Guest guest Posted October 25, 2003 Report Share Posted October 25, 2003 Message-ID: <bnemfs+smpt (AT) eGroups (DOT) com> User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Length: 7825 X-Mailer: Message Poster X-Originating-IP: 66.82.48.1 X--GPoster: eGYvFRVoLG7v8WJP What does the word "ashram" mean? What is it's root? Here's some wisdom from Swami on life in an ashram: Q&A with Swami Satyananda Saraswati: On Life In An Ashram 1. When there is a group of serious seekers, searching for union with the universe or God, what principles need to be honored to create harmony and mutual respect? The question is extremely subjective, and there is no one answer that will fit all the time in all circumstances. However, we have all observed that there are four main elements in each of our disciplines: attention, knowledge, devotion, and service; dhyan, jnan, bhakti, and karma. These four are present in everyone's discipline, no matter what path we choose to practice. But the emphasis is constantly shifting for us all. At one time we are more a student, another time we are called upon to be a teacher; sometimes we are engaged in deep meditation, while other times we are called to serve. When we realize that our balance is always changing, and the needs of our associates and community is always changing, then we find that in acknowledging the elasticity of our paths, we create greater harmony and mutual respect. In giving up our dogmatic nature, we build bridges of harmony which demonstrate respect. 2. What is the proper attitude for living in an ashram, what is needed in terms of behavior and attitude to gain the most from contact with a Saint? Sincerity and humility. A guru is an example that we wish to follow. In order to become a disciple, it is required to have a sincere desire to follow the example of the guru. Disciples are people who make changes in their lives. They do what the guru does, chant the way she chants, worship the way she worships, cook and clean as per the example provided. If we do not have the humility to admit that my former way of life was not satisfying, then we cannot seek to make changes with sincerity. It is not important to find the best guru. What is important is to become the best disciple. Remember, it is not about performing spiritual practices. The goal is to lead a spiritual life. Practices are only important in so far as they help us to remember that the objective is to lead a spiritual life! Spirituality means giving more than we take. 3. What do the days look like in an ashram, what are the regular daily activities at Devi Mandir? Shree Maa says that God means "Go on Duty". God gave us twenty four hours in a day so that we can work eight hours a day for God, eight hours a day for our families and communities, and eight hours a day for ourselves. We believe that the person who accomplishes 24 hours of work in a 24 hour period stands still. In order to gain a benefit, one must accomplish 25 hours or work in a 24 hour period. Then there is gain. Sadhu means efficient. Sadhus become so efficient at everything they do, that they don't waste time or resources. Then they don't require to repeat actions that are incomplete. They get it done right the first time. Our days begin with worship and they end with worship. Throughout the day there are structured breaks for worship. The length of the worship varies according to the activities that we are performing, and those activities vary according to the needs of our community. But the most important remembrance of living in an ashram is our sense of purpose: to keep God in the center of our lives, to serve God, to serve the gurus, to serve each other. 4. You are responsible for maintaining this structure called an ashram, how does that support and how does it conflict with your personal sadhana? What sacrifices are needed to be a "leader" or "servant" of the aspirants living in the ashram community? There is always a balance between too much and too little to be maintained, and I consider it my privilege to have an ashram community to assist me in making those decisions. Like every family, we have a limited amount of resources, and we are constantly working to adjust the allocation of those resources so we can accomplish the goals of our community in the most efficient manner. Therefore, the ashram community does not conflict with my personal sadhana. It is one of the expressions of my sadhana. It is a result of my sadhana. Love is such an experience -- you have to give it away in order to make it grow. There are three things that are necessary to leadership: Pure love, Inspiration, and Appreciation. Pure love means I accept you the way you are. Inspiration motivates you to make changes. Appreciation expresses gratitude for every effort. These three are the necessary ingredients for inspiring participation. I believe that is the only way we can serve. 