The Ashram and the Association | Ashram Ram Dass Guru

History

The Association Ram Dass Guru

Created in March 2013, ARDG is a non-profit institution established to promote the teachings and practice of Kundalini Yoga in Portugal and to take it, through free classes, to groups who could not otherwise access it.

From the beginning, ARDG has offered scholarships for Kundalini Yoga teacher training, in Portugal and abroad, including to students from African countries.

In 2015 ARDG took responsibility for managing the Eco-Ashram at Quinta do Rajo. Since then it has welcomed volunteers (sevadars) from different countries and shown that a yogic, sustainable, community lifestyle is possible.

Entrance of the Ashram Ram Dass Guru, with the house behind

What is an ashram?

A place of spiritual effort

An ashram has a spiritual reference and a daily practice: yoga, meditation, diet and a shared way of life. Some come for a few days, some come to go through a personal process, and a few settle for life.

Detox

Clearing out old patterns, physical, emotional and mental. Karma yoga: work is worship.

Responsibility

Taking responsibility for your own experience rather than blaming your past or others, and redirecting emotional energy into sadhana, seva and simran.

Mindfulness

Consciousness in action: paying attention to the little details, your surroundings and how you communicate.

Verticality

Keeping your feet on the earth, connected with nature, while relating to principles beyond the mind.

Discipline

Recognising that action counts and building good habits of personal care, communication and thought.

Founders

Shiv Charan Singh and Satya Kaur

In 2000 they founded the Kriya Centre in London. In 2008 they moved to Portugal, where they founded the Association Ram Dass Guru and the Ashram, and began building a community based on the teachings of Kundalini Yoga and Karam Kriya.

They have been on the association's board since the beginning and remain active in the Ashram and in the local and international sangat.

The garden

The Rajo Forest

A living space where human presence and wild nature come together. Native vegetation and plants cared for over many years shelter martens, squirrels, robins, buzzards, lizards, frogs, countless pollinating insects and, on spring and summer nights, fireflies.

There is a toxin-free vegetable garden, fruit trees (plums, peaches, oranges, figs, apples) and aromatic and medicinal plants such as rosemary, lavender, thyme, mint and chamomile.