Among the stately Victorians and Chinese elms lining Folsom Street in San Francisco’s Mission District, there’s one house that stands out—but only if you know what to look for.
San Francisco, CA
There’s a 50-Year-Old Ashram in the Heart of SF’s Mission
With a sign in Sanskrit out front and bright orange curtains visible on the second floor, the legacy of a renowned guru animates 2872 Folsom, one of a few remaining ashrams (or places for religious retreat) in a city that has embraced Hindu spirituality for more than half a century.
Part of what makes the Yoga Society of San Francisco so unusual is that it’s a deeply spiritual refuge in the middle of a bustling neighborhood better known for dive bars and taquerias.
When Mahendra Agarwal first came to the ashram in 1998 in search of a place to meditate, he stepped inside the Cosmic Templum—the meditation room where Vedic fire ceremonies happen daily—on the ground level of the expansive property. He was blown away.
“It was magical,” he said. “It’s in the heart of the city—and yet I feel like I am in India.”
The Yoga Society of San Francisco first set up shop in a rented two-story building in Potrero Hill in 1972 as a center for yoga, meditation and Sanskrit study. Quickly outgrowing the space, ashram member Alan Klonsky employed the services of Herth Realty in the Castro to locate the group’s forever home—a Queen Anne Victorian on a double lot with a carriage house, 12-foot ceilings, stained glass and pocket doors made of redwood.
The Yoga Society bought the circa-1900 home for $40,000 in 1973. Shabby yet spacious, dark yet grand, it was exactly what the group was looking for—and now the organization is celebrating 50 years in the space.
“It filled in all the blanks,” Klonsky wrote. “Answered positively all the questions.”
The Cosmic Templum
The heart of the Yoga Society of San Francisco is its meditation temple, and the heart of the meditation temple is the fire pit. In a Hindu ritual that’s more than 4,000 years old, cow dung is set on fire and ghee is poured onto the flames as Sanskrit chanting ripples through the air. Fire can illuminate—and it can also destroy.
The temple is decorated with a mosaic floor featuring the 12 astrological signs and covered by a roof containing 12 spokes echoing the zodiac theme. The ceiling is painted with multi-colored swirls, shapes that are a cross between flames and the lotus flower.
An altar on one side of the temple has images of ashram founder Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati—and also Hindu deities, Jesus, Buddha and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Attendees remove their shoes to enter the room, where they sit on cushions for the Vedic fire ceremony, which includes 10 minutes of chanting and 20 minutes of silent meditation. At the end, the fire leader doles out prasad—an offering of seeds and dried fruit—from a large glass jar with a metal spoon.
Before the building of the meditation room, Shanta Bulkin was sitting at one of the ashram’s programs in the 1970s when Sarasvati—the guru of the Yoga Society of San Francisco—came up to the young disciple with an odd declaration. Sarasvati told the 23-year-old, who had no construction experience, that he would build the ashram’s temple.
“I thought he was talking to someone behind me,” Bulkin said.
The arrangement appeared even stranger since a top-caliber professional architect, John Hornyak, was already on the job. Hornyak had designed 4 Embarcadero Center with the John Portman Company. Even though Hornyak was upset about the new arrangement—he wanted a break from corporate buildings—he took Bulkin under his wing. The experienced builder met with the young spiritual seeker once a week at Hornyak’s tall office tower to teach him about construction.
Hornyak, in his early 50s, wore a suit and tie every day and was immaculately coiffed. Bulkin was a suicidal 23-year-old with long wiry hair, dressed in what appeared to be pajamas.
“The contrast between us was striking,” Bulkin said.
Despite his total lack of experience, Bulkin fell in love with the trade—Sarasvati had ended up directing him onto his life’s path. Within 30 years, Bulkin had 30 full-time employees as the head of his own construction company, Shanta Design | Build.
“He knew you as soon as he saw you,” Bulkin said of Sarasvati. “He knew you before he saw you.”
The spiritual leader could also be demanding. When the residents of the ashram painstakingly painted the flame-lotus designs on the boards for the Cosmic Templum’s ceiling, the guru made them take them down when he saw they hadn’t included the black stripe he wanted in the multi-colored design.
“He was very particular about what he wanted,” Bulkin said. “And he thought we should not be afraid of darkness.”
