Hi all! For the past month or so, I’ve been in the Poconos, in Pennsylvania studying how Hindu philosophy can inform social justice. I am staying in an ashram, which is basically a center of learning of Hindu spirituality and philosophy. Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion so over time it has splintered into countless sects and branches. The ashram that I am staying in practices a branch of Hinduism called Vedanta, which is a very philosophical, knowledge based spirituality, similar in many ways to Buddhism. Every week in the ashram, there are retreats. So people come from all over the country, continent and world to study a specific topic in Vedanta for the week.
The classes are taught by Hindu monks called swamis, who have renounced worldly possessions and have intensively studied Hindu philosophy and Sanskrit, the language of the ancient philosophical texts. The topics of the retreats are usually verses from the old scriptures that the swamis then unpack, deeply investigate and apply to modern life in a series of lectures. I’ve been taking the scriptures one step further and applying them to social justice. When retreats are happening, this place is crowded and busy all day but in between retreats I’ve been able to conduct interviews with some of the students of Vedanta that work and stay in the ashram. At the moment, there is a retreat happening, so my days are filled with activity. I get up at 4:30am every morning to get ready for the morning prayers sessions that start at 5:45am.
That is followed a guided meditation session led by a swami. After that, I attend classes on Vedanta, yoga, and Sanskrit throughout the day with breaks.The ashram is surrounded by beautiful woods and mountains, so it really does feel like a retreat. We end everyday with a question and answer session at night, where the students can ask the swami questions about whatever they want, and the swami answers, clarifies and explains. I’ve been learning a lot here, and I’m excited to continue to share with you all!
