About Us:

In 1941 the Mentalphysics Spiritual Teaching and Retreat Center was dedicated in Yucca Valley (now Joshua Tree).  When Dingle discovered the land, he witnessed a great light from above and was told that this was indeed the place to build the Institute and that roads would be made to carry people to this place of respite. The land has since been called a "magnetic anomaly" and has been tested with sensitive electromagnetic equipment that confirms that it is a unique energetic "vortex". There are only two places in the world classified as such...a place in Bryce Canyon, Utah, and the land at the Institute of Mentalphysics.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed Dr. Dingle’s home, the Ridge Cottages, Water Terrance Dining Hall, and the Caravansary, a 700-foot-long structure with motel-style rooms and a meeting hall. His son, Lloyd Wright, completed the buildings. We have the largest collection of Lloyd Wright buildings in the country. Ding Le Mei passed from this life in 1972.

The center is used today not only by students of Mentalphysics, but by many retreat groups of 20-300 seeking a quiet, peaceful place for spiritual contemplation and training.

JTRC is the oldest and largest retreat center in the Western United States; a unique architectural landmark on a sacred site.

This land, though desert, rests upon an aquifer, a running river, producing an intriguing magnetic effect on those who enter this ancient and sacred space. Yogananda had walked this land in earlier times. It truly is a magical place.

What We Need:

After many years, our dining hall chairs are seeing the end of their road. Battered and torn (not to mention the lovely lime green and fluorescent orange colors), they are in dire need of replacement. Our tables are also in a sad condition: lopsided, faded, and broken. The 40 table tops we need will cost us $125 each and the 220 new chairs we need will cost us $75 each. As a non-profit, we are asking for donations to help to accomplish this.