Challenges and Miracles
Mahendra Agarwal returned to the ashram in 2012 after a 14-year gap, newly divorced and broken-hearted. The Yoga Society welcomed him with open arms, and he knew he had come back to his spiritual home. He teaches breathwork and raw food workshops at the ashram as part of the ongoing schedule of meditation and yoga classes, all of which are open to the public and many of which are donation-based and available online.
Agarwal, who is more commonly known by his nickname Briksha, also serves as the residential manager of the ashram. He loves the position because he gets to live above the temple and meet people from all walks of life. Seven residents live at the ashram, representing a range of backgrounds, from the well-off to the struggling, from Gen Z to Baby Boomer.
One of those seven people is Vishnu Das. He has a long white beard, warm eyes and lots to say about yoga philosophy—including how early gurus were breaking ranks by sharing the secretive, quasi-magical powers of yoga and meditation with the masses.
For decades, Das has come to the ashram for periodic stays from the Sierras, and he’s eager to talk about human suffering, modern pscyhology and the path to enlightenment.
“Vedanta melts everything,” he said, speaking of the lineage represented at the ashram. “It’s beyond all knowledge.”
Down the hall from Das is a young Facebook employee who has been living at the ashram for nearly three months. Abhishek Pandit appreciates the serenity of the environment and said it’s particularly conducive to creative endeavors, like the musical he’s writing about the connection between technology and climate change.
“It’s a great contrast to my work at Facebook,” he said. “But you still get to live in a city.”
Yet alongside the joys are the challenges of communal living.
“They haven’t even graduated from the primary school of life,” Agarwal said of some of the ashram’s residents, noting that he often has to teach people how to wash dishes.
Another struggle is the economic situation. The all-volunteer board directing the ashram operates on a shoestring budget. Taking in some meager funds from donations and the residents who pay only $1,000 a month to live there—which includes room, board and all programs—the ashram has to fundraise to cover major expenses, like painting the large expanse of the house.
“It’s a miracle,” said Kiranavali Devi, president of the board of directors of the Yoga Society of San Francisco, when asked how they are able to keep the bills paid at such a palatial property.
Part of what has kept the ashram alive over all those years—and perhaps contributed to the wonder of sustaining it—is the ongoing presence of the alleged miracle healer who founded it, Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati.
Sarasvati died in 1993 and acted as a spiritual guide until the very end. He was leading a program about the section of the Bhagavad Gita that deals with how the enlightened yogi leaves his body on his last night. The session ran long.
“But he finished the chapter,” Devi said. “And then he finished that other chapter.”
Devi first encountered Sarasvati in New York City. She was living at Columbus Avenue and 75th Street, and her future guru was giving a talk just three blocks away.
“When I saw him, I had this feeling I knew him, this kind of recognition,” Devi said. “Almost like that feeling when you fall in love.”
Sarasvati fits the mold of a guru: He hailed from North India, he wore all orange, he had a deep dedication to meditation, chanting and yoga. But he also broke expectations. He was a trained medical professional and a Sanskrit scholar who adored books. He had a sense of humor that balanced out his temper. He also adored Christmas.
“We still put a tree on the altar for him,” Devi said. “He loved all the twinkly lights.”
Before he took the Sanskrit name Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, the Yoga Society’s guru was known as Doctor Ramamurti S. Mishra, a surgeon and professor of medicine in Bombay.
Sarasvati came to the U.S. to teach at medical centers—including New York University’s Bellevue Hospital—and led meditation classes that grew in popularity, spurring him to found the Ananda Ashram that still exists in upstate New York.
“It’s very typical for these gurus to become doctors or scientists,” said Daniel Stuart, associate professor of religious studies at the University of South Carolina. “Pairing with the traditional to justify the validity of the spiritual.”
Around the ashram people don’t call the spiritual leader Dr. Mishra or even the Sanskrit Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati—they say “Guruji.” In Hindi, the -ji suffix is an honorific that bestows another level of adoration to the word “guru.”
Many say that Guruji’s presence is so powerful, his energy so magnetic, that you can still feel his presence in the ashram. The second floor of the house has a room dedicated to him. There’s an altar with Sarasvati’s photograph and the hat and shoes he wore. The many books he wrote are collected on a shelf and a nearby bed. Orange curtains hang from the window and make the whole room glow with a warmth that looks alive—in here, with the door closed, you can almost feel Guruji sitting on the meditation cushion next to you.
“This is not just a yoga studio,” Devi said. “This is the ashram of a great guru—he is cosmic.”
While the developers claim that the proposed project “exceeds” AB 2011’s standards, the application is still under review to determine if it qualifies for the expedited approval process granted by the law.
