Visiting
Happy House Rules
We request you to read, understand and agree to follow these Happy House rules before staying in our ashram. These guidelines are formulated to make for smooth community living and support spiritual development.
- 1.Please treat all other residents and staff with compassion and respect.
- 2.Please participate fully in the daily schedule.
- 3.Please ensure that you are aware of your karma jobs for the day and complete them.
- 4.Please do not take anything that does not belong to you without first asking.
- 5.Please put things back in their proper place.
- 6.Please keep your room and the house clean and tidy. Pick up and wash after yourself.
- 7.Please clean and look after things. Please report any breakages.
- 8.Please respect and take good care of any books or literature you are loaned and replace in the library.
- 9.Please be proactive in helping each other get chores done and keeping the house in order (which includes clearing up after all meals).
- 10.Please remove your shoes before entering the house, or wash your feet outside if you go barefoot. Clean feet only indoors.
- 11.Please ask before taking any food from kitchen cupboards and fridge. If you want to have your own supply, you can store it in bags in the dining room and put your name on it.
- 12.If you notice things running low, please inform us as soon as possible so we can put it on the shopping list.
- 13.Please conserve water. If water runs out, please inform us as soon as possible. DO NOT SWITCH ON THE PUMP YOURSELF.
- 14.Please keep the outside doors closed to keep mosquitoes, bugs, and dogs out.
- 15.Please do not learn or teach each other any other practices without prior permission from Swamiji.
- 16.Please enjoy your food fully, in silence. Try your karma yoga (work) in silence too.
- 17.After evening chanting & program is a good time for your own meditation, so please maintain silence until after breakfast the next day.
- 18.Please turn off all lights and fans if you are the last person leaving a room.
- 19.Absolutely no smoking, alcohol, or intoxicants allowed inside or near the campus.
- 20.Please respect the ashram’s dress code of loose, modest and comfortable clothes that cover chest, shoulders and knees.
- 21.The ashram is not a social meeting place to make friends and relationships. It is a place to get to know yourself and not others. If you start a relationship with another resident, you may be asked to leave.
- 22.Please inform the office each time you leave the campus, where you are going and when you plan to return, and tell the kitchen staff if you will miss a meal. Please return by 7:00 pm if you are having dinner, and by 7:45 pm if you are not.
- 23.If you need any supplies and don’t want to leave the ashram, please give your shopping list along with money to Shyam.
- 24.If you want to do anything differently to how we usually do, or how you have been asked to do, please ask Swamiji first.
- 25.If you are unsure of anything, please ask. We are here to assist you.
While you are here
Available services
- Internet is available. We have a limited amount of data each month, shared with the office, so please keep your use light: fifteen minutes a day, or two hours once a week. If you need to work online, please talk to Swamiji.
- Bicycles, Rs 10 an hour or Rs 50 a day. Please ask at the office the day before, and check that the cycle is in good condition.
- Washing machine, Rs 50 a load. Please do not use the machine yourself; ask Geeta or Ratna.
- Hot water for bathing in the outside bathroom under the stairs, Rs 50 each time. Ask Swamiji for instructions.
- Guided meditations by Swamiji, Rs 200 on CD or Rs 100 to download. The list is on the bulletin board.
- Maps of Gokarna and the country around it, Rs 25.
- Classes by other teachers are occasionally available. If you would like to offer classes, treatments or healing yourself, please speak to Swamiji first.
Out and about
Beyond the gate
- Bankikodla village is a five-minute walk, for basic things: bananas, papayas, sweets. No toilet paper or bottled water.
- The hilltop sunset view and the local beach are half an hour on foot. Ask for directions, or take a map. The fields and village walks nearby are good too.
- Gokarna town has temples, beaches, bookshops and restaurants, and is where to buy toilet paper and bottled water. A bus goes once an hour; it is a 45-minute walk, or hire a cycle.