104 On the Ashram
Beloved Shakti,
Love.
There is definitely room for the spiritual retreat.
There is even room for running it.
A spiritual retreat, an Ashram, can be very useful to help people along, to give them time when they can go, for a certain length of time, to work solely on their spiritual work, and then later return to the world.
That is what Ashram's were originally supposed to be for.
The idea was not that people be there forever, except for the gurus themselves people would go, stay for a time, and then return refreshed to the world.
But over time, they were transformed from retreats to help one be in the world, into monasteries from which you could run away from the world.
This is unfortunate.
A good Ashram is a place you attend at certain key times in your development, when guided to do so by your guru.
Love
Swami