Sider noted that the proposal “hasn’t yet been assessed for Code compliance, but we remain hopeful that the project will be thoughtfully designed and adhere to all regulations.” He added that the location “has always been an ideal spot for new housing.”
The original plan for a 50-story, 712-unit high-rise was met with fierce opposition from city planners, residents and Supervisor Joel Engardio, who represents the Sunset District, where the site is located.
Engardio called the initial proposal a “middle finger to the city” and dismissed it as a plan “no one would take seriously.”
Although the new proposal significantly reduces the building’s height, with only 22 stories, Engardio remains critical.
“Twenty-two stories is still far beyond what’s reasonable,” he said in an interview. “We need to stop dreaming up massive skyscrapers at the beach and focus on real housing that will meet the needs of real families.”
Engardio pointed out that the Coastal Commission will need to weigh in on the project and criticized the developers for not adhering to the Sunset District’s current zoning laws, which limit building heights to 10 stories.
“We need more housing for seniors and families in the Sunset and throughout San Francisco,” Engardio said. “But no one wants Ocean Beach to turn into Miami Beach.”
Sherrill registered with the Democratic Party in 2023 after identifying as “no party preference” since first registering in San Francisco in 2016.
He has longstanding connections to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an ally and supporter of Breed. After college, Sherrill worked as an assistant for the New York deputy mayor for operations and later was promoted to senior policy advisor during Bloomberg’s tenure.
Bloomberg contributed more than $1 million to an independent expenditure committee supporting Breed’s failed reelection bid this year; likewise, she endorsed Bloomberg during his unsuccessful presidential run in 2020. The San Francisco mayor’s office of innovation is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, his charity.
Sherrill denied that political ties between Bloomberg and Breed were a factor in his appointment, saying both care deeply about building cities and hiring great talent.
Not all District 2 community leaders were convinced. Jason Pellegrini, a former human rights commissioner and District 2 resident, said he will support Sherrill’s success in office, for the sake of the district. However, he said, Breed’s choice carries the whiff of a political favor, and Sherrill wasn’t the most experienced pick on the short list of possibilities.
“I’m extremely disappointed in Mayor Breed, the daughter of San Francisco, as she’s leaving office,” Pellegrini said. “I feel this is a slap in the face not only to District 2 but to San Francisco.”
Patricia Vaughey, president of the Marina-Cow Hollow Neighbors & Merchants Association, was skeptical of Sherrill’s appointment and said she had not seen him at community meetings.
“Here we go again with someone who doesn’t know what the fuck they’re doing,” Vaughey said. Still, she said she will do her best to support him: “I have to work with whoever I have to work with.”
Through a spokesperson, Breed’s office said, “The mayor made the appointment based on her belief in Stephen’s qualifications and abilities, nothing else.”
World map.
This is the last month of my IEEE Presidency and still a few things to do. I estimate I have been away from home over 250 days this year, flown on 17 different airlines and given over 100 talks either in person, remotely or via recordings at various IEEE and other events. It has been quite a year!
We had a virtual board of directors meeting this month to approve the winner of the 2025 IEEE Medal of Honor, who will be awarded a $2M prize in April of 2025 in Tokyo. This month I visited and spoke at IEEE Tencon, a Region 10 conference in Singapore, attended and spoke at a YP/student-oriented event and visited a milestone in Kyoto, Japan as well as the Nintendo Museum with other IEEE volunteers and staff. I then flew to San Francisco, CA to give out some IEEE field awards at the IEDM and then to Italy to give some talks in Bologna and another IEEE field award in Milan, Italy.
At Tencon, I spoke about IEEE AI Ethics activities in a keynote talk as well as giving a talk on recent IEEE board activities and encouraging our younger members to stay with us and make IEEE their professional home. I also visited the local Schneider Electronics Office, a startup called Black Sesame, the IEEE Singapore office and A-Star, a Singapore government funded research organization. The image below is me during my keynote talk. The shirt was a gift from the Singapore IEEE office, a batik print shirt, which are common wear in this part of the world.
Speaking at IEEE Region 10 Tencon
Below is an image of me at the Schneider Electric visitors center in Singapore. We were shown their various electric power and facilities management products and services and spoke with them about stronger engagement between industry and the IEEE. We had a similar conversation with Black Sesame, who have offices in the same building as the Singapore IEEE office and make chips for electric vehicles. At A-star we talked about various IEEE activities include those related to sustainability efforts, including port electrification for ships to connect to the electric grid when in port and for charging electric boats.
