Sri Ongarananda Ashram

Be very vigilant. Keep your thoughts pure till the end of your life. By doing so, you will become eligible for several noble and spiritual achievements. All living beings will bless you'

-Sri Ongarananda Swami

ONGARA ASHRAM was founded in 1960 at Mayiladuthurai in Nagai Quaide Millet District of Tamilnadu, India, on the birthday of Para Brahma Sadguru Om Sri Siddhar Swamigal, its founder. On 1/19/1962 he told his chief disciple "Take charge of the Ashram and through its activities spread divine wisdom. Occupy the Ongara Peeta and render selfless service to the entire world. I bless this effort to promote Sathya, Dharma and Nyaya (Truth, Righteousness and Justice)".

Siddhar Swamigal's mission for mankind was created in the form of Ongara Ashram, a non-religious organization with a universal target of affording happiness/ Santhosham (Eternal bliss) to every living creature. He created the Ashram to spread his message of divine love and open space meditation as a powerful method to achieving it.
Every mind has a potent energy hidden in it. This energy is indeed, a powerful energy.It has the ability to convert the mind with a hard-core attitude to a soft and sublime one. One can see the divine light. It can give a delightful experience of the body blossoming with fragrance and a distinct halo surrounding it. Such a person who experiences this is said to be in touch with divinity. He is the person who can make others also experience the divinity. He is righteous and truthful throughout his life and experiences the true happiness.

The Ashram has been set up in many places in South India (including Tamilnadu, Pondicherry) as well as in the Far East and the United States of America. Even today the disciples receive messages from this divine soul. They all know and believe that Siddar Swamigal is the guiding spirit - that He is the divine light! Siddhar Swamigal has a disciplined set of followers and thousands of devotees. They practise austerity as per the principles/divine seeds set out by Him.
He initiated His Holiness Swamy Ongarananda, his prime disciple, to spread the message of divine love and eternal bliss till his last breath. Swamy Ongarananda is now on a mission spreading this message and the concept of Open space meditation, through Ongara Ashram. The Ashram is registered with the United Nations (UN) as a peace creating spiritual institution. In line with the teachings of the Guru, Sri Siddhar Swamigal, the ashram spreads the message of love and peace through a number of ways with the motto of "Cosmic power, Earthly action".

Where is this super energy in the mind situated? Who identifies it? Who spots it in us? How can we be made to feel and experience this divinity? Who helps us achieve this? Is he human? Is he divine? Is he God? The answer is simple. It is the teacher or the Sadguru who can spot this divine energy in each one of us and help us channelise this energy into making us blossom and bloom into flowers that will never fade.

A Sadguru is sent by the Almighty. He is born from time to time. He is a divine creation. His duty is to nurture and look after the people who need help. He upholds Dharma, Truthfulness and Righteousness. He guides the people in the right path. He helps them realise and see the Almighty. He guides them through the process of meditation and penance to achieve their goal of experiencing divinity. He helps in removing the restlessness in the mind of the people and helps them live their life to attain everlasting bliss.

He is quick in identifying a true and sincere disciple and guides him through the selected path to attain the state of tranquility, thereby leading to the experience and feel of God. No one other than the Sadguru can take up this stupendous task. It is a difficult task and he decides upon different paths for different people who are his disciples. He does not propagate or makes one practice a theoretical or mathematical formula to attain the ultimate. Instead, his is a meticulous approach framed after careful understanding of the disciple and his abilities. He keeps observing, following and blessing his disciple with abundant love throughout his life span, protecting him and making him achieve his main objective. He is selfless beyond comprehension.> Sri Duttathreya, Sri Pathanjali, Sri Adi Sankar, Sri Ramanujacharya, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramalinga Swamigal, the four great Nayanmars or great seers of Lord Shiva, the famous Vaishnavite saints who worshipped and sang in praise of Lord Vishnu, were all born into this world during different eras and difficult times, to help, teach and guide the world on the correct path of truth. One such sadguru is Sri Siddhar Swamigal of the Ongara Ashram.

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Sri Siddhar Swamigal was born on the 18th of May, in the year 1904. It was a Sunday and a New Moon day. He was born to Shri Rathinaswamy and Smt. Dhanalakshmi Ammal in the small town of Kumbakonam. His parents christened him Narayanaswamy. But he was more populary known as Sattampillai (a tamil word that means a group leader or monitor). His ancestors were all devout followers of Lord Shiva.

