It is a place of inspiration because it does not teach or preach; it exhibits and you imbibe what is applicable to you.
Ashram life does not require renunciation or rejection of the world, rather its goal is to change one's perspective on everyday life.
It is recommended that all householders should stay in an ashram for at least 15 days in a year to relax, unwind and re-establish a more wholesome and balanced perspective on life.
One can visit the Ganga Darshan Yogashram at Munger or Bihar School of Yoga, Rikhia, to attend a sadhana course, a health course or just to experience ashram life.
RELEVANCE OF ASHRAM LIFE TODAY
Ashram life is as relevant in our lives today as it was then. Even today, to live in the ashram for a few days as a sannyasin offers you the scope for enlarging your vision about yourself, and about life as well. You begin to understand yourself better, which in itself is a great achievement because it is our great misunderstanding of ourselves that leads us to disharmony.
School going children feel more confident about themselves after residing in the ashram. They also begin to feel a responsibility towards life and the necessity for a sense of direction and focus.
College kids are able to gain much more through their stays in the ashram by involving themselves totally in the ashram activities and routine. Through this they inculcate discipline and a sense of perfectionism and commitment to work, where the work is done not for its rewards but as an expression of creativity and joy.
Newly married couples learn to shoulder their new responsibilities better through their stay in the ashram and adults gain from the spiritual environment that permeates the place.
The ashram acts a shock absorber for each individual.
The traumas, stresses and strains of life sometimes get too demanding for us. They eat up our energy and deplete our reserves.
The ashram is an ideal place to stay and recharge yourself by stepping out of your normal life and living not just for yourself.
Or if you feel that some unknown obstacle is disturbing your life on account of which you are unable to progress. Often the studies are disturbed or the job unstable. Or the marriage is not materializing. In some cases lack of direction, commitment and seriousness about life could be the cause of disharmony. No matter what the cause, the ashram is a panacea for all ills.
I have seen many people who came to the ashrams at Rishikesh, Munger and even to Rikhia, and after living there for some time engaged in ashram life had a breakthrough. The ashram is not anyone's home. It belongs to everybody and yet to nobody. No one stays in an ashram forever. They come and go like flowing rivers finding new pathways and new terrain.
From the writings of Swami Satyananda Saraswati
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