Our Ashram has become a reality.
The much-awaited event of all Panchawati members has come to fruition
with the founding of ‘Panchawati Yogashram’. Its geographical location is at
Chandrapadu village, near Ongole, AP state, India. The inauguration took place
in a modest way in the fields, away from crowds and in an isolated and pleasant
setting.
It is easily approachable with good roads passing by – about 20 minutes
from Madras-Calcutta highway and another 20 minutes to Ongole town. It is very
easy to reach our ashram during day or night, in a vehicle.
Our ashram is the true replica of an Indian hermitage. We prefer trees
and huts to concrete structures. We love to live closer to nature.
We are second to none in knowledge. We treasure the most inaccessible
realms of knowledge in Vedas, Astrology, Yoga and Tantra. However, scriptural
knowledge is not our prime agenda. Our preference is unpretentious sadhana.
Money, luxuries and pride stand no chance in our ashram. Yet, we are
open to seekers who are humble and truth seeking.
We keep away from politics and religious propaganda. We understand that promoting
religions serves no real purpose.
We never ask for anyone’s caste or creed. We prefer noble hearts but not
their castes and colours. We welcome anyone and everyone who is sincere. Only
the saint at heart and egoless can walk with us. Others would drop off mid-way.
We do not follow the traditional rules and regulations of the religious world.
Jnana is our rule. Yoga is our regulation. Broad-mindedness is our caste. Virtue
is our religion. Since these are the real bases of Hinduism, we proudly declare
that we follow the true spirit of Hinduism. Having said this, we must also say
that we are against cult propaganda. We also are against many deplorable ashrams
and guru-cults originating these days.
Over thousands of years, during the raids from other religions and
countries, there have been many unwanted and unwarranted edits to Hinduism. We work
to eliminate these aberrations and follow only the most fundamental, practical
and reasonable paths of Hindu religion.
We dislike to add useless theories and rituals to the original path. We do not
boast of adding something new to Hinduism. We do not promote any new deities/gods.
We never encourage leaving behind worldly responsibilities. We will not advocate
wearing coloured clothes, nor will we entertain part time dikshas. We will not foster
unnecessary propaganda or try to swell our followers. We know very well that worldly
gimmicks do not stand the test of time. We stick to the eternal Sanatana
Dharma, its core values and methods. We preach what we practise. Sadhana in
daily life is our sole mission.
We accept the universal trend of idol-worship. We acknowledge its practical
necessity. But then, we also understand its limitations. Additionally, we also agree
with the formless worship followed by seers. Bhakti, Jnana, Yoga, Tantra, Veda,
Vedanta along with all its sub-categories are accepted and followed by us. We agree
that they have their own respective importance in sadhana. We culminate divine
knowledge from all these. We do not oppose any step in the ladder leading to
salvation but just propel the aspirants forward by offering practical guidance on the path.
We sincerely revere and follow Sri Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi and
Jillellamudi Amma who are the great beacon lights in our broad and universal
thought process and sadhana path. But worshipping their physical figurines is not
our agenda. Rather, we owe to follow their teachings in practise in our daily lives.
That is why we don’t plan to have any temple inside the ashram premises.
Only a meditation hall would exist, that too in complete peace and quiet. One
is free to meditate and pray to the deity of his choice. They will be assigned
a sadhana path best suited to their needs and will be guided in that path.
We will not declare that all religions are equal because, it is not
true. Each religion has its own set of principles and its own version of truth.
Hence, they cannot be deemed equal. We believe and stress that ‘Hinduism is the
best of all religions’ because it contains everything that other religions
preach. Hinduism is like the superset of all religions and no other religion
has such multi-faceted divinity as it has. There is no necessity for an Indian
to convert to and adopt another religion. Not only this, but there is a need
for the converts to ‘ghar wapasi’ or return to their original religion.
Proper understanding of Hindu religion, its sadhana and preaching is our
priority sequence.
We not only explain the principles of Hinduism in a most rational way
that can be grasped by everyone, but help him walk this path.
The true principles of Hinduism would spread their light from our Ashram.
A physical manifestation to this mega project was laid on 25th June,
2022. The principles are already available in my books, blogs and audio files
over the past decade. Today, we have a geographical location to operate from.
Giving due importance to the true path of Yoga that we follow, our
ashram has been named as ‘Panchawati Yogashram’.
