Spending Christmas in Sri Aurobindo ashram

On Christmas holiday kids have organized different games-
here they stand in the line waiting for the beginning

I've decided to spend my Christmas days in Sri Aurobindo ashram outside Kathmandu. For those who did not know-ashram is a spiritual hermitage, where inhabitants spend a lot of time for spiritual and physical exercises, serving the world and fulfilling their duties. Don't confuse it with monastery-even though people don't marry and have very few material possessions here, they are much freerer than monks. They study in universities, dress casually, wear make ups and frequently go outside to the city.

This particular ashram is mostly a shelter for children-those abandoned or those, whose parents decided to send them to a spiritual place. Those children have a local school; although apart from that ashram practices integral teaching-apart from governmental syllabus kids are learning to dance, to sing, to paint and they have daily physical exercises. Each one of them, even those of 6-7 year old have their duties and usually the duty is performed in a group of younger and older children, so that elder ones can help smaller ones. Small kids can actually do a lot! For instance, to roll dough. Those children are still poor, but they get proper food, they have warm clothes and they have clean beds to sleep. Above all-they are happy. Have you ever been to orphanage? I haven't, I always thought I am too emotional to see those small kids who are missing real homes.

School activity-in this game kids learned different English words.
On the command they needed to perform something, e.g. smile

This is not the case here. Children are responsible, never alone or never crying. Another thing-they smile back and laugh a lot. I've noticed that here in Nepal children  are very shy and even though they would come close to you lead by curiosity, they would always turn away or hide if you smile or initiate contact. Here a child would give his wide happy smile at the very moment he sees some first drops of smile in your eyes.

My heart has melted.

The guru of the ashram, hugging the smallest ones

Children in the line for delicious food

Children in ashram develop their talents professionally-some of them start drawing amazing thangkas, some go for sewing, some play musical instruments, others go for college.

Old and young participate in the game for candies

The centre has naturopathy, where all the diseases are first treated with ayurveda. They also make pashmina and sell organic vegetables.

Everyone does according to his skills and wishes, and the whole community benefits from that. 

So many places in the world would try to build communism; and all of them would fail-at the end people's greed and will for power would beat all the good intentions. Not the case here, where spirituality would be interwoven in every action-not in the form of non-stop prays, but in the form of doing good, serving people and living for the divine.

At first this peace and tranquillity made me think I have nothing to do there; with time I got more and more attached to the simplicity and joy. Ever day I would think of staying here forever and every evening I would wish to run away. It was so bloody COLD! I though I got used to the cold Kathmandu, but that was incomparable! Having on me all the clothes in many layers it felt like even the blood in my veins is freezing. I could also not imagine any life after 9 o'clock, the cold made it impossible even to read in the bed-the book holding arm would scream to put it back under the blanket. So I went to sleep quiet early. I thought to work for my research in ashram-but didn't really happen. Either my fingers were too stiff either with the first warmth from sun I would just run outside and enjoy my muscles getting back to life. Although I have managed to solve my research related long lasting annoying problems. 

 

For me it is the place to return. I keep asking myself a question-why we people cannot live like that? Why can't we have organic food, natural medicine, be friendly and share with all what we have?