Ojai — The Colonized Spirituality Capital of the West Coast

A spiritual mecca where enlightenment comes with a price tag and awareness often stops at the meditation mat

The “Valley of the Moon” — A Spiritual Magnet

Nestled in a picturesque valley just two hours from Los Angeles, Ojai has long been a haven for those seeking spiritual renewal. With its Mediterranean climate, fragrant orange groves, and the famed “Pink Moment” at sunset—when the surrounding mountains are bathed in a rosy glow—the town exudes an otherworldly charm. This natural beauty, combined with what many describe as uniquely powerful energy vortexes, has made Ojai a beacon for spiritual seekers of many types and backgrounds.

As a resident since 2012 and someone who has navigated the waters of what I call the “Consciousness Industrial Complex” for over 25 years, I’ve had a front-row seat to Ojai’s presentation as a spiritual hub. My professional journey through spiritual publishing, media production, and transformational education has given me unique insights into how this small town became a powerhouse in the global spiritual marketplace.

In exploring Ojai’s spiritual landscape, we must confront a fundamental question: What does it mean to seek spiritual elevation in a world where mass suffering—including genocide—persists with international complicity?

Any serious spiritual inquiry must wrestle with contemporary atrocities—including the genocide of Palestinians by Israel, with full U.S. support and funding—rather than sidestepping them in pursuit of personal peace.

Indigenous Foundations

The valley’s spiritual lineage runs deep. Long before European settlers arrived, the Chumash people recognized this land as sacred, using it for ceremonial gatherings and viewing the valley as a place of profound spiritual significance. They called it ’Awha’y, meaning “moon,” and their connection to this land spans thousands of years.

The Chumash held seasonal solstice ceremonies in the valley, developing sophisticated spiritual practices deeply connected to the local ecology. These traditions included rituals and the use of native plants like white sage and yerba santa for spiritual cleansing—practices now appropriated more often than not in contemporary “smudging” ceremonies without proper acknowledgment or compensation.

The forced displacement of Chumash people from their ancestral lands mirrors broader patterns of Indigenous erasure across America. As I explore in my book, Creating Shifts, just as the Chumash were displaced through settler colonialism, so too are Palestinians enduring the violent erasure of their land, culture, and lives under Israeli apartheid and military occupation.

Their spiritual relationship with Ojai—grounded in reciprocity with the land rather than resource extraction—represents a profound alternative to today’s commodified spirituality. Yet this relationship remains largely erased from the contemporary spiritual narrative... unless it’s to bolster the credibility of colonized “spiritual brands.”

The Modern Spiritual Era

The modern spiritual era of Ojai began in earnest when Annie Besant, president of the Theosophical Society, purchased land here in 1927 to establish the Krotona Institute. She envisioned the valley as the future spiritual capital of the Western world, a prophecy that has manifested in ways both expected and unexpected.

This period also saw influential figures like Aldous Huxley take up residence in the valley. Huxley, author of The Perennial Philosophy and The Doors of Perception, found in Ojai’s tranquil setting an environment conducive to his explorations of mysticism, consciousness, and human potential.

His presence attracted other intellectuals and artists, including the renowned ceramicist Beatrice Wood, who lived and worked in Ojai until her death at 105, embodying the creative spiritual ethos that would come to define the valley.

Celebrity Spiritual Luminaries

Ojai’s reputation as a spiritual center was solidified when Jiddu Krishnamurti, the revered Indian philosopher, made the valley his part-time home. After breaking from the Theosophical Society in 1929 (which had groomed him as the next “World Teacher”), Krishnamurti established his foundation and school in Ojai, drawing seekers from around the world to hear his revolutionary teachings on freedom from authority and cultivating a direct perception of truth.

Krishnamurti’s famous 1929 “Truth is a Pathless Land” speech, in which he dissolved the Order of the Star and rejected his messianic status, was delivered shortly after his time in Ojai began. His decision to establish the Oak Grove School and Krishnamurti Foundation in Ojai rather than returning permanently to India speaks to the valley’s unique appeal as a sanctuary for contemplative practice and educational innovation.

Other spiritual luminaries followed. Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the seminal Autobiography of a Yogi, visited in 1946, noting the valley’s special energy. Meher Baba, the Indian spiritual master who maintained silence for decades, blessed Meher Mount during his visit in 1956, establishing it as a pilgrimage site for his followers.

Today, Ojai hosts an impressive roster of spiritual teachers, wellness experts, and self-help gurus. When reflecting on these luminaries and their teachings, it is worth asking: How would these figures respond to the dehumanization of Palestinians, and how do their teachings get interpreted in a way that too often bypasses direct moral engagement? Their philosophies of universal love and compassion should compel practitioners to confront—not escape from—real-world oppression.

