via phone!

When Brahmachari Daniel also tested positive for Covid later Saturday evening, Sunday's landscape dedication and farewell social gathering were cancelled, and the remaining services were conducted by Portland Center lay members.

Both monks recovered quickly, and have since returned to their homes. We regret any inconvenience that these abrupt changes may have caused members and friends who traveled from outside the area to attend the planned events. Brother Devananda has already informed us that another monastic visit will be scheduled for sometime next year, hopefully under more favorable circumstances!

Some Photo Highlights from the Visit:

Brahmachari Daniel calls Brother Devananda

to join the Satsanga

Greeting devotees after the Opening Program

We offer our deep gratitude to the many volunteers

who provided meals and helped to prepare

the building and grounds for the monks. 

Here are photos from the Day of Service:

News from Self-Realization Fellowship 

The new SRF/YSS app is available to SRF/YSS Lessons students as well as anyone who wants to experience the peace of guided meditations. This expanded and upgraded version is a valuable resource to support you on any step of your spiritual journey. You can download it for free from your app store, and more information is available on the SRF website. 

The Managing Council extends its thanks to the many devotees who helped to create a personalized, hospitable environment for the September monastics’ visit, and for the loving flexibility demonstrated when their stay was unexpectedly lengthened for several days. Brother Devananda and Brahmachari Daniel each expressed sincere gratitude for the love and positive energy extended to them, and as mentioned above, Brother Devananda is scheduled to return to Portland in 2023!

We are now celebrating progress in the backyard project. The path is complete and mulch is down. What a transformation! We are hearing comments like these: “It looks sweetly serene,” and “Doesn’t the yard look peaceful already?”

Next steps include installing benches, plants and drip irrigation lines, followed by a wheelchair ramp. Thank you to the Landscaping Committee for its vision and follow through, and to the generosity of so many who are making this possible. We are very close to our fundraising goal and additional donations are welcome!

We are now actively exploring options to modernize the Portland Center’s audio-visual capabilities in order to livestream Convocation and other SRF events beginning in 2023. This effort will also provide a much-needed upgrade of the A/V system in the Parent-Infant Room.  

A common goal across these efforts is attracting seekers and Yogananda’s devotees to the Portland Center for meditation and fellowship.

Our Guru said, “The news of God-realization spreads by itself. That is why group meetings to practice the techniques of meditation are vitally important. Group meetings strengthen the individual Self-realization that one has acquired in private at home. Group meetings give a new awakening to members and impel them to seek the group instead of its having to seek them.”

In divine friendship,



Kripa Raguram, Mike O'Brien, Paulette Fritsch,

Rebecca Field and Shikha Misra

Kirtan Resumes at Portland Center

Paramahansa Yogananda strongly encouraged chanting as a way to deepen one's meditations and devotion, and kirtan consists of devotional chanting accompanied by traditional Indian instruments.

Our monthly kirtan services will resume on Sunday January 29, and we invite you to join us as Portland Center's own kirtan group leads nearly three hours of chanting and meditation. As noted above, the All-Day Christmas Meditation on December 17 will also be led by the kirtan group. 

On the last Sundays of the month, the morning begins with group practice of the Energization Exercises at 8:00 a.m., followed by periods of devotional chanting and meditation. If you are unable to stay for the full kirtan period, you may enter or leave the chapel during the chanting at 9:00 and 10:00.

Kirtan concludes at 10:45, with a 15 minute break before the 11:00 Reading Service begins.

How to Make a Financial Contribution



Portland Center of SRF is solely supported by financial contributions from members and friends, and by volunteers who offer their time and skills. We deeply appreciate your ongoing donations to help us meet recurring expenses to sustain our Center. Our Center is officially a non-profit organization, so your donations are tax deductible.  

If you write a check to the group, please know that checks payable to "Portland Center" will be deposited locally and used to support our Center's activities, pay utility bills etc. Checks payable to "Self-Realization Fellowship" are sent to SRF headquarters in Los Angeles, to support SRF's worldwide activities.

For those members who choose to make regular donations to our Center, you might want to consider setting up an automatic bill pay through your bank.

You can also donate to the Portland Center using Zelle through our special email address: portlandcenterdonations@gmail.com

For those who prefer, checks may be mailed to

356 NE 80th Avenue, Portland 97213.

Thank you for your support!