Sacred Space For Self-Transformation-Isha Ashram

My first visit to the ashram was in July this year when I went to attend the Inner Engineering program. (Also read One day at Isha Ashram )Ever since then I always long to return there. I used to think; What pulls me there? Why am I always longing to go back to the ashram?  However multiple visits to the ashram have not given me any answers but enlightened me that most of the time I am thinking about life, not living life. If I am pulled to the ashram so it be. Why think about it?

The Liberating Energy – The energy that was consecrated by Sadhguru in the ashram many years ago is bound to pull anyone who wants to be liberated. You actually can get intoxicated just by sitting there yet fully aware. The  moment I am about to approach the Ashram gate I start to feel the energy and my body starts to relax naturally. Vast fields, massive hills, abundant greenery, unspoken peace, reminiscent silence, Aum chants, repeat salutation NAMASKARAM just fills me with inexplicit joy. The connect of my sole with the surface of stairs of Dhyanalinga tingles my soul till its core. This might be the 15th time I am entering this temple but my soul has never got enough of its energy. Its raining and I am directed by the volunteer to wipe my feet so that I don’t slip. The volunteer is an Italian man wrapped in a white dhoti, his upper body is draped with a white cotton stole. It is 18 degrees Celsius today. What if everyone cared so much about another stranger in the world, this world would have been so different. I go and sit outside Dhyanalinga hall on the cold floor awaiting for Nadha Aradhna to start in five minutes. The bell rings and I enter with 50 other devotees inside the main hall. Around 80 people around the linga, eyes closed and still there is pin drop silence. The music starts, first the guitar and then the flute, it straight aways enters into my soul. With my eyes closed I am sitting in Ardha Siddhasna (meditation pose) and my face gets pulled up by the immense energy towards the tip of Linga. My breath is very slow, spine erect and body relaxed. The whole atmosphere is creating an unleashing waft which starts to liberate me by entering through my ears and flowing out of my eyes continuously. I feel as if my soul is being cleansed; all extra emotions are being thrown out; happiness, sorrow, pain, ego, I am getting lighter, being liberated and flying around the hall effortlessly, I now feel like a butterfly. After 15 minutes Nadha Aradhna comes to an end and the music stops. I realized I was in deep meditation. I continue to sit there for hours and now I have lost track of time.

The Taste of Isha– A meal in Biksha Hall cannot be replaced with the most sumptuous and curated meal anywhere in the world. Biksha is a hindi word meaning Alms. Having eaten in many world renown eateries, Biksha Hall’s meal is yet to be outshined by any meal on my palate. Sheer joy of standing outside the Biksha Hall and awaiting my turn to get in makes me feel so tiny in the world and I ask myself If I deserve to go sit inside and eat? The meal is prepared by a volunteer, sponsored by a volunteer and served by a volunteer. Then what have I done to earn this meal? After reminding myself of “to live life and not question life” I walk inside, silently sit next to a stranger on the floor, sing prayer with hundred others, join my hands and thank the divine for blessing me with this meal. When I look at the food I see myself in it. I will become whatever is in my plate once I have eaten it. That thought makes me so light as I see love, kindness, togetherness and smile in my plate. If I did not perform my sadhna today, I don’t think I would have deserved to sit there. I still feel like a small ant infront of a big hill. Quietly I eat whatever is there in my plate, get up and wash it for the next person standing outside in the que awaiting her turn to enter the Biksha hall. I wash my plate with so much care for the next devote. I pick up my umbrella and walk out, pushing my gas pedal to the floor and continue with my spiritual longing. I want to experience everything here myself.