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Sri Ramana Maharshi
Welcome
I propose to use this blog primarily to air my occasional musings on any matters relating to the life and teachings of Ramana Maharshi. There will also be occasional contributions about Arunachala, the sacred mountain where Sri Ramana spent all of his adult life.
Articles and interviews on these topics can also be found on my site: www.davidgodman.org.
Articles and interviews on these topics can also be found on my site: www.davidgodman.org.
993 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 993 Newer› Newest»SELECT PADAMALAI VERSES ON HEART
-contd.
ABIDING IN THE HEART.
476: True Jnana, which bestows the bliss of the Self, will reveal itself
in a Heart that having conquered the ego, remains utterly still.
1549: Unless one reaches the Heart and remains established there, it is impossible to destroy agitation of the mind and attain peace.
2056: Abiding in the neutral state of equilibrium is reaching and abiding in the Heart through firm awareness of the Self, which is the true Jnana Swarupam.
1377: To exist and shine in the Heart, without any thoughts holding onto you, is Mauna Samadhi, one's own true nature.
833: Those things that leave you,
let them leave. Instead, know that which abides permanently in the Heart, and live in consciousness.
2042: Let the good and wise ones embrace as true tapas the realization of the truth in their
Heart, and the steadfast abidance
as that.
2848: The supreme benefit of possessing consciousness is rejoicing in the Hear, experiencing union with the Self.
2122: The benefit of true tapas, free from illusory appearances, is a Heart that remains uninterruptedly and perpetually full of the true life that abides as consciousness.
contd.
R.subramanaian,
The sage of Kanchi has clearly said-" Those who approach such fake swamis will themselves, after a time, understand their standard of maturity.”
It is not as if the child learns to pick the Ripe mango straightway,but this does take time.It starts looking for the mango with sweetness and not with sourness and learns to pick the one that is sweet.The sour one will be left unpicked.
In similiar fashion,the earnest aspirant starts looking for Truthfulness,Renunciation,Selflessness,Peace,Love and learns to associate with people who exude these qualities.They do not fall for things like flattery,Attention they get,or Other gratifying things from Gurus or blaming them for them for misleading.
Namaskar.
PADAMALAI VERSES ON HEART CONTD.
Establishing the Mind in the Heart:
1259: When the mind, through the quality of extreme purity, merges
in the Heart, it will attain perfection as peace.
1260: If the mind that has become one-pointed, like the tip of darba grass, merges with the Heart, the experience of pure being, seemingly impossible to attain, will be very easily discovered.
1261: Taking a thick fat crowbar, as a needle, it is not possible to stitch together extremely delicate
silk cloth using very find thread.
1919: Only the Heart deserves to be conquered and possessed, for it gives sovereignty over a country whose produce is indescribable supreme bliss.
421: An unruffled mind established in the Heart, is the fence that protects the field of liberation.
2080: [it is included in the book -page 100, verse 44]: Mind abiding in the Heart, free of thoughts, is pure bliss, the Jnana that is difficult to attain.
1395: Restrain yourself in such a way that you reside steadfastly in the Heart, the heavenly expanse of grace whose form is consciousness.
1482: Unless the mind is firmly established in the Heart, reality will become veiled by the falsehood that is the mind.
632: To attain life of true bliss, which is your very nature, firmly establish yourself in the Heart and abide immovably there.
1267: The truth of oneself that exists and shines in the Heart as one's own nature, becomes veiled by a mind that is full of delusion.
1834: Immerse yourself in the Heart and dwell there, so that you remain beyond reproach, untroubled by the crashing waves of the mind.
1009: To whatever extent you dive with a one pointed mind within the Heart, to that extent, you will experience bliss.
1144: [In doing so] the vexation of the clamorous and exceedingly cruel ego ghost, the mind, will perish, leaving not a trace.
concluded.
I don't understand why we should fear false gurus. We should fear to be false disciples.
The false guru is a response to false disciples. It is a natural phenomenon that all things have their opposite.
Isn't this fear the fear of the striving ego to be unsuccessful?
Only a false disciple fears to have encounters with false gurus.
Once there was a journalist attending an event with a spiritual teacher. Afterwards he wrote in his newspaper: 'The philosophy of this man is simple minded and of no interest.'
Someone commented on this: 'If you are able to make a distinction between true and simple minded philosophy - why then you became a journalist?'
To paraphrase Poonja Swami,
"There are no fake gurus, there are only fake devotees."
Fake gurus are the product of fake devotees, who build them up and also tear them down when the time comes. The solution to this problem is not the occasional tearing down of fake gurus, nor even subverting the process of building of them up, but of taking care to be a genuine devotee in the first place.
If we attend to our own real practice and ensure its genuinenes, not only will we be safeguarded against fake gurus, so will others by our example and influence. And even if our guru is less than genuine, it will not harm us.
To help others means to help them cultivate genuine devotion and practice, not to prevent fake gurus from taking advantage of their fake devotion. Playing victim and victimizer games about this does no one any good. That too is a false view of practice, and leads others to a false understanding. Exposing false gurus is fine and well, but more important is helping people see their own false approach, which is what created the false gurus in the first place. And that is not so easy, because very few people even wish to ask those questions, much less see the answers.
salutations to all:
Subramanian:
you said ["...we are not able to distinguish the fake guru and the real guru, because both look alike. They are not like unripe mangoes. All look like ripe mangoes!..."]
sir, let me ask you (& everybody else):
what makes you think bhagavAn is a 'real-guru' and not a 'fake-guru'? :-)
salutations to all:
Clemens:
you said ["I don't understand why we should fear false gurus. We should fear to be false disciples."]
very well said! :-)))
Dear S.,
Sri Bhagavan is the most real guru,
because learned pandits like Kavyakanta Ganapati has said this in
Sri Ramana Gita. If you get immense Peace in a guru's presence, he is a real guru. This is the experience of all devotees while Sri Bhagavan was in body and also after His Maha Nirvana. I am able to feel it on my own when I go to Samadhi Hall and Old Hall as also in Bangalore, when I think of Him and read about Him. If you get a mind stopping Peace, that passeth understanding, he is a real guru. No questions need be asked. "Now it is question time..." Sri Bhagavan would never
say.
FLASH NEWS FROM BBC AND OTHER WORLD
CHANNELS.
"THERE MAY BE SOME RADIO ACTIVE RAINS IN ASIATIC COUNTRIES. IF IT RAINS, STAY PUT WITHOUT GOING OUT IN THE RAINS. KEEP THE DOORS OF HOUSE CLOSED AND STAY IN. THE RAINS MAY START IN PHILIPPINES THIS EVENING."
MY SUGGESTION:
CHANT ARANACHALA SIVA.
Radiation text message supposedly from BBC is a fake...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12745128
David,
Here are some details.I checked quickly last night before writing but I have now checked more clearly.It is my mistake about the mantra.
Book :'No Mind I am the Self'
Page :80
Question :Swami Muktananda has been my Guru for the last eight years.I lived with him in his ashramfor one and half years.You say that a living Guru is essential for moksha.Muktananda passed awaytwo and half years ago..Should I look for a living Guru, or should I carry on following Muktananda's teaching?
Page:81
Lakshmana Swamy: Have you seen many gurus?
Answer:Some but it didn't make any difference.They could not help me to come any nearer to myself
Page:96:Should I carry on saying my old mantra or does Swamy want to give me a new mantra?
In Page 97 there is clarification that this mantra(Om Namssivaaya) came to you in a dream of asuras(demons).In Page 215 there is even further clarification.
In the past when I read it for the first time I must have mistakenly linked Page:80 and Page:96.
Sorry for the confusion.I now see that you mention your name as Nadhia.Now I am not sure if the interview was actually done by you or some other person.My understanding is that all the interviews in the book were done by you??
The Guru I was talking about is Muktananda who is known for criminal level sleaze.As he is your guru for 8 yeas surely you will know better.
-z
salutations to all:
Subramanian:
thank you, sir. now that we have come to bhagavAn, why bother/ worry who is real & who is fake, who is ripe or who is unripe? :-) and if aruNAchalA is 'the' source then all 'real-gurus' as well as all 'fake-gurus' also must have their source in the same aruNAchalA :-)
the reasons you mentioned for your inference can differ from person to person though, isn't it? for instance, i have an immense veneration for kAvyakanTa but his saying bhagavAn is a jnAnI need not necessarily be a factor driving my inference; likewise, the 'peace' that people talk of, especially post-1950, i don't understand what they mean when they talk about 'peace in the samAdhi hall' etc., for i haven't felt any such wave of peace worth mentioning or remembering (though glad to take it as my inadequacy)! at times, i even wonder 'could it be that people are simply imagining, if not feigning, some such peace simply because they don't want to appear incongruous amidst the rest who also may be claiming the same for that very reason?' :-) but yes, the only thing i can say is that compared to the unrest & conflict hitherto, nowadays, generally am happy (i don't know why!) :-)))
to me, if at all there is any hint of bhagavAn being a real-guru, then it is just the blemishless life he consistently led with an incredible transparency for scores of years! surely, that is beyond all 'fake-ness' :-) yet, perhaps i will never completely know what's real & what's fake; may be, i will know the 'real-guru' only when i also know what 'is' real :-)
Z
The questions asked in No Mind - I am the Self came from a variety of different people. Very few were mine.
I have never been a disciple of Muktananda. In fact I have never even met him.
Dear S.,
Sri Bhagavan said once: "Grace is ever there. But 'you; should not
come in between."
That is to say, His Grace and the Peace that is emanating from It, depends upon the size of the vessels, that we take. If we take a large vessel like a drum, we can fill up the Grace to the brim. If we take only a spoon, only spoonful of grace may be available. Here the vessels mean 'the extent to which our ego is subdued. Total surrender is a large vessel. Partial surrender is a spoon, where the ego still dances in our mind. 'You' should not come in between. Here 'you' is our ego.
Dear Anon,
First it was fake guru. Now it is fake news about radioactive rains.
Anyway, one can still chant Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva,
since any mantra japa does not go waste. It will atleast remove the radioactive rains within us, i.e
the thoughts.
Anyway it has not rained in Phillippines even after 4 p.m.
[Phil. time]
Mr.David,
Thanks for the clarification.I am not sure if this is made clear in the book anywhere.The book is out of print anyway so there is not point in discussing this.
The only reason I mentioned is to bring home the point that it is not only the gullible who fall prey to criminal gurus but sometimes the intelligent and the experienced.
People who never lived in India or any other third world country will never understand the specific point I made regarding fighting for our rights when the machinery has broken down to stop criminal Gurus.*Generally Speaking* the added problem in India is to qoute a Saint that God will take care of everything or it is all our paapa karma, let us do a shanti homam instead of doing their duty to fight for their rights or in some other countries God is angry with us.The problem arises from inability to see inaction in action or fear or escapism(selfishness) and most importantly 'Action' in 'Inaction'(Jnana) can never be practised but only arrived at.
Jnana can ONLY be got through Action.As more and more action is performed through ups and downs one learns to abide at Inaction in Action and at the tipping point 'Who Am I'.Even the great Papaji and Sri Aurobindo were militants in their youth trying to drive out the colonists and their actions were bordering on unlawful and criminal.All Jnanis in Mr.David's books and Robert Adams unanimously say that 'Who am I'/Advaita is only for the very ripe fruits about to fall off.You dont have to take the words of a Jnani if one does it sincerely and completely into it for a week or so one will know this.
Advaita to the unqualified and Mindfulness to the unqualified has destroyed India into vicious circle of tamas, superstition and poverty.
-z
z
'All Jnanis in Mr.David's books and Robert Adams unanimously say that 'Who am I'/Advaita is only for the very ripe fruits about to fall off.'
None of the teachers I have written about has ever discouraged a devotee from taking up enquiry on account of his or her lack of ripeness. Those who were interested in following this practice were all encouraged to do so.
'No Mind - I am the Self' is not out of print.
Z,
"The only reason I mentioned is to bring home the point that it is not only the gullible who fall prey to criminal gurus but sometimes the intelligent and the experienced."
You keep saying this.Who are the Intelligent and experienced?In What field?How are they different than the the so called Gullible?
This is what Sri Ramakrishna says:
"Those actually engaged in a game of chess do not always judge the moves on the board
correctly. The onlookers often judge the moves better than the players. Worldly people
often think themselves very intelligent, but they are attached to the things of the world.
They are the actual players and cannot understand their own moves correctly. But holy
men, who have renounced everything, are unattached to the world; they are really more
intelligent than worldly people. Since they do not take any part in worldly life, their
position is that of onlookers, and so they see things more clearly."
It is more a question of Earnestness than intelligence-if this is there one can be a good Disciple.
The rest of your post is a medley of ideas-you talk about advaita,Tamas,India,Shanti Homam,Militants,Jnana,maturity,action and it is not possible to make a cogent statement from this mixup.
All that I am able to understand is that you want to find a place for action.Yes,indeed all of us have to act and play our roles, those that have been thrust on us and those chosen by us.
All that is said is that for a spiritual aspirant,this needs to be done with a full sense of Responsibility and awareness.Without these two aspects,the so called action is only a degenerate form of Reaction that not only is ineffective but will be harmful to those involved.It will only perpetuate and worsen the issue that it is trying to aaddress and resolve.
What is to be done if one does not have the awareness and is unable to summon this understanding?Such a one has no option but to heed the advice of Great ones,the Scriptures,the Elders and to act as per that.This is Intelligence.There is no other way.If one is in Right earnest,one will be lead to Truth.
The Other aspect that you are refering(implied in your posts) to is the Collective aspect of Life.Yes,definitely it has its place and we have discussed this aspect.The Key thing here is the Varna ashrama dharma and how there is no single yardstick or rule of conduct/practice for all.Although the outer structure has fallen apart,one still finds these archetypes of a Brahmin,Kshatriya,Vaisya and the sudra among people;and one is acutely aware of the present day confusion on account of the cocktail of a thing that it has become.
This is a vast subject that is quite subtle and not easily understood by the superficial eye that only sees it as a divisive tool based on discrimination.So I will not venture further into this aspect.
Namaskar.
Z/friends,
An excerpt from Swami Nikhilananda's translation of the Taitriya Upanishad:
Chapter XI—Exhortation to the Departing Student
1
Having taught the Vedas, the teacher thus instructs the pupil:
Speak the truth. Practise dharma. Do not neglect the study of
the Vedas. Having brought to the teacher the gift desired by
him, enter the householder's life and see that the line of
progeny is not cut off. Do not swerve from the truth. Do not
swerve from dharma. Do not neglect personal welfare. Do not
neglect prosperity. Do not neglect the study and teaching of the
Vedas.
2
Do not neglect your duties to the gods and the Manes. Treat
your mother as God. Treat your father as God. Treat your
teacher as God. Treat your guest as God. Whatever deeds are
faultless, these are to be performed—not others. Whatever good
works have been performed by us, those should be performed
by you—not others.
3
Those brahmins who are superior to us—you should comfort
them by giving them seats.
Whatever is to be given should be given with faith, not without
faith—according to one’s plenty, with modesty, with fear, with
sympathy.
4
Now, if there arises in your mind any doubt concerning any act,
or any doubt concerning conduct, you should conduct yourself
in such matters as brahmins would conduct themselves—
brahmins who are competent to judge, who of their own accord
are devoted to good deed and are not urged to their
performance by others and who are not too severe, but are
lovers of dharma.
