Journey Into The Self
Auroville and Tiruvannamalai, South India

Throughout this retreat, we will visit dozens of sacred sites. These places have absorbed the prayers and aspirations of millions of devotees and spiritual seekers and are understood to be ‘tirthas’, or portals where spiritual energy flows into the material plane. Our focus in these places will be to experience this energy and open to its transformational potential.

The first five nights will be at Quiet Healing Center in Auroville. We’ll practice āsāna, prānāyāma, meditation, and mantra chanting together, swim in the ocean and set a foundation for our explorations into the nature of Self. The trip cost includes one massage while at Quiet, and additional bodywork will be available on a cost basis. We will also visit the Matrimandir, Kameeswarar Shiva Temple the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, and Mohanam Cultural Heritage Centre.

We will spend the next seven nights in Tiruvannamalai diving into relationship with holy Arunachala. Arunachala is Shiva: the primordial divine consciousness that underlies everything we see and touch and think. The mountain radiates grace in every direction. It is a presence that holds us in love and a wisdom that can guide us toward self realization. We will stay at Triveni Ashram, which is connected with the Yogiramsuratkumar Ashram.

While in Tiru ee will visit yogis, swamis, Ammas and spiritual teachers who transmit the wisdom, love and grace of Arunachala Shiva in their own unique ways. And we will participate in ancient sacred rituals that invoke the divine presence and create a container for going deep within ourselves to discover the truth that resides there.

We will also have focused time for meditation, movement and journaling, and time for sharing in the spirit of community. We will breathe deeply and chant together every day.

Arunachala has been a pilgrimage site for thousands of years, and offers its ancient wisdom to seekers who come to spend time in its aura. The most famous of these seekers was Ramana Maharshi, who arrived as a teenager and never again left the mountain. Others include Guhai Namasivaya, Virupaksha Deva, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, and Guru Narayana Swami. Each of these yogis left behind the radiance of their embodied love for Shiva in particular locations around Tiruvannamalai, and we will visit these places and taste their nectar.

We will do girivalam, walking the 8 mile route around Arunachala and visit the largest Śiva temple in South India, as well as the much older Adi Annamalai temple and other local shrines. We will spend time at the Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram, sing devotional chants and songs, spend time at Nadaloka sound temple and participate in Vedic ceremonies conducted by local priests. We will eat delicious traditional South Indian food, and bask in the holy vibration of Arunachala.