The Ashram in Virginia
Hello everyone :)
I have a lot to tell you all about from this past week or so. To get things started off things might be jumpy but theres a lot to talk about and it’ll be written as it arises.
We’ll go back to Monday morning. I left the Skunk Farm and gave my lovely friends a good see ya later. I went to my parents house to see them once more and to get my new phone. I am now use the Light Phone II and it is absolutely amazing. It calls and texts perfectly fine. The battery last on average 2 days. The notification/alarm sounds are also really nice and pleasant instead of being obnoxious and intruding. Once I got my new phone I got into the car plugged my laptop into the AUX, set my GPS up and started up the road. It was an incredibly beautiful ride up. It took about 4 hours and some change and since I’ve learned how my car drives I only used about 1/2 a tank of gas. That was really nice surprise because that means I’ll be saving much more money on gas in the coming travels. As I got closer to my destination the views got more beautiful and the roads got windier and steeper. Once I was about 10 minutes away I had to turn off the music just so I could take in the beauty of everything around me. Then I finally got to the start of the long driveway to the Ashram. As I was pulling down the road I was in awe of what I was seeing. A nice beautiful pasture with fruit, nut, and various other trees planted. There were cute little houses in view as well as a gorgeous mountain in the backdrop. I drove down to the central area where I was to unload my car. The place was beautiful. A little campfire area, a nice bridge with a creek under it, a very well setup garden, cabins and tents setup in a central village way. The kitchen was right by as well with a beautiful very large table where we have our community meals. I got all my stuff unloaded into my tent and then it was dinner time so we went to eat. I also arrived on the final day of the work week so that meant lights out was later than during the work days. We each get our own plate, bowl and cup that way it makes serving and clean up easier. Towards the end of the meal we went around the table and did a little introduction and answered the question “Why are you here'?”/”What brought you here?” It was a great experience and everyone had a lot of beautiful things to say. After dinner I returned my car to the parking lot and enjoyed the amazing walk back to the central area. On the walk back if you were to look to your left you would see the most magickal view of the pasture going down towards the valley and then on the horizon an incredible mountain range. That night we gathered around the campfire and did a talent show. There were people doing some top notch impressions, playing wonderful songs, doing some dances and many other things. I solved my rubiks cube as my talent. Then after a while off to bed we went.
The next day was the off day. On the off day food isn’t prepared you just make food when your hungry. I am pretty sure I started the Starter Course packet that morning but I am not quite sure. The Starter Course is a part of the spiritual aspect of the stay at the Ashram. It teaches Mudras, Mantras, and many other things. It goes over aspects of disciplined spiritual practice, its benefits, and how it can help you grow. The main aspect of these spiritual practices are to whittle the control the ego has in your life so that you are able to embody your soul more and operate from a place of Divine Love. It also hits really big on application brings understanding. Which means you can read as many books as you want to but if you aren’t implementing the practices then you aren’t really doing much. I will say that with the spiritual work I have done on my own I have gotten a good distance but these practices are really helping me bring more awareness to thoughts, emotions and energies that arise. It is helping with becoming more intentional, aware and present. As well as being able to transmute energies that are keeping me from being my highest possible self. After SC (short for starter course) a group of us went into Floyd to get some coffee and then we went to the river. At the river there were some really nice rope swings that we jumped off of. It was super nice, the weather was amazing, the water was cold and flowing and the water wasn’t super deep. After the river we went back to Floyd to go to the Country Store and the ice cream shop next door to get some ice cream. After ice cream we met some of the others up the street a bit at this outdoor bar/music/food place that was super cute and was giving Asheville vibes but better. They had a really nice food menu and I got the Buddha Breakfest Bowl. I don’t really remember what was in it but I will say it was a huge portion and very very delicious. After that we all went back to the Ashram to hangout for a bit and then go to bed.