Sri Siddhar Swamigal was married at a very young age to an even younger girl named Rajam. They were blessed with a daughter and a son. In an environment that abounded in spiritualism and divinity it was only natural that both the daughter and the son would choose the same path as was done by their forefathers. With the blessings of their father, grandfather and great-grandfather well upon them, both the youngsters embarked on their path of truth and selflessness and surrendered themselves at the lotus feet of the divine and attained divinity. We are indeed blessed, for we have them now to guide and help thousands of devotees far and wide, at home and abroad.

His grandfather took to ascetic life at an early age of 40. He used to meditate for long hours in his little ashram enclosed within the confinement of his garden at home. He always sat under the vilva tree while meditating. He practiced silence as a way of life and restricted his food to once a day. Siddhar Swamigal was greatly influenced by his grandfather during his young and formative years.

Sri Siddhar Swamigal was a deep thinker who was more spiritually inclined and thought it to be a waste of time worrying about the materialistic world and its mundane happenings, as he considered it to be nothing more than mere dust! He was deeply influenced by a number of his teachers. He learnt various mantras under the guidance of Modi Abdul Khader also known as Pattalathu Vaidyar. Kumbakonam Ucchipillaiar Kovil Subramaniya Devar taught him how to deal with spirits and spiritual forces. The renowned 18 siddhars or seers of Tamil Nadu have not only blessed him but have also appeared before him. Siddhar Swamigal's grandfather who had helped him throughout his young age through various siddhis and severe penances, gave him Gnana Deeksha three days prior to his leaving this materialistic world.

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He had a clear mind. He was quiet and at peace with himself. He was endowed with spiritual powers which helped him know and ascertain happenings at far off places. With the help of his spiritual powers he would also cure deadly diseases given up by the medical world. He could read a person's mind with startling accuracy.

Sri Siddhar Swamigal used to meditate in the cremation ground in front of a burning pyre. He mastered the Thaithriya Upanishad. He knew many siddhis (super natural skills) and was soon known as the Maha Siddhar. (A siddhar is is a person who has attained a mental state that an ordinary human being attain or even experienced).

Ashrams Principles Are PURIFICATION,PERFECTION,ATTAINMENT

* To help Sanyasis, Sadhus and spiritually awakened persons to do intense meditation and penance, thereby filling the surrounding space with a unique spiritual power. This will automatically result in the rise of divine forces, qualities and activities and the fall of evil forces. Once this is achieved, this very earth will become a haven of love and lasting happiness
* To teach him or her cleanliness, fullness and merging of the individual soul into the Supreme soul.
* To cleanse the aspirant or sadhaka's body, mind and soul and help him or her through spiritual practices to attain the divine level and ultimately merge in space.
* To change the whole world spiritually by improving the life of every individual.
* Teach people to practice devotion to mother, father, guru and God.
* Educate people to eschew violence and practice ahimsa and love to all beings. Propagate the vital principles of Truth, Righteousness and Justice among mankind. Devise ways and means of filling the cup of life with peace and happiness.

Key Activities

* Open Space meditation programs are a regular feature in Tamilnadu / Pondicherry and all ashram centres monthly on Full moon day and annually on the Chitra Poornima day. Peace loving Heads of various beliefs take part in this programme

* Ongara Ashram has published more than 40 books in the field of Philosophy, Quality of life and experiences of divine men. They are very popular among people and prescribed by Government of Tamil Nadu for various libraries in Tamil Nadu.

* In May 1991, Sadhus, Sanyasins, heads of religious institutions and devotees, 7,000 in all, chanted the holy Siva panchakshara mantra and the total came to 10 million. The significant part of it is that it was achieved in a single night in the holy precincts of Sri Arunachaleswar temple in Thiruvannamalai.

* 520 weekly Congregations , 24 Mass meditation programmes and 3 Mahapujas were conducted on a global basis.

* 4,000 students went in a procession flagged off by Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt and performed Panchakshara Japam for 2 hours praying for peace and prosperity in the world.

* World Peace conferences were held at various centres to propagate religious harmony.

* In September 1993, once again a special puja for world peace was conducted. 108 sumangalis were worshipped as forms of Parasakthi, 200 Sadhus participated.