When I arrived at Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi, it was 4:15 PM.
Guruji’s YSS Ranchi Ashram is just 20 minutes away from the airport.
As I was considering booking a cab, a person approached me and asked, “Madam, kaha jana hai?” (Where do you want to go?) I told him my destination.
“Chaliye main leke jata hu,” (Come, I’ll take you) he said.
Seeing an elderly person putting in a lot of effort to earn his living in this hot weather, I decided to skip the cab option and got into his auto-rickshaw.
I looked outside and saw that school time was over.
Kids were hurrying back home, some people were selling vegetables and fruits on the roadside.
There was also some road construction happening nearby.
The ashram had three gates. Since it was my first time, I got off at a gate that was far from the ashram’s hostel.
In the next 10 minutes, the watchman and I dragged my bags and reached the ashram hostel.
During these 10 minutes, I hardly saw 2-3 people in the entire campus. “Where is everyone?” I wondered.
“They are in Group meditation,” the watchman replied.
Using hostel lift, I reached first floor where I had been allocated a room.
Once there, I found that there was no one on the entire floor.
It was quite dark, all the rooms locked.
I have to admit, I felt a bit scared. “Am I going to live on this entire floor alone for a whole week?” I thought to myself.
I switched on some lights in the corridor and things looked a little better.
It was around 5:30 pm, and I was feeling really hungry.
I had only eaten brunch at 10 am and hadn’t had anything since then. Plus, I didn’t have any food in my bags.
I picked up my bags and started walking towards one end of the area. Eventually, I reached a small room.
The room had some chairs, a table, a picture of Guruji, a cabin room, and a small fridge.
When I opened the fridge, a smile spread across my face—there was so much food inside!
There were fresh fruits like grapes, some soft drinks and juices, and even kulfis.
I took one kulfi and looked around the room for any instructions about payment, but there weren’t any.
I ate it anyways. “Wow, that was good.”
“Now what to do?”
Since everyone was busy in group meditation, I hadn’t gotten my keys yet. Leaving my bags in that room, I came down and saw a girl.
“Yahaan pe Sunday long meditation hota hai. Sab meditation mein hain. Aap bhi join kar sakte ho,” she said.
The energy in the meditation hall was beautiful. I sat down in the front row and joined them.
When meditation got over, everyone rushed to have dinner. In the Ashram, there is a timetable for everything and one has to follow the rules.
On most days, the timetable is as follows:
7 am – 8 am group meditation
8 am breakfast
1 pm lunch
4 pm tea
6 pm – 7.30 pm group meditation
8 pm dinner
First day, I was new and had no clue, so I just followed what everyone was doing.
Dinner was simple: daal-chawal, roti, curd, jaggery, salad, vegetables, and pickle.
It had very little oil, no onion, no garlic. Food was simple and tasted good.
After dinner, I was asked to meet a lady who handles the hostel reception.
“Aunty, am I the only one on first floor? Can you shift me somewhere else, maybe on the ground floor?” I requested.
“All rooms are fully occupied. You will see people soon. Don’t worry. When you are at Guruji’s place, there is no need to be scared. You will be alone in your room. Stay there for one night and see, okay?” she said.
“Okay. Also, Aunty, I ate one kulfi. Please tell me if I can pay for it. I’m sorry, I did it without permission,” I confessed.
As she heard this, her eyes behind her glasses widened, and then she started laughing.
“Oh, we only bought those kulfis. Don’t worry, if you want more, then eat,” she said while controlling her laughter.
“When people come here, how do they spend their time? What do they do?” I asked her but immediately felt sorry for myself.
Am I not supposed to spend my time in meditation instead of wondering what others do?
“Well, they do meditation, meet monks, read, some go outside and visit nearby places,” she replied.
I thanked her and left.
It was a good spacious, simple room. On the wall Guruji’s big frame was there.
I put 5 am alarm and slept.
In the next 6 days:
- I met 3 YSS sanyasis (monks).
- Received informal Kriya Yoga initiation.
- While having a counseling session with a senior monk, he started crying in front of me, and I joined him.
- Visited Guruji’s school in Ranchi where free education is provided to children.
- Visited the Jagannath Temple with three other devotees.
- Spent time in Guruji’s room.
- I asked a question: “Who created God?”
I plan to cover all seven points mentioned above in separate articles.
However, I need some time for reflection. Reflection will help me keep what is necessary and discard what is unnecessary.
It will also help me analyse my mistakes.
All separate articles will be available on this website before next Saturday. Once done, I will share updates on the Yogarati Instagram account.
A girl who felt a little scared on the first day ended up feeling a little sad to leave Guruji’s Ashram on the last day.
People were helpful.
Now that I’m back in Mumbai, I can say that the visit to Guruji’s Ashram was such a beautiful and eye-opening experience.
Now I need to complete the Kriya Yoga initiation ceremony.
Below, I’m sharing some pictures.
Sitting under the “litchi tree”. Here many times, while doing sankirtan with boys, Guruji would enter into samadhi and remain in that state for hours.
this is group meditation hall. clicking pictures inside is not allowded. Once can feel good engery , peace inside.
visit to YSS ranchi school. Free education is provided here
classrooms
old school
yss sanyasi/ monk
Almost every day after breakfast, I would spend some time with her. Her grandmother works in the garden area.
Our game was simple: collect fallen fruits and think silently about what to do with them. Most of the time, we would just put them back where we found them.
“Tomorrow will be my last day,” I told her.
She remained silent for a moment and then said, “Can you bring me balloons and colors tomorrow?”
I agreed, but I wondered where I would find them.
In 7 days, I hardly left the Ashram, only three times: to buy mineral water, visit the YSS school and temple, and lastly, to buy her gifts.
That day, it was hot outside, and I searched for stationary shops near the Ashram but had no luck.
I kept walking and asked some college girls if they knew any shops around.
After walking for half an hour, I found one shop and bought a simple coloring book, colors, and a small pack of balloons.
On the last day, after breakfast, I reached our meeting point, but she was not there.
I searched for her everywhere and finally found her near the hostel.
“I was searching for you,” she said, came running when she saw me.
“Me too.”
When I gifted her that small package, her granny had a big question mark on her face.
“Kuch nahi bas notebook hai,” I said.
I later found out she had no mother.
spent 1 hour in this area with a senior yss monk. Such a beautiful experience.
Jagannatha mandir, ranchi
this is Ashram’s kitchen. This is where devotees eat together. Rule is eat in silence, follow timings, dont waste food
small temple inside Ashram
I got informal Kriya yoga initiation. Its a blessing to get it in Ranchi Ashram. I will talk about it in separate article.
in this building, there is guruji’s room. We cannot click pictures inside.
beautiful Ashram
That day, sky was clear, and the moon was shining beautifully. After dinner, I sat alone on the beach for a while.
one senior devotee gifted me this orange.
Do you remember the aunty who handles the hostel reception area?
Throughout the trip, she treated me like her daughter.
On last day while doing for breakfast, she said lets click a picture..what if we never meet in life again.
Aunty is serving as a volunteer for 3 months.
Last night, she called me around 9:30 pm to check if I reached home safely and had food.
That’s all I have for this post.
Thank you so much for spending time with me.
I wish you a wonderful weekend.
Stay blessed, stay happy always.
Much love,
Arati
❤️