5. What is the proper attitude around money? I never see "fundraisers" for Devi Mandir, yet things get done -- can you talk a little about "Dakshina" and how it works in India and here in America? Money is a form of energy that we are all accustomed to using. But we all know that it is neither the most important energy nor the most efficient energy. It is only one form of energy. When we fall in love, money is relatively unimportant. In fact, when we fall in love, food and sleep also become relatively unimportant. Now we all know how little effort is required to fall in love. It just happens of its own accord. What is difficult is how to stay in love? That requires effort, understanding, communication, surrender. Dakshina means that which is given without effort, because of our understanding, in order to communicate the intensity of our surrender, a token of our respect which demonstrates the sincerity of our love, and how much we appreciate what your being means to me. Dakshina is not an agreed upon business transaction. It is not a fee levied for the performance of a religious ritual, nor a tax collected by a guru or ashram in exchange for teachings or initiations or participation in religious functions. Dakshina is offered as a privilege to support what I believe in, to honor the conveyor of knowledge, in all humility to share respect, and to enable the recipient to do more in order to make this world a better place. In the Devi Mandir, Shree Maa and I believe in the functions of nature. We see that it is both the duty and the privilege for the flowers to give their nectar to the bees. It is both the duty and the privilege for the bees to take the nectar from the flowers. Neither need to advertise or to fundraise. If we will only exude our wonderful fragrances, the bees will come of their own accord. We are only responsible for fun raising. 6. How does an ashram relate to the larger community? Is there any responsibility to have contact with the larger community, or is self sufficiency a goal? Does an ashram have a responsibility to perform Seva in the larger community? As many as there are seekers, so many are the paths. Each individual and each ashram has its own goals and relationships with the larger community. Some ashrams have one or two devotees, others have thousands. This is by no means a measure of the success of the ashrams. It is rather an expression of the intentions of the participants. Some sadhus want to fund raise and engage in social service projects, while others want to stay home and perform sadhana. In either case there will come a time when we want to give back to our communities. Even Hereclitus, after years of wandering on the mountain tops naked, left a copy of his book in the temple of Apollo. No one stays on the top of the mountain. Either they do not find what they are looking for and require to return to society for the needs of the body, or they do find what they are looking for and feel they must share it. Jai Maa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 25, 2003 Report Share Posted October 25, 2003 Dear Swamiji, Must a person be single to live at Devi Mandir? May married couples live there? Families? Best wishes and warmest regards, Karen > [Original Message] > devnath9 <devnath > <> > 10/25/2003 3:37:21 PM > Q&A with Swami Satyananda Saraswati: On Life In An Ashram > > Message-ID: <bnemfs+smpt (AT) eGroups (DOT) com> > User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82 > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > Content-Length: 7825 > X-Mailer: Message Poster > X-Originating-IP: 66.82.48.1 > X--GPoster: eGYvFRVoLG7v8WJP > > What does the word "ashram" mean? What is it's root? > > Here's some wisdom from Swami on life in an ashram: > > Q&A with Swami Satyananda Saraswati: On Life In An Ashram > > > 1. When there is a group of serious seekers, searching for union with the > universe or God, what principles need to be honored to create harmony and mutual > respect? > > The question is extremely subjective, and there is no one answer that will fit all the > time in all circumstances. However, we have all observed that there are four main > elements in each of our disciplines: attention, knowledge, devotion, and service; > dhyan, jnan, bhakti, and karma. These four are present in everyone's discipline, no > matter what path we choose to practice. But the emphasis is constantly shifting for us > all. At one time we are more a student, another time we are called upon to be a > teacher; sometimes we are engaged in deep meditation, while other times we are > called to serve. > > When we realize that our balance is always changing, and the needs of our > associates and community is always changing, then we find that in acknowledging the > elasticity of our paths, we create greater harmony and mutual respect. In giving up > our dogmatic nature, we build bridges of harmony which demonstrate respect. > > 2. What is the proper attitude for living in an ashram, what is needed in terms of > behavior and attitude to gain the most from contact with a Saint? > > Sincerity and humility. A guru is an example that we wish to follow. In order to > become a disciple, it is required to have a sincere desire to follow the example of the > guru. Disciples are people who make changes in their lives. They do what the guru > does, chant the way she chants, worship the way she worships, cook and clean as per > the example provided. > > If we do not have the humility to admit that my former way of life was not satisfying, > then we cannot seek to make changes with sincerity. It is not important to find the > best guru. What is important is to become the best disciple. Remember, it is not > about performing spiritual practices. The goal is to lead a spiritual life. Practices are > only important in so far as they help us to remember that the objective is to lead a > spiritual life! Spirituality means giving more than we take. > > 3. What do the days look like in an ashram, what are the regular daily activities at > Devi Mandir? > > Shree Maa says that God means "Go on Duty". God gave us twenty four hours in a > day so