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Home  »  Be Blissfully Silent this Wednesday at the Urban Ashram

Be Blissfully Silent this Wednesday at the Urban Ashram

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urbanashramSilence is considered golden, but for somebody as restless as me it’s absolutely impossible. Until I had a chance encounter with Sheetal Sanghvi of Urban Ashram located at Mukundnagar who emphasized that I must be a part of his activity “Silent Wednesdays”.  Thinking it to be some pakao preachy process I declined it outright.  After several invitations and polite refusals and at the end of it being told I was uptight didn’t suit the self proclaimed free spirited soul a bit. Therefore just to defy the reputation conferred on me I decided to give the place a visit.

Tagging along my “spiritual” buddy who is quite the experimental sorts, we reached the Urban Ashram, at about 6.45 PM. A far cry from the clichéd ashram, the place is an architecture delight with beautiful halls decorated with exotic paintings, artistic stone idols and massive spaces of splendor.

We were guided along with a random group of 10 folks to a main hall which had a floor sitting comprising traditional cotton mattresses. Sheetal gave us a brief that we have to meditate for an hour followed with a roundtable sharing of “aha” moments from everyday life which he added is to be experienced than described.

The silent session initially is uncomfortable. But steadily the surrounding silence plays a calming effect on you reminiscing good and bad memories of the past and present. In the end of it you reach an overwhelming state where you get completely blank. During the session there is no hard and fast rule. You are encouraged to write down, listen to music and even a read a book if you like it.

After an hour of silence, you hear the sweet sound of the Tibetan singing bowl followed by the uplifting narration of Geeta Saar by Sheetal. The session is followed by a powerful sharing taking you through every participant’s journey of happiness and apprehensions to a group of people they may not even know. Some sing, play musical instruments, and narrate hymns, inspiring quotes or dohas of various saints like Kabir. And mind you it is not a religious get together.

At the end of it I couldn’t stop introspecting that why we feel silence is so uncomfortable. Is it because that’s the only time that we actually listen to ourselves?  And why is it so difficult for us to open up in front of your near and dear ones but somehow easier to release your pent up emotions in front of strangers. Are we afraid of being judged in the eyes of our loved ones or in this world of superficiality we just want to put our best foot forward?

There were arrays of questions running in my mind in that week and somehow listening to other people made me look within and that added lot of value to my life. And silence plays a major catalyst to the process. Plus the people that you meet here are an inspiring bunch of philanthropists, musicians, artists, students and retired people who can set your spirits free to the truest sense of the word.

I have been going there for weeks now trying to look within and without and have never felt so positive about life. Maybe it is the ambience or the people, but it has made me come to terms that only when you are true to yourself will you experience true bliss. And we only grow and learn by listening both to ourselves and the people around us.

I strongly recommend paying this place a visit as it is a splendid platform to open up your mind and meet some fantastic people. The other incentive can also be the delicious food served by Sheetal’s mom at the end of the session. And the best part of all, there is no charge for this priceless life transforming experience and neither do they solicit donations. The sessions are held between 7 PM-9 PM in the evenings only.

More articles by Trupti Shetty

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