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Spiritual Retreat
An ashram is a place of spiritual retreat. Usually there are permanent residents as well as visitors who come for retreats.
Ashram pictures
Vidya Ashram in the...
Ashram to Nizamuddin...
Long dark corridor o...
Old and forgotten
About food on an Ashram
Ashrams usually have practical rules to make sure the atmosphere stays spiritual and meditative. For the permanent residents these rules have become a way of life. For visitors they are voluntarily taken on, usually for spiritual cleansing purposes.Rules often found in Ashrams include:
- No meat: vegetarian food
- No alcohol or other intoxicants
- No smoking
On stricter Ashrams rules may even include the following:
- No sweets or sugar
- No coffee or tea (these contain caffeine)
Source for this image of the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in India, which is an Ashram
Books about Spiritual Retreats
Eckhart Tolle's Findhorn Retreat: Stillness Amidst the World
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 05/17/2008)
A Long Retreat: In Search of a Religious Life
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Amazon Price: $16.50 (as of 05/17/2008)
Europe's Monastery and Convent Guesthouses
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Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 05/17/2008)
One Hundred Days of Solitude: Losing Myself and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat
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Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 05/17/2008)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
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Amazon Price: $9.00 (as of 05/17/2008)
Other restrictions to life on an ashram
As spiritual growth is supposed to be the main occupation on ashrams, everything else can be secondary to that.The following are rules that may or may not be practised on specific ashrams. Just to give you an idea.
- No tv, radio or internet
- Strict rules about waking and sleeping times
- Silence, except during talks with a spiritual teacher
- Shared physical activities like cooking, cleaning and gardening
The image is of the room Mahatma Gandhi stayed in. His spinning wheel is still there
Links about Ashrams and Spiritual Retreats
Choosing a Spiritual Retreat
Each retreat is unique. Find one that works for yo more...0 points
Ashram: etymology and dictionary meaning
"religious hermitage," from Skt. asramah, from a-, adnomial prefix, + sramah "effort, toll, fatigue."
Etymology online
ashram
1. a secluded building, often the residence of a guru, used for religious retreat or instruction in Hinduism.
2. the persons instructed there.
Dictionary .com
Spiritual Retreat products
Ashrams as Monasteries
Your favorite Ashrams
The International Theosophical Centre, Naarden, The Netherlands
Ashram in the Netherlands1 point
Plum Village - Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Ashram.1 point
Christian Ashram
1 point
Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas
Aims at realisation of educational, social, cultur more...1 point
Wheaton Theosophical Headquarters
Headquarters in the shape of an ashram.0 points
Theosophical Society-Adyar Head Quarters
At Adyar, near to Chennai (Madras), India.0 points
Param Pujya Sant Shri Asaramji Ashram
Non-dogmatic Ashram0 points
Ananda Ashram
Monroe, New York: a spiritual retreat and educatio more...0 points
Have you ever been to an ashram?
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