Cultural Center, Monastery Shed Light on Hinduism

By reputation, Orange County is white bread. But we who live and work here know that there’s more diversity to the area than that.

There are, for example, two long-established Hindu institutions: a cultural center with a vegetarian restaurant in Laguna Beach, and a monastery in Trabuco Canyon.

The two actually represent very different branches of Hinduism. One branch, which is represented at the cultural center, is the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, or Hare Krishnas. The sect, formed around a living leader, Swami Bhaktivedaria, came to the United States in 1954.

The other, the Vedanta, is 1,000 years older than Christianity. It attracted Western intellectuals in the 1940s--notably writers Christopher Isherwood and Aldous Huxley.

It’s a bit of a drive between the two--17 miles or about 30 minutes--but the chance to observe the contrasts and similarities is worth the effort.

3:30 to 5: The Rama krishna Monastery is open twice a day to the public. It is a Vedanta spiritual retreat for the monks who live there, but it also offers some entertainment for visitors.

First, it is set on 240 acres of some of the most beautiful canyon land left in the county. From a balcony, visitors can look into the valley below.

The monastery has a bookstore specializing in metaphysical and philosophical works.

Each Sunday afternoon at 4, public lectures are given in a small library. There were about 25 people attending a recent talk. The lectures cease in the summer and resume in the fall, so you might want to call ahead when the seasons are changing.

The site was originally Trabuco College, founded in 1942 by British lecturer Gerald Heard and Isherwood’s cousin Felix Greene. They had intended it to be a “college” in the Latin sense of the word: a community. It was to be a clearinghouse for religious experiences and ideas.

The project was not a success, and in 1947, Heard turned the property over to the Hollywood-based Vedanta Society of Southern California. Heard and friends continued to take retreats on the site for many years.

5 to 5:30 p.m.: Driving from the monastery to the restaurant is nearly a straight shot. It only sounds complicated: take Live Oak Canyon Road, left on El Toro Road, left on Laguna Canyon Road and left on South Coast Highway. The restaurant is at South Coast Highway and Legion Street.

5:30 to 6:30: The most inviting thing about the Cultural Center in Laguna Beach is its restaurant. Dinner at Gauranga’s is not only good, it’s cheap. For $7, you can eat all you want of the salad, soup, bread, rice, vegetables, entree, herb tea and dessert. Or you can skip the entree and pay $4 to $5 for a combination of soup, salad and bread.

The selection of entrees and soup changes daily. Coming up: pizza and pesto pasta with minestrone soup; spring rolls and Thai soup with tofu; sweet and sour walnuts with tamari soup.

It’s a cafeteria-style service with indoor and outdoor tables. The tables on the lawn overlook the Pacific Ocean--or, at least, what you can see of it over the buildings across the street.

Indoors, the smell of incense can be a bit much. My suggestion, if you want to dine indoors, is to head for one of the low tables in the temple room. If you eat in this room, don’t forget to remove your shoes.