Aurobindo had awaited her arrival. At the touch
of the Mother’s hand, Judith felt electric forces go
through her being. Judith asked the Mother for
a spiritual name and was given a piece of paper
on which, in Aurobindo’s handwriting, was writ-
ten Jyotipriya (lover of light). While she would
encounter a number of prominent Indian teachers
over the next years, including ANANDAMAYI MA,
Swami SHIVANANDA of RISHIKESH, Sri KRISHNA PREM,
and RAMANA MAHARSHI, she had found her gurus in
Aurobindo and the Mother.
Jyotipriya returned to the United States in
1950 and opened the East-West Cultural Center
in Los Angeles in 1953, the first Aurobindo center
in America. Eminent teachers from India, includ-
ing Swami RAMDAS, Mother KRISHNABAI, Jagadguru
Shankaracharya of Puri, Dilip Roy, Indra DEVI,
Swami MUKTANANDA, Swami SATCHIDANANDA, and
Swami VISHNUDEVANANDA, visited and lectured
there. Besides offering regular meetings to share
Aurobindo’s teaching, the center became a wel-
coming place for Indian teachers to meet Western-
ers and to offer initial presentations of their ideas
and practices.
She continued to work in Los Angeles until her
death on October 3, 1980. The East-West Cultural
Center evolved into the Sri Aurobindo Center of
Los Angeles and continues to the present.Further reading: Judith Tyberg, First Lessons in Sanskrit
Grammar and Reading (Covina, Calif.: Theosophical
University Press, 1944); ———, The Language of the
Gods: Sanskrit Keys to India’s Wisdom (Los Angeles,
Calif.: East-West Cultural Centre, 1970); ———, San-
skrit Keys to the Wisdom-Religion (Point Loma, Calif.:
Theosophical University Press, 1940).Tyberg, Judith M. 459 J