This article on ashram explains about the
Christian ashram in general and my ashram in particular.
The Sanskrit word “ashram” means
withdrawal from the world work. It refers to a spiritual retreat center or
community that is engaged in spiritual pursuits. Ashram refers to a place of
peace in the forest where a community of disciples lives under the guidance of
a guru to learn about God through experience. In ancient India , the
“rishis” (prophets) founded ashrams in the forest or in a secluded area on the
banks of the rivers surrounded by beautiful scenery. One author described these
ashrams as laboratories for religious experiments. Traditionally the ashrams were the centers of
learning, retreat, and disciple making. Some of them also served as schools
similar to the school of prophets found in the Old Testament of the Bible. During
the Vedic period young men from noble families came to the ashram for education
and training concerning the duties of life, then return to society to live as
responsible citizens. Here, the
vanaprasathis and the sages who retired from the society after obtaining a
wealth of experience, prepared the students for a life of responsibility in the
society. Therefore, the ashrams are
known as “guru Kulam”
Even today, the
Hindus who thirst for the knowledge of God search after a suitable guru by
going from one ashram to another because, they believe that only a guru could
help them on spiritual matters through various sadhanas (practices). The ashrams and gurus are increasing in
numbers in these modern times to meet the spiritual needs of Indians as well as
others coming from west in search of meaning and purpose in life.
In the past,
the ashrams had no rigid structure or formal constitution.
However, they had certain operating principles and goals.
The guru was the center and heart of the ashram. He directed the activities of
the ashram and the Ashramites responded to his instruction with obedience and
humility. By a simple and pious life, the guru was able to exert great influence
on those under his discipleship. The gurus have established ashrams in modern India with a
simple structure due to government regulations. Since the ashrams own property,
the government requires the board of trustees to handle the financial
affairs. Although the guru is still the
sole head of the ashram, he acts through the board of trustees regarding
secular matters relating to the ashram. The guru will decide the succession of
leadership. He may name one of his
disciples as the head of the ashram before he dies.
In
contemporary India ,
the ashrams have modified their programs to meet the spiritual, social and
intellectual needs of people. For example, leaders like Mahatma Gandhi,
Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Sivanada started ashrams to meet the political and
spiritual quests of the people. Following the examples of these Hindu leaders,
some Christian leaders who were hungering for an Indian mode of Christ life,
witness and service started the Christian ashram movement in India and attempted to make
Christianity meaningful and relevant to Indians in the context of the Hindu
spiritual tradition. The Christian spiritual life definitely includes the
experience of prayer, love, peace, forgiveness, and freedom, joy, sharing and
serving. However, it lacks the
experiences of solitude, silence, contemplation, devotion, self-surrender,
simplicity, renunciation, continence, self-realization, and bliss. Although
Christ exemplified these qualities in his life on earth, many Christian
teachers and ministers in India
do not practice them. Christian ashrams have emerged to fill this spiritual gap
in the lives of the Christians.
Dr.S.Jesudason,
Dr.E.forrester-Patton, father Jack Winslow of the Anglican Church and the
Catholic Fathers J.Monchanin and Le saux started Christian ashrams in which
they tried to express the ideals of Christian service and spirituality in
harmony with their particular church tradition. These ashrams are still alive
and continue to attract the Hindus. There are over 50 Christian ashrams in India adopting Christian witness to the
spiritual and political climate in India .
Dr.S.Jesudason and Dr. E. Forrester-Patton started the first Christian
ashram in India
to express the ideals of Christian service at Thiruppathur, Tamil Nadu in 1921.
They built a house of prayer in Dravidian style of temple architecture that they
used for indigenous modes of worship. Since then, it has been great attraction
to many Hindus to come there for worship. The Hindu villagers from nearby
places benefit from the school and the hospitals this ashram operates. This ashram
remains as the indigenous expression of Christian faith and service in this
part of India .
In the same
period father Jack Winslow of Anglican Church started an ashram in Pune, Maharastra State India and had close links with the
leaders of freedom movement. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi himself stayed here
once and participated in the meditation.
Hindus who came here felt accepted and loved. From its
start, this ashram community had a Hindu member to help with its religious and
social services. This ashram did not aim at converting the Hindus, but to live
the life of prayer amidst the Hindu community of Pune.
J.Monchanin and
H. Le Saux founded the famous catholic ashram at Kulithalai, Tamilnadu known as
Saccidananda Ashram on the banks of the river Cauvery, in 1950.
Then Bede Griffiths came in 1968 wanting to demonstrate to
the Hindus in spiritual greatness of Christianity through the completive life
style. He stated that the ashrams
could become authentic centers of Indian spirituality
leading people through the Indian methods of prayer and meditation. He felt
that ideal of Christian sannyasin could be a powerful starting to approach the
Hindus. Griffith also attempted to interpret the
doctrine of trinity in the context of Advita system of Hinduism, which is the
most powerful philosophical system in India . Through the contemplative life,
he tried to help people realize the mystery and nature of Absolute. He used the Christian view of the trinity and
concept of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ to the realization of the
mystery of the Ultimate Reality of the Advita Vedanta.
