A Spiritual Retreat and Seekers’ Delight in the Heart of Delhi – Sri Aurobindo Ashram

During a recent visit to Delhi, a one-night stay at TAPASYA Guest house in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi premises was a serene experience. This visit, after a gap of many years, after I moved to Ahmedabad many years back in year 2000, was a delightful witnessing of the exponential growth in Ashram activities in a serene environment.

What continues are sustaining Core Values imbibed from the holistic approach of Integral Yoga for all-round development of Individual Self and also the Ashram community as a whole. I could notice many resemblances in the way of life of Ashramites in Pondicherry Ashram and Delhi Ashram. This is probably due to the legacy of Sri Surendra Nath Jauhar "Chachaji", an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, further nurtured by Sushri Tara Didi. My last visit to the Ashram was in 1996 with my father, Dr. Devaki Nandan Srivastava, as my father was also closely connected with Sri Aurobindo Society and Ashram.

Though being in touch with activities of the Ashram through reading about its events and listening to experiences of sadhaks in their spiritual journey following Sri Aurobindo’s thoughts on Integral Yoga, this was my first stay in the Ashram guest house. 

Some of the practices which I found inspirational were:

  1. Naming of each room having Divine significance such as True Worship, Chastity ...
  2. Concept of involvement of guests in their chosen area of service as a volunteer
  3. Nicely kept gardens and a variety of trees
  4. Peacocks singing their language
  5. Creatively done gardens with Divine touch having inscriptions of Thoughts of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and having zig-zag path named "Labyrinth" as a metaphor
  6. Large number of volunteers from different age groups contributing to activities chosen as per core competence
This makes Delhi Ashram one of the benchmark examples of a living entity which has practiced Perseverance in a Peaceful journey of Growth, with Humility and Sincerity driven by The Mother’s symbol.

This could be a good place for seekers on spiritual journey to spend quality time in sublime environment of Nature and feeling the Divine presence of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and actively contributing as a volunteer.

- Pranav Srivastava (India)

Comments

  1. Anonymous15 March 2024 at 18:00

    I agree. A unforgettable place. 🔥🙏🔥 Sabina Centro Sri Aurobindo e Mère Italy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous16 March 2024 at 11:41

    A book should never be judged by it's cover. Less said the better.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for posting a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Importance of "JAPA" in Spiritual journey to realise the Divine

Right from my childhood days till now, I have observed seekers on spiritual journey using "JAPA" (repetition of a mantra or a hymn) as a daily practice in most of the religions, be it Hinduism, Christianity or Buddhism or any other) across the different parts of the world during my travels to different places. It had been a curiosity in me in earlier days and now a realisation that this is perhaps a simple and proven way to connect and be in resonance with the chosen form of Divine (be it a Deity or a Sound or most cherished role model). This thought gets reinforced as we read the scriptures and stories of the transformational journey of Saints and spiritual leaders who chose "Bhakti Marg" (Sadhana through Devotion) as the path to tread in their spiritual journey and realisation of Self and its communion with Divinity in the form of the chosen Deity. Contemplation on JAPA as a Daily Practice and then self experince in doing JAPA in early mornings and late evening ho
Read more

All Life is Yoga

Why is Sri Aurobindo important? I occasionally encounter this question from a lot of people. But I am never quite successful to give a qualified answer. My awkwardness and surname often create a hindrance making others speculate that I am closely related to Sri Aurobindo. In this blog, I have attempted to answer this question through my experiences gathered over the past four decades of my life. I accidentally encountered the world of Sri Aurobindo and the Divine Mother around 1995 after getting admitted to The Future Foundation School in Kolkata. We used to have classes on the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. My monkey mind back then wasn’t receptive to these teachings. The only thing I noticed is the dominance of the word “consciousness” in the writings of Sri Aurobindo. This observation became the key to my understanding of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy in the later years. As a young teenager, I always aspired to leave India and pursue my higher studies in the West. Fortu
Read more

Integral Education in the Subjective Age

The following was written for a presentation at one of La Grace (USA) webinars. I share this here as many of us are actively engaged in Integral Education at school or university level. (Anuradha)   What do we mean by Subjective Age and what is meant by Spiritual Education? How do these connect with Integral Education? What is the Paradigm Shift needed? This is what I would like to unpack. What I share today is based on Sri Aurobindo’s chapters in ‘The Human Cycle’ on the Subjective Age.   When reason no longer suffices, the Subjective Age begins. When there is a turn towards a deeper way of knowing, a turning inwards or upwards, or both, the Subjective Age is in process. There is a turning within to find deeper powers. There is an aspiration towards self-consciousness and self-realisation. The rationalistic model begins to subject itself to the ideal of Intuitional knowledge and self-awareness.   We see that in Education, something of this shift began in the early 20 th centur
Read more