-----------------------------------
If there is one single thing that characterises this age of our ,it is this-IRREVERENCE and ARROGANCE.I just have to look up a few books and I feel I know more than Sri Ramanuja or sri Madhva-Poor chaps,they are stuck in Dvaita!I can question Dharma and poohpooh it as a mass of manmade superstitions.I can question Tradition as a bundle of useless habits.I,I,I,I Know!
To read the upanishads and imbibe that spirit of Humility is to inhale the fresh air of purity.How refreshingly different!
Namaskar.
Z, I just want to point out, that you've made a bunch of allegations about David Godman, that are clearly not true. Maybe there is a lesson in that.
When I read 'No Mind - I am the Self' for the first time, I never assumed that any of the questioners in the back of the book section were David Godman. It seemed rather obvious that they were not, from the very nature of the questions. So I'm not sure how someone who is so lacking in basic reading comprehension skills can take it upon himself to judge others, especially on the subtleties of spirituality. This seems like a classic case of "tend to the business for which you have come", coupled with "heal thyself first, physician".
Not meaning to gang up on you. You're certainly welcome here, but a little humility and self-knowledge seems in order.
z
I gave my views on who, in Bhagavan's opinion, is qualified to do self-enquiry in the following post:
http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/search?q=who+is+qualified
If you want to discuss this matter further after reading this post, we can do so in the comment section under that particular post.
Last year on Spanish television I heard a story about this gentleman who knocks on his son’s door. "Jaime," he says, "wake up!" Jaime answers, "I don’t want to get up, Papa."
The father shouts, "Get up, you have to go to school." Jaime says, "I don’t want to go to school." "Why not?" asks the father. "Three reasons," says Jaime. First, because it’s so dull; second, the kids tease me; and third, I hate school. And the father says, "Well, I am going to give you three reasons why you must go to school. First, because it is your duty; second, because you are forty-five years old, and third, because you are the headmaster." Wake up! Wake up! You’ve grown up. You’re too big to be asleep. Wake up! Stop playing with your toys.
hey jude,
Nice story. With a stretch, could be Brahman having a conversation with God each morning, or each time the world arises!
Best wishes
Some member wrote about 63-Saints procession in Kapaleeswarar Temple,
Mylapore, Chennai. I was thinking this morning about 3 saints out of the sixty three, that Pattianthar held in high esteem. He mentions in his poem of Kalahasti Siva, Kudumi Thevar in Tamizh:
VaaLal mahavarinthu oottavallen allen,
Mathuraitha chooLal iLamai thuRakka vallen allen,
thondu seithu,
NaaLaril kaN idatthu appa vallen
allen naan inichenRu,
AaLavathu eppadiyo tirukalatti
apparukke?
I am not able to knife my son and
give him as cooked food,
[here he mentions Siruthonda Nayanar]
Because of a woman's swearing [due to my infidelity, she has said not to touch her tiruneelakantam!] I cannot lose my entire youth years!
[here he mentions Tiruneelakanta Nayanar, the potter, in whose life both husband and wife lost their youth and became very old since the wife has sworn not to touch her due to suspected infidelity]
I am not able to pull my eye and fix it on your bleeding eye, in just six days of devotion and faith!
[here he mentions Hunter Kannappar of Kalahasti]
How can I ever think of becoming your devotee, O my Father in Tirukalatti [Sri Kalahasti]
*
Each one of the above deeds were of high order, to show their faith in Siva and Pattinathar keeps them as high water mark of faith and devotion to Siva.
We were posting about Japan tsunami and earthquakes. In ancient Tamizh history, it is mentioned, that a large area of Tamizh speaking lands were deluged by two powerful earthquakes and tsunamis in the times before Christ. The erstwhile Tamizh lands, which had stretched upto 1000 miles south of the present Kanyakumari, two such deluges took place, and the lands were swallowed by ocean.
The Tamizh Sangams 1 and 2 were the victims of this deluge. The 3rd Tamizh Sangam was started in the present Madurai. Siva and Muruga were the first two Tamizh poets adorning the Group. Tiripuram erittha viri chadai veLum, KunRu eRintha kumara veLum... says one old Tamizh verse.
The Chozha Kings decided to prevent such earth quakes and tsunamis and so they decided to build a Ganesha shrine, about 200 feet below the ground level. Ganesha is mooladhara god, in Yoga, and also the controller of the earth's underground. So the Ganesha temple. This was built in a town called TirupuRambayam, near Kumbakonam. And the temple is still there. Siva is called Satta Natha and Sakti is called Guhambika since in the stone image, she is having the child Guha, Muruga, on her waist.
Saint Tiru Jnana Sambandhar has sung a decad in 2nd Canon on this TirupuRambayam Temple. But he does not mention about this Ganesha.
WHERE IS THE DIVINE WORLD?
[From T.K. Sundaresa Iyer's book,
At the feet of Sri Bhagavan]
When studying the Upanishads in my early days, I always visualized the Divine Abode in the Sun God and was performing the practices enjoined in certain texts. Even later, after settling the abode of Sri Maharshi, I continued this upasana. It proved hard to succeed in this process, and I had to undergo very trying experiences, so I referred the whole matter to Sri Bhagavan.
"So you want to go to the Divine World?" asked He.
"Thatr is what I am trying to obtain and that is what the Scriptures prescribe," I answered.
"But where are you now?" the Maharshi asked.
I replied, "I am in Your Presence."
"Poor thing! You are here and now in the Divine World, and you want to obtain it elsewhere! Know that to be the Divine World where one is firmly established in the Divine. Such a one is full [poorna]. He encompasses and transcends all that is manifest. He is the Substratum of the screen on which the whole manifestation runs like the picture film. Whether moving pictures run or not, the screen is always there and is never affected by the action of the pictures. You are here and now in the Divine World. You are like a thirsty man wanting to drink water, while he is all the time standing neck-deep in the Ganga. Give up all efforts and surrender. Let the 'I' that wants the Divine World die, and the Divine in you will here and now. For, it is already in you as the Self, not different from the Divine [Brahman], nameless and formless. It is already in you, and how are you to obtain that which ever remains obtained? The Self in you is surely not different from us. Thus spoke Sri Bhagavan.
Today is the Wedding Day Celebrations in Tiruchuzhi Temple.
Tirumeni Nathar [Siva] is wedded to Thunamalai Amman. In Sanskrit, the divine couple are called Bhoominatha Swami and Sahaya Valli.
Sri Bhagavan once due to some tiff at home, went to this temple and hid Himself behind the image of Sahayavalli. Sahayavalli brought down His anger and self pity and cooled His temper.
In 108 Holy Names of Sri Bhagavan,
Sri Ramana Ashottaram, composed by
Viswanatha Swami, there are two names connected to Tiruchuzhi and the divine couple.
No. 8: Om Sri Bhoominatha Sthalottithaya Namah|
Salutations to the One, who was born in the town of Sri Bhoominatha.
No. 12: Om Sahyamba sahaayavathe Namah|
Salutations to the One who attained the support of Sahayavalli. [the above story].
[BHAGAVAN RAMANA - A FRIEND OF ALL.]
MONKEY AND MANGOES:
Suri Nagamma writes in one her letters about how monkeys take only what they need. This morning at 10 o'Clock, Dr. Ananthanarayana Rao and his wife Ramabai brought some good mangoes from their garden and while giving them to Sri Bhagavan, said,
'The monkeys are taking away all the mangoes. So we hurriedly plucked these and have brought them here.'
Sri Bhagavan said smilingly, "Oh, is that so? So the monkeys ae going there also?" Then looking at all the others there, He said, "Yes, monkeys take the fruits one by one while people take them all in one lot. If asked, why, they say it is their right. If what the monkeys do is petty theft, what people do is regular looting.
Without realizing that, they drive away the monkeys!"
What follows is a conversation between Dr. Masalavala and Sri Bhagavan. [Dr. Masalavala was in charge of Asramam hospital for some time.]
Dr.: Sri Bhagavan says, "The influence of the Jnani steals into the devotees in silence." Sri Bhagavan also says, "Contact with great men, exalted souls, is one efficacious means of realizing one's true being."
Sri B: Yes. What is the contradiction? Jnani, great men, exalted souls -- does he [Dr.] differentiate between these?
Thereupon, I [Devaraja Mudaliar] said: "No."
Sri B: Contact with them is good. They will work through silence. By speaking, their power is reduced. Silence is the most powerful. Speech is always less powerful than silence. So mental contact is the best.
Dr: Does this hold good even afer the dissolution of the physical body of the Jnani or is it true only so long as he is in flesh and blood?
Sri B: Guru is not the physical form. So contact will remain even after the physical form of the
Guru vanishes.
- Day by Day.
THE INHERITANCE OF THE MASTER:
[Mouni Sadhu]
With this year 1970, twenty years have passed since Sri Bhagavan left His body (14.04.1950). It is the anniversary of the death of a man, who enriched this century with His
life, example and teachings, given in and for our own period, and jus how we needed it.
Involuntarily, one's mind puts itself a question: What did He teach? The old path of Self realization alone? Unfortunately, the majority of those who contacted the Sage's teachings in this form or another, seem to notice only one part of them -- the ancient path of Wisdom, through the realization of the true nature of man.
It would be natural for a Yogi or similar minor representative of the occult initiation, but not for a real master, for whom all the paths are open and who knows all of all them. So it was with the Ramana Maharshi. It is sufficient to look through His own writings and the records of those who were
able to sit in His presence for a time, sufficient for the understanding of the message He brought to the erring humanity of this epoch.
In fact, if we investigate this subject, we will see that the main line of the Master's teachings went into two basic directions: That, of Self-realization and that of the Self-surrender to the Supreme Being we call God.
Maharshi underlines several times in His sayings, the difficulties of the first path -- the necessity of a very solid preparation for it, and not only in this one last incarnation known to us, but also in the past lives, usually covered by the veil of unknowing, i.e. the interval between the separate existences. Only the Master is able to lift this veil and to see therefore, the qualifications and karmic conditions of His prospective pupil. Maharshi never entered into any deliberation or controversies of this kind with the people concerned. But as a result of His seeing, He treated accordingly the people around Him.
contd.
[From Call Divine, 1971]
SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTION FROM SRI BHAGAVAN:
1. What are the marks of a real teacher? [Sadguru].
Steady abidance in the Self, looking at with an equal eye, unshakable courage at all times, in all places and circumstances, etc.,
2. What are the marks of an earnest disciple?
An intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasures.
3. What are the characteristics of instruction? [Upadesa]
The word 'upadesa' means, 'near the place or seat'. [upa-near; desa-seat or place]. The Guru who is the embodiment of that which is indicated by the terms sat, chit and ananda, [existence, consciousness and bliss], prevents the disciple who, on account of his acceptance of the forms of objects of the senses, has swerved from his true state and is consequently distressed and buffeted by joys and sorrows, from continuing so and establishes him in his own real nature without differentiation. Upadesa also means showing a distant object quite near. It is brought home to the disciple that Brahman which he believes to be distant and different from himself is near and not different from himself.
4. If it be true that the Guru is one's own Self [atman], what is the principle underlying the doctrine which says that, however learned a disciple may be or whatsoever occult powers he may possess, he cannot attain Self realization [Atma bodha] without the grace of the Guru?
Although in absolute truth the state of the Guru is that of oneself, it is very hard for the Self which has become the individual soul [jiva] through ignorance to realize its true state or nature without the grace of the Guru.
All mental concepts are controlled by the mere presence of the Guru. If he were to say to one who arrogantly claims that he has seen the farther shore of the ocean of learning or one who claims arrogantly that he can perform deeds which are well-nigh impossible, "Yes, you learned all that is to be learned, but have you learned to know yourself? And you who are capable of performing deeds which are almost impossible, have you seen yourself?", they will bow their heads in shame and remain silent. Thus it is evident that only by the grace of the Guru and by no other accomplishments, is it possible to know oneself.
[From Mountain Path, Jayanti, 2001]
QUESTION AND ANSWER:
[From questions received by post at
the Asramam, and the replies drafted by T.K. Sundaresa Iyer and cleared by Sri Bhagavan]
Q: I should like to know when the Maharshi broke His vow of silence.
Was it when He opened His mouth to Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni to inform Him that if one repeats a mantra and watches whence it springs, that is Tapas? Please clarify.
A: It is a mistaken notion that Sri Bhagavan observed silence as a vow or a spiritual practice - sadhana. From the days of His grand Realization, He was so much absorbed in Himself that pure Being became His very nature, His natural state - sahaja. He had no vow not to talk, but there was no need to talk. Those who came in contact with Him, in those days, took it for granted that He would not talk, as they did not themselves talk to Sri Bhagavan. He kept silent. Thus the language of Silence continued until Pazhaniswami's efforts to read Tamizh Kaivalya Navaneetam struggling like a school boy excited Sri Bhagavan's compassion to read out the books for Pazhaniswami. You will find this recorded in the book Self Realization [1944 edition].
The great act of Sri Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni was his proclaiming the Master in 1907, as Sri Ramana Maharshi, by which name He came to be universally known ever since then.
[From At the Feet of Sri Bhagavan, T.K. Sundaresa Iyer.]
QUESTION AND ANSWER:
[From the questions received by post by the Asramam, and replies drafted by T.K. Sundaresa Iyer and cleared by Sri Bhagavan.]
Q: I know I should not ask you this, but frankly I cannot understand how the Maharshi changed from an introvert to an extrovert at a later period of His life. Of course, i use these words in a very general and relative sense. What I mean is that at one time, He was unaware of the most vicious bites on His body, while in the later part of His life, we see Him proof-reading, giving minute attention in detail etc., Whence this transition? -- from complete utter indifference even to the care of health or body to minute attention to objects of external perception? I trust you will clarify this point.
A: The question arises because there is no clear understanding of Ramana as Being Consciousness [Sat Chit]. Was Ramana the six-foot body? Was He in it, or outside it or both in and out? Was He as the Supreme Self confined to space-time? If you conceive of Him as being a transcendental Existence, this confusion of thought will not arise. Has He not said that He is the One Substratum of all that is, was and shall be? The pot is neck downward in the ocean of water. There is water in and out. The water is Ramana, not the pot. Well, we shall leave it at that, hoping that you will easily catch the point. Sri Bhagavan was neither introvert nor extrovert, because for Him there is no in or out. He IS, that is, Pure Being only. All that appeared to others was only phenomena reflected in the mirror of the Supreme Being of Sri Bhagavan. So we may say that He was extroverted while doing such actions as proof-reading, yet was always merged in the Self within. Please note that the Scriptures also confirm this point of view, saying, "All is the Self, all this is the Eternal Truth, all this is Brahman," and the like.
[From T.K. Sundaresa Iyer's AT THE FEET OF SRI BHAGAVAN]
... Wake up! Stop playing with your toys. ...
... what a really, really merciless world this 'father' lives in! What a pity to have to take responsibility for a world which ends tomorrow.
Subramanian, Perhaps the famous Zen Ox Herding pictures explain Ramana the best or as clearly as can be to our limited understanding of a great Jnani. "Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world.
My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful.
I use no magic to extend my life;
Now, before me, the dead trees become alive"
R.Subramanaian,
"All that appeared to others was only phenomena reflected in the mirror of the Supreme Being of Sri Bhagavan."
"mirror of the supreme Being"?Does not seem to be correct.Somehow,the answer is not satisfactory as it does not share the standpoint of the questioner.The questioner is obviously refering to the manifestation of Supreme Truth that graced the terra firma as sri Bhagavan.
Sri Bhagavan would normally ask the questioner to question his standpoint(i.e identification of self with the body)or would explain from the standpoint of the questioner.
Namaskar.
