Meditation Mount

Meditation Mount occupies 32 acres of hillside terrain at the eastern edge of the Ojai Valley, where the Topatopa Mountains rise in red-and-white striations behind gardens of sage, lavender, oak, pine, and pepper trees. Florence Garrigue—approaching her 80th birthday and standing just four-foot-eleven—arrived in Ojai in 1968 with a large vision: to establish an American center for Creative Meditation in service to humanity. A student of Italian psychologist Roberto Assagioli (founder of Psychosynthesis), Garrigue had spent a decade running the School for Esoteric Studies in New York and had been part of an international group of meditators meeting at Sundial House in England. When she stood on the rocky hill at the end of what would become Reeves Road, she knew she'd found the place.

Garrigue hired Ojai architect Zelma Wilson to design five buildings in a Tibetan-influenced style—a meditation room, an auditorium with a glass facade overlooking the valley, administrative offices, and two residential structures. Landscape architect Grant Castelberg of Santa Barbara shaped the grounds. The site was dedicated on April 11, 1971, after three years of construction and fundraising. Today, visitors pass through The Portal, a massive archway built from 1,200-year-old Douglas fir reclaimed from the Ventura-Ojai rail line, to enter the International Garden of Peace. The perimeter trail circles the property, offering 360-degree views; stone markers inscribed with the six Universal Spiritual Principles and Pathways are scattered among boulders, with QR codes linking to guided audio meditations.

The Mount's work is rooted in the Trans-Himalayan Wisdom Tradition, the same lineage that influenced the Theosophists, Krishnamurti, and Rudolf Steiner. Creative Meditation, as taught here, is framed not as personal relaxation but as "spiritual architecture"—group meditation designed to hold and transmit visions of a more enlightened future. Thursday evenings bring Sunset Yoga & Sound Meditation led by Elizabeth Del Negro, a 500-hour RYT and trauma-informed practitioner who guides gentle flows suitable for all mobility levels before closing with crystal singing bowls. Sunday mornings feature Suburbanoid's "Deep Resonance Sound Meditation," a live performance blending Fusion Sitar, Tibetan bowls, gong, and synthesizers. Full moon meditations, guided by board president Michael Lindfield and longtime collaborator Diana, anchor the monthly rhythm.

The Thomas Fire of December 2017 scorched more than half the plants in the International Garden of Peace, destroyed the Tree House caretaker residence, and forced a multi-year closure. The center reopened in early 2020, only to close again for the pandemic. In 2022, the Mount shifted from open-access sunset picnicking to pre-registered visitation and a membership model ($10 per visit, or $249 annually). Michael Lindfield, who has served on the board for over two decades and learned Creative Meditation at Sundial House in the 1960s, frames the change candidly: "We were policing a park, but what we wanted to do was offer people a sanctuary for the soul." The Mount now opens by appointment Wednesday through Sunday, with gates opening 30 minutes before each time slot and a strict no-pets, no-picnics, no-alcohol policy to preserve the contemplative atmosphere. This is not a drop-in viewpoint; it's a curated spiritual experience designed for those seeking more than a scenic overlook.