In the ashrams there is strict discipline and strict rules – there is always a vegetarian and sattvic table and a categorical ban on tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

Ashram is a place where you can find the answer to many questions that torment us since childhood. Remember the poem: “A little son came to his father and asked the baby: What is good and what is bad?” Unfortunately, a modern Russian dad (whether a teacher at a school, an associate professor at a university, or even a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Federation) cannot give his son the correct answer to simple questions, but an Indian Guru can. That is why so many seekers go from Russia to India every year – a country where they have always sought the “Light of Truth, not the glitter of gold.”

There is such a parable: “Two students – sadhaks objected at the entrance to the ashram.
– If our Guru and Lord Shiva himself come out of the gate right now – who will you bow to first”?
– Of course, Guru – because only the Teacher can help us find the way to God! And we will worship Lord Shiva when we reach him.”
A spiritual teacher is even more important to a student than God himself! And this is absolutely justified – because it is he who instills in the student the principles of self-denial, selflessness and love and helps to realize divine Truths. The true Guru is like God himself – Brahma (the Creator), who forms pious qualities in the student and opens up opportunities for him to search; similar to Vishnu (the Preserver) who upholds and protects the disciple’s virtues and his dharma; similar to Shiva (the Destroyer) in that it helps to dispel ignorance and remove the attachments and vicious tendencies of the disciple. Therefore, truly, the Guru is God himself incarnate!