Ashrams: new places for praxis
Ashram Interview with Ms.Suman (October 2022)
We have been discussing with the director of the ashram Yoga Niketan, Ms.Suman. The ashram culture (आश्रम, āśrama) originated from Indian religions and is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery. Traditionally, an ashram is a place where one strives towards a spiritual, ascetic, yogic goal in a disciplined manner. Hence often ashrams have their own inner schedule and people follow specific schedule. Time goes in its own way, with early 5am morning meditations, evening yoga sessions and rituals throughout each day. Ashrams are often organised around teachings of gurus or as their schools.
During our stay in the ashram we discussed with Ms.Suman Bargi, the director of the Yoga Niketan ashram (1) about the inner organisation of the ashram and how people may come to it from the outside.
Q.(Questionner): Many people come to your ashram to stay. What is at the core value of your ashram?
S. (Ms.Suman): This Ashram is open to all seekers irrespective of their caste or the religion they follow. It propagates simple living and high thinking. At the very heart of our Ashram is to actualise our Mentor Swami Yogeshwaranandji’s vision. He wanted that whoever came to this Ashram, could find what he was seeking.
Q: 🙏 Could we then learn more about what is then the heart of ashram?
S.: Our founder Swamiji believed that Yoga and meditation helped people to discover their true selves and true mission in life. His mission was to initiate true seekers to the practice and assist them on this path. This Ashram continues to do so.
Q.: What about the inner organisation, discipline, Swami’s teachings, how the practices are organised on an everyday basis?
S.: Personally to me this Ashram means a lot because I know how much effort my father in law had put into keeping the tradition of his guru alive even after he passed away leaving no particular person in charge. It takes complete dedication and devotion always keeping your mind focused on how to adapt to contemporary times without compromising on traditional values. It’s challenging but the best kind. To me it’s therapeutic.
Q.: What do you spend the most energy for? Did you also try to use the volunteering as help to run ashrams? What work can be done by volunteers in your ashram?
S.: In the past we have never asked our guests to assist us in running the ashram, but lately we have been contemplating the same , but we don’t know how to go about it yet. It would be termed as KARMAYOGA and other than administrative work wherever their interest lies they can offer SEVA or if it’s a longer period that they are interested in then they would be suitably compensated too. It could be helping us with social media or maybe make our open spaces more aesthetically done up making it better for our guests. There is the library, the kitchen…The scope of work in an ashram is indeed really huge.
Q.: What is spirituality for you and for the ashram? How do you hold it and how is it kept in Swami’s Ashram?
S. Spirituality to me is Karma yoga (3, see below). It’s to be able to contribute positively wherever you are without biases.
From the time we spent in ashram we made a scheme on how places in Yoga Niketan ashram are located and used (see below), as well as put the scheme of the organisation of spaces.
Special thank you for Nitin and Milin, with whom we had the opportunity to work in the ashram library to classify some books they had. Truly would like to be able to come back one day.
Illustration of how places are used in Yoga Niketan ashram: dining hall, rooms, libraries, rooms.
Different types of ashrams in Rishikesh, one of them is an old complex, which was hosting first meetings about the transcendental meditation in the 20th century.
Links:
- yoganiketan ashram http://yoganiketanashram.org/publications.php#
- rituals from Ashrams, such as arti fire ritual: http://yoganiketanashram.org/gallery.php
- karma yoga book full text from Swami https://archive.org/details/KarmaYogaswamiVivekanandaBook