This day would be Wednesday. The schedule is wake up at 5am and at 5:50am meet on the bridge. It has a name but I don’t know how to spell it so I’ll get back to you on that. When we meet we do some Aum’s, chant some mantras, and then we go over a general game plan for the day. I don’t entirely have a good handle on the exact schedule of things because I have been doing SC in the morning during A block work. (SC is the first 10 days of the stay). Breakfast isn’t communally prepared and eaten it’s more of a get it if you’re hungry. Anyway so I went to SC after the bridge meeting. We usually meet for SC by the pond under a pavilion in the shade. After SC we break for a bit, get some food, chill and then we get started with B block. On Wednesday we were brimming the garden. Which basically means we put dirt around the base of the fence so that bunnies can’t get under the fence and into the garden. That took all of B block. It was actually really nice doing manual labor again. There is truly something about just shoveling some dirt in the sun. It’s also really nice because they are big on if you are tired take a break and collect yourself do so, if you need to slow down go right ahead, and staying hydrated. It’s not about the face paced life style that has been perpetuated in society for so long. It’s all about having fun, doing the work, taking care of yourself not over working. During C block we weeded the garden because it was roasting outside by this point. It was so much fun because I was learning so many new plants and what their medicinal properties are and also there were plants that had been getting weeded that actually had really great medicinal properties so we started leaving them. There is a pretty noticeable poison ivy population here and Ragweed one of the plants we discovered wasn’t a weed can actually be used to help poison ivy spots. Also the toilet setup is really cool. Its this elevated building with 2 sides. When you go up one side you flip this bar down so that people know you are in there. There is a curtain for privacy and a little “What To Do” sheet in there. They have this system where these barrels sit under the toilet to collect all of the waste and then they let it compost and use it later for fertilizer. The work day ends at 2pm - 2:30pm everyday we work. Dinner is at 5pm everyday we work. We work for 3 days straight and then we have an off day. SC is a daily thing however on the off day it starts a little later in the morning since you don’t have to wake up at 5am. I don’t really remember what all we did after the work day but I am pretty sure I walked around to take some pictures and then chilled for the rest of the night.
Yesterday was Thursday. Thursday was lots of fun and also got another good workout in. Now not only is there the normal morning SC but in the afternoon after the work day there is a course that goes over the other documents in the packet and also just general discussion. I was on Fence/Garden again. Except during B block I went up to where the Build Team was working on Sauchas’ house and cut some sticks for them. I first had some clippers but on the first stick I went to cut I broke the handle on them. Then I started using a hand saw. The reason for cutting the sticks was to secure the straw bails. They are using a technique of building that uses straw bails as the insulation and the walls and the sticks are used to drive through the bails from the top to connect the one on top to the one below it. Once the all the bails are up they are going to plaster it all to secure it and protect it from everything. Then I ended up staying up there and helping them with a few different task and then we went for lunch. After lunch I went back to work on the Fence. The wheel-barrow couldn’t fit in the area we were in so we had to carry buckets of dirt back and forth. It was one hell of an exercise but it also felt great. I was definitely wiped afterwards. I went to the shower and got cleaned up. It is an outdoor shower with 2 stalls beside each other. I haven’t gotten around to asking about how it works yet so I’ll have to keep you updated on that. It was super nice tho I didn’t use the hot water because that just wasn’t the move after that hard day of work. The cold water was really nice and it wasn’t ice bath cold which was nice. It was cold enough to be refreshing and give you a wake up without making you want to run away. After the shower I took Anuusha to her appointment up the road. While I was there I submitted an application to be a Child Ski Instructor at the Boyne Resort in Montana. That felt really good because it’s putting me one step closer to going to Montana with lots of amazing people. While I was there as well it started pouring rain which was really nice because it has been really dry. It had also rained at the Ashram and when I got back there was water in my tent and part of the bedding was damp, my guitar had slight water on it, my guitar case was soaked, and a few other things were damp. It was a little upsetting but it was fine because all the books, most clothes, and all electronics were dry. I was also able to sleep without feeling wet and gross.