Dear heyjude,
I have also seen the four or five
drawings of the famous Zen Ox. But
I did not understand its significance in relation to Sri Bhagavan's teachings. Let me see these pictures once again and write on them.
Dear Ravi,
I checked up once the replies given by T.K. Sundaresa Iyer as approved by Sri Bhagavan. I think my understanding is: Sri Bhagavan is the same Real Supreme Being. His so called introverted behavior in the early years and the extroverted behavior in later years, APPEARED SO TO OTHERS, AS PHENOMENA REFLECTED IN THE MIRROR OF THE SUPREME BEING OF SRI BHAGAVAN. What I gather is these "changed appearances & disposition of Sri Bhagavan" was only from the point of view of onlookers. As otherwise He is the changeless, eternal Being. Like the sun reflected in a tank water, on the one side of it in the morning, and to the other side of it in the late afternoon. The onlooker thinks that the sun has moved from one side to another side in the tank water.
Today the annual full-day Sri Vidya
Homa [haven] is celebrated in the Asramam. This is a mini-kumbabhishekam done for Sri Chakra Meru installed in the Matrubhuteswarar Temple. The programme consists of Navavarna Puja, Lalita Sahasranama Homa, Lalita Trisati Homa, Kanya Homa and Saraswati Puja. It is an important ritual that has been observed for many decades now.
It was commenced with the finacial assistance of Major Chadwick.
I have not seen this Homa. However I have witnessed the Sri Chakra Puja done on weekly Fridays. They give prasadam of sugar pongal and vada. When I and my wife were there on 26th to 29th Jan 2010, we also did archana during that puja. Sri Ilayaraja
the music composer had come on that day and also participated
in the archana in the names of his family members. Sri Chakra Puja is confined to 4.30 PM to 8.00 PM. The above said Homa must be for
the full day. Usually they install the sacrificial pit on the open ground in front of the Old Hall, opposite its grilled gate.
A letter received by post to the Asramam, and replies drafted by T.K.
Sundaresa Iyer and approved by Sri
Bhagavan:
Q: What is the Ajata Vada?
A: It is the doctrine of no birth. Nothing is or ever was born, nor does it decay or die.
Q: Then what do we see happening before us?
A: The seer, and the seen are mere phantoms as in a dream vision/
Q: But dream is bound up with sleep, while here we are awake.
A: What is sleep excepting being unaware of your own being? Mental activity in such unawareness gives rise to confusing thoughts. Thus comes the mistake of seeing what is not and missing what is. Similarly, in the waking state, we miss the Self and see the world, which really is not. That which is not, cannot be born or die; it sees to emerge from the Real Being, and also merge in It again. To become aware of this Real Being is the ultimate goal of the man who is ignorant of It but yearns to realize It.
Ajata Vada fulfills this purpose, and it is based on the fundamentals laid down in the Upanishads, and elaborated in
the Karika of the Mandukya Upanishad -- which has been elaborately explained by Sri Sankara. The original of this work is in Sanskrit and its translation is available in English from Sri Ramakrishna Math.
Others who cannot rise up to this level and yet consider themselves very learned, deluding themselves that they are also infallible, offer other interpretations of the Upanishads. In this view this exposition is called a Vada, a doctrine.
Restatements of this Ajata Vada or expositions of this doctrine, either partial or full may be found in Yoga Vasishta and we may add that our own publications, the Tripura Rahasya and Maha Yoga ae also based on this principle.
[At the Feet of Sri Bhagavan - Sri T.K. Sundaresa Iyer.]
THE NATURE OF OUR MIND:
(A highly abridged extract from Michael James' article in MP - Jan/Mar 2007. A detailed book Happiness and Art of Being is available in book marts and a pdf version is also available in website www.HappinesOfBeing.com.]
1. What we call our 'mind' is just a limited and distorted form of our fundamental consciousness 'I am' - a spurious form of consciousness that identifies itself with a particular body, and that appears to exist only in the states of waking and dream, and disappears in deep sleep. Since this mind is the primary obstacle that stands in the way of our knowing our self as we really are, we should examine it closely. What is the nature of this distorted form of consciousness that we call our 'mind'?
2. Our mind as now know it is just a bundle of thoughts, -- thoughts, that is, in the very broadest sense of the term, namely anything that our mind forms and experiences within itself, such as any perception, conception, ideas, belief , feeling, emotion, desire, fear or suchlike. All thoughts are just images that our mind forms within itself by its power of imagination.
3. Because the fact that all our perceptions are only thoughts, is so important, let us examine it more closely, using the example of sight. According to 'scientific' explanation of the process of seeing, light from outside world enters our eyeballs and stimulates electrochemical reactions in our retinas. These then stimulate a chain of further electrochemical reactions along our optic nerves, and these in turn reach our brain causing more electrochemical activity to take place there. Thus far the process is clear cut and simple to understand. But then something mysterious happens. Our mind, which is a form of consciousness that interfaces with our brain, then somehow interprets all this electrochemical activity by forming images within itself that we believe to correspond to the shape, color, and size of external objects, and to their relative distance from or body. But all we actually know when we see something, is the image that our mind has formed within itself.
salutations to all:
Subramanian/Ravi/Others:/
sorry to say (and i could be quite wrong here), but somehow i think, with all my humble respects to TKS, his version of 'what bhagavAn said' appears to be written later from memory and coloured by his own devotion to bhagavAn (several devotees out of their bhakti tend to unintentionally lace their guru's sayings with quite a bit of embellishments!). some of those words (again i may be wrong) strike me as somewhat 'unusual' of bhagavAn!
Subramanain, You wrote "I cannot understand how the Maharshi changed from an introvert to an extrovert at a later period of His life. Of course, i use these words in a very general and relative sense. What I mean is that at one time, He was unaware of the most vicious bites on His body, while in the later part of His life, we see Him proof-reading, giving minute attention in detail"
I presented the last Ox herding caption as a possible explanation that the sage once anchored reenters 'the market place' and interacts with the world again.
David please tell me how I may speak with you, this is no joke, I am in need of help, I know I am God, I was in such peace inner and outer, had no senses except for eyesite, even what my eyes landed on had no names, I had no idea about this truth that I am, I am crying all the time, can't function, where do I find help for this?
love janice power
Devotee:
When I try to be without all thoughts, I pass into sleep. What should I do about it?
Maharshi: Once you go to sleep, you can do nothing in that state. But while you are awake, try to keep away all thoughts. Why think about sleep? Even that is a thought. Is it not? If you are able
to be without any thought, while you are awake, that is enough. When you pass into sleep, what state in which you were before falling asleep will continue again, when you wake up, you will continue from where you had left off, when you fell into slumber. So long as there are thoughts or activity, so long would there be sleep also. Thought and sleep are counterparts of one and the same thing.
[Day by Day]
If you are able to be without any thought while you are awake, that is enough. When you pass into sleep, what state in which you were before falling asleep, will conti
Jivarajani: When I reach the thoughtless stage in my sadhana, I enjoy a certain pleasure, but sometimes I also experience a vague fear, which I cannot properly describe.
Sri Bhagavan: You may experience anything, but you should never rest content with that. Whether you feel pleasure or fear, ask yourself who feels the pleasure or the fear and so carry on the sadhana until pleasure and fear are both transcended and all duality ceases and the Reality alone remains.
There is nothing wrong in such things happening or being experienced, but you must never stop at that. For instance, you must never rest content with the pleasure of laya experienced when thought is quelled but must press on until all duality ceases.
[Day by Day]
Dear heyjude and Ravi,
The anecdotes [questions and replies
drafted by Sundaresa Iyer], the book says that these are from the diary notes of Sri Iyer. Since those days, it was not the practice to keep a copy of replies [perhaps it might have been done after typewriters came in the Asramam Office.] and so one has to depend only on the diary
notes of Mr. Iyer. The diary notes might have been written by him, on the same night of such letters drafted and sent. Hence I suppose these are as per Sri Bhagavan's approval with His corrections if any. Of course, the the diary came in book form only in 1980. David Godman can confirm whether the diary notes were found in Archives or otherwise.
s/R.Subramanaian,
I agree with s in that I find that the reply by Sri TKS is his reply to that question.
The Preface by Sri ganesan says:
"He also replied to correspondence received by the Ashram
on spiritual matters, consulting Sri Bhagavan every time
he had to reply to specific spiritual questions."It does not say that these were Sri bhagavan's words maintained in a diary by sundaresa iyer or that TKS showed Sri Bhagavan after drafting the reply.
The Footnote on page 96 simply says:
"* These questions were received by post at the Ashram, and the
replies were drafted by the author, Sri T.K.S."
It is interesting to read what Master Mahasaya or M has to say on how the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna was written:
M. is reading the proofs while Jagabandhu is holding the copy. In between he converses. Some bhaktas are coming, while the others leave. During the conversation, the subject
of three kinds of evidences of Thakur’s words comes up. So many people write about Thakur. Among these writings, how far each is valuable is commented upon.
M. (to Antevasi) – The first class of evidence is that which is recorded by the writer on the same day after seeing with his own eyes, and hearing with his own ears what
Thakur said or did. The second class is that which is recorded much later though it was heard and seen by the author himself. And the third class is that which was
collected by hearing from others. Along with it there is another class of evidence which one comes across at times. It can be termed as fourth class of evidence. The writer has mixed up what he himself heard and saw, but did not write it immediately,and he has mixed it up with what he heard from somebody else.
The Kathamrita is the first class of evidence. What I saw Thakur doing with my own eyes and what great sayings I heard with my own ears, I recorded
them in my diary on the same day on returning home. Sometimes I wrote for days together, for there were long conversations on some particular days. I have recorded all these divine sights and divine words in the Kathamrita. In the main part of the book, I was present in all the scenes narrated therein.
Antevasi – The reminiscences of Ashwini Dutt and the story of Baranagar Math etc. have also found a place in the Kathamrita.
M. – Not in the main text. They are written in the appendices. In the main book, there are all such direct evidences that I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own
ears.
"It is very valuable for the lawyers. They are cultured men, you see. Haven’t you seen what Ashwini Dutt has written? He says, ‘Am I so fortunate as M. that I could write
about Thakur giving the day of the week, the date and the position of the stars?’ Before writing about Thakur he has offered his apology by saying so. Please bring the
Kathamrita."
M. reads out what Ashwini Dutt, a devotee of God and a patriot, has written about Thakur. It forms the appendix to part I of the Kathamrita.
M. (to Jagabandhu) – Just hear what he says. He writes, ‘But I have not come with a fortune such as M. that I should be able to write the day, the date and the time of the
darshan of his holy feet and record exactly all that fell from his blessed lips. I am writing as far as I can remember. It is possible that I may assign the talk of one day to
some other day. Besides, I have forgotten so much.’
continued....
s/R.Subramanaian,
M on the the writing of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
A Certain Bhakta : Swami Bhumananda said, ‘Master Mahashay has given three kinds of evidences to dishonour Sarat Maharaj’s Lila Prasanga (Sri Ramakrishna the
Great Master).’
M. (wonder-struck and sad) : What is this? How does he know why it was written? I don’t accept what he says. Let him say what he wants. Who can stop him?
M. (to a devotee) – No other avatara had [a record] like this. It is not in world history .
"Swami Vivekananda knew it. He wrote to me, ‘The move is quite original and never was the life of a great teacher brought before the public untarnished by the writer’s
mind as you are doing.’
"The other books which are coming out are all confusing because they contain second and third class evidences.
"This book is the first record in the world containing such an account of the conversations and life of an avatara.
"The coming out of the Kathamrita has done another big good. In future, whosoever writes a diary or a book shall be greatly benefited by knowing about these three classes
of evidences. While writing on any subject, they will be very careful while offering their opinion on it.
"Since ‘the Kathamrita’ has been written on the basis of first class evidence, the lawyers, the scientists and then the westerners will be able to appreciate the real value
of this book."
M. (to Antevasi) – Just read the page where these three classes of evidences are talked about.
Antevasi (reads) – (The main portions are).
"First — Direct and recorded on the same day... this kind of version is obtained by direct seeing and hearing — along with the year, the date, the day of the week and the
lunar date.
"Second — Direct but unrecorded at the time of the Master... this kind of version is also very good. The record of the other avataras is generally of this kind..... Herein
there is a greater possibility of mistakes than what is recorded immediately.
"Third — Hearsay and unrecorded at the time of the Master... what one hears about the life from the devotees, all belongs to the third class.
"At the time of the writing Sri Sri Kathamrita M. relied on the first class evidence…"
M :All these volumes (of the Kathamrita) were written after so much of seeing and hearing. I had to read the Law of Evidence. They do not know it. If there is a slight
mistake in the evidence the whole value of it goes down.
M. (to Antevasi) – Haven’t you read the Law of Evidence, and the Criminal Procedure Code?
Antevasi – Yes Sir, I have read them the way one studies in colleges. I read in broad outlines.
M. – You have seen it. A slight mistake is detected in the evidence and it almost spoils the whole case. The lawyer says to the judge, ‘My Lord, he is not reliable.’
"The force that direct evidence has is not there in what one has heard from somebody. That is why, the judge asks, ‘Did you see it yourself?’ By seeing and hearing oneself
there is a greater force. And if one says, ‘I have heard it so,’ it has no force.
"I visited the court so often. By seeing and hearing all this I have arrived on this conclusion. (Laughing) W.C. Bannerji once said, ‘My Lord, he is an English speaking
witness.’ Such persons enjoy more respect. They are very reliable because when it goes into the hands of a translator some difference creeps in. It is not exactly the same."
Namaskar.
s/R.Subramanian/Friends,
'M,The apostle and Evangelist' is a wonderful sequence to The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,issued in 16 volumes.Swami Nithyatmananda(formerly sri Jagabandhu)had recorded the talks with M;he was trained by M into maintaining a diary.Those interested in downloading Volume II, can do so from this site:
http://estudantedavedanta.net/M_Apostol%20and%20Evangelist.pdf
In 'Day by Day with Bhagavan' Sri Devaraja Mudaliar in his preface, writes:
A word as to the origin of this work may not be out of
place. It was my great good fortune to live for more than four
years, from August 1942 till the end of 1946, at Sri
Ramanasramam and to have the inestimable benefit of daily
contact with our Bhagavan. After I had been there for some
months various people who visited the Asramam began to
suggest that it would be a good thing if I recorded Bhagavan’s
utterances on spiritual topics, either in answer to questions
from visitors or in any other context. For a long time, however,
I was too lazy to make the effort. Nevertheless, whenever I
read the ‘Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’, as I used
to now and then, I felt how desirable it was that a similar
book should be compiled in the case of our Bhagavan. When
I had drifted on like this for some years, on the morning of
January 1st, 1945, within the space of about an hour, three
different persons — a lawyer’s clerk, son of Sankara Ammal
doing service in the Asramam, a businessman of Madras by
name M.V.P. Sastri, whom I had known since his boyhood at
Chittoor, and O.P. Ramaswami Reddi, who later became Chief
Minister of Madras — all urged me to undertake the task as,
in their kind opinion, I was best fitted for it besides having
the necessary facility of constant close contact with Bhagavan.
The appeal coming from such widely different persons
on the first day of the year and all of them approaching me in
such quick succession and without any previous consultation
amongst themselves made such a deep impression on me that
I took it as a call really from Bhagavan. So, that very day I
started keeping an Asramam Diary. My idea was to preserve
for Bhagavan’s devotees all that took place in the Asramam
that might be of interest or importance from one point of view
or another, and mainly Bhagavan’s answers to questions
addressed to him by visitors from all quarters of the globe,
for many of whom I acted as a sort of official translator in
Bhagavan’s Court.
