ashram life

life at the ashram....before, during and after the guru's fall from grace....through the eyes of wil kavi.
wasn't in the habit of daily journalling in those days, seems so much yet to (acknowledge, comprehend, articulate and express).....translate = process !
arrived in spring of 88, knowing only i was quite ill, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
had discovered ashram's promotional mag some time previous, and was attracted by the "spiritual lifestyle training" program.
a work exchange proposition, 40 hours of "karma yoga" (volunteer work), access to the "spa" facilities while off-duty, room and board with very high quality vegetarian quisine, some 300 volunteer staff people from all over the map, and a supervised program providing expert instruction in yoga, meditation, and how to live that spiritual lifestyle.
one central attraction was....there was virtually no fee to engage in the program.
as per usual for this guy, at that time was scratching and scraping to get by.
also craved a structured disciplined lifestyle with plenty of physical and spiritual focus.
on all fronts, life at the ashram was a drastic upgrade in lifestyle....began experiencing dramatic improvements quite soon.
the guru happened to be away travelling during my first weeks there, and when he returned i began to feel curious about who is this guru dude and what's he about ?
in other words, he had definitely not been the attraction for me to be there, as he seemed to be for most others.