What exactly does the Ashram itself mean to those who seek it and at what point should one come? Sri Aurobindo answers the question.
This Ashram has been created with another object than that ordinarily common to such institutions, not for the renunciations of the world but as a centre and a field of practice for the evolution of another kind and form of life which would in the final end be moved by a higher spiritual consciousness and embody a greater life of the spirit. There is no general rule as to the stage at which one may leave the ordinary life and enter here; in each case it depends on the personal need and impulsion and the possibility or the advisability for one to take the step.
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By coming to the Ashram difficulties do not cease – they have to be faced and overcome wherever you are. For certain natures residence in the Ashram form the beginning is helpful – others have to prepare themselves outside.
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It is not helpful to abandon the ordinary life before the being is ready for the full spiritual life. To do so means to precipitate a struggle between the different elements and exasperate it to a point of intensity which the nature is not ready to bear. The vital elements in you have partly to be met by the discipline and experience of life, while keeping the spiritual aim in view and trying to govern life by it progressively in the spirit of Karmayoga.
Sri Aurobindo
