Lighting the Lamp of Wisdom : A Week Inside a Yoga Ashram

The insiders guide to Hindu spiritual life.

Ashram is the general term for a study center, retreat house, or monastic community in Hinduism, the millennia-old religious tradition of India. Ashrams of various kinds are now found throughout North America, and are popular venues for spiritual retreats, workshops, and classes.

Lighting the Lamp of Wisdom takes you into a typical week of retreat inside an ashram to demystify the ashram experience and show you what to expect from your own visit. You will experience all the elements of a typical day and week, including:

• The colorful puja, or worship services
• Meditation practices and yoga classes
• Classes on Hindu scriptures
• Chanting and music
• Satsang: an informal talk with the ashrams guru
• Work practice
• and much more.

You'll also meet some of the people who visit ashrams to hear their reasons for going there, as well as the spiritual benefits they derive from the experience. Also included are a helpful glossary, a list of books for further reading, and a directory to ashrams in North America that will enable you to locate one near you and set up your own visit.

John Ittner is a freelance journalist and writer whose articles have appeared in Yoga Life and other publications. A longtime news editor for the New York Post, he has studied yoga and Vedanta (Hindu philosophy) for many years, at ashrams both in the United States and in India. He completed his teacher training at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram in Kerala, India, and presently teaches at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in New York City.