Ashram is initially tidied up to welcome spiritual leader (9)
I believe the answer is:
maharishi
'spiritual leader' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'ashram is initially tidied up to welcome' is the wordplay.
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
'tidied up' indicates an anagram.
'to welcome' becomes 'hi' (I've seen this in other clues).
The first letter of 'is' is 'i'.
'ashram'+'i'='ashrami'
'ashrami' with letters rearranged gives 'maharis'.
'maharis'+'hi'='MAHARISHI'
(Other definitions for maharishi that I've seen before include "Religious teacher" , "Hindu instructor" , "Indian sage" , "leading teacher" , "Religious leader" .)