Guru Ram Das Ashram

Love this place. Good vibes, open yoga centric community (and open minded sikhs), great langar. Wish it was closer to my home — would go every sunday

Guru Ram Das Ashram is a Sikh temple where all are welcome to come and enjoy the peace of meditating in the presence of the Guru. There is a daily service starting at 5:50am for about an hour. It begins with kirtan, spiritual music, from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, our holy book. Then we offer a prayer (Ardas) and then hear the hukam for the day based on a reading from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Every Sunday the service begins at 10 with 1.5 hours of kirtan. At the end there is langar, a vegetarian meal served to all who come. We all sit together representing equality for all.
I love this Gurdwara!!! I grew up going here since I was 10. I got married here to the love of my life. My husband and I bring my daughter here as often as we can. We love how she is flourishing from the love and spirituality of this holy place.
Come visit!

Absolutely love this place! Everyone is so wonderful and welcoming. Always feel spiritually elevated when we are there!

I’ve visited the Guru Ram Das Ashram a few times: first because I did Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training, and felt it was an intrinsic (although not obvious or stated) part of my training experience. I came for Sunday group sadhana at Yoga West, which is across the street, and it ends at the Ashram with kirtan (devotional chanting). I found the people I met — Sihks — to be both informative and welcoming (and not proselytizing). After sadhana, I was allowed to doze in the langar hall, and catch 40 winks, before going back for more kirtan
, Sunday Service (bare feet and a covered head required), and finally, langar lunch itself
. I felt great peace and joy at the whole experience. In spite of my lengthy stay there — sadhana begins 3:45am, and I didn’t leave until 2:30pm — I drove away totally humming with energy inside. To end on a meal: the langar was, and always feels, completely healthy and deeply nourishing.
Treat this with respect:
I’ve also volunteered for the Annual Peace Picnic
, sponsored by this ashram. And performed seva (spiritual volunteering), prepping food for langar. My boyfriend and I even came for their vegetarian Thanksgiving Feast last year. Each experience leaves me with the same feeling of calm and peace… I feel spiritually and physically nourished. Thank you Guru Ram Das Ashram. Sat nam!

I am a Bengali girl married to a Punjabi Sikh boy. My in-​laws are practicing Sikhs. My husband is more culturally Sikh (i.e., not religious). Well, 7 years later, after meditation and kundalini yoga, I decided that Sikhism was right for me (completely out of my own volition).
Living in Westwood, we decided to check out this gurdwara since it’s in West LA. I was super stoked. I called ahead of time — there is a children’s program open to children of all ages at 11:15 am on Sundays. Based on my telephone conversation, I learned the gurdwara is comprised of roughly equal parts Punjabi Sikhs and «white» Sikhs. Cool I thought, diversity
We arrived mad early. We took our 2 year old twins to the park because we had time to kill. Then we arrived at the gurdwara and inquired about the children’s program — there was a delay. Cool, we thought, extra time to take the girls inside for blessings and meditate a bit while listening to kirtans.
Standard procedure: You must take off your shoes before entering the gurdwara and cover your head with a scarf. I brought my own head scarf. My husband and bro-​in-​law tied head scarves to their heads. And then we tied head scarves to the girls’ heads. They looked so stinking cute! This lasted 2 minutes, the girls straight up refused to wear the head scarves and started screaming. Note: Since Day 1, these kids are not pro-​hats, they bug out.
White Sikh Lady #1: She approached us with authority. She didn’t look kind. She also had a fairly large turban on with a jewel. She meant business. She handed us head scarves and said, «The children must wear them.» I tried to explain that we tried.

My husband and bro-​in-​law assured me that many kids often run around without head scarves on, we should just do our best. I tried to get the head scarves on… but a toddler melt down was about to go down. So, we tried to enter the gurdwara as is (i.e., the girls not wearing head scarves) — to do matha taykna (the act of bowing down and touching the floor with ones forehead) in front of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji (the Holy Scripture of the Sikhs).
White Sikh Lady #2: She saw me trying to enter with my 2-​year olds. She made a beeline towards us. She also wore a turban, she was serious. «They can’t come in without head scarves.»
Me: «I’m sorry. We tried.»
White Sikh Lady #2: «Sorry, this is our procedure. You’ll have to stay outside with them. You need to train them.»
Me: «I don’t really believe in training children. I believe in teaching them. Unfortunately, it’s hard to explain the significance of wearing a head scarf to my 2-​year olds.»
White Sikh Lady #2: «Well, I guess you’re the mom.» I sensed disapproval in her voice.
We bounced. The kids got thrown out of gurdwara. My husband insisted that we check out the gurdwara on Vermont Street and said, «Trust me, nobody will care about the kids and head scarf. Don’t let this experience color your view.»
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I’m glad I trusted my husband. Hollywood Gurdwara was a completely different experience! Everyone was so friggin nice and welcoming. No one adhered to prescriptive rules just for the sake of being rigid. Kids ran around with no head scarves.
It’s customary for men and women to sit on different sides in the gurdwara. But the girls wanted to sit with mommy and daddy. The people sitting down in the gurdwara encouraged me to sit with the men. No one cared! The girls got tons of oohs and aahs. They were completely doted on.
All Sikh gurdwaras offers free food. The only time someone got slightly upset with me is when I accepted one bowl of kheer (rice pudding) to share between me and the girls. The nice Punjabi man thought I should give each tot her own huge bowl of kheer=) I felt community at the Hollywood gurdwara and God’s presence.
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Guru Ram Das Ashram: You should be ashamed of yourselves. Take a look at the kind community you are creating (or excluding). Take a look at your rigid rules. Are you serving God, really?
p. s. Readers of this Unilocal review — please don’t hate on the Sikh religion or on non-​Punjabi Sikhs. There are a lot of wonderful spiritual people out there. Extremist rigidity give religion/​spirituality a bad name. Love & Joy.