A sneak peek of life inside a meditation centre
In Delhi NCR, in the lap of nature!
Hey People,
Welcome to another edition of Raw and Real, where every week we have:
1 Raw and Real Conversation
2 Raw One-Liners
3 Real Gratitudes
Let’s go!
1 Raw and Real Conversation
(PS: Today’s post is a rather longer one, just saying :))
When I was a kid, my father would take all of us to a satsang of his guru.
And I hated it. (The ritual of going there, not the person ofcourse.)
I never understood anything explained.
Tardiness of 2-3 hours was a norm.
The places these events were organised were super-uncomfortable.
It almost felt weird to “suffer” so much. For what, I often used to wonder.
Of course, I had no choice :( (PS: I’m a millennial kid and not a GenZ kid, so if you are a millennial as well, you’d know having “no choice” was a norm in most households.)
Anyway, as I grew up and had agency of my life, I slowly morphed into reading Gita. That too in English. This was my way of connecting with God. At my own time. In a comfortable setting. Without legit questioning my existence!
Over time, some words started to resonate a lot, such as:
“Depend on me completely.”
“No one who is devoted to me will ever come to harm.”
”What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. The standards such people create will be followed by the whole world.”
Anyhow, over time, as I got deeper into spirituality and started attending a daily spiritual class, I now often get a chance to go to a spiritual retreat centre. While the options are multiple times during a quarter, I make it a point to go there at least 4X a year. Sometimes in Delhi NCR. Sometimes in the headquarters at Mt. Abu.
Here are the things that I absolutely LOVE:
Adherence to schedule. A meditation session that is supposed to end at 5 am ends at 5 am, doesn’t drag unnecessarily till 6.30 am.
You aren’t just sitting and meditating. You are studying practical concepts from people who have been practising meditation for more than 5-6 decades.
It is not just “spiritual” knowledge. The wisdom you get is practical, ready-to-execute in corporate life. (My favourite part.)
The campuses are clean. Like heaven.
The rooms are a bliss. Doesn’t look like you live in an ashram. I wrote about this before.
Food is the best in world. Plus, it is cooked in perfectly clean kitchens, in a high vibration state of mind, unlike restaurants where people are shouting at each other.
Your entire day is scheduled, yet you are free. Here is what the schedule looks like:
3.30 am: Wake up
4-5 am: Group meditation in auditorium
Tea is available in kitchen from 3.30 am till 7 am
7 am: Spiritual class
8.30 am: Proceed for breakfast (Sandwiches/dal puri/idli sambhar; often more than 2 food combos to choose from)
10am-1pm: 3 classes of 1 hour duration each. Topics range from “how to be a giver in the world” OR “Power of meditation in corporate life” OR “Replace Information Technology with Inner Technology” and so on.
Every class starts with a meditation for 1 minute, and ends with a meditation for 1 minute.1 pm: Proceed for lunch. (Dal, rice, roti, sabzi, salad, butter milk, sometimes a dessert, other times pani puri or other “chat” things as well!)
2-5 pm: Chill in your room :) Tea is available from 3.30 pm onwards.
5-6.30 pm: 30 minutes meditation followed by an hour’s class
6.30-7.30 pm: Group meditation (we bless the world with loving kindness)
Post meditation: Proceed for dinner (Similar to lunch sans the butter milk)
After dinner: Sit in various meditation rooms in the campus (optional), or go back to your room :)
The best part is — you are free for most part of the day, do all that you want to, and go back to bed on time, because you gotta wake up very early in the morning the next day :))
Such retreats usually last for 2 days (if in Delhi NCR campus), or for 4-5 days when in Mt. Abu.
Here are some pictures:
PS: Please forgive my lack of photography skills. But I guess the vibes would still be visible in pictures.
You can see more (and better :)) pictures of the campus here.
Now, I could go on and on and write plethora on this topic, however, I’d finish with these positive results such retreats have brought to my life:
For a long time, I had low self worth. I have now started respecting myself.
I have let go of a lot of past trauma.
At the end of the day, I vent out EVERYTHING of the day to God. Unfiltered. Raw. Real. It keeps me empty of the daily traumas we all are collecting. (One of my biggest blessings of life so far.)
It is a journey, and every person gets something different from their respective journeys. I am happy where I am, because I got what I was looking for (a better relationship with myself), without “giving up” on the world.
That’s a win. Isn’t it?
I hope you found something new and useful, like I have been, through all these years :) If you have any questions, hmu!
2 Raw One Liners
(Going by the theme of today’s edition, I’ll share 2 of my learnings from the spiritual class):
Anyone can be nice to those who are nice. Your true spiritual test is when you are nice to those who aren’t nice, because the entire world is your family.
Just like a ray of light lights up an entire room full of doom and gloom, your good wishes are that ray of light, that could light up anyone’s gloomy life. You, just have to take care of having the purest wishes for everyone.
3 Real Gratitudes
The friends I have found at the spiritual class. They are in the age range of 70s, 60s, 50s, 40s, 30s, 20s, and a couple of teens as well. We of course don’t hang out at coffee shops, but to have a family outside of your family and meet them daily is one of the biggest blessings of life.
The life of a schedule. It liberates you more than it imprisons you :)
Good food. There are few things in life as good as monotonous food made delicious :))
That is it for this week bro. I enjoy writing these newsletters like nothing else (okay, second to the books I work on haha).
See you next Saturday.
Stay raw. Stay real.
Nishtha Gehija
Reads of this week:
I was stunned by that celeb’s abs |
Holding on to a t-shirt for 20 years! |
Read this each time you are (near) depressed |
Whenever you are ready, here are some of my books that would help you:
The Corporate Life Handbook: The book everyone working a corporate job needs :)
The Career Changing Guide: My bestseller so far :)
How to Deal with Heartbreak: Because, life happens :(
Every Writer Needs to Read this: I wish I had this one, when I was starting out as a writer
This is What You are Looking for: Small Life Lessons for a Happier Life