Our Mission
The Nataraja Yoga Ashram is an organization for Self-realization. Established by Dr. Erhard Vogel in 1974 in San Diego, California, as a not-for-profit social service organization, The Nataraja Yoga Ashram provides in-depth experiential teachings of expert ways to lead a fulfilling and successful life that is realistically directed toward the attainment of Self-realization in this lifetime.
Through a wide array of programs and services offered on-site and online through its teaching center, the Nataraja Meditation and Yoga Center, the Ashram is dedicated to promoting the physiological, psychological and spiritual welfare of the human being.
About Erhard Vogel
Erhard Vogel, PhD, is recognized as one of the foremost meditation and Self-realization teachers in the world. Born in war-torn Germany, Dr. Vogel immigrated to the United States at age fourteen. He graduated from the Pratt Institute of Design in New York, and at an early age rose to a respected position in a world-renowned architectural firm. At thirty-one, he set aside a brilliant career in architecture to devote himself to the service of humanity.
For four years Erhard, as he likes to be called by his students, traveled the globe on foot. He lived in Europe, the Middle East, Afghanistan, India, Nepal and China, thoroughly researching the ways in which people of different cultures seek fulfillment. He saw the underlying need in everyone to fulfill their potential.
In India, Erhard met two of the world’s most renowned luminous Masters, who welcomed him into their midst and invited him to teach among the Himalayan sages—a rare distinction for a westerner. He lived for an extended period of time in a Himalayan cave in a remote sacred area.
Living in utter joy and luminosity, Erhard remembered how so many people throughout the world suffer. He returned home to address the problems and aspirations of our contemporary society with his teachings. Following a lecture tour spanning the United States, Europe and Canada, he came to San Diego and founded The Nataraja Yoga Ashram, a non-profit 501(C)(3) organization, in 1974.
Erhard’s teachings are a unique combination of time-tested wisdom and pragmatic method. His fundamental, experiential and systematic approach is based upon sound psychological, physiological and spiritual principles that make meditation and Self-realization practical and attainable.
Erhard teaches not from books nor from other people’s ideas, but out of his own profound life experience. Through his depth of knowledge he is able to inspire and gently guide sincere students to the experience of their limitless potential. With unconditional acceptance and unwavering respect for the Being they are, he inspires his students to recognize their real Self and to treat themselves with trust and kindness.
Since 1969, Erhard has taught tens of thousands of students throughout the world. He continues to travel regularly to India and teach among the sages in the Himalayas, where he is recognized as a Master Teacher. He has authored four books: Self-healing Through The Awareness Of Being; Journey Into Your Center; The Four Gates: A Saga Of The Human Being On The Path From The Pit Of Despair To The Realm Of Fulfillment, From Confusion To Clarity, Culminating In The Deepest Realization; and A Dialogue With Death The Teacher Of Life: An Ancient Story For The Modern World, as well as numerous audio recordings of guided meditations and teachings. Erhard currently offers courses on site and online through The Nataraja Meditation and Yoga Center in San Diego, California.
Teacher Speaker Author
Erhard teaches only from direct experience. With clarity and simplicity, he demystifies the fundamental questions of life and guides students to find the answers within themselves.
His step-by-step teachings and easy-to-implement techniques have made Self-realization attainable for tens of thousands worldwide.
Erhard’s widespread popularity as a Teacher, speaker, and author comes from the fact that he sees the inherent goodness in all and relates to everyone with the same unconditional respect with which he relates to Universal Being. It is his ability to love unconditionally and to teach his students how to accept themselves in the same healing light that makes him so effective.
A true servant to humanity, Erhard personally teaches the classes at the Nataraja Meditation & Yoga Center, lectures, conducts workshops and retreats, writes books and records CDs. He attends to the day-to-day growth process of his students, devoting countless hours to teaching the means to make permanent, positive change, and thereby live vibrant, healthy, productive lives. The fact that he shares openly and without reservation, not only his knowledge but also his very being, has made him a beloved friend and Teacher to those seeking a more fulfilling and uncomplicated approach to life.
Teacher Speaker Author
Erhard teaches only from direct experience. With clarity and simplicity, he demystifies the fundamental questions of life and guides students to find the answers within themselves.
His step-by-step teachings and easy-to-implement techniques have made Self-realization attainable for tens of thousands worldwide.
Erhard’s widespread popularity as a Teacher, speaker, and author comes from the fact that he sees the inherent goodness in all and relates to everyone with the same unconditional respect with which he relates to Universal Being. It is his ability to love unconditionally and to teach his students how to accept themselves in the same healing light that makes him so effective.
A true servant to humanity, Erhard personally teaches the classes at the Nataraja Meditation & Yoga Center, lectures, conducts workshops and retreats, writes books and records CDs. He attends to the day-to-day growth process of his students, devoting countless hours to teaching the means to make permanent, positive change, and thereby live vibrant, healthy, productive lives. The fact that he shares openly and without reservation, not only his knowledge but also his very being, has made him a beloved friend and Teacher to those seeking a more fulfilling and uncomplicated approach to life.