What is an Ashram?
I remember when I was in school, we had an English teacher who used to teach us in a very nice way. "What is the difference between a house and a home?" he used to ask us. Few people could answer. But the answer was, "The Sun shines on a house, the sun shines in a home." It is full of light, the light of love, the light of affection, the light of being lived in.
Now, Babuji has said, "Have a special place for meditation, have a special Asan, have a special time. "It is creating an environment into which, as you come, automatically we get into the meditative, contemplative mood. So, that particular spot, that we reserve for meditation, you can say, is an ashram too. There is an old saying, that where a king lives, is a palace. He may come to your house tomorrow morning, just unannounced. For him it is a palace. It is not the other way round. What the king sits on, is a throne. It may be specially made, it may be gold, it may be just wood.
A snail carries its home on its back. It does not build it anywhere but
never it is homeless or shelterless. Our Master has placed us with a similar
opportunity to experience the fact that the most humble snail experienced
in its existence. An ashram is but a place where one goes to find rest
and obtain shreyas , that is, spiritual well-being and spiritual
growth. That succour at both the spiritual and material levels can be
available anywhere in this Universe provided one has faith in his heart
and courage to go ahead is now proved to be a fact that all of us are experiencing.
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