Continued....
s/R.Subramanaian/Friends,
Devaraja Mudaliar continued...
I told Bhagavan of the circumstances under which I
started the work, thus asking for his blessing on it. Then I
obtained permission from the Sarvadhikari. Also, for the first
few days I read out to Bhagavan whatever I had recorded so
that he could correct me anywhere where I had gone wrong.
Even when I was interpreting Bhagavan to visitors, if I made
the slightest mistake Bhagavan would pull me up. Whenever
I myself was in doubt as to what Bhagavan meant I used to
ask for further clarification and Bhagavan willingly explained
things again for my benefit. After the first two or three days I
gave up reading my entries to Bhagavan daily, but on any day
when I was in doubt whether I had accurately recorded what
Bhagavan had said, I used to read out my entry for the day
and correct it wherever he indicated that it was necessary.
Only a part of these records of mine seems to be available
to the Asramam authorities for publication just now. I am glad
that at least so much is to be published by them immediately.
I believe they came into existence because Bhagavan willed
it and I believe it is his will that at least a part of them should
now appear in print. I hope and pray to Bhagavan that the
publication may prove not merely of interest but of great use
to those who read it and that he may bestow his grace on all
who go through it in earnestness and faith.
1st January 1952 A. DEVARAJA MUDALIAR
Namaskar.
Dear friends, Bankai Behari took Mira Bai as his teacher. In Mira Bai's poems, Bankey found the inner map of Brindavan that he was to follow; faith was his first station. Behari spent thirty years waiting for Krishna to appear to him, only to realize himself that it was not Krishna he sought, but the love he inspired.
Janice
My email address is david_godman@yahoo.co.uk
Subramanian.
I don't know anything about TKS' diary.
Usually, replies to devotees' letters were drafted in the office without input from Bhagavan. These would then be shown to Bhagavan for approval. Once he had seen the first draft, Bhagavan might suggest additions or revisions.
On rare occasions Bhagavan took the initiative. Ganapati Muni once sent a query to Bhagavan and asked him to send a response via TKS. The reply, more or less dictated by Bhagavan, appears as 'Letter to Ganapati Muni' in one of the 1982 issues of The Mountain Path.
Dear David,
Thanks for the clarification.
Dear Ravi,
I am still not sure whether the words used by TKS Iyer were the same as Sri Bhagavan had finally approved. I somewhere read that excepting BVN's Self Realization and Talks, the rest of the works were not shown to Sri Bhagavan, on day to day basis.
July 20, 1929:
Sri N. Natesa Iyer, advocate of Madurai arrived this morning at 7.30 a.m. with his family and paid his respects to the Maharshi. He quoted a verse from Bhagavad Gita and then asked, "How are doubts removed?
M: By granthichchedana [cutting the knot].
NN: "All karmas get destroyed on seeing it." How are we to have that experience? How does this illusion arise and to whom? How is it removed?
M: Instead of pursuing these inquiries as to how illusion arises and how it is removed, it is sufficient if we solve first the question. "To whom?" it arises and then all questions are solved.
NN: The doubts arise in my mind and to me. The books say that I must know myself and my own nature, but how is this to be done?
M: Seek your source. Find out whence the thought "I" springs.
NN: How is that to be done? I don't find that easy.
M: Do we not see things and knwo them clearly? But what object can we be surer of and know more certainly than our Self? This is direct experience and cannot be further described.
NN: If we cannot see the Self, what is to be done?
M: Strenuous endeavor to know the Self is necessary. Develop the Antarmukham or intrsopective attitude. Constantly put before your mind the query, "What am I?" and in time you will be able to see your Self. How can you see yourself? You can see that which you have not seen before. But as to what you are always experiencing, there is no drishti [vision], strictly speaking. By drishti, the removal of the hindrance, viz., the idea that you are not seeing the Self is meant.
[From Mountain Path, Jayanti, 2000. Based on Ms. at the Ashram archives.]
Svarupa Saram of Svarupanandar [the guru of Tattvarayar.]
Selected and translated by J. Jayaraman.
From Mountain Path, Jayanti, 2000:
Verse 15:
In the waking, surveying
The dance of the ten sense organs...
In dram the frenzy chaotic mind...
And in sleep devoid of memory,
Doing the dance of Sunya that never took place,
We shall remain the Witness.
Verse 16:
Upon looking into 'Who is that ever remains as "I" '?
I shall never let identification arise in transient form.
As Supreme Knowing
I alone am "I"
All other "I"s like bubbles evaporate
Again to be born.
Verse 28:
Forsooth, By my Rule -
Like the impossibility of ornament without gold --
There's not a thing else here but "I"!
Yet, like gold named anew as another, as ornament
Have we spoken of Self
Divided, as self and non-self.
Verse 37:
The ones of purified purpose....
Neither abrasive nor given to anger,
Face free of contortions
Receiving the life's 'gifts' with gratitude upon high
From the wicked ever distant
From red eyed ill-will ever free,
Finish with the business of birth.
Svarupa Saram - select verses [contd.]
Verse 40:
Free from the tyranny of sudden passion,
Yet ever craving to hear the Way
Never burdened with greed of
'Mine, the cattle; mine, the mansion,
Mine, the property and progeny'
The ripe ones
Never in duality drown.
Verse 73:
Should it be the Guru who showed me the Self
As if through sleight of hand?
Or, should it be Me who doubted,
enquired and finally found myself?
Or, shall it be this faithful friend, this temple, this my body following me through the hallucinations called birth?
That I shall revere
As my Self?!
Verse 71:
Where indeed is the "I" that was
Where indeed that delusory clinging of "mine"?
And where did go that craving for lordship o'er earth and sky?
Where indeed the master guide, the Jnana Guru...
Siva, Siva!... where the Mukti?
And more -- my Son! --
Where indeed the Mouth
to mouth?
concluded.
Subramanian
In the Perumal Swami court case Perumal Swami's lawyer produced a copy of Self-Realization and asked Bhagavan about the accuracy of its contents. Bhagavan replied that he had not been shown the book prior to its publication, and that there were some mistakes in it.
I don't think that Bhagavan was shown to Talks manuscript on a daily basis. Sadhu Om and Annamalai Swami both told me that he was shown it on separate occasions, and that he perused a few pages each time. However, he never made any attempt to edit or correct what was there.
I discussed which texts Bhagavan personally checked in a 2008 post:
http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2008/05/authenticity-of-bhagavans-writings-and.html
Dear David,
Thanks for more clarification.
Some of Sri Bhagavan's devotees
arranged to bring an elephant belonging to Arunachaleswara temple
to the Asramam. He was kept in the opoen space next to the Jubilee
Hall. Sri Bhagavan, on His return from the bath room, stood by the side of the elephant and a young American took some photographs of Sri Bhagavan with the elephant.
After some days, the photograph of Sri Bhagavan with the elephant was shown to Sri Bhagavan. On the back of the photo was written "A big Self which does not know the body and the big body which does not the Self are at one place.
A devotee asked Sri Bhagavan: "What does that mean?
What exactly could be the photogapher's idea in writing thus?"
Sri Bhagavan replied: "That is easy. Though that elephant has such a big body, he does not know the Self. For that reason, whatever food is given to him, he stands there dissatisfied trumpeting unceasingly. Perhaps because of that or some other reason, the elephant is stated to be a big body without knowing the Self. I stood there somehow with a shaky body without; so again, perhaps because of that or for any other reason, it is stated that I am the Big Self not knowing the body; that might be the photographer's idea."
Sri Bhagavan's 71st Birthday was celebrated on Jan, 5, 1950. Compassionate Sri Bhagavan, even though in frail health, sat through for hours, morning and evening to give darshan to His devotees.
The temple elephant was brought around that time. Sri Bhagavan said: "The elephant and I stayed together in the 1000 pillared mantapam. Out of compassion for me, his friend, he has come here!"
Once when Kunju Swami asked Sri Bhagavan reasons, for His head shaking constantly, even from the middle age, Sri Bhagavan replied with a smile: "What is there so strange in it? If an elephant is tied in a small hut, what else will happen to that hut except trouble of all sorts? This is the same."
[BHAGAVAN RAMANA - A FRIEND OF ALL.]
There was a woodcutter who would come at a particular time everyday and stand in front of Skandasramamam. Sri Bhagavan used to give him sugarcandy. But we felt that his coming everyday was a nuisance.
When we grumbled, Sri Bhagavan pacified us saying: "Poor fellow! His throat is parched with thirst.
Early in the morning he climbs up the Hill along with His animal. On the Hill he does not have anythinbg to eat or drink. Even at Mulaipppal Tirtham, he would not be permitted to drink water. This sugarcandy gives relief to His parched throat. We have a stock of sugarcandy. We all have our food served here. Poor man, should we not help him quench his thirst atleast?" Sri Bhagavan's words came from a choked throat!
[Kunju Swami's reminiscences -
Mountain Path, Jayanti, 2001]
Sri Bhagavan's Instructions to one
M.G. Shanmugam:
[Mountain Path, Jayanti 2001]
Sri Bhagavan once said categorically, "For practicing atma vichara, everyday is auspicious. And every moment is good - no discipline is prescribed.
Anytime, anywhere, it can be done,
even without others noticing that you are doing it. All other Sadhanas require external objects and congenial environment. But for atma vichara, nothing external to oneself is required. Turning the mind within is all that is necessary. While one is engaged in atma vichara, one does not also distract others who are around, whereas, in sadhanas like pujas, others do notice you. One pointed perseverence alone is essential in Self inquiry and that is done purely inwardly, all the time. Your attention on the Self within alone is essential."
Some of Sri Bhagavan's personal instructions to me were:
a. If you observe the breathing one pointedly, such attention will lead you spontaneously into kumbahaka [retention] - this is Jnana Pranayama.
b. The more you humble yourself, the better it is for you, in all ways.
c. By withdrawing the mind within, you can live anywhere and under any circumstances.
d. You should look upon the world as a dream.
e. Do not allow your mind to be distracted by objective things, and by thoughts. Except attending to your allotted duty-work in life, the rest of your time should be spent in atma nishta. Do not waste even a second in inattention, lethargy.
f. Do not cause even the slkig htest hindrance or disturbance to others. Also, do all your work yourself.
g. Both likes and dislikes should be equally discarded and eschewed.
h. With attention focused on the first person and on the Heart within, one should relentlessly practice Who am I? When this is done one pointedly, one's breathing will subside of itself. During such controlled practice, the mind might suddenly spring up; so you have to vigilantly pursue the vichara, Who am I?
i. To remain silent without thoughts is the Whole. To remain without thoughts is Nishta. To remain wi thout thoughts in Jnana. To remain without thoughts is Moksha. To remain wit hout thoughts is Sahaja. Therefore, the state without any trace of thoughts is the final stat e of fullness, indeed!
RAMANA LIVES: [Major Alan Chadwick] - From the first inaugural issue of Call Divine,
Sept. 1952: Highly abridged by me.
1. Undoubtedly the same peace is to be found at Tiruvannamalai as in the old days, when Sri Bhagavan's physical body was still with us. Some people declare that they find it is stronger now than before. Formerly, they had been distracted by His form, and now that that 'distraction' is no longer there they enjoy undisturbed, the bliss of His amazing aura. Did He not Himself say during those last sad days,
"You say I am going to die. Die! I shall be more available than ever." And so it is.
2. But there are still a number who declare that He is dead, that there is no use coming to the Asramam, and sitting besides an empty tomb. "No doubt there are psychic vibrations.," they admit reluctantly. "but those you can find in any holy place. No, it is no use remaining there, the initial impetus having been given you, you must go off in search of "a living guru". Living Guru, indeed! Is He not now and ever most living?
3. The argument, that there will only be certain vibrations, the backwash - like so many plausible arguments is entirely false, for even by these people, Sri Bhagavan was admitted to be a Jivan Mukta, one who is already and finally relased from ego. He has said that He is universal, even before He apparently left the body. The whole mistake is initial, in the interpretation they put on the word Jivan Mukta, or in what they think a Jnani is really is and how he functions. When it is found that a Jivan Mukta is already absorbed in thj Infinite and that for him the apparent change he undergoes is no change at all, there should be no misapprehension.
contd.,
RAMANA LIVES - contd.
1. While He was in the body, His body acted as a visible cnter for concentration, as a point of focus at, which drew the disciples to it, something tangible. Yet He never was the body even then. He was and knew He was eternal Atman aone. So now what is more appropriate than that the place in which He lived so long and which so permeated with His Presence should now serve as this center for concentration? But to pretend for one moment that Sri Bhagavan has been dispersed, just blown away in thin air, is madness.
2. Theoretically, I suppose, there never was any need to seek Him in Tiruvannamalai, even when He was functioning through a body, except for the well-known rule that a Guru is necessary. Yet we felt the need, and living there knew the benefit. Today we can still do the same.
3. But in the old days, He spoke, gave verbal instructions. Now that can happen no more. But to how few did He acutally speak ever? How many thousands just came and sat before Him silently and went away without a word. How many came with their minds bursting with questions and in Hius Presence fo9und all the questions self-answered? All this is still possible? Still, too, can we sit in front of the Samadhi and receive the most potent vibration, get answers to our unasked questions, comfort and encouragement when needed.
contd.
RAMANA LIVES - CONTD.
1. To what after all, did all His spoken instructions amount? "There is only one Self. You are That."
2. Amplifying slightly, it becomes: There is nothing to do, nothing to seek. There is only a false identification with limitation to discard and seek. There is only a false identification with limitation to discard and that is done by concentration on the Eternal Witness, the One behind all phenomena, Know who you are and there is no more to know.
3. Any further additions to these teachings were purely given as a sop to the ever-inquisitive mind which wants to know, to probe into the future, but is never satisfied, for as soon as one doubt is cleared there is another waiting to pop up and take its place. Moreover how is it possible to clear doubts
intellectually?
4. Sri Bhagavan knowing this spoke little. "Silence is the best!" He would say. And here once more are we led back to the Asramam, where the same silence can be found, the same Presence, the same inspiration, and the same all absorbing Peace.
concluded.
CRUMBS FROM HIS TABLE;
Ramananda Swarnagiri:
SOME SURPRISING INCIDENTS:
1. One day when all the visitors went to the dining hall, for the midday meal, a Brahmin youth was ejected from there. At the sight of this, the writer felt disinclined to sit down for his meal; however he consoled himself and took his food. He was, however, so badly upset by the incident that he did not take any of the prasadams [small gifts of eatables frequently distributed at the Asramam, after having been presented to Sri bhagavan and a small quantity thereof accepted by Him] given to him later that day. At about 3.00 p.m., a monkey came and sat opposite to him in the Hall, and he attempted to give it all the prasadam so far collected.
Sri Bhagavan, looking at him, remarked that if He fed one fellow, hundreds of other idlers would pour into the Asramam and it would be converted from a place of retreat for sadhakas, jnanis, and yogis, to an idlers' asylum. Anyone connecting such a plain remark as this with the writer's mental attitude cannot but conclude that Sri Bhagavan wanted to convey consolation to his disturbed mind and convince him that He has destined everything for everybody, and it was utterly useless for him to identify with such miseries and worry himself in vain over His actions.
2. The writer was about to put a question to Sri Bhagavan and just as he began doing so, Sri Bhagavan answered him by referring to page 73, para 2 of Mr. Brunton's book Secret Path and remarked that as stated therein, speech only beclouded argument and disturbed the silent communication of thought!
