Santhigiri Ashram
Santhigiri Ashram is the training center for anyone to come in, understand
and assimilate the gist of the teachings of Nava Jyothi Sri Karunakara Guru,
through a path oriented in action, in other words by doing karma -correct
mode of action. The age old concept was that the deliverance -mukti-,
beholds only the ascetics, such as yogis, rishis -sages-, avadoothas, etc.,
engaged in specialized spiritual practices, performances, asceticism, etc. A
cohesive pattern engulfing every activity known to man, elevation from one
activity to another, fully after accomplishing the previous ones, with the
rights and wrongs of them, constituted by the vasana -subconscious
inclinations and habit patterns created through experience- of the
individual; the embossing of all these in the soul, is only essential in
this period, but was never known to man. No karma or activity can be said to
have been fairly and squarely accomplished in totality, unless that has been
dedicated to the Almighty God. There are activities undertaken to fulfill
the needs of the family, near and dear, their well-being, etc. Secondly, we
come across people who are engaged in their chosen sphere of action, for a
cause with total disregard for the safety, security and well-being of their
family, friends, relatives and their own self. This may be a permanent frame
of mind as in the case of some fanatics, those pursuing a political or other
philosophy, patriotism, etc. It may also be a spur of the moment thing, as
always seen in the wars as supreme sacrifice, etc. Such men though not many
are yet available, but the third part consists of an activity for the Will
of God, to prevail in and pervade the World as a whole.
The
self or other men made philosophies, men’s desperate clinging to the
material things or the men themselves do not matter. But the intention to
redeem their souls and to present them as the foot soldiers who are not
trained to slay the fellow men, but are engaged in the unenviable task of
cleansing the souls of their fellow men, if not at least ending up as an
instrument in that process, is the cause to establish the Santhigiri Ashram.
Nava
Jyothi Sri Karunakara Guru as always made a humble beginning with a small
thatch roofed hut barely of twenty square feet. Now it has more than 1500
inmates from all walks of life, bulk of them are volunteers, who get their
barest necessities, only in exchange for most grueling tasks for most of the
day. The self imposed discipline to accomplish the existing work is a
phenomena worth seeing to be believed. This is necessary not just to eke out
a living, or to establish an order, held dear to one in the world, but a
humble surrender, a selfless sacrifice on the altar of the Will of the
Supreme -"for thine to be done as per thy wishes."
Free
food and accommodation are provided to all people who visit the Ashram. The
Ashram is registered under charity organizations by the government of India.
Charitable feeding
The
Santhigiri Ashram provide daily free food to more than one thousand people,
who include the inmates, devotees, visitors and the poor. The hundreds of
thousands of rupees spent for this purpose, are mainly from the voluntary
donations of the devotees. Since the very cooking of such food, is done as a
divine act of prayer, it helps in the spiritual purification of those who
partake the food.
Hospital
Complex
The services of all the mayor systems of medicine in the World -Ayurveda-,
Siddha, Homeopathy, Allopathy- are available at the Santhigiri Hospital
Complex. Treatment is provided by doctors, who are efficient in their
respective areas of specialties. Effective and genuine medicines and
preparations- are provided to the patients. Besides providing dental
treatment, panchakarma treatment based on Ayurvedic and Siddha systems are
available. The medical care available at Santhigiri, has become widely known
for its efficacy and effectiveness, being attested by all those who had
personally experienced benefits of the services.
The
staff of the Hospital Complex are no sticklers to the ‘rules.’ They shy away
from no work. It is not at all uncommon for nurses washing the dirty linens,
mopping the floors and engaging in sanitary duties.
Ayurveda
and Siddha Manufacturing Units
The sanyasins -renouncers- and sages, carry
out their activities in this World by using their bodies as the instrument.
A healthy body makes a person capable of effectively practicing his Dharma
-Divine Law- and karma -positive actions. The Ayurvedic and Siddha systems
originated with this objective of providing good health to the sanyasins,
but later those systems became a blessing for the whole World.
At
Santhigiri, genuine Ayurvedic and Siddha medicines, are manufactured by
blending our ancient tradition with modern methods. The production and
distribution of these medicines, all involve a divine invocation. This
involvement of Divine Grace contributes to the cure of diseases, as evident
from the experiences of several people.
The
Santhigiri Ayurveda and Siddha Vaidyasala, produces more than 600 medicines,
some of them in accordance with the directions of the saints and sages, who
have unveiled the mystery of nature, to bring out a method of curing the
sick.
People have become sick by the sins they have amassed in their present and
past sojourn in the Earth. The karmic aspect, some of the sins so accrued
also have to be inherited by the healer and hence, he has to do more than
his share, to work out the karmas (or the other too) and to transmit the
evil effect through the Guru to the Almighty. For this, a fervent prayer and
a grueling karma in combination is necessary, and hence the Santhigiri
Hospital Complex presents a strange sight to one who is not well versed in
this subject.
