To live with awareness
Each of us starts our life on this earth holding the hopes and dreams of our parents and other ancestors. We also pick up the hopes and dreams that life seeds in us along our journey. The innocent child mind is awake to its full potential as it wails its way into the world. Over time this awakening dwindles away into the dullness that the individual acquires while he/she blindly runs behind a search for pleasure and a mythical fulfilment. The innocent mind gets left behind.
The self in flux
“How do I keep this intelligent and innocent child mind alive”? Every type of individual who comes to us in their personal search is asking this question. Is there a way in which the awareness can be rekindled and the mind re-established in a constant state of enquiry? Can a new paradigm of living be discovered by each of us, without it being superimposed by another? The common path is dictated by the ‘shoulds and musts’ of a social system, and shaped by the fears and anxieties of the family. Can we move away from this, voluntarily, and discover the other paradigm? As we run helter skelter, trying to survive in an uncaring and brutal world, we are beset by these questions that seem to have no answers.
When we examine the tenets of our social system, the growing disillusionment of an educated middle class and the breaking up of political systems, each of us is left with a bitter taste regarding the milieu we inhabit. We are seeking another way of life that is not bogged down with this greed and violence that we see all around. Many of us who have grown old are also fondly looking back to less turbulent times, when endless churning of information was not the reality and we felt content with our lot. But the world has moved on and we need to find tranquility amidst the chaos of the marketplace.
It is not as though there aren’t many schools of thought trying to seduce us into following them and finding a ‘new heaven’. But the average individual has been let down enough number of times to be taken in by the gimmicks of these religious and spiritual leaders. The human consciousness is at a crossroads.
What is the meaning of my life?
The search for the true self is an old and possibly eternal struggle. Arjuna of the Mahabharata searched for this elusive inner balance, Sidhartha left home and family to comprehend the source of human sorrow. No one person’s search or inner transformation has given the gift of the revelation to all of humankind. For each of us there appears a threshold when we have to ask this question, “What is the meaning of my life?”
We offer to each of the seekers, who come to us in anxiety, pain, confusion, and disillusionment, a space for self enquiry and the presence of other serious seekers who hold their questions with authenticity. This is the space of Dharma and Maitri. Dharma is the upholding earth and Maitri is the eternal affection and friendliness.
These are the basis of a strong foundation of a Sangha, the human fellowship. We attempt in earnest to create such a Sangha in the current times.
The ancestral wisdom
To form this Sangha we have studied, interpreted, and forged a new path for the traditional wisdom to flow, and to equip the seekers for a new way of living. The ancient practices are not stagnant precepts that have to be copied or held in rigid dogmas. They are frameworks for the individual as well as the collective that can be enlivened to suit the times, ‘the Yuga Dharma’. We are attempting constantly to create a space for inquiry and collective ownership, where the individual finds the support and the love of his/her Sangha to sustain the journey as well as the fortitude to walk the path without fear of oppression and superimposition.
We turn to the wisdom of Yoga, Vedanta, Vaastu and Ayurveda to find the essential truths for a well balanced life, aligning the body, mind, Praana of the individual self; bringing together the earth sensitivity and understanding of food; celebrating the collective in a joyous outburst of the aesthetic paths; understanding and instituting the personal ideals in a collective purpose. We create Ritambhara, a space to search for the truth and to allow the vessel of joyous and loving feelings to our fellow travellers and to the earth to overflow.
Anoop is a student of Yoga, an entrepreneur, a coach and a father of two young boys. He has led successful leadership stints in both the corporate and non-for-profit sectors. On encountering the country’s water/farmer crises at close quarters, he decided to pause and examine the impact various ‘isms’ – capitalism, colonialism, etc., were having on us as individuals, families, the society and the environment at large. This quest led him to formally engage with traditional Indic knowledge systems while also learning from the latest advances in science – about our physical and mental wellbeing, importance of body and mind work in healing trauma and the urgent need for a conscious rebuilding of family / work / social structures if we have to thrive individually and collectively. Insights, frameworks and processes gleaned from these on-going studies, an anchorage in his own personal practice and his wide-ranging experiences is what Anoop brings to facilitation/coaching spaces in Ritambhara and his various professional engagements.
Priya is a Yoga therapist in the Krishnamacharya tradition. She adapts Reiki & energy work, Vedic chanting, life coaching & Ayurvedic practices in her healing spaces. She is committed to nurturing collectives that have the praxis of Yoga at their heart.
Anisha has been on an exploration to understand herself through yoga for the last 15years which led her to teaching yoga, yoga therapy and inner work through yoga.
Apoorva chanced upon Yoga in her early 20s. A spark was lit within and there was no turning back. Her exploration led her to the Krishnamacharya tradition more than a decade ago. Curious about human behaviour and what drives it, she was thrilled when her search ended (and also began) when she first came upon the Yoga Sutra, which illuminated a path towards answering many questions that had been held for a long time.
Anita is a yoga teacher and therapist in the tradition of Sri.T.Krishnamacarya and Sri T.K.V. Desikachar, a Reiki practitioner and a Life Coach. She is also the founder of Vishoka, a center for learning Indic and energy-based frameworks for living and healing. Her deep concern for human suffering and the problems of unsustainable living kept her on the path of seeking an integrated approach to looking at life, living, learning and healing.
Ankit is a seeker in the wisdom traditions of India. The core of his work includes creating dialogic spaces where people can look within and see the connection between their inner and outer lives. Inspired by the likes of Gandhi, Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Guru Gobind his experiments in service took him back to his roots in Punjab where he is creating a community-led model of higher education which is open, inclusive and accessible for all. Ritambhara for him is a space for engaging in a community which is committed to a DHramic life. He anchors his work of learning and leadership in the Antaranga Yoga Sadhana and the humanistic wisdom of Mahabharata.