These
ashrams are similar in many ways to Hindu ashrams, but in certain aspects, they
are different. Unlike the Hindu ashrams, Christian ashram has no visible guru.
It is because they believe that Christ is the “sad guru” (true guru). However, each Christian ashram has a leader
known as “acharya”, who is looked upon for spiritual guidance. The ashramites
respect him but do not revere as guru. Another difference is that the Christian
ashrams are not just a community engaged only in holy living. Christian ashrams communicate Christ to the
world and engage in social service. In addition, Christian ashrams have
organization with the flexible power structure, goals, objectives, rules,
guiding principles and activities.
Christian ashrams are Para-church
communities existing independent of the institutionalized churches, yet related
to certain denominational church traditions and orders. For example, the
Saccidhananda Ashram of Bede Griffith has affiliation with the Camadolese
branch of the Benedictine order and the Chrsitu-kula Ashram of Thirupathur has direction from National Missionary
Society. They are not anti church institutions, but independent, indigenous,
communities that spontaneously emerged in response to the missiological
challenges in India .
Christian ashrams in general serve as a great asset to the Church and the cause
of Christ in India .
The Christian spirituality manifested in Christian ashrams is an enormous
source of inspiration to many Hindus who are not attracted by religious life of
the churches that appeared to them as Western cultural colonies. Christian
ashram itself is a new way of being a Church, providing the environment that
enriches the spiritual life of the Church.
The
word ashram still has great attraction to Indian people because of its
connection with ancient hermitages of the rishis who lived a holy life of
prayer and meditation. Therefore, the name ashram should not be used carelessly
just for any Christian institution as is often the case presently in referring
to the orphanages, hospitals, or other social service units of the Church. The
misuse of the word ashram is an offense to the Hindus. Besides, they do not like the Christian
ashram used for proselytism. We can
establish Christian ashrams only with the purpose of promoting the principles
of spirituality, community, service and religious education.
“Spirituality” refers to the spiritual aspect of life that focuses on
knowing and experiencing God within oneself by transcending self. It is the
experience of abiding presence of God within the cave of the heart through
sadhanas such as study, prayer, reflection, contemplation, intense longing for
salvation, renunciation, complete surrender of the will to God, disinterested
benevolence, faith and yoga. Christian spirituality centers on Christ and it is
the response to the redeeming love revealed in the historical person of Jesus
Christ and his death on the cross. It focuses on our relationship to God
through Christ and to our fellow human beings. It is also an eschatological spirituality
because it focuses on the faith in soon coming of Christ. This faith shapes the
Christian life in the world causing a person to live a holy life of
renunciation, prayer, witness, persecution, martyrdom. Thus, Christian
spirituality differs from Hindu spirituality for the later bases on the
pessimistic way of looking at life, history and world, the inner reality of
self and its identity with ultimate reality Brahman. Spirituality in the
ashrams also expressed in terms of simplicity in dwellings, food, and dress.
Christian ashrams, in general, do not propagate
a particular denominational creed or a set of dogmas. However, few ashrams, affiliated with certain
denominations, do hold to the dogmas of their respective denominations, but
often do not propagate them vigorously. Christian ashrams started by certain
individuals do not affiliate with any denomination; however, they may still
reflect the ideas and aspiration of denominations from which the founders come.
Having these ideas
in mind, I started a Christian ashram at Thirupanthurithi village near
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu in 1990 on the banks of the Cauvery River Spicer Memorial
College India
and abroad, and visit to few Christian ashrams shaped my ashram plans and its
ideals. I discussed my plans with Pastor J.P.Masillamony, former editor of
nalvazhy magazine of the Southern Asia Division of Seventh-day-Adventist, and
asked him to suggest a name for it in June1986. He suggested the name
Karunaiyanathar Ashram. Karunaiyanathar is one of the indigenous names given to
Jesus Christ by Vedhanayaga Sasthri, a Christian poet from Thanjavur Tamil
Nadu. This name means “one who is compassionate and blissful”.
The name itself clearly indicates
that Jesus is the center of this ashram, and that we want to bring joy (bliss),
peace (shanthi), and harmony in the world through compassionate service. Service
here is the practical expression of bhakthi (devotion) to Jesus Christ. He is exalted through word and deed so that
he would draw all people unto him. We have adopted the missiological principles
enlisted in two missionary texts found in Luke 4:18-19 and Romans 15:20, which
are to preach the gospel to the people
who never heard the gospel, heal the broken hearted, give freedom to the
captives and liberty to the oppressed.
Accordingly, we focus on communicating Christ to all people including
Christians and do various types of service to the needy.
