Activities in an Ashram

Ashram is a place where one can introspect within oneself. The residents have to also work for the upkeep of the ashram. Even for a simple lifestyle in tune with nature, basic activities such as the following need to be undertaken,

• Providing the right atmosphere for spiritual studies and activities.
• Preparation of food for residents
• Cleanliness of the place
• Welcoming and providing hospitality to visitors
• Basic medical help
• And other such activities related to the well being of the residents.

At the Manapakkam Ashram of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, a scholar's training program is conducted on a regular basis to impart spiritual knowledge for people around the world. It is a free scholarship resident program meant for deserving spiritual aspirants who may not have the financial means to attend it.

Here's a video interview with one of the facilitators of this program,

Life in an Ashram

Ashrams have their origins in Ancient India where students stayed with their guru in sylvan but spartan surroundings learning spiritual and worldly knowledge. In modern world, the ashrams have become a refuge from the collective madness of the world - where money, power and sensual enjoyments take precedence over everything - to the extent that man is losing his humanity in the process.

Ashrams provide a spiritual retreat where a person can be insulated from the influences of the external world and live a life of self-introspection for a few days/weeks. It gives an opportunity to meditate and absorb oneself in subtle spiritual condition. However, staying in an ashram doesn't that one sits with eyes closed all the time. One needs to also participate in the daily sustaining activities of the ashram life.

Thus, the ashram life is also a community life where one learns to share the space and work together harmoniously. It provides an training ground of how a person must normally live life in the outside world as well.

It is important to understand that the environment of the ashram is shaped by its occupants.

Here's a video clip of life in SRCM Ashram at Babuji Memorial Ashram in Manapakkam.

Why Spirituality?

From time immemorial, saints and prophets have tried preaching a better way of living a life, with the hope to improve man. To help man to become something better or living a fuller life promising an improved way of life. Making him more SPIRITUAL.

But why spirituality ?

Spirituality for some, is kind of hip and happening thing that they feel they should be part of. Probably a way to believe that they are doing something more than others For some, its a hot topic of discussion over a drink, for others it is kind of a journey, just like, for a kid visiting Disneyland. And for some, it is something as an experiment of something unknown.

People have always prayed to a invisible power to keep them safe and prosperous. So many poets, writers, artists have expressed the beauty of that unknown for which words probably can never describe, songs cannot be sung and pictures cannot put to perspective. Why is it like that? I am sure, science may not have an answer to that. Or for that matter, can anybody answer why we are born and why do we die ?

If we ask ourselves the question, Why Spirituality ? we may dodge the answer by replying, I am a good person, I do no harm to others etc etc. So i do not need Spirituality.

But the funny part to note here is, were we not supposed to be like that in the first place? That is how we were suppose to lead our lives. Nature did not want a son to kill his father for the throne, or neither did nature wanted us to kill in the name of religion, which actually has become very common, and the effects of these acts are all over us to see for ourselves. We were expected to lead a simple and righteous life. It is we who have complicated our lives to such an extent now, that we feel that we do not need the Supreme power. In the human mind, the Ego of the man has subdued the supreme power of the Ultimate. Can any of us deny this?

How many of us actually have the courage to look deep down within our own selves and say " I love you", that is probably the most difficult part for anybody and to avoid that we see a whole different gamut of pretensions. It could be fear, ignorance, guilt or pure pompous ego.

Because the answers to all the problems is possible already there for us to feel, all that is needed is the path for it. Just like a video game, it has an end and it has a start, and the player has to reach the end to finish the game and in the process, dies, undies, dies and undies many a time, until a determined player actually does reach the final destination.

Now coming back to the question of why spirituality ?

Spirituality makes us aware of our final destination of this video game called as LIFE. This is the basic fact from which we all run away from, for us our jobs, money,cars etc are enough to have fun with, why do i need to know more ? There is a need to know more, because unless otherwise it becomes a infinite loop,

for i=1 to infinity {
birth();
fun();
sorrows();
death();
}

And many a times we perform many actions which pushes us even backwards in the cycle of evolution, that this cycle begins all over again. These actions can be bad karma or even good karma, does not matter, both of these add baggage to this journey and in this era of high fuel prices, even the airlines have restricted baggage limits, should we as humans not do the same ? ;-)

Dogs are Us?

