This program is ideal for
those who want to learn and practice being fully conscious and clear,
or spiritually alert and aware in the midst of a busy work schedule.
Sitting for meditation is one thing, staying centered in the I AM, the
Heart, the Self, while being involved in ordinary activities of the
day is quite another.
AHAM’s Temporary Residency
is ideal for those who are in a transitional stage or gap in their life,
such as between school and university, or possibly between changes in
career, or profession or vocation or relationship/marriage, and are
indecisive as to the next step to take in their life or future while
going through this change.
This program includes an
ongoing hands-on training program, with individual coaching and conscious
guidance.
The Temporary Residency program
is specifically designed to bridge the interval between phases. From
our teaching one learns the way to deal with uncontrolled thoughts and
emotions and remain free, clear, happy and at peace in the Present Moment,
abiding in pure Awareness, which is best experienced in a conscious,
supportive and meditative environment. With this experience, one is
then better able to abide in this underlying quality of pure Awareness
in his or her regular life situations.
Experimenting consciously
in this transforming process is a real litmus test of this teaching,
and what AHAM has to offer both practically and transcendentally to
one and all, about “living in the world, but not of
the world.” In our unique Work/Study program it is possible to
truly demonstrate what can be accomplished with what has been learned.
The daily
program consists of…
- 1 1/2 hour silent meditation
to start the day in which one and all fully embrace their own true
Self-nature. When Ramana is in town, he joins us, and we all meditate
with him.
- Six-hour
workday including various assigned tasks to be completed at our respective
Retreat Centers. “Karma yoga” is the principle that is
applied in the Work/Study program. Karma means “action,”
and yoga means “union with God, I AM, or the true Self.”
In this consciousness, work becomes selfless service, that strengthens
true union with God or one’s Higher Self.
- There is an approximately
one-hour group closeout session at the end of each day. This is the time us to personally fine-tune our
consciousness-clearing practice as we bring up any insights, questions
or snags from the day.
The work itself varies
widely. For example, for the computer literate, and according to their
skills, it might include anything from data processing to designing
new brochures or flyers or a new website. If there is any building in
progress, and one has building skills, it could be where he or she is
assigned. It can also include working in the kitchen, or outside on
the grounds, perhaps in the garden tending the flowers, mowing the lawn
or trimming the hedges. Or making trips into town shopping, or picking
up guests at the airport and taking care of the new arrivals, or doing
general cleaning work in AHAM buildings.
It is simple work, that
uses the body as one is able, and that also challenges you to watch
the mind, and your conditioned patterns of thinking and feeling, your
habits or tendencies to automatically react, perhaps with anger, fear
or emotion, rather then calmly or peacefully responding to the people
and situations.
A major key is, learning
that it is not necessarily what we do, but how we
do it. It is our attitude, or where we are coming from that
transforms our work endeavors and our relationships with others into
an opportunity to awaken to our true Self-nature. Or, it is when we
release or can drop the conditioned mind, that we are able to finally
Awaken to the One Reality, or Self, that is actually the Power behind
the mind that is always doing, creating, relating, serving through this
seeming body-mind entity called John, Mary, Sally, Joe. Essentially,
we are able to learn that any experience in life, whether “at
work” or “at play,” can be an opportunity for conscious
transformation.
“Our Intention
and our Attention determines the Quality of our Work.” —A.
Ramana
Specific
Learning Experiences Offered By This Program . . .
- Respecting ourselves
and others as aspects of the One Reality, the Universal or True Being.
- The value of living
in the Presence of the Infinite and Eternal NOW, and not at the effect
of the conditioned mind that lives only in the past or the future.
- An opportunity to look
at our prejudices about physical work and/or mental work, our thoughts
and feelings about “higher” or “lower”, and
about organizational hierarchies, authority figures, power issues,
and teamwork.
- Discover that we all
are creative beings — that creativity is a natural outcome of
responding intelligently to the present moment from the Source, the
Heart, the true Self.
- That we have the choice
of being playful, rather than serious, of being relaxed, rather than
contracted or uptight — which is keeping the door open for creativity,
joy, love and spontaneity to naturally flow in and through us.
- The opportunity to interact
with people from many different societies, cultures, backgrounds and
age groups. We can see our own racial and/or cultural prejudices and
biases, our conditioned beliefs and attitudes regarding gender and
sexual preference, and our inability to listen to these “others,”
to agree or disagree easily and playfully, and see our tendencies
to react negatively or cynically, rather than respond happily. And,
we have the opportunity to transform these reactions through the practice
of AHAM's Teaching.
Participation
in the Program . . .
You can join in this program
for any length of time — from six months to one year – but
a commitment is necessary, that you stay for the duration of the time
for which you are approved.
Prerequisites: I SIT and CPP
If qualified and interested,
simply contact the office at our Retreat Center in the USA
for further information, and to apply for registration, ahamcntr@asheboro.com
Phone: (336) 381-3988
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