The valley has also become a magnet for Hollywood’s spiritually-inclined elite, as well as just “normal” secularly oriented celebrities—it is, in fact, a kind of bedroom community of Hollywood. This celebrity presence amplifies Ojai’s appeal for many, creating a feedback loop where spiritual prestige and Hollywood glamour reinforce each other.

The influence of celebrity spiritual seeking extends beyond mere attendance. When a famous actor pays $10,000 for a private meditation retreat or a musician endorses a particular sound healing practitioner, prices throughout the ecosystem inevitably rise. Ordinary seekers find themselves priced out of experiences that were once accessible, while practitioners increasingly cater to the aesthetics and preferences of wealthy clientele. The result is a kind of spiritual gentrification that mirrors Ojai’s housing market.

The Ultra-Spiritual Landscape

Today’s Ojai is a veritable playground of spiritual offerings. Meditation Mount, perched on a hillside overlooking the valley, offers panoramic views and meditation gardens designed for contemplation. The Ojai Foundation (now closed, but reimagined and open again as The Topa Institute) pioneered council practice, a form of group communication inspired by Indigenous traditions. Boutique retreats like the Ojai Valley Inn offer luxury wellness packages combining spa treatments with mindfulness sessions, with weekend packages easily exceeding $5,000.

The town itself is dotted with crystal shops, sound healing studios, and high-end yoga centers. Weekends brings the farmers market selling organic produce alongside the occasional tarot readings. Every aspect of life in Ojai seems infused with spiritual significance, from the food (locally sourced and blessed with good intentions) to the architecture (designed according to sacred geometry principles).

The economic privilege in these spaces becomes particularly jarring when viewed in global terms. While spiritual tourists luxuriate in $5,000 retreats, Gazan families are bombed, starved, and denied access to clean water or shelter. While tourists receive aromatherapy in sacred gardens, Palestinians endure white phosphorus and displacement—a juxtaposition too few in the spiritual scene acknowledge.

Spiritual tourism has transformed the local economy. According to the Ojai Visitors Bureau, spiritual retreats and wellness tourism now account for approximately 40% of Ojai’s annual visitor revenue, with the average spiritual tourist spending three times more per day than conventional visitors. Local businesses increasingly cater to this demographic, with even conventional establishments adopting spiritual aesthetics and language to appeal to the wellness crowd.

At first glance, this ecosystem appears to be a utopian vision of spiritual living—a place where consciousness is prioritized and material concerns take a back seat to higher pursuits. Many residents speak of Ojai as a “bubble of light” or a “vortex of positive energy” protecting them from the harsh realities of the outside world.

But beneath this carefully cultivated image lies a more complex reality.

The Shadow Side of Spiritual Ojai

“The global wellness industry relies on an endless cycle of spiritual consumption, where enlightenment is always just one more retreat, workshop, or practice away—ensuring both perpetual seeking and perpetual profit.”
— Creating Shifts: Decolonizing Spirit, Reimagining Our World

As I explored more deeply in Creating Shifts, the commercialization of spirituality often transforms authentic wisdom traditions into commodified products stripped of their original context and depth, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of consumption disguised as awakening.

This process is clearly visible in Ojai’s transformation from Indigenous ceremonial site to elite wellness retreat destination.

Economic Barriers to Enlightenment

Nowhere is this more evident than in Ojai, where spiritual practices have become luxury goods accessible primarily to those with significant financial resources.

A weekend retreat at one of Ojai’s premium wellness centers can cost upwards of $5,000—more than a month’s rent for most Americans. Even a single yoga class can run $30-40, placing regular practice out of reach for many. Sound healing sessions, breathwork circles, and shamanic journeys command premium prices, creating a paywall around spiritual growth that effectively excludes all but the wealthy.

For context, the median household income in Ventura County is approximately $89,000, while many service workers in Ojai earn close to minimum wage. A single parent working in one of Ojai’s cafes would need to spend nearly a week’s wages to attend one yoga workshop, making regular participation in the spiritual ecosystem virtually impossible for the very people who serve its participants.

This economic barrier is rarely acknowledged within the community itself. Instead, conversations about “abundance mindset” and “attracting prosperity” serve to mask the systemic inequalities that make Ojai’s spiritual offerings inaccessible to many. The implicit message is that if you can’t afford to participate, you simply haven’t aligned yourself properly with universal abundance—a convenient narrative that shifts responsibility from structural inequality to individual shortcomings.

