PHILOSOPHY
Anandashram’s philosophy is the quintessence of the life and teachings of its Founder Saint, Papa Swami Ramdas. His spiritual evolution from Vittal Rao, an ordinary householder drowning in the ‘whirlpool of worldly life’, to ‘Beloved Papa’ of one and all, is an inspiring message to many aspirants. His teachings categorically emphasize that our spiritual practices should serve us to expand from the individual to the universal. This is not denying the world we live in or ignoring our co-creation; rather, this inward journey enables one to deepen oneself to connect to the Divine within and broaden our relationship with all our co-creation. Papa exhorts: ‘Expand your vision so that it can embrace all fellow-beings and link them to yourself by Love’ by a ceaseless repetition of the divine Mantram, side by side with the concentrated meditation on the all-pervading, eternal, ever-blissful, in-dwelling God.
His distilled wisdom can be found in various sources – the four books written and published before he dropped his body (‘In Quest of God’, ‘In The Vision of God’, ‘At The Feet of God’, ‘World Is God’), his witty conversations with the inmates and the probing visitors, his numerous insightful letters to devotees from far and wide, and many Satsangs he had with the aspirants at Ashram and during the travels. Papa has written or spoken on a wide variety of topics, pertaining to almost all aspects of the spiritual journey. Selected quotes are clubbed under various categories here.