Meditation Retreat with Amma Sri Karunamayi

Meditation retreats offer the sacred opportunity for performing many hours of meditation under the divine protection and guidance of Amma. Meditation is always a wonderfully purifying practice, but according to tradition, group meditation that is performed in the presence of a holy person is much more powerful than meditation done by oneself.

During retreats, participants are encouraged to set aside their day-to-day concerns and dive deep into the ocean of the Self within. As Amma teaches, it is only when we look within through meditation that we find the true presence of the Divine Mother deep within our inner hearts.

In the more intimate setting of a retreat, Amma is able to teach in more detail than she normally does during public programs. She often focuses her teachings on sacred chants and practices that help aspirants to make their meditation practice more powerful and profound. Learning these sacred Sanskrit mantras from Amma is more than just learning how to pronounce the words, it is really like an initiation. When Amma teaches, she pours her own energy directly into the participants. Many have experienced that it is much easier to pronounce mantras and practice various techniques that they have learned directly from Amma, rather than from a book.

The venue for the India retreats is the beautiful surroundings of Amma’s Penusila Ashram in Andhra Pradesh. Within this pristine setting, great rishis such as Viswamitra and Kanva Maharshi performed their tapas, or divine austerities. This is also the same Penusila Forest that has been sanctified by our beloved Amma’s presence during her own 10-year period of austerities.

Amma has designed the retreat format for participants’ maximum growth and purification. The day begins with meditation at 5 a.m. At sunrise, participants perform the sacred “Surya namaskara” practice, which involves offering flowers and water to the Divine in the form of the sun, while chanting sacred mantras. Meditation sessions are interspersed with deep esoteric teachings from Amma.

Retreat accommodations consist of 12′ by 15′ rooms with beds, bedding and attached baths with solar hot water showers. Men and women will be housed separately, with a maximum of two participants per room. Sattwic Indian vegetarian food will be served.

Please be advised that Amma expects all participants to maintain verbal silence for the length of the retreat. As it is Amma’s intention that everyone benefit as much as possible from her meditation retreat , she has made this request for verbal silence so that participants will experience deeper and more fruitful meditations. A great deal of spiritual energy is lost through speaking; only verbal silence allows us to preserve that energy and make the most of our precious time in the sacred land of Penusila.

Beyond belief. Enter the world of tapas and experience inner peace. Be at the peak of the world of meditation–in the pure winds at the feet of the magnificent Garudachala Mountains.“The first time I set foot in the Ashram, after getting out of my taxi, I felt a wave of warm delicious energy pass over my body… It was like the Earth Herself was welcoming me to the ashram… I felt embraced. I knew that I had answered Amma’s (inner) call to come (for meditation)”

Looking for a change, for something new? Escape from the mundane world and dive deep into the stillness of your Self. Remodel your life by meditating in a temperate rainforest valley, situated in the foothills of the divine Penusila Mountains, hours away from bustling distractions of the nearest city.
Welcome to the best place for Meditation, a land of tapas, where the temptation to close your eyes and sink into the immense peace of your heart, is a pull too strong to resist.