Nestled just below the majestic San Gabriel Mountains in the beautiful city of Arcadia, the Sri Sathya Sai Center of Arcadia meets every Thursday evening from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Started over 24 years ago with a very few devotees, the Center has now grown to have a regular attendance of between 60 to 100 members.

A lively Study Circle is conducted from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. each Thursday. Many devotees have marveled at how their spiritual doubts, and their questions, from the mundane to the serious, have been answered at the Study Circle whether they have asked a question or not.

Occasionally, the Arcadia Center will have a special guest speaker who will speak about their experiences with Baba or about His teachings. More regularly, when there is no guest speaker, 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. is the time to sing bhajans and then close with prayers and Arathi.

During the bhajans, the gents alternate singing one bhajan to every two bhajans led by the ladies. The Arcadia Center is blessed with many talented bhajan leaders. To ensure that everyone has the opportunity to sing to the Lord, the lady bhajan leaders are designated into two groups (either the "Sai" group or the "Baba" group.) Lady bhajan leaders from one of these two groups sit together and lead bhajans on alternate Thursdays.

Due to the different ethnic backgrounds of the devotees, we are fortunate to have songs sung in many languages such as Sanskrit, English, Japanese and Spanish. Regular bhajan practice sessions take place once a month and a second bhajan practice session is being considered. All bhajan leaders are asked to attend these practice meetings and all of the bhajan followers are most welcome to join in the practice sessions as well to encourage the leaders.

Devotees at the Arcadia Center also regularly take part in several service projects. Most notably among them is the weekly convalescent home project where a group of devotees visit with senior patients at a convalescent home in their rooms, giving these persons the sense that a family member has come to visit them. A game of bingo is also offered which some of the residents take immense delight in. This is probably the longest running continuous service project at the Center which has been going on for over 20 years.

The Arcadia Center is also actively involved in other service activities such as collecting used eye glasses, collecting and distributing food through the Food Bank in conjunction with the Glendale Center, participating in medical camps, attending Akhanda Bhajans, and once a year each summer, treating children and young adults from Ability First who have various disabilities to a fun filled day at the beach. Some of the Arcadia Center members also make sandwiches for the homeless. Others lovingly pass the sandwiches and other food items out to the homeless on Sundays in downtown Los Angeles. From time to time, conjointly with the Glendale Center, the Arcadia Center participates in making personal hygiene bags to hand out to the homeless of Los Angeles.

On certain of the spiritual holidays, the Arcadia Center conducts special programs which everyone looks forward to. These holidays include Maha Shivaratri, Buddha Poornima, Guru Poornima, Krishna Janmashtami, Ram Navami, Ganesha Chaturthi, and Christmas. These holidays are sometimes celebrated jointly with the Glendale Center devotees either at the Arcadia Center or at the Glendale Center.

Being located in a highly residential area, at the end of the evening's worship, the devotees are asked to depart from the Arcadia Center quickly and quietly. This is so as to not disrupt the neighbors, and also it allows us to follow Baba's instruction to us to conserve the highly concentrated spiritual energy invoked during the bhajans and prayers.

The members of the Arcadia Center wish to extend their warmest welcome to all newcomers. We hope that you will visit our Center and, if you are a member of the local community, we hope that you will regularly come and join with us as we worship the Divinity within all beings.