3. Sri Bhagavan was correcting and aiding some youngsters of not more than 10 years of age, in memorizing His Sanskrit version,
Upadesa Saram, and the writer was laughing so to say, up his sleeve, at the futility of coaching these youngsters who could not understand the A-B-C of this highly metaphysical poetry. Without the utterance of a single word, Sri Bhagavan turned to him and remarked that though these children might not understand the meaning of these poems, yet they would be of immense help to them, and would be recalled with great relief and pleasure, when they came of age and were in difficulties!
Ravi,
True. 'The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' is a treasure indeed. Some of the songs that the master sang, or asked the assembled devotees to sing, are so sweet, even in its translated form, that it makes me wonder how magical it would be in Bengali language. :)
Best Wishes
:)
m,
"Some of the songs that the master sang, or asked the assembled devotees to sing, are so sweet, even in its translated form, that it makes me wonder how magical it would be in Bengali language."
Yes indeed friend.R K Mutt has brought out these songs in their original as a 6 CD series called 'Kathamrita gAn' or the Songs from kathamrita,and witha little working knowledge of Hindi,one may be able to follow these wonderful songs.BengAli is a sweet language not unlike the lisping of a child,drawled out and it is a pleasure to listen to an animated expression like -"Oyee maaa' or 'horey baaba'-what is 'in' one's heart is what is expressed 'out'-more of nonverbal content than verbal!None of the even and contrived expressions of the sophisticated.
Here are some excerpts from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna ,where the master talks about the beauty of these songs:
1.Sunday, December 23, 1883
Once I sang for Nangta at the Panchavati: 'To arms! To arms, O man! Death
storms your house in battle array.' I sang another: 'O Mother, I have no one else to blame:
Alas! I sink in the well these very hands have dug.'
"Nangta, the Vedantist, was a man of profound knowledge. The song moved him to tears
though he didn't understand its meaning. Padmalochan also wept when I sang the songs of
Ramprasad about the Divine Mother. And he was truly a great pundit."
2.Monday, June 30, 1884
The Master's ecstatic mood gradually relaxed. He stopped singing and sat in silence. After a
while he got up and sat on the small couch.
Pundit Shashadhar was charmed with his singing. Very humbly he said to Sri Ramakrishna,
"Are you going to sing anymore?"
A little later the Master sang again:
High in the heaven of the Mother's feet, my mind was soaring like a kite,
When came a blast of sin's rough wind that drove it swiftly toward the earth. . . .
Then he sang:
Once for all, this time, I have thoroughly understood;
From One who knows it well, I have learnt the secret of bhava.
A man has come to me from a country where there is no night,
And now I cannot distinguish day from night any longer;
Rituals and devotions have all grown profitless for me.
My sleep is broken; how can I slumber any more?
For now I am wide awake in the sleeplessness of yoga.
O Divine Mother, made one with Thee in yoga-sleep at last,
My slumber I have lulled asleep for evermore.
I bow my head, says Prasad, before desire and liberation;
Knowing the secret that Kali is one with the highest Brahman,
I have discarded, once for all, both righteousness and sin.
continued....
m,
The Songs of Kathamrita continued...
Sri Ramakrishna continued:
I have surrendered my soul at the fearless feet of the Mother;
Am I afraid of Death any more?
Unto the tuft of hair on my head.
Is tied the almighty mantra, Mother Kali's name.
My body I have sold in the market-place of the world
And with it have bought Sri Durga's name.
As Sri Ramakrishna sang the line, "And with it have bought Sri Durga's name", the tears
flowed from Pundit Shashadhar's eyes. The Master went on with the song:
Deep within my heart I have planted the name of Kali,
The Wish-fulfilling Tree of heaven;
When Yama, King of Death, appears,
To him I shall open my heart and show it growing there.
I have cast out from me my six unflagging foes;
Ready am I to sail life's sea,
Crying, "To Durga, victory!"
Again he sang:
Dwell, O mind, within yourself;
Enter no other's home.
If you but seek there, you will find
All you are searching for. . . .
And again:
Though I am never loath to grant salvation,
I hesitate indeed to grant pure love.
Whoever wins pure love surpasses all;
He is adored by men;
He triumphs over the three worlds. . . .
Chapters 24 and 25 of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna ,where the Master meets pundit shashadhar and his advice to the Pundit are absolutely wonderful,inspiring and full of practical advice to all seekers.
Namaskar.
Dr. K.S. Subrahmanian:
Dr.K.S. was a multi faceted personality. He was a great English teacher. He was a noted columnist in the Hindu [Know Your English], he was a great orator, he was a friend, philosopher and guide to many young students in the Central Institute of
English and Foreign Languages, in Hyderabad and he was, above all, a great devotee of Sri Bhagavan and the founder of Ramana Kendramu, in Hyderabad.
Dr. K.S's surrender to Sri Bhagavan was total. He came into contact with Sri Bhagavan as a baby. He has told that Sri Bhagavan had seen him before he saw Him. He lived thoroughly a Sri Bhagavan centered life.
The lure of the world never fascinated him. He even refused to apply for the post of Professor in the Institute. Someone had to persuade him to apply for the post, where he later became the Director.
His own life reflected many aspects of Sri Bhagavan's life. He was the quintessential successful sadhaka portrayed by Sri Bhagavan, in Verse 5 of Arunachala Pancharatnam. He was able to see himself in others and others in himself. His concern for others and their well being, compassion towards all, his ability to see good in every being was legendary. His lectures in Ramana Kendramu, Hyderabad and various satsanghs helped many to evolve on the spiritual path.
The eloquence of the Sri Bhagavan's Silence, had a special place in his speeches. He wanted the devotees to understand the importance of silence. Dr. K.S. also represented the great silence within.
He used to say often that silence of Sri Bhagavan was not mrerely the silence of the tongue, but was the silence of the mind. This silence has the power to reveal the Truth whereas the words only indicate lies and even when we outwardly are silent there is the incessant chatter in our mind. He used to say "Speech is ego's customary manner of self affirmation.
contd.,
[From Mountain Path, Advent, 2004]
Dr. K.Subrahmanian, contd.,
Dr. K.S's instructional postcards were legendary among devotees of Sri Bhagavan. He used to write a few words of Sri Bhagavan, on a post card and send these cards to all devotees. He also often sent the prasadam from Sri Ramanasramam, to the devotees. Sri Bhagavan, pinnacle Advaita Vedanta, was also the Himalayas of compassion. Dr. K.S.
who was deeply moved with His compassion, used to narrate this to all his devotee-friends, particularly His concern with tears for the cracked egg.
Whatever the quality of Sri Bhagavan that can be emulated by his devotees, it was Dr. K.S. who adopted and lived it. He was accessible throughout the day to others.
Whenever the quality of renunciation was mentioned, Dr. K.S. with choking voice told others about Sri Bhagavan's total surrender to Arunachala. He would repeat several times, Venkataraman's journey to Arunachala. The boy did not even take an extra anna when the decision was made to travel to that unknown place; the dhoti that was torn to make a single kaupeenam and there was no thought to keep the torn portion so it could be used as a towel. The body who placed His life totally in the hands of Arunachala and sat in absolute Bliss, not even seeking food to sustain himself. This is the absolute surrender, he would often quote.
[There is a book titled The Uniqueness of Sri Bhagavan by Dr. K.S.]
Though a noted Vedanti he was a great devotee. He went into raptures while explaining the various shades of meaning conveyed by each word in Akshara Mana Maalai. He always encouraged the recitation of Akshara Mana Maalai by the devotees whenever possible in Ramana Kendramu, Hyderabad.
His sense of humor was also renowned. He knew how to laugh at himself. Being short in structure, he used to say, "I will make my speech as short as I am."
contd.
[From Mountain Path, Advent 2004.]
Muruganar often remarked upon the similarities between Nammalvar's statements and Bhagavan's teachings
"while I was waiting eagerly for him saying to myself If I see you anywhere
I'll gather you
and eat you up,
he beat me to it
and devoured me entire,
my lord dark as raincloud,
my lord self-seeking and unfair"
Dear heyjude,
Yes. Sri Bhagavan often used to say
that Nammazhwar was essentially a
Advaiti and his poems reveal his
advaita-anubhavam. Sri Vaishnavites
has told that this Nammazhwar is the one who came to spoil our philosophy of qualified non dualism!
Nammazhwar nammai kedukka vantha Azhwar! His 1000 pomes are called Tiurvoimozhi.
Compare your verse with this of
Sri Bhagavan in Sri AAMM-Verse 28:
To feed on you I came, O Arunachala, but I have been devoured by you and I am now at peace.
OR
Let me, Your prey, surrender and be consumed by You O Arunachala, and so have peace.
To abide in God is to be consumed by Him!
DR. K. SUBRHAMANIAN, A FRIEND LIKE NO OTHER - I.S. MADUGULA
I.S. Madugula writes in Mountain Path. This is from Advent 2009.
If a man is known by the company he
keeps, then I should be the world's best known person. I basked in the company of a great man, a triune individual who was a philosopher and a trusted guide besides being the best of my friends.
We met for the first time in mid 1969. Dr.K.S. returned to the CIEFL after a Ph.D from Indiana
University and I went from Case Western Reserve to the Institute.
I went to his office and introduced myself. It was a magical moment that lasted for 30 years.
We quickly discovered each other's
interest in Bhagavan Ramana. I used to ply him with questions. I was thrilled to get answers and also to know that here is someone who has actually seen Bhagavan in person.
Within a few days of our budding acquaintance, I wondered out loud in one of our talks why we could not start a Ramana Center in Hyderabad. Quickly he did all of that himself, using a network of friends and over the years, Ramana Kendra grew dramatically. He established the routine for the prayer meetings, which began with a repetition of Arunachala Siva
followed by chanting of Upadesa Saram. Then he would address the group and discuss an aspect of Sri Bhagavan's life and teachings. He would also suggest a period of silence and meditation. This he conducted almost for 30 years on Sundays. He used to have an additional satsangh at his house on one weekday evening.
KS and I were inseparable during 1969-72 and 1979-82, when I was at the Institute. We ate lunch together. We would walk over to the neighboring Osmania University
gardens to practice music - another common interest.
His helpful nature was proverbial.
Whenever I was low with funds, thanks to his willingness, he came to my rescue.
He gave me an introduction letter when I first visited Sri Ramanasramam, which made my trip pleasant and fruitful. He very
much liked by book on Sri Sankara and made arrangements to translate it into Telugu.
He also wrote guest editorials for Mountain Path. We kept in touch all along even though I left the country. When I saw him a year before he passed on, he seemed frail, with a severely impaired vision. Not much later, a friend of mine who had returned from India, told me the bad news. The diabetes, which had for long insidiously gnawed at his system, finally shut it down. Towards the end, he firmly refused the administration of oxygen in Chennai Netralaya, which might have given him a little more time, but he did not want to delay his reunion with Sri Bhagavan.
Now, when I go to Hyderabad, K.S. will not meet me any more. The past tense is so inexorably final.
He lived for about three scores and ten years, 28th April 1928 to
11th January 1998.
I and my wife had been to Hyderabad for Diwali, 2010, to celebrate the festival with my son and his wife and her parents. On that Diwali day, there was not much work to do.
After breakfast, we went to Skandagiri Murugan Temple and from their to Ramana Kendramu in Tilak Nagar. Since it was a holiday, not much crowd was there. A few more with new clothes for Diwali were sitting and meditating in the huge hall. There are two photographs of Sri Bhagavan along with a cut-out of Sri K.Subrahmanian. We also meditated for some time. There was a small book depot in the front and a library on the first floor. Since the person in charge was not there we could not buy any book or photographs. I saw on a black board, a work-out in Calculus to prove that the Self and Jiva are one and the same! My son was trying to explain the calculus but it was ten feet above my head. Anyone who has seen this calculus proof?
Dr. K.Subrahmanian's article in
Mountain Path, Advent, 2004:
SILENT LANGUAGE [abridged]
1. Speech springs from silence and sinks back into silence. We all think that we have control over language but in fact language seems to have control over us. We are not sure of what we are likely to say till we have actually said it. Sometimes we are most surprised at what we have said.
2. Words are symbols and are not things. However beautifully they may describe truth, they are not the truth. One has to go beyond words to understand truth. Meister Eckhart says: "The man who stops with the enjoyment of a symbol never comes to the inward truth." Words are fingers that point to the truth and not truth itself. Language implies a knower and a known, a subject and an object. To realize the state where the subject and the object become one, one has to go beyond words.
3. Silence is not the negation of sound and is not subordinate to speech. The English word 'silence' has negative connotations. It is considered the opposite of 'sound.' Mouna in Sanskrit is positive concept. The word Mouna is derived from Muni, just as 'soukya' [well being] is derived from 'sukha' [happiness]. It is the characteristic of a Muni or a Sage. A Muni is one whose mind is merged in the Self. It is not physical silence that is referred to but the mental silence. The speech of a Muni is a refraction of his silence. His is not individual point of view as he speaks from the source of everything, the Self. As he speaks without any sense of doership, what is said by him has neither antecedents nor consequences for him.
SILENT LANGUAGE: contd.,
1. In his The Prose of the World, Moreleau Ponty says: "We should consider speech before it has been pronounced against the ground of silence, which precedes it, which never ceases to accompany it, and without which it would say nothing. Moreover, we should be sensitive to the thread of silence from which the tissue of speech is woven." The more sensitive we are to the thread of silence, the more alert we shall be to what we would say. But when we are totally bound by the thread of silence, we shall have no desire to say anything. Speech is an advocate of desire. Where there is no desire, there is only silence.
2. When we are introduced to someone, we ask and answer several questions. When we get to know the person a little more, we do not talk much. When we know him very well, he won't mistake us if we are occasionally silent in his company. A little gesture, a little smile will do. Silence becomes companionable where thee is understanding. In silence there is oneness.
3. Sri Bhagavan says: Language is only a medium for communicating one's thoughts to another. It is called in only after the thoughts arise. Other thoughts arise after the 'I' -thought arises and so the 'I'-thought is the root of all conversation. When one remains without thinking one understands another by means of the universal language of silence."
"Silence is ever-speaking. It is a perennial flow of language which is interrupted by speaking. These words I am speak obstruct that mute language. For example, there is electricity flowing in a wire. With resistance to its passage, it glows a lamp or revolves as a fan. In the wire it remains as electric energy. Similarly also, silence is the eternal flow of language, obstructed by words."
4. "What one fails to know by conversation extending to several years can be known instantly in silence, or in front of a silence...Sri Dakshinamurti and his four disciples are a good example of this. This is the highest and most effective language."
5. Silence is not inaction, not mere emptiness. It is the basis of everything in the world. However beautiful a house may be, if it does not have doors, windows and rooms, we cannot live in it. Doors, windows and rooms are empty space. It is this empty space that makes the house livable. The spark does not occur in a spark plug of a car, if there is no gap for the gap to traverse. The spark gap is thus the basis of the car's movement.
6. Silence, according to Sri Bhagavan, is inner silence. "The inner silence is self surrender. And that means living without the sense of the ego." Silence comes into being when the individual is completely free from ego, when he surrenders himself totally to the Lord. He enjoys freedom where he becomes the captive of the Lord. He becomes a conqueror when he throws way the sword of his will. The highest form of Grace, Sri Bhagavan says, is silence, and it is also the highest upadesa. Though Sri Bhagavan is not physically alive now, His silence is omnipotent and omnipresent. But the Mouna, embodied once as the Muni, continues resplendent. The Silence that is Sri Bhagavan Ramana is felt and heard by the earnest seeker. The Muni resides as deathless Presence.
concluded.