The demographic reality of Ojai reflects these exclusionary economics. Despite California’s diversity, Ojai remains overwhelmingly white and affluent. The median home price hovers around $1 million, placing homeownership beyond the reach of most working people, including many who staff the town’s spiritual centers and wellness facilities.

Attempts to address this through affordable housing initiatives have met with resistance from many spiritual community members—the same people who espouse values of compassion and interconnectedness in their workshops and retreats. A 2022 proposal to build 56 affordable housing units on the outskirts of town was successfully blocked after numerous community members spoke against it at town hall meetings, citing concerns about “maintaining Ojai’s special energy” and “preserving the town’s character.” Public hearings about potential housing developments reveal the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitudes that preserve Ojai’s exclusivity while maintaining its progressive spiritual facade.

White Supremacy in Sacred Spaces

This economic exclusion intersects with deeper issues of whiteness and cultural appropriation that permeate Ojai’s spiritual scene. As I’ve observed during my 13 years living here, the vast majority of spiritual leaders, retreat owners, and wellness entrepreneurs in Ojai are white, despite drawing heavily on practices originating in non-white cultures.

Yoga studios offer Sanskrit mantras without fully addressing yoga’s roots in Hindu traditions or its connection to India’s complex history. Sound healers employ Tibetan singing bowls without acknowledging Tibet’s ongoing cultural genocide. Sweat lodges and cacao ceremonies appropriate Indigenous practices while rarely involving or benefiting actual Indigenous communities.

Local Chumash leaders have repeatedly expressed concerns about appropriation of their spiritual practices. Just as the exploitation of Chumash rituals often occurs without accountability, so too does the genocide in Gaza unfold without resistance—or even acknowledgment—from many who claim to live by love and compassion. This pattern of selective compassion and white spiritual comfort extends beyond local Indigenous concerns to global humanitarian crises.

This pattern exemplifies what scholar Amanda Lucia terms “white utopias”—spiritual spaces that present themselves as universal and inclusive while centering whiteness and European-American cultural norms. These environments often replicate the very power dynamics they claim to transcend, creating spaces where white comfort and aesthetic preferences take precedence over authentic cultural engagement or social justice.

The problem extends beyond individual instances of appropriation to the broader framework of how spirituality is conceptualized in places like Ojai. The emphasis on individual enlightenment over collective liberation, on personal healing over systemic change, reflects a distinctly privileged perspective—one that can afford to view social problems as optional areas of engagement rather than lived realities.

The Consciousness Industrial Complex

Throughout my 25-year career in the transformational space—working with spiritual authors, producing events, and marketing consciousness programs—I’ve witnessed the development of what I call the “Consciousness Industrial Complex.” In Creating Shifts, I define this as “a system that transforms spiritual traditions into marketable products, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of consumption disguised as awakening.” It was living in Ojai, observing its carefully curated facade of consciousness, and witnessing its almost complete silence in calling out the genocide in Gaza that inspired many of the critiques in my book.

Ojai sits at the heart of this complex on the West Coast, specifically in Southern California. Here, spiritual seeking becomes an endless consumer journey—there’s always another workshop to attend, another teacher to follow, another modality to master (particularly on the path of accreditation to perpetuate this system). The promise of complete transformation is perpetually on the horizon but never quite reached, ensuring ongoing participation in the spiritual marketplace.

This commodification of spirituality serves powerful economic interests. The global wellness industry, valued at over $4.5 trillion, relies on an endless cycle of spiritual consumption. In Ojai, this translates to a local economy increasingly dependent on spiritual tourism and wellness retreats—economic incentives that discourage critical examination of the industry’s exclusionary practices or cultural appropriations.

The market-driven spirituality of Ojai prioritizes palatability over principle—preferring sanitized wellness to uncomfortable truths like the genocide in Gaza, where the Health Ministry says at least 50,912 Palestinians are confirmed dead and 115,891 wounded. And, quite frankly, most people know these numbers are not even close to the real count—with thousands more people missing under the rubble who are presumed dead. Commercial interests ensure that potentially controversial moral stands are avoided to protect profit margins.

Celebrity culture amplifies these dynamics. When Hollywood stars promote particular spiritual practices or teachers, they lend their cultural capital to these offerings, driving up both demand and prices. Their involvement simultaneously validates spirituality as a luxury good and reinforces the association between spiritual development and affluence, youth, and beauty.

The result is a spiritual ecosystem that, despite its rhetoric of transformation and awakening, often serves to maintain existing social hierarchies rather than challenge them. The promise of personal enlightenment becomes a substitute for collective action, channeling potentially revolutionary energy into individualistic pursuits that pose no threat to the status quo.

