RAMALINGA

NOW PRESENT AMONG US IN HIS DIVINE BODY OF UNIVERSAL PRESENCE

MEGA-ASHRAMS MADNESS

At present time, the Gurus of masses encourage the construction of mega-ashrams where the disciples could come and stay for a time to intensify their spiritual practice. There is large number of mega-ashrams all over the world, not only in India but also in Occident. Every of them have required to invest large amounts of money for acquiring terrains and construct buildings or restore the existing ones, at the same time that the maintenance costs are very high, and it is large the quantity of people that must be employed for their optimum running. Some of them are extremely luxurious, more close to a modern amusement park than to a spirituality center. The most advanced technologies, the most refined artworks, the most exotic vegetation, the most modern buildings,… it is shameful seeing how some mega-ashram compete among themselves for gaining more large number of followers. When most of the world population lives in poverty, the previous exposed is not justifiable at all, nor the ostentation surrounding some spiritual teachers, nor the expenses borne by realizing certain ceremonies (like great yagnas, etc).

It is frequent that those ashrams sponsor charity organizations, but in some cases it looks more like a smoke screen than a reality, and in others cases it is surprising that those foundations only work in India, as if people were suffering because of famine and illness only in this country. On the other hand, none of those mega-ashram shows publicly the accounting, and it is very grave that they seem not to be interested in that subject. They fall back on most of followers who do not demand clarity in this topic unfortunately. It is sure that people who does not demand clarity in so basic subjects not also goes to do it relating to the content of the spiritual Teachings they receive.

Not all people have access to those mega-ashrams, not only because ashram ask for references of belonging to specific spiritual group, but also because the stay usually is high costly. There is no a preliminary serious requirement round about the disciple’s internal preparedness, lifestyle, feeding, etc. Too frequently mega-ashrams open their doors not for the most outstanding disciples but for the most rich and influential. Even in many cases, those spiritual groups require the disciple for visiting regularly the ashram, or it is determined that only there disciples would have access to specific initiations or masteries. It constitutes a succulent and abundant source of income for the ashram, without making mention of donations and legacies that ashram promotes to realize. It is very suspicious that they act in this way, since the Guru’s Grace can perform the miracle of Transformation in any place, whenever the disciple’s disposition is right.

On the other hand, mega-ashrams have found an easy way to obtain free labour. In the ashram routine, it takes several hours a day to carry out seva, but this is approached in a way that almost has lost all transcendent meaning, and finally people dedicate more effort and attention to seva itself than to meditation and spiritual work. Perhaps residents and most ancient disciples enjoy a more advantageous position, but it is lamentable that rest of people are considered not distinguishing in accordance with each one’s spiritual level, but in accordance with their skills or the needs in the maintenance of the ashram. In this way there can be wasted riskyly the latent aptitude of a person for going so far as to reach the highest states of Realization. In the middle of the vertiginous activity of thousands persons every day, the individuals turn out not to be noticed and become a simple element more within the ashram machinery. It seems that the ashram as a whole has gone to the extreme of being more important than the individual, whereas it must be just on the contrary.

Frequently people do not keep order nor remain in silence while they are carrying out seva, which is more close to a way to be amusing and occupied than an opportunity to eradicate the ego by means of helpful work as it should be. It might be wondered if some mega-ashrams would using the seva as a way to prevent the people from being dawdler too much time, thus avoiding that they give rise to problems or make too many questions. In this way the seva can turn into a subtle form of control exercised by the leaders of the ashram, who decide where one person must be every time, as well as what one person has to do, instead of giving option to the unexpected and encourage each one to be responsible by oneself.

Some people say that the ashram itself is like the "body" of the Guru, but the life in mega-ashrams does not reflect the immense reverence that should exist if really each and every one were experiencing that the Guru is fully present all around. At times there is not even this reverence during the darshan where Guru is physically present, because frequently people are observant of curious details instead of being centered on own internal spiritual experience. Undoubtedly chantings and "scenic" staging provoke deep emotions, but they make the attention of the devout to deviate from the authentic manifestations of Divine Grace, which are not external but only internal. Once the emotion passes, only the memory remains, which also ends in disappearing. A true experience never passes, but it serves as base so that other deeper experiences may take place later.

The worst is that those mega-ashrams keep a direct and clear link with Hinduism. Although the universal brotherhood is preached, the rough reality is that there practices are realized and divinities are venerated which are exclusive of Hinduism and have nothing to do with other cultures and creeds. It gives rise to, after more or less long stay, a western disciple return to his home and little by little gets back to his customs, forgetting the routine of the ashram. Once again, we are moving away from the essential, since one must be led to the Meeting with the Divinity that is over all the forms, and not must be initiated in practices which conduct just in the opposite sense. A true Guru cannot promote a particular creed, but their Teachings must go beyond all of them to transform the disciple’s life in effective and permanent way.

India is not the spiritual center of the world, which is in the heart of every true disciple who has been filled by the Guru’s Grace. The mega-ashrams must disappear to make way for creating small local communities all around the world, where a serious disciple could reside permanently (only as well as in family) and live based on solid spiritual principles of universal love and respect towards all living forms. There are needed neither complex organizations nor enormous sums of money, but simple groupings that may be autosufficient, where the maximum priority may be to share ones with others the same grade of spiritual commitment. Thus those communities will be expansion centers from where the Guru’s Grace (present in the hearts of their inhabitants) will transform the Earth. Regrettably at present this is not being promoted by the most of Gurus.

For finishing, we cannot forget that great Masters like Ramana Maharshi, Baghavan Nityananda, Lahiri Mahasaya, Ramakrishna, Shirdi Sai and others did not construct big ashrams, but very modest ones. It was not an obstacle so that they were going so far as to have a high number of disciples all over the world, thus coming to demonstrate that mega-ashrams are not necessary. Ramalinga never promoted either to construct an ashram or to follow a particular religious tradition, because He (who has joined with the Supreme Lord) consider all the beings equally.

(Author: Joty Lingam)

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