that we can work eight hours a day for God, eight hours a day for our families > and communities, and eight hours a day for ourselves. We believe that the person > who accomplishes 24 hours of work in a 24 hour period stands still. In order to gain a > benefit, one must accomplish 25 hours or work in a 24 hour period. Then there is > gain. > > Sadhu means efficient. Sadhus become so efficient at everything they do, that they > don't waste time or resources. Then they don't require to repeat actions that are > incomplete. They get it done right the first time. > > Our days begin with worship and they end with worship. Throughout the day there > are structured breaks for worship. The length of the worship varies according to the > activities that we are performing, and those activities vary according to the needs of > our community. But the most important remembrance of living in an ashram is our > sense of purpose: to keep God in the center of our lives, to serve God, to serve the > gurus, to serve each other. > > 4. You are responsible for maintaining this structure called an ashram, how does > that support and how does it conflict with your personal sadhana? What sacrifices are > needed to be a "leader" or "servant" of the aspirants living in the ashram community? > > There is always a balance between too much and too little to be maintained, and I > consider it my privilege to have an ashram community to assist me in making those > decisions. Like every family, we have a limited amount of resources, and we are > constantly working to adjust the allocation of those resources so we can accomplish > the goals of our community in the most efficient manner. > > Therefore, the ashram community does not conflict with my personal sadhana. It is > one of the expressions of my sadhana. It is a result of my sadhana. Love is such an > experience -- you have to give it away in order to make it grow. > > There are three things that are necessary to leadership: Pure love, Inspiration, and > Appreciation. Pure love means I accept you the way you are. Inspiration motivates you > to make changes. Appreciation expresses gratitude for every effort. These three are > the necessary ingredients for inspiring participation. I believe that is the only way we > can serve. > > 5. What is the proper attitude around money? I never see "fundraisers" for Devi > Mandir, yet things get done -- can you talk a little about "Dakshina" and how it works > in India and here in America? > > Money is a form of energy that we are all accustomed to using. But we all know that > it is neither the most important energy nor the most efficient energy. It is only one > form of energy. When we fall in love, money is relatively unimportant. In fact, when > we fall in love, food and sleep also become relatively unimportant. > > Now we all know how little effort is required to fall in love. It just happens of its own > accord. What is difficult is how to stay in love? That requires effort, understanding, > communication, surrender. > > Dakshina means that which is given without effort, because of our understanding, in > order to communicate the intensity of our surrender, a token of our respect which > demonstrates the sincerity of our love, and how much we appreciate what your being > means to me. Dakshina is not an agreed upon business transaction. It is not a fee > levied for the performance of a religious ritual, nor a tax collected by a guru or > ashram in exchange for teachings or initiations or participation in religious functions. > > Dakshina is offered as a privilege to support what I believe in, to honor the conveyor > of knowledge, in all humility to share respect, and to enable the recipient to do more > in order to make this world a better place. > > In the Devi Mandir, Shree Maa and I believe in the functions of nature. We see that it > is both the duty and the privilege for the flowers to give their nectar to the bees. It is > both the duty and the privilege for the bees to take the nectar from the flowers. > Neither need to advertise or to fundraise. If we will only exude our wonderful > fragrances, the bees will come of their own accord. We are only responsible for fun > raising. > > 6. How does an ashram relate to the larger community? Is there any responsibility to > have contact with the larger community, or is self sufficiency a goal? Does an ashram > have a responsibility to perform Seva in the larger community? > > As many as there are seekers, so many are the paths. Each individual and each > ashram has its own goals and relationships with the larger community. Some ashrams > have one or two devotees, others have thousands. This is by no means a measure of > the success of the ashrams. It is rather an expression of the intentions of the > participants. Some sadhus want to fund raise and engage in social service projects, > while others want to stay home and perform sadhana. > > In either case there will come a time when we want to give back to our communities. > Even Hereclitus, after years of wandering on the mountain tops naked, left a copy of > his book in the temple of Apollo. No one stays on the top of the mountain. Either they > do not find what they are looking for and require to return to society for the needs of > the body, or they do find what they are looking for and feel they must share it. > > Jai Maa > > > > > > > > > > Your use of is subject to > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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