The
Ayurvedic and Siddha medicines manufactured in the Ashram are rated No.1 in
the country. Ashram has developed medicines for the total cure of cancer,
arthritis, sinusitis and other ailments. There is an Ayurvedic hospital in
the Ashram, and one at Olassery, Palakkad District, Kerala State, South
India.
Santhigiri Vidya Bhavan (School)
Development of culture which blends the rich tradition of our
ancient sages and the dynamism of modernity, will lead us to the useful
treasure houses of knowledge. Education aims to induce among the students,
the virtues required for the complete development of man. Santhigiri Vidya
Bhavan -school- aims to achieve this. The Ashram runs an English Medium
Residential School, while giving proper emphasis to Malayalam, as well as
the national language Hindi. The institution which helps in the transfer of
the grand tradition of Santhigiri to the new generation, functions now at
the school level. Efforts are being made to start a college, offering
professional courses which, indeed, is the need of the time.
The schools and colleges of the World, have audacity to claim that their
duty is to make people efficient, and it is not their cup of tea to ensure
that this efficiency is used to constructive and creative purposes. The Guru
conceived of Santhigiri Vidya Bhavan -school- to be run by the selfless
sacrifice of the staff members, who will not merely preach but practice. The
time will come, if not to all, but at least the few of its alumnae, to
ponder over the force that prompted their mentors to take up this extremely
exhausting hours task, to make them what they are. Not to speak of their
karma -actions- consolidating itself into a many faceted sacrifice, which
will make the followers to metamorphose into warriors of God, shaping the
students to willingly enter into the crucibles for the redemption of self
and others.
Like
this, beginning with the most menial of the tasks, to the highest in the
hierarchal order, people have to be trained to think, to aspire to struggle
hard, achieve the fruit and earn the right to transmit all these, to the
better suited and stronger hearted next generation. That precisely is the
aim, goal and reason for establishing it to run it, based on compassion for
the humanity, and not to institutionalize and ingest rules and laws, based
on suspicion and doubt towards the fellow men.
Publication Division
The dissemination of the messages of the tradition is a duty-bound
program of Santhigiri Ashram. The publication division make available to the
readers at a moderate price, the divine works by the Guru as well that of
the disciples, who imbibe and express the wisdom they receive. The first
phase of modernizing the printing plant is almost completed.
Publications of the Ashram are available in the Ashram’s book shop:
Monthly spiritual magazine - Malayalam
Ummini Thanka (News Paper) - English &
Malayalam
The
Handloom Textile Unit
A handloom textile production unit, run by women, effectively
function making clothes, that are widely recognized for their simplicity and
quality. The Ashram thus preserves and promotes one of our ancient
traditions.
Spices
Production Unit
The Bhagini Nikethan produces all kinds of curry powders and spices,
and makes them available to the consumers at a moderate price. These
products have by now achieved a reputation for cleanliness and purity. The
users of the products from this unit are convinced that the spices offered
are of excellent quality, making them indispensable for good cooking.
Dairy
Unit
The Dairy unit of Santhigiri Ashram has become a model establishment
in milk production field. All the cattle here, are cared for with loving and
meticulous attention. This approach which helps in the production of rich
milk, has gained much public attention.
Herbal
Garden
Medicines are essential for saving life as well as for preserving
health. To ensure the availability of genuine medicines, adequate quantities
of their ingredients have to be produced. The preservation of herbs and
other medicinal plants, is particularly significant in an age when man’s
ignorance and recklessness, have caused immense damage to the environment,
causing the disappearance of many useful herbs. All sorts of medicinal
plants and herbs, including the extremely rare species, are planted and
cared for in the herbal garden. The expansion of this garden is also
envisaged.
The
Sanyasin Order of the
Ashram
The sanyasin -renouncer- order at Santhigiri, aim to shoulder
the heavy responsibility of preserving the Dharma -Divine Law- of our
tradition. It is based on traveling on the Dharma path with sacrifice and
renunciation, accepting all the tribulations involved in it, utterly
dedicated to meditation and the tapas -religious austerities- for wisdom.
The sanyasins of this tradition, are called jnana thapaswis, and the
sanyasinis -female renouncers-, jnana thapaswinis.
Even
at the ancient times, women were given adequate consideration in the field
of spiritualism, and there were greats like Maithrai and Gargi, as evident
in our epics. But the ages of degeneration that followed, witnessed the
expulsion of women from their glorious position, and they were forced to
traverse to the darkness of ignorance.
The
objective of giving sanyasa diksha -renouncer’s initiation- to women, is to
uplift them in the spiritual field, giving them the opportunity along with
men. This marks a great development in the history of spiritual evolution of
mankind.
How to
reach Ashram
Santhigiri Ashram is situated on a beautiful hillock, 24 Kms.
away from Trivandrum city, capital of Kerala, South India. Government buses
and private taxies are available to reach Ashram.
The
address is Santhigiri Ashram,
- P.O. Koliakode,
- Via. Venjarammod (Pothenkode),
- Trivandrum- 695607,
Kerala, India.
- Tel No. +91 471
419313 or 419056
- Fax No.+91 471
419076,
Santhigiri Ashram's Branches
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