Today I got up, met at the bridge, and went to do SC. After starter course I hung all the wet stuff up to dry and moved the dry things into a new tent. I was on Silva today which was taking care of the plant nurseries and the baby tree forest. We weeded one nursery and got started on the second one before lunch. Then after lunch we weeded around some trees and then placed cardboard and mulch. The cardboard helps trap in moisture and so does the mulch but the mulch takes longer to compost. After C block ended I went to take all of my dry stuff into the new tent and get it all set up. It started to rain a little bit but I got it all in there. When I was organizing my tent I picked up my camera and it was wet on the bottom. I don’t know how long it was in the water or how deep in the water it was. Not too many things had water on them but as soon as I noticed I went and put it in rice. Once all that was done I went to meet up for ASC (afternoon starter course). While we were waiting the loudest thunder clap I’d ever heard hit. It sounded like a whip. The lightning was close too so they rang the lightning whistle and we all went inside. Diksha, Ben and I went inside the Green Cabin so that we could do the ASC. Afterwords we went down for dinner. I checked on the camera and it still wasn’t turning on. I have three possible reasonings for this. The battery was low the lat time I used it and it died. It wasn’t in the rice long enough to pull all the moisture out. It’s damaged and won’t turn on. I also lost my charger for it so I am getting a new one shipped here and whenever that comes in we’ll know for sure what the deal is with the camera. Dinner was great. Then a group of people went into Floyd for this bluegrass event out there tonight. I wanted to stay back to take some me time, do some computer work and just chill. It’s been raining on and off and actually just stopped down pouring. The thunder and lightning have been consistent as well. I made sure all of my stuff was elevated in the tent before it started raining so it wouldn’t get wet but we’ll see how its looking whenever I go down there later. I also think we’re going to watch a movie in a little bit.
Just some various thoughts that arise and different bits of information. They have this really cool hammock area that has like 6 hammocks chilling around each other. Theres also some pretty solid trails that I am going to take the chance to explore tomorrow. There have definitely been some challenges with this new experience but I am not letting it shake me. I have noticed resistance with my ego wanting to go back to what is comfortable and if I had listened to that at any point in the recent past when I made a big decision I wouldn’t be where I am at/who I am today. I know that I am exactly where I need to be doing the work I need to do. I am learning so much about how to operate a sustainable community, different ideas that could be use for my communities land project. I am learning new techniques, more about gardening, edible and medicinal plants, companion planting and many other aspects. I am learning about what it took to start this project, what they started with and how it grew. Things to do off the bat and how much cost/labor some things are. Systems that help the place flow and get things done. Conscious communication to work through bumps. Accountability so that everything is upheld and nothing and no one falls behind. They also have some solar panels on property and some wild blackberry bushes which are yummy. There is still so much about the property and the techniques they use and the trials and errors they’ve made that I’ve yet to learn about so I will be learning so much more about living in a sustainable community. It’s definitley not the easiest work at times and to build such a community takes lots of love and effort. However it’s being able to do the work that makes it so wonderful. It’s the fact that it’s not fast paced and just pushing out the numbers, only getting a 30 minute lunch break and limited bathroom breaks. It’s just waking up to have a good time with great people who also enjoy just doing the task at hand for the day and take steps each day to make progress and get things done. It’s not about getting everything done in a day but doing what you can without over doing it. It’s about working diligently with effective breaks instead of working yourself to death. It’s about collectively growing and evolving each and every day and sharing and expanding love within yourself and to those around you as a well as the environment.
This is all for now. As always I could keep going but my brain has emptied everything it wishes to empty. I love and miss you all so very much. I am having the best time ever and I am doing exactly what I want and making my dreams come true each and every moment. There is so much more to learn and I am so excited to keep sharing it all with you. Hopefully my camera makes a comeback so I can continue to take pictures for everyone to see but if not it is okay. Other people have cameras here and if it doesn’t make a comeback a new one will come through when it is time for it. I am so grateful for every single one of you and the continuous support. I want you all to keep listening to that inner voice, continue being your authentic self and keep taking the steps to make your dreams come true regardless of what the outer world has to say about it. If it is what you feel you must do then you do it. Make your dreams a reality, take that first step and keep pushing forward. You can do it. It is only impossible if you believe it is.
