About the Ashram

 
Ashram

The Haidakhandi Universal Ashram is a spiritual community inspired by Haidakhan Babaji and dedicated to the Divine Mother. The Ashram was established in 1986. It is located on 101 acres of land at the base of a beautiful 14,000 foot mountain in Southern Colorado, an area sacred to Native Americans because of its spiritual power and beauty. This area is also home to several other spiritual traditions such as the Carmelites, Tibetan Buddhists, Shumeis, Sufis, and Zen Buddhists.

Life at the Ashram is guided by Babaji's teachings of truth, simplicity, and love. Babaji taught us to repeat the name of God and to perform service to humanity. The daily schedule of the Ashram is built around this service (karma yoga), morning and evening devotional services (aarati), simple living, and repitition of the name of God. Babaji said to use the name of God that is in our hearts and that all religions lead to God. If we did not have a name of God to repeat, He taught the ancient Sanskrit mantra or prayer, "Om Namah Shivaya". This prayer means "I bow to the God within".

In keeping with simplicity we try to live and build in sustainable ways whenever possible. We have a quarter acre organic garden, our own water system, photovoltaic derived electricity, and most of our buildings are heated by passive solar. Buildings on this property include: an earthship, temple, dormitory, yurt, and greenhouse. See Visiting the Ashram for photos. Funding for building and maintaining the Ashram comes from donations and sales from the Maha Lakshmi Shop.

Mission Statement of the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram

The Ashram is a spiritual community committed:

Vision Statement of the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram

Every person touched by this spiritual community will walk with a deeper connection to:

Goals & Objectives

  1. We aspire to live a life of truth, simplicity and love.
  2. We practice karma yoga, by offering our every action to the Divine.
  3. We participate in devotional practices to celebrate and remind us of our connection with the Divine.
  4. We live with a constant awareness of Babaji’s presence, see Him in each other and act accordingly.
  5. We honor and respect this land by living simply and sustainably.

Principles of Action

  1. We remember to try to base our lives at the Ashram on Babaji's instructions to speak little, eat little, and sleep little. And so we follow a disciplined schedule and keep a spirit of silence before morning aarati and during karma yoga hours.
  2. We remember Babaji's words, “I wish that all words would disappear from this world except 'Om Namah Shivaya'.” And so we give first priority to repetition of the mantra.
  3. Keeping Babaji's words in mind, when “stuff” comes up, we first repeat the mantra and follow the scheduled activity. If we are unable to resolve an issue with diligent attention to this process, we then remember Mahendra Baba's definition of the truth, “What the organs feel, the mouth speaks, and the body does.” We respectfully ask the other person involved to meet with us. We set aside some time during the personal time on the schedule to share honestly, lovingly, and responsibly what is going on with us. If this process is unsuccessful, we then ask a third party to mediate for us or bring it to an Ashram meeting.
  4. “Firstly I give you karma yoga.” These are Babaji's oft repeated words. By offering our every action to the Divine and by not being attached to the fruits of the action, we perform action that does no bind us. The law of karma is the law of cause and effect (as you sow, so shall you reap). Karma is all that happens in our lives to which we formed an attachment, either positive or negative. The purpose of doing karma yoga is to burn karma.
  5. Because we offer our action to the Divine, we do the best job possible with full attention to detail. As we do our karma yoga, Babaji taught us to repeat the mantra "Om Namah Shivaya". Babaji said that karma yoga improves our health, our digestion, our sleep, and our appetite. And so, when we are feeling doubtful, unclear, cranky, tired, etc., we first turn our attention to karma yoga and repetition of the mantra.
  6. Our devotional practices include aarati, fire ceremony, japa, meditation, and karma yoga. These were given to us by Babaji to develop a sense of discipline, to help us become fully conscious of every moment, and to bring the sacred into daily life. Participation in the devotional practices helps us experience joy, peace, and love.
  7. We remember Babaji's instruction, “Be happy. If you are happy, I am happy. If you are at peace, I am at peace.” Our every action is inspired by His Presence, and therefore is done impeccably and with love.
  8. We are committed to live in beauty and harmony, caretaking this sacred land and leaving few footprints.