Swami Chinmayananda introduced the first Dharma Sevak Course at the Mission's Mumbai ashram, in 1991. The course was offered for many years as a two-month retreat. It was inspired by, and based on, Chinmaya Mission's Dharma Veer Course, which had been conceived, and was being conducted in Andhra Pradesh at the time, by Swamini Sharadapriyananda. Krishanalaya, Chinmaya Misison's ashram in Piercy California has been the venue for many successful Dharma Sevak Courses. Situated amidst the tree-covered hills of Northern California, banked by the Eel River, Krishnalaya provides seekers in the West a spiritual retreat and an opportunity to study and learn closer to home. "The Dharma Sevak Course fast became a sacred village where ineffable heights of knowledge flowed into our bosoms from the intangible beyond. Together we seekers turned our minds away from worldly concerns and instead focused our thoughts on God. We were gentle with one another: moving slower, speaking quieter…." - James Hausman, student Dharma Sevak Course 2006, Krishnalaya, USA Chinmaya Garden Trust, Coimbatore has been organizing Dharma Sevak Courses in English successfully for the last ten years, starting from 2002. Many students graduating from a Dharma Sevak Course have joined Sandeepany Sadhanalaya and, have later served the mission full-time. Others have become full or part-time sevaks, enthusiastically conducting various grass-roots activities of the Mission. "We have had students from all over the world, the youngest so far being a thirteen-year-old and the oldest, being seventy-years old. The transformations in the lives of the participants have been an amazing experience." - Swamini Vimalananda, Dharma Sevak Course, Coimbatore