Ashram Life

Ashram means spiritual community. Most Ashrams are presided over by gurus/teachers or representatives who offer programmes which intend to steer the residents awareness inward toward Self Realisation through a combination of spiritual practice, service, renunciation and mentoring (personal instruction and direct transmission). These are not by any means the only methods employed to free the devotee from their suffering tendencies however they are probably the most common.

In order to create a radical shift in the individuals consciousness it often becomes necessary for them to voluntarily extract themselves from their normal environmental surroundings with all its props and safety zones artfully employed by the ego in order to keep them moulded into patterns of fundamental confusion and suffering. To break free from this way of being there needs to be a genuine willingness to let go of the way of life that has always been known, and is generally considered normal by the standards of the greater collective, and enter directly into the great mystery (if necessary to the exclusion of all else). This may include not conforming to the expectations of family and friends. It may mean abandoning all concepts with regard to what is considered socially normal behaviour, worldly responsibility, lifestyle, and notions of self-identity. One has to be willing to renounce all this in order to know the Truth. This does not mean that to actually do so is a pre-requisite to Divine Realisation, it is not, however one has to be willing for the possibility of relinquishing everything if direct Realisation of Truth is what is required above all else.

Our approach is alchemical by nature and offers a contemporary blend of eastern and western frontiers designed to serve the individual in their ultimate awakening.

Spiritual Practice

In nearly every spiritual tradition spiritual practice is considered essential as a component on the path of realisation, it can even be seen as a path in itself. In this case the design of spiritual practice is not a strategic means of seeking, nor is it a means to Realise the Truth directly, more so it is to create an intensity of being which generates tapas or the fire of purification. This fire catalyses a deep purification process which reaches throughout all sheathes of being. It creates a conscious frustration and complete intolerance of that which is untrue. Essentially tapas is where real transformation begins to occur. Though tapas is not necessarily going to be a comfortable experience for the ego, it is part of a natural evolution which nurtures and prepares the physical, mental and emotional bodies so that they are open, stable and able to sustain the great event of awakening (and all the multifarious experience along the way). Spiritual practice may take one or more of an increasing number of forms developed and available for the choosing, such as meditation, tai chi, yoga, mantra, dietary discipline etc. At Shekinashram it is not our intention to impress any form of dogmatic formula on the community members or guests, in fact to the contrary it is our intention to assist them in the withdrawal of their investment in such things in order to find out the Truth which exists unqualified beyond all conceptual justification. Therefore spiritual practice is not viewed as a spiritual path in itself but simply a useful vehicle with which to bring the physical, mental and emotional faculties under control and therefore into alignment. This way they may serve the life stream in learning the art of discernment, which is necessary in order to find out the difference between authentic direct experience of life as opposed to misidentification with ephemeral notions, concepts, feelings, and states of being which are routed in paradigms of unconsciousness.

Selfless Service

In Truth our life is not our own. Life simply Is whatever it is in any given moment, existing in unparalleled beauty as an unqualified expression of the One. When the realisation of who and what we are, or what another is dawns then all there is left to do in life is to humbly serve this glorious expression of the One manifest with all one’s heart. To assist another on their way to realisation of the Truth is the greatest privilege there is. Once the Divine has been glimpsed (even remotely) in ourselves and others, we can only prostrate ourselves, offering this life that we experience as a living prayer in the temple of the Absolute’s creation. When we are sufficiently humbled by the realisation of Truth, so much so that we can no longer live life for ourselves alone, no longer motivated by egoic gratification, guilt, or a sense of morality, then we are being lived as a pure expression of what we truly Are beyond the superficial parameters of existence. We are losing our self in the Divine, where the pure radiance of Being is evidenced by the decreasing tendency to create the illusion of separation. There are not two.