Make your Home your Ashram

 

Make your Home your Ashram

During this lockdown period most of us if not all have been forced to stay home. With the pandemic not showing signs of dying out, people now talk about a third wave – I guess the only safety valve is getting vaccinated. With a world population of 7 billion plus that is going to take a long time – so let’s be prepared to stay at home.

Most of you have visited the Samarpan Ashrams or other Ashrams spread all over the world. The one thing that strikes you in such places is the divinity, the palpable energy, the serene calm, the ambience of peace and silence. It is so conducive to go into a meditative state. I know a lot of sadhaks who keep asking when will the Ashrams open and I remember Swamiji saying we will keep it shut for one year and then we will see. He had mentioned then too that this thing won’t go away for at least two years!

We are now in the last part of that period which has wreaked havoc on a majority of people all over the world! We know a lot of people who got infected, a lot of us have lost near and dear ones during this time, very few have been left unaffected – so it is not surprising that this period has seen stress and depression which has affected a lot of people.

We too went through tough times with family members falling sick, getting admitted to hospitals and also passing away. But through this entire period, I personally was in a very good space – why? Because my home itself had become Ashram-like – the same energy, the same peace and calm, the same joy which one finds in the Ashram was now being felt at home! How did this happen? After the lockdown started in March 2020, within four months we had to give up the office lease and start work from home. We set up the infrastructure for that and then while sitting at home all the time, the meditation, the continuous chant which plays in the background 24/7 started transforming the energy at home.

In this period, my wife and daughter decided to stay at my brother-in-law’s place as my mother-in-law suffered a stroke and was in hospital for a very long period of time and has just returned home. So, for more than a month now I am alone at home, I have upgraded myself by learning how to cook, rather than ordering food from outside. So, the atmosphere now at home has truly become Ashram-like, a sadhak couple who came home one day, were surprised at the energy level in the house – but believe me it is nothing to do with me – it is all His Grace – stay connected, stay blessed!