Life is indeed a great school of learning. While academic knowledge is one thing, experiential learning — by being thrown into the deep end of the pool — is a different teacher. Thus when a motley group set out for an ashram headed by a woman ascetic at Rikhiapeeth in the district of Deoghar in Jharkhand, it was an education of a lifetime.
From the pretty young things looking inward, to the been-there-done-that types, to those looking to marry spirituality and real life, it was a disparate crowd. Finding one’s space in this group and remaining secure therein was the first challenge.
Used to our spots in the family, at work, in our social circles, spoilt by luxuries like a car and domestic help, a toilet to ourselves, our favourite food items. this was a new dynamic. Spirituality, we learnt, was all about taking insults, hurt and other negative emotions with total equanimity and guarding one’s personal turf without being affected. We were reminded to practise the yoga asanas that helped to maintain one’s equilibrium and keep one’s emotions well in check.
Eased out of one’s comfort zone at every stage, one had to wake up at 4am in the biting cold (it was winter when I visited), finish breakfast by 7am, report for lunch at 11am and dinner at 5.30pm with plenty of activity thrown in, in the intervening hours. For city-bred folks used to irregular meal timings and late nights, this was an opportunity to restore balance. The food was satvic and non-spicy and wasting was an absolute no-no. One sat on the floor and ate in silence while devotional music played in the background. Seva was mandatory in the kitchen or in the garden or in the housekeeping department — whatever one was assigned.
The kirtans and havans took one to another plane altogether. The glow of the lamps, the rhythm, meter and the perfect intonation of the chants, the swiftness with which the place was straightened out minutes later, all left a deep impression. A great peace and calm washed over one’s being afterward.
The huge open spaces in the ashram, the long walks between activities helped to declutter one’s head. Discourse and dialogue provided added clarity.
There are no two ways about it. Ashram life isn’t for everyone. But there are a lot of lessons that one can draw from such a lifestyle in today’s world of excesses.
Returning home, one was grateful for the blessings of home and family and friends but there was also a paradigm shift. One had become more patient, learnt to do with less, speak less, serve more and gravitate towards healthier food choices. One saw that cleanliness was indeed next to godliness. Didn’t someone say some things cannot be seen or heard, they must be felt with the heart? The retreat at the ashram was one such.