The Great Silence

Perhaps most telling is what remains unspoken in Ojai’s spiritual circles. During the racial justice uprisings of 2020, many spiritual leaders and communities in Ojai remained conspicuously silent. While occasionally posting black squares on Instagram or offering vague statements about “holding space for healing,” few engaged substantively with questions of systemic racism or their own complicity in white supremacist structures.

At a time when communities across America were grappling with police violence and racial inequity, Ojai’s largest spiritual centers continued business as usual, offering programs on personal transformation and inner peace while avoiding explicit discussions of racial justice. When several community members organized a Black Lives Matter solidarity gathering, notable spiritual leaders were conspicuously absent, despite their public personas of universal compassion and oneness.

Similarly, as the genocide in Gaza has unfolded over the past year, the silence from many of Ojai’s spiritual luminaries has been deafening. Despite claims of universal compassion and oneness, concrete solidarity with Palestinians has been notably absent from most spiritual centers and teachers in the valley. When confronted on this most “spiritual” leaders and practitioners respond to me with defensiveness or avoidance.

How can a town that prides itself on being a vortex of consciousness ignore the ongoing annihilation of Palestinian life, culture, and future? The death toll in Gaza, the well-documented Israeli apartheid system, and U.S. complicity in this violence stand in stark contrast to spiritual centers’ failure to act or even speak.

This pattern of silence in the face of injustice is not unique to Ojai but reflects a broader tendency within spiritual communities to retreat from political engagement. Phrases like “staying in my lane” or “focusing on what I can control” serve as spiritual bypassing—using spiritual concepts to avoid confronting uncomfortable realities or taking potentially controversial moral stands.

The irony is profound: in a community dedicated to “awakening,” there exists a collective sleepwalking around issues of social justice, cultural appropriation, and economic inequality. The very practices meant to increase awareness and compassion often become shields against engaging with difficult truths about our world and our place in it.

How Conscious Can You Really Be?

As you wander through Ojai’s lavender fields or sip herbal tea at one of its boutique cafes, it’s worth asking yourself: What kind of consciousness is being cultivated here? Is it a consciousness that extends beyond personal comfort to embrace the full reality of our interconnected world? Or is it a carefully curated awakening that conveniently excludes anything that might disrupt privilege or demand sacrifice?

In the words of Jiddu Krishnamurti, who spent decades teaching in this very valley: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

This statement challenges us to examine our spiritual practices not just for their ability to bring personal peace, but for their capacity to confront and transform systemic injustice. As Krishnamurti further noted, you may remember the experiences vividly, but what is important is whether those experiences have strengthened the self or freed the conscious from itself.

Perhaps it’s time for Ojai’s spiritual seekers to take this wisdom to heart and ask themselves: How conscious can you really be if your enlightenment comes at the expense of others? How awakened are you if you can’t see the structures of privilege that make your spiritual journey possible? How compassionate is your practice if it doesn’t extend to those suffering under systems of oppression?

True spiritual awakening must include solidarity with Palestinians and a refusal to look away from genocide. If your spiritual path cannot encompass the humanity of a Palestinian child beneath the rubble of Rafah, perhaps it is not awakening you’re after—but anesthetization.

The potential for genuine transformation exists in Ojai, as it does anywhere. But realizing that potential requires more than beautiful sunsets and exclusive retreats. It demands honest reckoning with questions of access, appropriation, and justice. It calls for a spirituality that is engaged rather than escapist, collective rather than merely personal, challenging rather than comfortable.

As we envision the future of spirituality in places like Ojai, let us dare to imagine something more authentic than what the Consciousness Industrial Complex has offered us—a spirituality grounded in anti-colonial solidarity, justice for Palestine, and material support for the oppressed.

As I conclude in Creating Shifts: “Spiritual awakening that doesn’t include solidarity with the oppressed is not awakening at all, but merely a privileged form of sleep.” A spirituality that serves liberation for all beings, not just enlightenment for the few. Only then can Ojai truly live up to its reputation as a center for awakened consciousness, rather than remaining what it largely is today: a colonized spiritual playground for the privileged few.

Endnotes

The “Valley of the Moon” — A Spiritual Magnet

• Ojai’s Natural Environment: The valley’s unique geography creates the famous “Pink Moment” at sunset and contains several areas identified as energy vortexes by spiritual practitioners.

• Tourism Impact: According to the Ojai Visitors Bureau, spiritual/wellness tourism constitutes a significant portion of the local economy. Visit Ojai

Indigenous Foundations

• Chumash Heritage: The Chumash people named the valley ’Awhaỳ (moon) and utilized the area for ceremonial purposes for thousands of years before European settlement.