It is not a Christian
ashram in communal sense but ashram of Christ. It has no affiliation with any
Christian denomination. It is an indigenous, independent ecumenical community where
people could live together as one family and carry out the objectives of the
ashram. I have incorporated features like simple lifestyle, natural setting,
spirituality from Hindu ashrams and ideals of healthful living from Adventist
self-supporting institutions in this ashram. It is not another evangelistic
strategy for proselytism and it will not be a camouflaged proselytizing agency
for any denomination. Rather, it will be a discipling agency for Christ and the
Church, the body of Christ. The disciple making will be the objective and it
will happen naturally by the leading of the Holy Sprit as people experience the
power of Christ in the spiritual atmosphere of ashram and as they see a group
of Christians living in an intense and committed Christian life.
The ashram has
adopted principles such as spirituality, contextualization, service,
simplicity, unity, health and witness as guiding principle to reach the goals
and objectives. Its goal is to make Christ known among all especially the
Hindus and to influence the Indian society with the values of Kingdom of God (
Ram Raj) taught by Jesus Christ. Its objectives are to develop indigenous form
of worship and witness, to serve as a center for religious dialogue, study and
training, to provide philanthropic service in the neighborhood, to publish
literature and to serve as a home for people ostracized by their families.
These goals and objectives carried out not by
paid workers but volunteers called by God for this ministry. Paid ministry is
foreign to Indian religious tradition.
It is contrary to the spirit of the ashram. It could defeat the purpose of the ashram.
Volunteers at the ashrams are classified as part-time, long-time and lifetime
volunteers. They share different service responsibilities in the ashram
according to the time and talent they could invest. They receive the incidental
expenses, food and accommodation when they are engaged in the service at the
ashram. Ashram has a leader and board of trustees who are also volunteers. All
these volunteers known as ashramites help with all ashram activities.
This
ashram has been engaged in several activities in the past 15 years.
Inter-religious worship, inter-religious dialogue, festivals, seminars, summer
camps, eye camps, medical camps are regular features of this ashram. Besides,
the ashramites communicate Christ and his teachings through personal dialogue
and Tamil pamphlets centered on Christ and his teachings.
The ashram
premise consists of several buildings for its activities and there is still a
need for a few more buildings to meet our needs. At present, there is a room
for meditation, a hall for public meeting, a library and guest rooms. Besides,
there is a kitchen and dinning room. There is a plan to build a hostel in the
future to accommodate 12 students and few more guest rooms. Further, in the
future we hope to build a Christian
This ashram
still has a long way to go in order to realize its goal. It is open to new
possibilities and new relationship with any religious groups. Being the only active member of the
inter-religious group Thiruarutperavi of Thanjavur district, this ashram serves
as an agency to bring people of various religions together. The Ashram works in
cooperation with the Rotary club, Red Cross, Joseph Eye Hospital
In
conclusion, I would like to plead for a change in the mission of the church in India . We need
to shift our focus from proselytism to discipling, from sheep stealing to
nurturing, from attacking each other to uplifting, from dividing to uniting,
from building walls around to building bridges, from dependency to self-support,
from slavery to freedom and from commercializing the Gospel to contextualizing
the Gospel. With courage and faith, the leaders of various denominational
churches and mission agencies should dismantle the old imported evangelistic
approach that is no longer suitable to modern India and return to the biblical
model of discipleship as practiced by Jesus and his disciples. In our
evangelism, success measured not in terms of reports based on baptismal
statistics rather measured in terms of the impact Christians make in the life
of the society. By living holy and serving like Mother Theresa, Christians can
make powerful impact on the lives of the Indian society than any propaganda.
Stanley Jones said, “Christ interpreted through experience and backed by fine
living is almost irresistible for India today”. Therefore, Christian
evangelists, instead of engaging in sheep stealing and targeting the poor
unsophisticated low caste village Hindus to achieve their baptismal goal, they
must learn to transform the community with their holy living and service. The
ashram model provides proper Christian approach to people in India.
Finally, I
would like to state that it is my conviction that the ashram model is one of the suitable models for Christian witness
and discipleship in modern India
because it comes within the spiritual heritage of India . Christian Ashrams will not
replace the institutionalized churches but supplement them with spiritual
energy. Therefore, the church leaders instead of viewing the ashrams with
negative attitude should learn to view it positively and co-operate with
Christian ashrams in bringing the knowledge of Christ in India. Christian
ashrams can certainly fulfill Hindu aspirations and longing for God in Jesus
Christ. Therefore, ashram as a
contextualized model can succeed in discipling the people of India. The great
Indian missiologist, Paul D. Devanandan upheld the idea of ashram and said,
“The future rests with the ashram approach.
At any rate, in the immediate years to come, the Christian evangelist to
Hindu India should more and more adopt the underlying principles of the ashram
strategy in planning his campaign”.
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