Sounds similar ? Jokes apart, i wanted to share something which i saw while i was waiting to catch my train for work. I work in San Jose, and take the public transport to work.

Across the platform, on the street, a homeless person, with tattered clothes, a wheel chair containing his belongings, clothes, some utensils. It was very evident that he did not have much to eat and was looking for some food. Now here is the interesting part,this person had a pet dog with him. A small,hairy and unclean creature, just like as it's master. It was walking couple of steps ahead, a brisk couple of steps, stops, turns around , probably to make sure if the master was following or not, and then again brisk couple of steps, waits and turns back .. and this cycle continued.

Now what struck me was the attitude of the little creature and the faith it had. Despite being hungry, unclean, dirty, smelly and probably braving the cold nights, it still was bound to its master, come what may. Not bothered if it remained unfed by its master, not angry for its current condition and neither complaining or neither biting the master, or barking and saying " what the hell is this and why should i be with you", none of this - just complete faith.

This struck me like a bolt of lightening, we humans, supposedly the superior creatures, intelligent etc but we somehow cannot let go off our ego. We are like well bred, well fed, loved dogs who are easily distracted, not recognizing the fact that our eternal well being is with the Master within us and not in the distractions along the way.

I think we need to learn a lot more than we think we already know!

Love, Ego and Anger

There is hardly a human who hasn't experienced anger - it starts quite early, when as a baby you don't get the toy you want - you display displeasure and anger. We get angry when something that happens to us is not beneficial to our existence and identity. So in a way, anger has its roots in Ego.

Sahaj Marg considers both Anger and Ego as natural and divine in nature, as long as you understand their true nature. Anger should be directed towards that which goes against the universal good and evolution. So, it should not be restrained to one's personal good but the good of humanity. Ego, on the other hand, is considered necessary for evolution because Ego allows the individual to do the actions (in form of thoughts and deeds) necessary for one's evolution.

Love is the only thing that conquers all. Where there is love, there is an understanding and tolerance. There is a genuine concern for the well-being of others.

Here's a small skit that was presented by the children of Sahaj Marg - its cute and innocent but it carries a message.

Camping Meditation Retreat at San Luis Obispo

Abhyasis (Students of meditation) from California and nearby states have been congregating for the past 10 or more years for an annual camping gathering. The venue for the past few years has been at Lake Lopez which is near to San Luis Obispo. Two local prefects are the most enthusiastic among all of us and oversee the entire logistics and provide support and help for all the abhyasis who come to this camping gathering. They have been the hosts and I am very grateful for the affection and love they have shown towards all abhyasis welcoming them to the camping and making sure all the brothers and sisters are comfortable.

The place by itself is very beautiful. Our camp area is right beside Lake Lopez and it is surrounded by mountains. So when we wake up in the early morning and just look outside, you can see the shimmering water projecting the rising sun and the horizon is beautiful to see. This is one of the most popular camping areas and getting a reservation is very tough and it needs to be done exactly one year in advance when the booking starts. There are lots of activities – hiking, boating, sailing, swimming, water park, utilizing the open grounds for any kind of sports or having a barbeque. For me, the priority is meditation and maintaining a wonderful spiritual atmosphere that pervades the area during our visits. The spiritual atmosphere during this long weekend is really something to be experienced. The camaraderie between abhyasi brothers and sisters, the large group of kids and the families that come and the wonderful spiritual environment is something every abhyasi in North America has to experience. One visit is enough to make them believers. It is rejuvenation both for our soul and body.

This year, we had the opportunity to spend three nights and four days there because the camp grounds were booked from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon. I was lucky that I could go early on Friday and spend the whole three nights and be in that atmosphere. I have seen that in my two visits that there is no need to ask for volunteers here because everyone are so eager to participate and provide help in any activity. There were an enthusiastic group of abhyasis who helped in pitching tents for everyone. They became experts that each of the tents were assembled in an instant and then they moved on to the next tent to be set up.

