CHENNAI: People these days are self-absorbed and have lost track of their well-being and the world around them. Yogi Ashwini is spreading the message of finding the right consciousness within oneself through Dhyan Foundation. “Nothing is constant. Today if you have something, you will not have it tomorrow. Nobody can break this circle, but you can survive it by being detached,” he explains.
Adept in the ancient sciences of yoga, tantra, spiritual healing, and vedic martial arts, he feels the world is geographically divided into four parts — the West, comprising the US and Europe; the East, artistic and cultural capital; Africa, the centre of old ancient pre-civilisation world; and India, the spiritual centre of the world. Within India, there are several powerful regions, with abundant positive and negative spirits. “The area around Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and certain belts of Rajasthan, are very powerful. There exist both negative and positive spirits. Depending on the way you interact with the world, you attract energies. Hence, developing consciousness is vital,” he says.
‘Na paapam, na puniyam, na sukham, na dhukham’ is the way of life. “To develop your own consciousness, understand and find yourself; that’s the basic aim of yoga, which is often misunderstood as the ultimate aim.” He also believes that yoga is a sadhna, not a business, and it has to be disseminated through the ancient Guru-Shishya Parampara…that is, without charging a fee.
Dhyan foundation hosts several charities and also protects animals. It runs over 30 goshalas, 50 dog shelters, four feeding points for monkeys and birds. He says this is the path to become a guru. “If you’ve saved few thousands of animals, you’ve arrived as a guru, not by building palatial empires.”