• Astronomical Knowledge: Archaeological evidence indicates the Chumash developed sophisticated calendrical systems based on celestial observations in the valley.

• Spiritual Practices: Traditional Chumash ceremonies incorporated native plants like white sage and yerba santa, which are now frequently appropriated in contemporary “smudging” rituals.

Colonial Displacement

• Historical Context: The forced removal of Chumash people from their ancestral lands parallels broader patterns of Indigenous displacement throughout North America.

• Contemporary Connection: As discussed in Creating Shifts, this historical displacement shares characteristics with ongoing land conflicts globally.

The Modern Spiritual Era

• Theosophical Beginnings: Annie Besant, president of the Theosophical Society, established the Krotona Institute in 1927, explicitly envisioning Ojai as “the spiritual capital of the Western world.”

• Literary Influence: Aldous Huxley’s residence in Ojai during his writing of The Perennial Philosophy and The Doors of Perception attracted other intellectual and artistic figures to the valley.

Krishnamurti’s Impact

• Historical Significance: Jiddu Krishnamurti’s 1929 “Truth is a Pathless Land” speech, in which he dissolved the Order of the Star and rejected organized spiritual authority, was delivered shortly after establishing his presence in Ojai.

• Institutional Legacy: The Krishnamurti Foundation of America and Oak Grove School continue to draw visitors interested in his teachings of direct perception and freedom from authority.

Meher Baba and Meher Mount

• Sacred Site Creation: Meher Baba’s visit to what is now Meher Mount in 1956 transformed the location into a pilgrimage destination for his followers. Meher Mount

• Maintained Significance: The site continues to attract spiritual seekers who venerate Meher Baba’s teachings and presence.

Economic Impact of Spiritual Tourism

• Revenue Generation: Spiritual retreats and wellness tourism account for a significant percentage of Ojai’s annual visitor revenue, with the average spiritual tourist likely spending more per day than conventional visitors, reshaping the local economy around these high-value customers.

Economic Barriers to Spiritual Participation

• Cost Analysis: A weekend retreat at a premium wellness center in Ojai can cost upwards of $5,000—more than a month’s rent for most Americans.

• Wage Comparison: For service workers in Ojai earning near minimum wage, a single day’s yoga workshop represents nearly a week’s wages.

• Socioeconomic Implications: The high cost of spiritual offerings effectively excludes many from participation, creating what the author terms “a paywall around spiritual growth.”

Cultural Appropriation in Spiritual Practices

• Indigenous Concerns: Chumash elders have expressed frustration at seeing sacred traditions packaged and sold by people with no connection to their community, while their own people struggle for recognition and resources.

• Profit Without Recognition: Many spiritual practices in Ojai draw heavily from non-Western traditions while rarely involving or benefiting the communities from which these practices originate.

White Supremacy in Spiritual Spaces

• Demographic Reality: Despite California’s diversity, Ojai remains overwhelmingly white and affluent, with a median home price around $1 million.

• Academic Analysis: Scholar Amanda Lucia’s concept of “white utopias” describes spiritual spaces that present themselves as universal while centering whiteness and European-American cultural norms. White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals

The Consciousness Industrial Complex

• Economic Scale: The global wellness industry, valued at over $4.5 trillion, relies on what the author terms “an endless cycle of spiritual consumption.”

• Systemic Critique: The commercialization of spirituality transforms authentic wisdom traditions into commodified products stripped of their original context, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of consumption disguised as awakening.

See: Creating Shifts — Decolonizing Spirit, Reimagining Our World

Economic Analysis: Spiritual Services in Ojai

References

• Besant, Annie. Theosophical Society Archives. Krotona Institute of Theosophy. Website

• Carrette, Jeremy and Richard King. Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion. Routledge, 2005.

• Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. Beacon Press, 2014.

• Ehrenreich, Barbara. Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America. Metropolitan Books, 2009.

• Huxley, Aldous. The Perennial Philosophy. Harper & Brothers, 1945.

• Huxley, Aldous. The Doors of Perception. Chatto & Windus, 1954.

• Krishnamurti, J. "Truth is a Pathless Land" speech transcript. Krishnamurti Foundation Archives, 1929. KFA Website

• Lucia, Amanda. White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals. University of California Press, 2020. Publisher Link

• Salas, Manuel. Open Letter to Ojai’s Spiritual Community. Santa Barbara Independent, 2023.

• Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. Self-Realization Fellowship, 1946.

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