INSPIRATIONS FROM INDIA #2: Saccidinanda Ashram -- January 4, 2017

Happy New Year – I wish you a fabulous new year overflowing with joy and peace!
I trust you have been enjoying this special time of year….
I’ve been spending Christmas week and New Years at Saccidanda Ashram … also known as Shantivanam (forest of peace)!  Saccidanda means “Being, Consciousness, Bliss” – Yes! The Holy Trinity!  Don’t you love that?  And I AM experiencing all of that!
After Amritapuri I spent 3 days with a family in Changanacherry in Kerala.  Besides learning how to cook some of the local meals, enjoying papayas, bananas and vegetables from their garden, my friend and I were taken on tours of the wider area… nature reserves, churches that integrate many aspects of local culture and beliefs, and a medieval-style austere ashram.   Kerala is fascinating and beautiful… I am really enjoying my experience of it.

Some photos here to give a taste of the unique Saccidananda Ashram… this living experiment of integrating Hinduism and Christianity at the core mystical level.  The key concept is: God is already in you.  You ARE that Divine Presence.  The life of this place about accessing the “cave of the Heart” through silence, meditation, prayer, chanting, symbols, ritual, and gentle community.

And here is a 7 minute video about this peaceful, nurturing place that has been my home in the state of Tamil Nadu this while.  ​

​Also some photos of awesome Hindu temples in nearby Tiruchirappally.  Srirangam Temple (14th century), dedicated to Vishnu is the largest active Hindu temple in the world.  People live within it… as do female elephants!

​Jambuisvara Temple (2nd century) is dedicated to Siva and focuses on the element of water.

​As my pilgrimage in India continues I will do my best to send out videos, emails, photos.
May your every day of 2017 be a celebration!
AUM NAMAHA SHIVAYA (God be with you)!