THE NATURE OF OUR MIND -
MICHAEL JAMES - contd. from 18th March comments.
4. Therefore all that we know of the external world is actually only the images or thoughts that our mind, is constantly forming within itself. Do we not have to accept, therefore, that the world that we think we perceive outside ourself may be nothing other than thoughts that our mind has formed within itself, just as the worlds that we see in our dreams are? Even if we are not ready to accept this fact, that the world may be actually be nothing but our own thoughts, must we not at least accept the fact that the world as we know it, and also we ever can know it is indeed nothing but thoughts?
5. Of all the thoughts that are formed in our mind, the first is the thought 'I'. Our mind first forms itself as the thought 'I' and only after that does it form other thoughts. Without an 'I' to think them, no other thoughts could be formed. All the other thoughts formed in our mind are constantly coming and going, but the thought 'I' persists so long as our mind itself persists. Thus the thought 'I' is the root of all other thoughts, and is the one essential thought without which there would be no such thing as 'mind.'
6. Therefore, our mind consists of two distinct elements, namely, the knowing subject, the root thought 'I' and the known objects, all the other thoughts are formed and experienced by 'I'. However, though it consists of these two distinct elements, the one fundamental and essential element of our mind is the root thought 'I'. Hence, though we use the term 'mind' as collective term for the thinker and its thoughts, the mind is in essence, just the thinker, the root thought 'I' that thinks all other thoughts. This simple but important truth is expressed succinctly by Sri Bhagavan in Upadesa Undiyar, Verse
18:
[Our mind] is only [a multitude of] thoughts. Of all [the countless thoughts that are formed in our mind], the thought 'I' alone is the root [base, foundation or origin]. [Therefore] what is called 'mind' is [in essence just this root thought] 'I'.
contd.
THE NATURE OF OUR MIND -
MICHAEL JAMES - contd.,
7. In religious terminology, our limited individual consciousness 'I am this body' is what is called our 'soul', whereas our unlimited fundamental consciousness 'I am' is what is called our 'spirit', our 'heart' or the 'core of the soul'. The popular belief that our whole self is a compound of these elements, our body, our soul and our spirit, is rooted in our wrong identification of ourself with a particular body. Though we know ourself to be one, because of our mistaken identification of ourself with a body, we wrongly imagine ourself to be all these three different things, This notion of ours is logically absurd, because since we are one, how can three quite different things be ourself?
8. Everyday in sleep, both our body and our soul [our mind] disappear, yet we continue to exist, and to know that we exist. Therefore, since we remain in sleep without either our body or our soul, neither of these two elements can be our real self. In truth, therefore, these three elements constitute only our false individual self, which is a mere
illusion. Our real self consists of only one element, the fundamental and essential element that we call 'spirit', which is our single-non dual consciousness of being, 'I am'.
9. Though it is formed only by imagining itself to be a particular body, the mind of each one of us nevertheless contains within itself the light of our original consciousness 'I am'. Just as each reflected sun lying on the ground could not be formed without borrowing the light of the sun, and the limited form of a fragment of mirror, so withou8t borrowing the light of consciousness from its original source, I am.
concluded.
THE OBEDIENT MONKEY:
Devotee Kanakammal was in a reminiscent mood and told the following story:
One day a devotee offered Sri Bhagavan, a cluster of plantain fruits that he had grown at his house. Afterwards, Sri Bhagavan and that same devotee started discussing some spiritual matters.
At that time, a big male monkey walked into the Hall and took away the whole cluster of fruits that were offered. The monkey sat outside the Hall with the fruits. Seeing this the devotee shouted "Ayyo! I had brought those fruits to Sri Bhagavan, that monkey has taken them away!"
Sri Bhagavan turned to the monkey and said: "Aye! How can take away the whole bunch of fruits? Like a good boy take one fruit and bring back the remaining fruits, and keep them here."
Hearing Sri Bhagavan's words, the monkey took his share of fruit and brought back the remaining to Sri Bhagavan as an obedient boy.
Sri Bhagavan turned to the devotee and said: "When you entered the Asramam, if you had given a fruit, when this fellow asked for it, he would not have taken all the fruits."
The devotee was astonished by what Sri Bhagavan told him. How did He come to know this? In fact, when the devotee had entered the Asramam, with fruits, this monkey had asked for some by extending his hand. The devotee had not obliged the monkey!
Was there anything that omniscient
Sri Bhagavan did not know? It was impossible to hide anything from Him.
[BHAGAVAN RAMANA - A FRIEND OF ALL]
DHYANA PATTU:
[Dhyana Song - translated by Swami Ramanananda Saraswathi, from Sri
Sadhu Om's Sadhanai Saram, Verse
No. 511 - 523]
Be seated without closed eyes and think,
of God alone without your thoughts,
on anything exept on God,
let the mind dwell on God alone.
Due to thinking of the seen world,
the thoughts of God will disappear,
with initial firm resolve,
meditate on Him alone.
By nature having no form nor name,
He is pure Bliss Consciousness;
However He reveals Himself,
in any name you contemplate.
Within your Heart, deep within,
there exists a joyful thing,
when sought with love it is revealed,
as limitless, joyful, pure Bliss.
God who is omnipresent,
can be felt in the cave of the Heart;
sighting Him in the Heart alone,
all is seen as God Himself.
As knowing witness of the thoughts,
God is present in one and all;
Where thoughts subside into the Heart,
there God rises and reveals Himself.
To seek the way to banish thoughts,
listen to Lord Ramana's words;
The moment a thought comes
see to whom the thoughts arise.
As thoughts arise to you alone,
see who this 'I' is.
As you see the thinking you,
the risen thought will subside.
Constantly as you look within
Knowledge Supreme will bloom in you;
Be victorious by looking ever [at you]
the very Transcendent Awareness.
Of all various learnings
education on Divine in supreme;
Of all great attainments deep
Self contemplation is supreme.
The prime motive of physical birth,
is to experience ever true Bliss [within];
Having become God ever [established ever]
you may drop the body and be free.
Blessedness is God's nature,
darkness is the nature of the world,
This fact will become revealed
when nature of Truth is probed.
May true guru Ramana live!
may the path of knowledge live!
Life lived by the devotees
in bliss of Self live, for ever,
Om shanthi.
[From Mountain Path, July-Oct. 2006]
THE BELOVED SON - SRI MURUGANAR
Moniker Alder - From Mountain Path -
October - December 2006:
1. Though I had come from a Christian background and often heard the Biblical verse, "The Kingdom of God is within you", [Luke 17,21], still I had to come to India in order to experience the truth behind these words. Muruganar's poetry was the golden path that led me to the realization of this basic truth and his unconditional love and surrender to Sri Ramana became the teaching that helped me find my own way to the Guru. Accepted as a devotee, Sri Bhagavan granted me the greatest bliss of my life. I understood why I was born, what path I am now walking on and most importantly that I am cared for and loved. Sri Ramana became the light on my path and shone in my heart.
2. I had the good fortune to be present at the annual celebration of Sri Muruganar's Samadhi at Sri
Ramanasramam. Muruganar stood before us, as the shining example of the single minded love and devotion towards the Guru who granted him the realization of the True Self. After being blessed by the glance of Sri Bhagavan, Muruganar surrendered himself completely to Him and the eternal peace abiding in the Self stayed with him for ever. On his anniversary there is a celebration of his release from his physical form at his Samadhi adjacent to the holy Arunachala. Devotees gather to remember this great poet devotee. We experienced the serene atmosphere under the umbrella of neem trees that cast a cool shade. Among those in attendance, many whom had met Muruganar, there were two guests who sang with crystal clear voices during the puja a song of praise for Sri Bhagavan by beloved Murugnar.
3. One pointed, simple, pure -- these are adjectives that are not so common in our modern life. Those for whom these words awaken glimpses of the long forgotten truth are fortunate and can listen to the eternal message that comes through the pure channel of Muruganar. Like an innocent child, whose mind is as unpolluted as a sheet of white paper, he absorbed the wisdom of Sri Ramana. And this is in addition to his endless love and devotion towards
his adored Master. He radiated the light like a prism that turned into the wonderful colors of his poetry.
contd.,
THE BELOVED SON - SRI MURUGANAR
[contd.]
4. If we take the time to go through his thousands of verses, we will not only have a full outline of Sri Bhagaan's teachings, but we will gain strength and inspiration from this universal poet devotee who lived his life for Sri Ramana, in
Sri Ramana and through Sri Ramana.
If towards the Lord you take
One single step, then with much more
Than a mother's love He takes
Nine steps towards you to accept you.
Such is the Guru's grace.
[Guru Vachaka Kovai]
5. When Sri Muruganar came first to meet Sri Bhagavan, in 1923, Sri Bhagavan's grace overwhelmed him so strongly that he was unable to read out the verses he had written in praise of the Master. Seeing the man struggling with tears, Sri Bhagavan took the piece of paper and read out the verses Himself.
Such is the Guru's Grace! [This poem is Desika Padigam, in Sri Ramana Sannidhi MuRai.]
6. From this very first moment, Muruganar surrendered to the True Self that appeared to him in the form of his beloved Guru Ramana.
O dancer, who with lovely, red
Lips, ever smiling, ever dwell
In devotees' hearts and on Aruna Hill,
Venkata, you graciously
Drew me to you and gave me comfort.
Of whom, but you, my Master, Father,
Can I think henceforth?
[Ayal ninaiya Pathu, Sri Ramana Sannidhi MuRai-Decad on not thinking anything else.]
7. After that, Muruganar regularly visited Sri Ramanasramam between 1923 and 1926. On these occasions, he sometimes found it impossible to leave Sri Bhagavan's Presence and though he got as far as the railway station, he walked up and down the platform of the railway station, until his train had left. Then he walked back to the Asramam and with a childlike expression on his face, he explained that he was not able to board the train. Because this occurred regularly, Sri Bhagavan would send an attendant along at the time of departure in order to watch Muruganar get into the train!
8. After his mother passed away in 1926, Muruganar gave up his work as a Tamizh teacher and settled down in Tiruvannamalai. He lived the rest of his life at the feet of holy Arunachala as a sadhu.
[He lived in Palakottu, then in Dr. T.N. Krishnaswami's house opposite the Asramam and in the last few years of his life, he was an inmate of the Asramam.]
THE BELOVED SON - SRI MURUGANAR:
{Abridged from Mountain Path, Oct-
Dec. 2006] - continued...
9. Sri Bhagavan once said: "He alone
truly knows me, who knows me as I know myself." Muruganar thus could be a pure channel of the sacred message of the Guru because Sri Bhagavan granted him the realization of his true nature, the Self. Muruganar introduces The Garland of Guru's Sayings as follows:
In the non dual state, wherein
Abiding Ramana made me His,
Where he and I together shared
A common being, I learned the Truth
Supreme, transcendent, which I hope
Here to expound a little.
[Guru Vachaka Kovai, NooR Peyarum
ThoRRamum, Verse 6]
There, with great delight, He destroyed my mind's restlessness
by bestowing His glance upon me.
In the middle of the night, He subdued my divided individual consciousness, granting me the experience of the undivided Reality.
[Ramana Sannidhi MuRai, Keerti
Tiruvahaval]
Murugnar wrote hundreds of verses, describing this event, most of which were published in Sri Ramana Anubhuti.
The knot which locked my spirit to my physical body was sundered by the bright sword of my Master's glance and was no more.
[Sri Ramanaalankaram alias Siva Bhoga Chintamani, Verse 26?]*
10. In Muruganar's poetry one finds one pointed devotion and love towards the adored Guru. Throughout his whole life, he never stopped expressing the way of bhakti in his poems.
The nature of His grace, conferred through the bliss of divine silence, was such that it established in me an unshakable devotion, which I experienced as a deep love for my Lord, wherein my bondage was ended, and my mind dissolved in the limitless expanse of the supreme Self.
[Sri Ramananubhuti, Verse 123?]*
* I am not able to see this in
Butler's Sri Guru Ramana Prasadam.
David, please help me.
contd.,
THE BELOVED SON - SRI MURUGANAR.
{Mountain Path, Oct-Dec. 2006] contd.
[abridged]
11. Sri Ramana stated that bhakti and jnana are like the two wings of a bird. In the state of pure consciousness, the way of love and the way of knowledge cross each other and become one. Muruganar explained this in the following verses:
Transporting me into the realm of pure bliss, the vision of the authentic Self expanded within my
heart, and I attained the state of grace whose essence is love. Then, in the state of holy silence, bliss and love merged together into realization of the one true reality, which is the experience of Lord Siva.
[Sri Ramana Anubhuti, Verse 48?]
When ego ends, then one becomes
A devotee true. When ego ends,
One becomes a knower too.
When ego ends, one becomes Being Supreme.
When ego ends, grace fills all space.
[Garland of Guru's Sayings, Verse 161.]
12. Murugnar was often called by
others as the shadow of Sri Bhagavan. He was lost to the world and with a child's love, he followed his beloved Father like a shadow. He could listen to his Master or simply watch Him for hours.
13. After Sri Bhagavan's Maha Nirvana, many people recorded seeing Muruganar in front of the house in which he lived, looking at the Holy Arunachala, with open mouth for hours without taking notice of the outside world.
14. Even in old age, when he could not hold a pen any more, wonderful verses still flowed from Muruganar day by day. He never stopped remembering his Father. He could talk for hours together to devotees about Sri Bhagavan. His memory is kept alive thanks to the loving care of the next generation of devotees, who keep singing, publishing and teaching his poems. Keeping his memory alive means preserving and cherishing the memory of Sri Bhagavan as:
The light of lights that shines within,
The deep heart's core,
All in one and one in all
True seer in whom all truth is seen. [Sri Ramana Sanndhi MuRai, Verse 863.]
concluded.
For friends who know only English and not Tamizh, they may, if not already done, refer to the following for detailed account of Sri Muruganar's life.
1. Bhagavan's Muruganar, RMCL, Bangalore.
2. David Godman's chapter on Muruganar in the Power of the Presence
For Tamizh knowing members:
1. Muruganar - Sri Ramanasramam.
2. References by Kunju Swami, Kanakammal and others in their reminiscences.
Something, for a change on astrology:
One gentleman, a famous astrologer spoke in Sri Sankara TV
last night. He said:
1. The earth quake and tsunami occurred in Japan due to bad positioning of Mercury in that country's chart. Mercury is responsible for such catastrophes, if badly positioned in a country's
chart.
2. The "supermoon" has occurred on 19th March 2011, though such supermoons appear due to perigee/apogee differences vis a vis earth once in 12 years. This time, it has occurred within 6 years, the last being in the year 2005.
3. This supermoon appearance is foretelling bad periods for
Mithuna Rasi [moon in Gemini], Simha Rasi [moon in Leo], Kumbha Rasi [moon in Aquarius] and Meena Rasi [moon in Pisces]
The people born in these Rasis are prone to-
1. accidents within the house
2. Accidents outside the house
3. Serious illnesses.
4. Misunderstanding between spouses if one of them is in one of these Rasis.
Such people, why, all people should chant Sri Chandrasekharashtakam daily.
Dear Subramanian R
Earlier I had put a question as to why people should visit Ramanashram when Bhagavan is every where. I did not get a reply to this & I thought maybe my question was inappropriate. When I read your comment that you do not feel any special feelings in the hall, I feel at least I am not alone. To me Ramana's teachings are the most rational and logical ones given by any Advaitha guru. Conceptually I agree to his teachings. I say this as I am still in an embryo stage when compared to others spiritual growth and though others may ask me not to understand the teachings but to live it, for me unless I am convinced of the rationale, I am unable to accept.Regarding the feeling of 'presence', I strongly feel that most of the time it is the mind which is playing tricks and a person in this path should be wary of this. I feel advaitha is consistent enough to withstand any test. It is us who feel that we are special and look for a short cut and many times end up with 'fake'gurus and inappropriate teachings and rituals.