Food was made by brothers and sisters and was served in the adjoining picnic area. Each center took turns to prepare meals and the preparations of the meals were more enjoyable than eating the meal itself! Again, sisters from all centers and few brothers prepared wholesome, healthy, tasty and divine food.

We had morning satsangh (Group Meditation) at 9 am and evening satsangh at 5 pm. The meditations are held in an open space and it is as close to nature one can get for a meditation. On Saturday, there was a preceptor workshop and in that time, the other abhyasis spent time helping in the cooking, assisting the brothers and sisters who were arriving from all parts of California and beyond. We had abhyasis joining us from Nevada, Arizona and even from Canada. We got to know more brothers and sisters and exchanged our own experiences of being with Master, sahaj marg experiences and more. On Sunday, again we had two satsanghs and in the morning session, we had group discussion based on the questions given to us. Some of those questions were profound and brought out meaningful insights into our spiritual life and also provoked me into going really deep and understanding what I am doing as an abhyasi. All of us used this opportunity to make commitments and this session provided momentum to take the next step in our spiritual endeavour. In the afternoon, we had a few activities set up, the abhyasis had opportunity to go on a boating cruise in the lake, hiking the steep mountains or swimming in the lake.

On Saturday and Sunday night, starting at around 8 pm, we had campfire and all abhyasis came and there were beautiful songs rendered, we had singing competitions, the kids were happy to eat marshmellows and the child in our hearts also came out during those sessions. There were songs in many languages which showed the diversity of people in Sahaj Marg. It lasted till mid night and even though we had a long day, most of us were there till the last embers of the bonfire was still alive.

Apart from interactions, one also remains in silence as there are no distractions from our modern lifestyle. No internet, no television, no radio, no laptops, no newspaper and even no electricity, after 8 pm all the lights go out and you remain one with nature. Also when we look up, one can see the beauty of the stars and the various constellations. It reminds that being in a busy life, we don't even have time to lift our heads and look up at the sky. It reminds me that we are living like zombies where we don't have time to appreciate nature and the magnificent awe of the planet we live in. This is the best place to bring any child and teach him about stars and nature. I think next time, one of us should try to bring a telescope and teach children or the child in every one of us about planets and stars.

We had a satsangh on Monday morning and it was time to get back to our own work and life. We all left with happy faces and also sad that these three days ended so quickly. Many abhyasis stayed back and helped in cleaning the place, making sure that nothing was left behind and also leaving the place atleast the way we found it. When I reached back, another abhyasi remarked that it was like that those three days were like eternity and now we have to really get back to the mundane world.

How can we close this article without gratitude for our Divine Master. As Master once said when an abhyasi complained that he is losing many friends when he started the practice of Sahaj Marg, Master replied that one may lose one or two friends that you may have but you gain thousands of brothers and sisters all over the world. It was an absolute truth that I have experienced during these three days immensely and all throughout my stay so far in the US. Thanks Master, for really providing us true brothers and sisters and pray that we all live up to your expectations and progress in our spiritual goal.

So I request all brothers and sisters to make it to this event next year in 2009 and experience for yourself what a true family spiritual gathering is in Sahaj Marg.

Swami Vivekananda and Surrender

Last week, I was visiting a friend's place where I got to read a small booklet on life of Swami Vivekananda written by his disciples/close associates.

It was an inspiring account of his life. He had complete faith in his Master - Shri Ramakrishna. Based on that faith, he undertook a journey to the United States - a foreign land with no friends and with very little money. Its not easy to carry out work with little to no resources but just that little voice guiding within. It was a great struggle for the swamiji and his health deteriorated but he made a great impact on the West when he spoke at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

Sahaj Marg recongnizes Vivekananda as a highly elevated soul who influenced Sahaj Marg's formative years even though SRCM was instituted after his demise.

The light within

We roam in the darkness of our inner selves trying to find a purpose in life. Some of us try to get busy with the ambitions of a material life but still find a gnawing within.

This blog attempts to share the journey of the self with the help of a simple meditation practice called Sahaj Marg (Natural Path). It will also try to share experiences of others who are on this path.

The journey is not easy and involves struggle - at times, doubts begin to sap the spiritual energy and the path becomes difficult. But the light at the end of the tunnel is worth every effort put into the journey.

Stay tuned for more.