Literally translating to Kanha Peace Forest, this ashram like place located in the Kanha Village off the major city of Hyderabad in Telangana is true to its name a harbinger of peace. Meditation is at the core of the Heartfulness philosophy that is the centre point of all the endeavours including lifestyle products, events or activities. And as a side to the meditation is wellness, the Naturopath at the centre prescribes meditation to every member who visits him. The meditation hall fills up with the subscribers as the clock ticks to 6:30 AM and sitting calmly with eyes closed the mega tensile covered steel structure is a perfect setting with birds chirping from the five lakh odd trees planted in the 1400 acre campus of the Shanti Vanam. Apart from the wellness centre that whips up every alternative cure from massages to naturopathy to homeopathy and even therapies, the campus has a very well designed hotel, dormitories and sprawling green lands that also into a Yatra Garden and the statue of Babuji the guru who precedes the current guru Daaji. Fondly referred to as Daaji Kamlesh Patel has mentored many people, written books on the subjects of thoughts, meditation and ultimately the path to thoughtlessness that every spiritual guru says is the ultimate point for us mere humans to reach, also a path to bliss!
This was the second time I visited the Shanti Vanam, but the first time I stayed overnight, and this time the quietness of the space is such a winner. The early morning meditation for about thirty minutes pass by so quickly without the need to have to learn a specific type of meditation as one quickly leans into the a style of one’s own. A couple of years ago, I reached out to a Heartfulness trainer who would meditate with me, she ofcourse from a different location but mostly to enlighten me on the style of the practice where one imagines a golden light flooding the heart and then radiating out into the body and then the world at large. In the evening practice she asked me to imagine all thoughts or any negative beliefs exiting my body through the base of my spine as black colored smoke. But at the centre when the very many people meditate together there are no words exchanged. Infact even Daaji the leader of the movement walks wordlessly onto the stage, mediates, and walks out just as unceremoniously. On the Sunday morning meditation a woman manned the mic and at the end of the 30 minutes said, “Thats all”, to signify the end of the practice.
Asking one to begin on a spiritual process is cannot exactly be a mandate and the awakening on the importance of such a practice has to come from within, but having experienced meditation, it could well be a mandate. A nation so wealthy in spirituality, it would be great if the thing that we gave to the world, enriched us also, I am ofcourse talking about yoga and meditation. As I strive to include the practices of yoga and meditation in my life, the benefits may be creativity, calmness, patience and beauty, well all the things my little son has brought into my life, I believe the practice is highly hedonistic and even without tangible benefits is so worth it, for the moment of stillness and the capacity to experience life with all its layers and depth. The Shanti Vanam also has a state of the art Gopichand badminton academy with about 14 courts, a temperature controlled swimming pool and gym. It is the best there is in the country for sure. And apart from that is the wellness centre where one can consult naturopaths, and other alternate medicine practicing doctors who do not shun the traditional allopathy but supplement it with laudable practices. The pharmacy here sells essential oils apart from the ayurvedic and homeopathic medicines. Sweet orange is my favorite scent, orange ofcourse my favorite fruit, yet the whiff of all the scents is captivating. The departmental store stocks a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, grocery, dairy and even clothes!
A beautiful experience and probably a way to ease into the practice of meditation, if not for anything, for the same of hedonism!
Vedasri Siddamsetty 