Ashram Blog

In the scriptures there is mention of a tree called Kalpavriksha – the Wish Fulfilling Tree. Sitting under this tree, whatever one wishes for will manifest. As the story goes, a man was walking on a hot, sunny day. He was tired, and when he saw this beautiful tree, he went to sit in its shade.  As he sat there, he thought, “It would be so nice... read more

Being of service is the best sadhana.

The purpose of sadhana - spiritual practice - is to acknowledge that which is higher - the Higher Self, the Divine.  When we are engaged in sadhana, we are not thinking of the small self, our worldly self, the self which is going through ups and downs, the story that we live.  When we are doing our sadhana, we go... read more

The very moment we begin to bring a new practice or discipline into our life, like meditation or a healthy daily routine, our heart rejoices but our mind feels threatened. The very nature of the mind is to be free and undisciplined, and an undisciplined mind subjects us to its excessive cleverness. Although part of us knows what is good for our well-being, through excessive cleverness we... read more

Knowledge and action are like the wings of a bird in the sky.  Without one, the other remains incomplete. Knowledge, like a map, will not take you anywhere without action. You must make the effort to explore and experience something in order to truly understand it. Without action, knowledge becomes a burden. Ignorance is bliss: it’s better to “not know” then to “know” and not act on that knowing. Purification of the... read more

In this day and age there are so many spiritual practices to choose from. It's good to invest some time in finding a practice that our heart and mind can agree on and then sticking with it. The tendency is to keep jumping from one thing to another instead of staying with one practice. We do something for a few months, then something else comes that looks more... read more

The very meaning of Aghor is “that which is not difficult, that which is not complicated, that which is whole.” Aghor sahaj hai, saral hai, sugam hai. Aghor is inborn - that which we are born with, inherent. Aghor is easy to comprehend. The path of Aghor is easy to walk on. What is our inherent nature? Our natural state that we are born into is wholeness. When we came on this... read more

How do we live in the world without losing our peace? If somebody has insulted you, what do you do? The immediate impulse is usually to snap back, to get even. We want to protect our honor, but this “honor” is such a false notion of the Self. If we allow ourselves to react, while it may feel good in the moment, the effect will bring even... read more

To come back to the Self is to acknowledge that you are absolutely whole and complete unto yourself. Nothing is missing, and nothing from outside is needed to fulfill you. You are totally self-contained. You are absolutely still. This is the purpose of meditation—to see the Self, to be with the Self. The moment your attention goes elsewhere, you begin to flow out. We are... read more

Instead of picking pebbles, we have to learn how to pick pearls.  This is a spiritual practice in and of itself. We often fall into the bad habit of “picking pebbles” - focusing on negativity.  We criticize ourselves or we get stuck on negative things that we experience or that we hear or read.  A person who is bringing spirituality in their life, who is acknowledging the... read more

It is an act of Grace when we turn towards something or someone that we can bow to from the depth of our heart. The mere act of bowing is acknowledging something higher and realizing that I am not in control. Having the remembrance of something higher sets us free from our expectations of ourselves. Establishing a Guru peeth, the seat of the... read more