Dear Shrini,
I am not sure whether I had ever said that. The Samadhi Hall and Old
Hall is ever brimming with His Presence and I am able to feel it whenever I go to Asramam. Kindly check up my comment and also give my comment date. I do not know whether I had included a 'not' while typing and if that were so, I am the most ungrateful devotee to Sri Bhagavan and He should specially forgive me for this terrible error.
salutations to all:
Shrini/Subramanian;
Shrini: seeing subramanian's vehement denial of the 'peace in the old hall' thing, i realised that you might have referred to my comment dated march 16 (4.01 pm)! :-)
had said this then ["...i don't understand what they mean when they talk about 'peace in the samAdhi hall' etc., for i haven't felt any such wave of peace worth mentioning or remembering (though glad to take it as my inadequacy)! at times, i even wonder 'could it be that people are simply imagining, if not feigning, some such peace simply because they don't want to appear incongruous amidst the rest who also may be claiming the same for that very reason?' :-) but yes, the only thing i can say is that compared to the unrest & conflict hitherto, nowadays, generally am happy (i don't know why!) :-)))..."]
may be, i should have said 'nowadays, generally am very happy' :-)))
Subramanian said ["...if that were so, I am the most ungrateful devotee to Sri Bhagavan and He should specially forgive me for this terrible error..."]!!! sir, doesn't it seem like a bit of an over-reaction? :-) there is nothing ungrateful when one mentions of no extraordinary peace in the Asramam (and am not complaining!). it's true many mahAtmAs have expressed immense gratitude but yet bhavAs can vary, and though i don't consider myself to be anywhere close to a bhakta, yet my own bhAva doesn't accomodate much of this thing called 'gratitude'! my bhAva - if there is anybody to whom am 'not' grateful, it's to my ammaiyappan aruNAchalA! :-) someday, if aruNAchalA makes me as "still in bliss" as the self 'is', then i would say (i) aruNAchalA gave me the only 'right' am truly & really eligible for, and (ii) it is aruNAchalA's duty to ripen me & make me his own!
i shall not be grateful to aNNAmalaiyAr! :-) the tEvAram i recite aren't out of any gratitude but out of whatever little love (inconsequential it may be!) i have for aruNAchalA & bhagavAn. my little bhAva is my little bhAva, and i shall not change it even if mANikkavAsagar & muruganAr themselves were to talk of gratitude! isn't it the same to aruNAchalA whether one writes volumes of melodious poetry or whether one can't even properly say the letter 'A' of the alphabet (like me)? :-)))
Subramanian
Verse 123 of Sri Ramana Anubhuti appears, with a modified translation, as verse 112 of Sri Guru Ramana Prasadam.
s/Friends,
"my bhAva - if there is anybody to whom am 'not' grateful, it's to my ammaiyappan aruNAchalA!"
An excerpt from 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna':
MASTER: "One day some Sikh soldiers came to the temple garden at Dakshineswar. I met
them in front of the Kali temple. One of them referred to God as very compassionate.
'Indeed!' I said. 'Is that true? But how do you know?' He answered, 'Because, sir, God gives
us food and takes every care of us.' I said: 'Why should that surprise you? God is the Father
of us all. Who will look after the child if the father doesn't? Do you mean to say that the
people of the neighbouring village should look after the child?"
NARENDRA: "Then shouldn't we call God kind?"
MASTER: "Have I forbidden you to? What I mean is that God is our very own. He is not a
stranger to us."
PUNDIT: "Priceless words!"
-----------------------------------
Again s has said:
"isn't it the same to aruNAchalA whether one writes volumes of melodious poetry or whether one can't even properly say the letter 'A' of the alphabet (like me)?"
An Excerpt from 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna':
Master:"It is enough to have yearning for God. It is enough to love Him and
feel attracted to Him: Don't you know that God is the Inner Guide? He sees the longing of
our heart and the yearning of our soul. Suppose a man has several sons. The older boys
address him distinctly as 'Baba' or 'Papa', but the babies can at best call him 'Ba' or 'Pa'.
Now, will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father
knows that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well. All
children are the same to the father."
-----------------------------------
Gratitude(like Humility) is ofcourse a wonderful bhava but it is not something that is jeopardized by what one says and does outwardly-It is the Largesse of the Heart.This gratitude is there when one says like s,:'i haven't felt any such wave of peace worth mentioning or remembering (though glad to take it as my inadequacy)!'.One is greatful ,whether one is aware of the peace or not!If this Gratitude is there,then 'Peace' follows!
From another perspective,Why should a devotee of Sri Bhagavan acknowledge the 'Peace' only in the 'samAdhi Hall' and 'The Old Hall'?One may vist these places and not be aware of anything 'special',or one may not visit this place and feel the 'Presence'.
Yes,in places where the Great ones have lived ,there is a greater possibility of discovering the peace in oneself.This however has to be sustained only be sadhana.
More on this later....
Namaskar.
Dear David,
Thanks for the clarification. I could, after going through Sri
Guru Ramana Prasadam, last night, match the verses between Moniker Alder's quotes and GRP.
Sri Ramana Anubhuti Verse 9 = GRp 112.
Sri Ramana Anubhuti Verse 48 =GRP 133.
Sri Ramana Anubhuti Verse 123=GRP 112.
Sri Ramana Anubuti Verse 85, still elusive in GRP
REMEMBERING SRI MURUGANAR;
{T.R. Kanakammal - MP Oct-Dec. 2006]
1. In the Asramam's early days, Nayana used to give inititation on full moon days. Though a number of
Sri Bhagavan's devotees had taken initiation from him, Muruganar never did. One day prior to Poornami, a senior devotee eager that Muruganar should also undertake initiation, devised a plan to persuade him to do so the following day. Approaching the poet, he began casually saying, "Dear Sir, Bhagavan Ramana is Suyra, the Sun, bright and effulgent, and in no way graspable. The Sun of Wisdom will burn His devotee up even at slight touch." He then paused, and holding Muruganar's attention, continued, "Nayana on the other hand, is the moon, a medium reflecting coolly and soothingly the Sun's luminous and otherwise overbearing brightness." After pausing again, smiling, he continued, "Is it not wiser to come to the brightness of the Sun through the medium of the moon?"
Muruganar sat quietly listening to the devotee's efforts to persuade once more, he interrupted quitely, "Let me bask in whatever the Sun of Wisdom chooses to bestow on me. Whatever Sri Bhagavan gives directly, will more than suffice. Why go for reflected warmth when the Sun Himself chooses to provide me with what He deems best."
2. Devaraja Mudaliar once took Sri Muruganar to task concerning scenes the poet depicted metaphorically in his verses. These could include comments Sri Bhagavan made to him or things they did together. Once Muruganar had written, "Anjal anjal enRe aNivai malarntharuLich sanchalagaL pookumvan.. " [EnnatkaNNi padigam, Sri Ramana Sannidhi MuRai]. Devaraja Mudaliar asked Muruganar: "Has Sri Bhagavan ever said, 'don't fear, don't fear..'? and then gave you protection?"
Sri Muruganar with high emotions said: "Sri Bhagavan's gaze itself, is telling me, 'don't fear, don't fear'. Devaraja Mudaliar was satisfied with the reply of Muruganar and became quiet and peaceful.
contd.,
Dear Subramanian
Sorry for the error. However, would like to know the forum's views on whether there is any difference between meditating in the ramanashram hall and meditating elsewhere. Has not Ramana said that he is always with us, in our heart.
REMEMBERING SRI MURUGANAR -
T.R. KANAKAMMAL - contd.
In 1950, Swami Rajeswarananada, a former monk of the Sri RK order and editor of the Call Divine, invited Muruganar for a pradakshina of the Hill. Swami R. a Kanouji Brahmin, was tall and hefty, of light complexion, and of a genial temperament, who having lost the use of one leg in his youth due to polio, walked with the help of an assistant named Prabhu. While at the Sri RK Math, Chennai, he picked up Tamizh and learned to speak with sufficient fluency. He had no reservation about paying respects to all Mahatmas and men of spiritual eminence and repute.
In those days, along the pradakshina route there was a Swami called Kattu Siva, also known to some as Amavasya Swami, whose small ashram was about a km.
inside the pradakshina road where it turned off from main Bangalore road. He lived in a cave and for many years came out only one amavasya days.
Since Swami R. was handicapped and could not cover the distance alone, it was necessary for him to do pradakshina by car. Muruganar accepted his invitation to accompany him and so off they went. When they got to the first turn, noticing the car was turning away from pradakhshina route, Muruganar asked "Where are we going?"
Swami indicated the direction of the ashram of Kattu Siva Swami whom he wanted to visit on the way.
At once Muruganar expressed his unwillingness at this change of plan. Even after various appeals from Swami R., Muruganar remained steadfast saying, "You go have darshan. I will wait in the car."
But Swami R. however insisted they go together. As the driver, Prabhu, was about to drive on to the small ashram, Muruganar said, "If you stop, I can simply get out and go my way. Otherwise, I will have to jump!" Swami R. finally realized there was no persuading him and had his assistant turn around and retrace the distance back to the pradakshina road. None went for Kattu Siva's ashram.
A woman would be considered unchaste thinking of a man other than her husband. For Muruganar to have darshan of any guru or deity other than Sri Bhagavan would, in his mind, be divine infidelity. He would say, "After beholding Jnana Bhanu [the Sun of Wisdom], my eyes have been blinded and can behold none other than Him."
Tamizh literature calls it PuRanthozha KaRpu... the chastity of not praying to any other deity, other than Siva.
contd.,
Dear Shrini,
Yes. Meditating on Sri Bhagavan at any place not only in Sri Ramanasramam, is good enough. But
most of us would like to see the
Asramam and pray to Him in Samadhi
Hall or Old Hall, where His vibrations are more to still the mind. After acquiring such stillness, any place is okay.
Sri Bhagavan attained Self Realization even before coming to
Arunachala, in His Madurai house.
But still He came to Arunachala.
Many Saiva saints though of high order in their own homes, still wanted to go to Chidambaram, because there the vibrations are quite high. Saint Manikkavachagar is a classic example. Even in Tiruperundurai, Siva came to him and conferred Pada Diksha. Again Siva came in Tiruvidai maruthur and gave the saint one more pada diksha. Still he wanted to go to Chidambaram. In Chidambaram, he merged with Siva in a nondual state as a flame.
REMEMBERING SRI MURUGANAR -
[T.K. Kanakammal, Mountain Path,
Oct.-Dec. 2006]
In the darshan hall, people would often come with the idea of reserving their seats up at the front near Sri Bhagavan. Sometimes, though, such choice seats would be reserved for VIP's and dignitaries, who attended darshan. This situation didn't concern Muruganar for he typically sat in some inconspicuous location at the back of the the throng of devotees. He would sit quietly
with his eyes fixed on Sri Bhagavan and his mouth agape in the wonder of beholding his Master. At times, Sri Bhagavan would be going through letters or proof reading some text and would look out and around the Hall in search of Muruganar to confer with him concerning some Tamizh textual matter. A devotee observing that Sri Bhagavan often needed to consult with Muruganar, asked Muruganar why he didn't sit up fron where he'd be conveniently situated for Sri Bhagavan. Sri Bhagavan came to Muruganar's rescue, "What to do? All the places up front get reserved in advance!"
Sri Swami Muruganar:
[Swami Ramananda]
From Mountain Path, Oct.-Dec. 2006]
Abridged:
Sri Swami Muruganar is undoubtedly foremost among the known devotees of Sri Bhagavan. Studied from different aspects, one acquires a high regard and admiration for him as he was the personification of simplicity, humility and unparalleled devotion. For him, Sri Bhagavan was an all transcending, omnipotent, omnipresent state of Universal Being.
This humility is noticed particularly from his accepting whatever name by which he was addressed -- Muruganar, for example, or by some as simply as Swami or Sir, it made no difference to him.
One day meeting him privately I asked if he would give me particularly a copy of what he considers as one of the best of the poems he has composed on Sri Bhagavan, so that I may repeat it as a mantra and prayer to Sri Bhagavan. For it would surely open up His grace to flow on me and make the mind one pointed and pure to further pursue the path of Self enquiry.
Swami just smiled, and then looking at me said the greatest prayer I can do to Sri Bhagavan is simply repeat His name, "Om Sri Bhagavan". he said that it is simple and straight and that this
will take root in the Heart and the mind will be less driven by unwanted thoughts. Self Enquiry becomes easier with the study of Sri Bhagavan's teachings on the nature of Self enquiry.
Here one sees that the poet in him induces no self pride in whatever he achieved through his poems. If one put the same request to a poet with pride, he would likely unroll the entire bundle of his product and suggest this or that poem as he best suited for the purpose! Thus our minds can get enmeshed in the repetition of many mantras which can lead nowhere in the experience of peace.
contd.,
SRI SWAMI MURUGANAR - contd.,
Swami never liked people praising him. If a visitor indulged in that beyond a few words, he would withdraw politely from him and take a walk around Sri Bhagavan's shrine or the Asramam itself. So great and true was his self effacement in this regard. At the same time, he could be found to be man enjoying humor and the sound of his characteristic hearty laugh could be heard from far away when someone narrated a humorous event or story. Sometimes people not even knowing Tamizh also joined in the laugh as Swami's laugh was so childlike and infectious!
His life and devotion to Sri Bhagavan was total. He told me once when I expressed my doubts and all kinds of fears, in me: "Have no fear or doubt. Sri Bhagavan who has called you to Him, will always be with you. He would never abandon you to your old traits. Slowly and steadily, without fail, He would reveal Himself as the Truth within you. All you need is to be patiently doing the sadhana with the best of your ability, without judging or evaluating the programme but with deep love and faith in Sri Bhagavan. In due course, all will be well." This had a deep impact on me and what he said can be applied in general to most of the devotees in the initial stages.
Swami used to say that meticulous attention is necessary in all tasks of life, even simple acts of taking medicines or coffee or any other small help rendered. This meticulous attention was noticed not only in Swami but in other elderly devotees of Sri Bhagavan such as Swami Viswanathan, Swami Natanananda, Sadhu Arunachala among others. This quality has been handed down to almost all devotees of Sri Bhagavan by virtue of His own example.
Muruganar in whom was found all the best of the qualities, as an exemplary Sri Bhagavan devotee, was no doubt much appreciated and loved by Sri Bhagavan for He showered His benevolent grace consistently upon Swami who had surrendered fully to Sri Bhagavan.
In his poem Padamalai, Swami asks: "Why are you worried and doubting your ability to pursue the sadhana? With unshakable faith in Sri Bhagavan just fully give yourself and all be well for for you forever!"
Gather together all your efforts and then give yourself to Him!
concluded.
@Subramanian Sir,
Thanks for that wonderful excerpt about Sri Muruganar!
R.Subramanian,
Wonderful posts on Sri Muruganar.Thanks very much.Looking forward to more such posts.
Namaskar.
