Parashakti Bhavan Shaktipat Meditation Center

stands in a quiet neighborhood in West Asheville, NC. It is the easternmost center of the Chandika Sampradaya in the United States, as well as a family home of Maa Das and his family. Run on the principles of Sadhana Ashram, the Center combines the more monastic life of spiritual discipline, daily puja, and regular spiritual programs with the life of a householder in the everyday Western world. Rather than emphasizing a renunciate approach, the teachings and daily experience here is of the tantric ideal of the sadhaka (spiritual practitioner) that seeks the Divine while remaining in the world. The renunciation found here is of unhelpful view points and attachments, not of the manifestation of the world that is the Divine Mother. Like the precedent set at Sadhana Ashram, the goal is to establish an example of what is possible while living in the world, rather than hidden in some far-removed location or a cave.

Programs

Shaktipat programs are offered on Saturdays, beginning at 6:00pm. It is recommended that attendees arrive early.

The program itself is done as it has been at Sadhana Ashram for over 40 years. It begins with an arati to the deities on the altar and to the saints pictured on the walls. We then chant, followed by a satsang (talk). After that we have the actual shaktipat, followed by a short meditation. There is no set time frame for this, but it usually all ends around 8:30pm or so.

After the program a vegan, gluten-free, and typically all-organic meal is offered. It is good to replenish the body’s resources (as well as to get grounded) after the shaktipat. Importantly, the food has also been offered at the altar in the meditation room, so it is prasad. 

“Come, sit, and experience for yourself”, as Dhyanyogi used to say.

If you are interested in attending, please send an email to parashaktibhavan@gmail.com for more information.