Visit to Schneider Electric in Singapore
In Kyoto, Japan I gave a talk at a virtual and physical event for students and young professionals about recent activities approved at the IEEE November board of directors meeting, about stronger engagement with industry and how IEEE can the professional home for our younger members and support their careers. I also visited two milestones in Kyoto.
The first was to Shimadzu Corporation, a biomedical company in Kyoto. There I joined Nobel laureate Koichi Tanaka, shown with me below next to the milestone plaque at Shimadzu, who invented the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization technique, which allowed ionization of large organic molecules so they could be detected by a mass spectrometer. This allows detection of useful large organic molecules for various medical and biological research applications. This milestone was installed in November 2024.
With Nobel Prize winner Koichi Tanaka at Shimadzu in Kyoto
The image below is from my visit to the Keage Hydro Power Station in Kyoto, which used water from the lake Biwa Canal to create electricity for the city starting in 1897. The first power plant was DC powered and later converted to AC. In 1936 a new facility near to the original building was completed which used water from a second canal to increase the AC power output. This facility is still working to provide low-carbon power to Kyoto. The image below shows me next to one of three copies of the milestone plaque near the hydro-power generators.
Visit to Keage Hydro Power Station IEEE milestone in Kyoto
Nintendo recently opened a museum near Kyoto. I visited it with 2020 IEEE President Toshio Fukuda, IEEE Council Office’s Makiko Koto and my Kyoto host, Tomohiro Hase-sensei, from left to right, shown below with some animated Nintendo Toads, Toadstools, at the museum. Nintendo started in the 19th century making card games, expanded into board and other games in the mid-20th century and offered its first electronic game devices in the 1970’s.
Left to right: 2020 IEEE President Toshio Fukuda, IEEE Council Office’s Makiko Koto, me and my … [+]
I flew from Kyoto to New Jersey to give out the Charles Proteus Steinmetz award to Gary Hoffman at the IEEE Standards award event and then flew back to San Francisco to attend the IEEE IEDM, International Electron Devices Meeting, to give out three more technical field awards and attend some sessions at the IEDM and the MRAM Forum following the IEDM on Thursday. I also attended an IEEE Magnetics Society standards meeting on Wednesday night.
After half a day at home in San Jose I then headed to Bologna and Milan Italy to give some talks in Bologna, including at the Italian Academy of Science and give out the IEEE Control Systems Society award at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, CDC, in Milan Italy before heading home for some time with my family.
The picture below shows me with my gracious hosts Cecilia Metra, left, and Carlo Alberto Nucci, right, at the amazing meeting room where I spoke at the Italian Academy of Science about the IEEE and things that our IEEE board has been working on in 2024. Those are hand painted drawings on the ceiling of this room and there were busts of famous Italian scientists on the walls.
Me with Cecilia Metra, left and Carlo Alberto Nucci, right
Cecilia is an IEEE Fellow and a professor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Bologna, the world’s oldest university, founded in 1088. She has been very involved in fault-tolerant design of digital circuits and systems and is a past President of the IEEE Computer Society and will be an IEEE director again in 2025. Carlo Alberto is a member of the Italian Academy of Science and is a professor of Electrical Power Systems at the University of Bologna and the Editor and Chief of the Electric Power Systems Research Journal.
I also gave a talk at the University of Bologna to students and faculty about IEEE and other sustainability efforts for data centers, particularly involving digital storage and memory technologies. I visited the Marconi estate, Sasso Marconi, near Bologna where I had a chance to see where Guglielmo Marconi did his pioneering radio work. The image below shows me with the IEEE Engineering milestones outside of the house in front of the hill where he and his associates were able to demonstrate radio communication beyond line of sight, using a spark gap transmitter.
Next to Marconi IEEE milestones at Sasso Marconi near Bologna, Italy
The next day I traveled to Milan to participate in an awards ceremony to present an IEEE Technical Field Award, TFA, at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, CDC, put on by the Control Systems Society. We had social events at the Alfa Romeo Museum and at the National Museum of Science and Technology near and in Milan. On December 19 I flew home to be with my family for the holidays.
This trip was my last as IEEE President. I have been honored to have been part of the 2024 IEEE board and I am very proud of the things we have been able to accomplish this year. I look forward to working with the 2025 IEEE President, Kathleen Kramer, as IEEE Past President in 2025.
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