Shrini, 'It could very well be the mind playing tricks' The mind indeed is tricky! One may sit at the samadhi and feel overwhelmed, or just watchful. Still if the attraction and devotion are there you're on the right track,if not you can saunter off and meditate in the shade of a tree. There are no hard and fast rules. Another verse in the Arunachala Mahatmyam, translated from Sanskrit into Tamil by Sri Ramana Maharshi says:
"Arunachala is truly the holy place. Of all holy places it is the most sacred! Know that it is the heart of the world. It is truly Siva himself! It is his heart-abode, a secret kshetra. In that place the Lord ever abides the hill of light named Arunachala."
IN THE HEART THERE IS NO NEAR AND FAR:
Sharon Maas - Mountain Path - Jan. - Mar. 2009
The year was 1972, The place was Guyana, South America, a small country wedged between Venezuela and Brazil, a nation 99.99% of the world had never heard of, and of which even we Guyanese self deprecatingly labeled Behind God's Back. I was 22 years old and slowly dying of thirst.
I felt like an outsider, an outcast. The things normal people ran after so happily, and which i too had once happily chased, now bored me to death. I had no goal. I did not fit in anywhere. I had longings, that seemed silly at best, narcissistic at worst and the everyday world I lived in, seemed like a crazy dream, in which only I realized I was dreaming. Or may be I was sick.
A few months previously I had read a book which had caused that sickness, or at least given in it a name. That book was The Book of Mirdad, by Mikhail Naimy. It was a story of a group of monks whose world was revolutionized by the appearance of Mirdad, a man who arrived naked, hungry and homeless. A man with a message: Man is God in Swaddling Bands. Naimy's writing was exquiste, the message sublime and like those monks my life turned around by it, and brought on this disease, this thirst. Mirdad had a name for my sickenss, he called it THE GREAT NOSTALGIA. All the symptoms were present in me.
contd.,
IN THE HEART THERE IS NO NEAR AND FAR: Sharon Maas. MP - Jan.- Mar. 2009. contd.,
Since reading Mirdad, I knew what I wanted and needed: a guide, someone to lead me out of my despair. I had read somewhere: when the pupil is ready, the Guru will appear, but I was so far from ready. I felt worthless, awkward, and ignorant -- how could I ever find my own Mirdad? Especially as I knew that he would be from India - country about as far away from
Guyana as you could get.
Previous to this precarious state of mind, my stormy life had now and then been interrupted by moments where the Truth I was looking for had slipped in. Even as a child, I had been a seeker. I distinctly remember sitting quietly once while my questing mind was fully engaged with its grand project. The questions I asked my self were prophetic pointers to my future, or echoes from a previous life: Who am I?
Why am I constantly thinking? What are thoughts made of? Where do they come from? What is behind them? What is in the space between two thoughts? Can I ever stop thinking, and do I then cease to exist? Do other people have the same sense of "Me" that I have? But I found no answers, and soon gave up this exercise as futile.
I was all of eight years old at that time.
During this period I was granted a brief glimpse of what I was seeking. I was sitting on a beach in Trinidad, gazing out at the exquisite turquoise waters of the Caribbean, when I was overtaken by a sense of utter peace, complete bliss, and supreme fulfillment. It lasted only a few second, but I never forgot it.
contd.,
IN THE HEART THERE IS NO NEAR AND FAR: Sharon Maas - contd.,
Later on my life grew stormy. I hit my teens and came out of my introversion with a bang. I tried out all kinds of lifestyles. The political revolutionary [my hero was
Che Guevara], the party girl, the hippie. As a party girl was I was least successful, as I was still socially inept, an awkward bundle of misery.
By that time I was 19 and working as a journalist at a local newspaper, writing feature articles for the Sunday edition. My editor usually sent me out to interview interesting visitors, to the country and so it came to pass that I met a certain Margaret Cohen, a Swiss lady who came to give talk on Yoga.
And then there was my very best friend, Pratima; her historian father, Dwaraka Nath, was a first generation Hindu from Uttar Pradesh, and he could doubtless have told me much about gurus and answered many of my questions about Hinduism if I were not so terrified of him; he was a strict disciplinarian, disapproving of modern ways. But through her attended Hindu ceremonies and knew the general direction I wanted to go. I had always found Hinduism far more attractive than Christianity, and certainly more so than atheism, the religion of my parents.
But back to Margaret Cohen. The moment she opened her mouth and spoke of Yoga I was riveted. I knew this was for me. After the first lesson, I felt I was walking on air. I had never in my life so light, so free, and so happy. I began practicing yoga regularly and within a month, I had lost all my excess weight, and I had stopped both drinking and smoking - without even trying. The empty craving had stopped -- all by itself. But after a while Hatha Yoga no longer satisfied me; I wanted more, and that was when I began to slowly die of thirst.
contd.
IN THE HEART THERE IS NO NEAR AND FAR:
Sharon Maas - contd.,
The only thing I could was to read books from local library and I knew the Hinduism section almost by heart. And then a previously unnoticed little book fell into my hands from the library shelf. It was a plain hardback, and looked old and weary and not particularly inviting. It had not been read by anyone for the previous five years, according to the date stamp, but something in the title intrigued me, IN THE DAYS OF GREAT PEACE, by Mouni Sadhu.
From the very first page, I was electrified. By the time, I had finished it - in about 24 hours - I knew: THIS IS IT. Sri Ramana Maharshi is my Guru. This is the One I have been waiting for all my life. But there were problems. All the photos have been torn out. I was desperate to know what my Guru looked like, for although I had felt His call in my heart I needed to look into His eyes, to know that the call was genuine, that I was not hallucinating.
Furthermore, he was dead. How could one have a dead guru? I had asked for a living Master! But the knowledge of my heart was stronger than even that objection. He was not dead, but living right inside me! I knew it!
The next problem was: how to progress? If he were dead, what I was I to do? The ashram described in the book was probably dissolved, and even if it wasn't how could I ever get there? It was so far away - India! I had no money; my job paid me a pittance, and there was not way I could save for a flight, and to live there for a while. However, I had to make an effort. I wrote a letter asking for a photograph and whether I could come to stay. I addressed it to Ramanashram, Tiruvannamalai, India, and sent it by airmail beset by doubts.
I was quite certain that my letter would never arrive. I would never get an answer. It was all a silly dream, a fantasy. I was far way from having a Guru of my own, and certainly not one of such caliber.
I was so uncertain by now that I asked God for a sign!
That evening, my yoga teacher quite
unexpectedly, began speaking about gurus. He said it was so important to find a genuine one, a Sadguru. Then, out of the blue, he spoke the words that sealed the tentative pact: Sri Ramana Maharshi is a Sadguru, he said and I knew it was not a dream. I had received my sign!
contd.,
IN THE HEART THERE IS NO NEAR AND FAR:
Sharon Maas:
The answer came within a week, a time period in which it seemed physically impossible for a letter to get to India and back. But there it was. My hands trembled as I opened the airmail envelope. A photograph fell out, I picked it up, looked at it -- and burst into tears. A grey-haired old man with eyes that looked straight through me, saw my wretchedness -- and loved me all the same. Why me? I wept, and the clear answer came through eyes: BECAUSE YOU ASKED.
When I could I read the letter. the very first sentence drew more tears: "You are very welcome to come to the Ashram." It was signed by V. Ganesan. The miracle had taken place. Against, all odds, my Guru had found me! The next few weeks were filled with such joy I could dance. I wanted to tell the world about Ramana - as I called Him then - but was surprised at the lack of reaction from other people, so after a while I stopped showing people the photo and kept my Guru as my own delicious secret.
My mother had noticed the positive change in me since I had started yoga, and it was she who provided me the solution. An insurance policy, she had been paying into for years suddenly came to maturity, and she offered me a gift of money. Enough for a plane fare to England and beyond....For me, another miracle, and yet so fitting. For according to Mirdad,
"The way that does not provide the wayfarer is no way to fare upon."
I had been corresponding with a Swiss friend who told me that he and his girlfriend were travelling overland to India, and that I could join them, so that's what I did. I flew to England and from there hitchhiked to Bern where my friend helped me get a job locally. for four months, I worked as a maid cleaning rooms at the Bahnhof Buffet in Bern. I was'nt work that appealed to me, especially since there was no challenge to it. But though the work was boring, I brought it to my life by imagining that every room, I cleaned was occupied by Ramana - that I was doing for Him, for Love's sake.
It was in Switzerland, that I made my first acquaintance with Arunachala. I was sitting in meditation when all the darkness of my soul washed up and threatened to drown me. It was as if a mountain of inner rubbish erupted inside me, drowning out every last bit of light, every hope, and every sense of being. Utterly smothered by this darkness there was nothing I could do but cry out for help, and out of the depths of my despair I cried out the word; ARUNACHALA! It came only as a thought, but the effect was immediate: the darkness parted, and a ray of lkight shone through by being. I repeated it:
ARUNACHLA! ARUNACHALA! ARUNACHALA! And with every repetition the darkness receded more and more, until all that was left was a glorious, scintillating, jewel of clearest light.
contd.,
IN THE HEART THERE IS NO NEAR AND FAR:
Sharon Maas:
contd.,
Later I was to read Sri Bhagavan's
Marital Garland of Letters, and recognize what had happened: "Fiery
Gem, shining in all directions, do Thou burn away all my lowliness, O Arunachala! [Sri AAMM, Verse 18:
Keezh mel engum kilaR oLi maNi en keezhmaiyai paazh sei Arunachala!]
I had read the chapter about Arunachala in Mouni Sadhu's book, of course, but paid less attention to it than to the chapters on Ramana, considering it to be just only holy place among many others in India. From that day on I knew the power of Arunachala, and that is indeed unique.
Finally in early October 1973, a group of us left for India. The overland journey was the ultimate lesson in patience. This was the hippie trail, and the thing to do was to travel slowly. We hitchhiked, traveled by cheap trains and buses, through Europe to Turkey, then on through Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Fascinating cultures for my friends, but not for me. I was in a hurry. I wanted only to move on, on,on, to Arunachala. Homewards! I was an iron filing drawn by a magnet. I pushed them on, but being in the minority, mostly had to take the delays with fortitude. There was no way I could leave them and travel on my own, as a young woman traveling alone, through these Muslim countries would be asking for trouble. So I stuck it out, and one day towards the end of November I crossed the border into India.
It happened to be the day on which a treaty with Pakistan with whom India was at war -- had been signed and a tentative peace arrived at. At the border, the Indians had laid out a red carpet and happy people strew flowers on those crossing into India. I have no idea for whom this reception was, but we were part of it; and so I entered India on a red carpet. There could not have been a more auspicious start to a new life!
We traveled south and at last, after all the diversions. the final morning of my journey to Tiruvannamalai dawned. Just as I left the hotel room an Indian woman came up to me to hallway and out of the blue placed a newborn baby girl in my arms. I felt that too to be a sign; a new beginning, the start of the rest of my life.
On the third of December 1973, I walked through the arch of Sri Ramanasramam for the very first time. I HAD FINALLY COME HOME.
concluded.
[I have not made any major abridgment in this article, but for a few sentences, Because every word was worth sharing, with tears flowing from the eyes. Karunaiyal ennai ANda nee... Sri Arunachala Padigam, Verse 1.]
LIVING WITH THE MASTER:
Sri Ramananda Swarnagiri: From Crumbs from His Table.
In the early hours of 14th September, 1935, at 4 a.m. the writer was not able to obtain the usual internal quiet. He therefore mentally remonstrated with Sri Bhagavan that He had not showered His Grace on him and that was why he was not able to consistently maintain his equanimity of mind. At that moment, however, he heard the still small voice within saying:
"if you feel disappointed you had better come back to me." He did not make up his mind what to do,
but left home with a determination not to return, until he had some solace from some Swami and could get back good concentration. It stuck him then that it might be possible to get something from Sri Ramananda who was so near his home, and about whom Sri Sankaracharya had spoken so highly.
He therefore left for that place the same evening. Having missed the Swami that night, he stayed with a friend and in the morning he had a bath in the river Kaveri. Soon after, when he sat for meditation on its bank, he not only had good meditation, but it lasted longer than usual. At about 11 a.m. he saw the Swami, who asked him, not what he had read, but what his experiences and difficulties were. When the writer narrated these, the Swami remarked that it appeared to him that he writer had obtained manolaya and should go in search of a Sadguru. He desired him to concentrate on Gayatri Japa. The writer felt very happy in his presence, and enjoyed internal quiet. When the writer asked him informally why contrary to what he had stated in his book, The Hindu Ideal, he had tolerated the writer, a modernized Brahmin, with short hair and lacking Sanskrit knowledge and orthodox Brahminical daily observances, he said that he had only written his book to show the way to Self realization, but it did not mean that a person who had reached the stage the writer had, obviously due to past karmas, should begin his education anew. His instructions were very illuminating and illustrative.
contd.,
Subramanian
'Sri Ramana Anubuti Verse 85, still elusive in GRP'
85 became 20. It was transferred to the section 'In the style of Akam' near the beginning.
Dear David,
Thank you very much.
The Tamizh verse 20, in Sri Ramananubhuti Part I or Sri Guru
Ramana Prasadam, [the English tr.
by Robert Butler] reads as:
ThanjamenRu thannai saranam adainthenai ini,
Anjal enRu monama aaNda piran anRum thottu en,
NenjininRu neenga nilaimai ser mei yuraval,
Konju magizh saanRa kudhookala vaazhvu uRRene.
Seeking sanctuary I took shleter
at His feet and He, through His silent presence, bade me henceforth fear no more. From that day on, through that authentic union in which He became ineradicably established within my
Heart, my life has been filled with a joy sweet with happy girlish chatter.
Thanks once again, David.
Poetry I wrote about Nome:
Nome, whose presence liberates! Nome who through all interactions takes me deeper. Nome, who is the Lord of the Universe. Whose body moves as the Supreme. Nome, the glorious sadguru who shines as my Self, always. Nome, everything he does is epic and fascinating. Yet, the story is beyond words. It's a secret, that I cannot tell to anyone. Nome, who instructs through everything and everyone, through the most mundane of interactions. Nome, who reveals the clarity of how to live. Nome, in whose presence the mind dissolves. Nome, in whose presence the past, and future dissolve. Nome, in whose presence, there is no present either. Nome, in whose presence, time and space are shown to be illusions. Nome, who shows me who I'm not, when he tells me to "have good meditations!" Nome, who cut the knot of my ego through several conversations, so that it will unravel, and I will be saved. Nome, who destroys all fear! Nome, banishes craving, and my mind dissolves in pure Being. Sri Nome, who is the successor to Ramana Maharshi, who was the successor to Shankaracharya. Nome, who is the Temple of SAT. Nome who is the Society of Abidance in Truth. Nome who is my real Self, beneath the cover. Nome, who is the innate happiness, stronger than any sensual pleasure, more lasting than eternity. Nome, the Siva Lingam that is the center of the Universe. Nome who is Siva himself, whose beaming glance burns through all egoic tendencies. Nome, who humbles the arrogant. Nome who humbles my ego. Nome who with the kindest words and gestures shames me into pure Bliss. Nome who secretly reintroduces dharma to the world, shaping world events. Nome, who has liberated many. Nome, the jivanmukta factory. Nome, the definition of a true Jnani! Nome, who sets the standard of Good! Nome, the magnet for ripe souls. Nome who is the entire Universe, and more! Nome, who is the Self of all Beings! Nome, who is, what is!
A young man asked Ramana "It is said that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was able to elevate Vivekananda to the state of Nirvikalpa samadhi with just a touch. Can Bhagavan do the same for me?" Bhagavan did not say anything. The young man waited with impatience, for Bhagavan's reply. After a few minutes silence Bhagavan looked at the youth and in a soft voice asked "You are an other Vivekananda, I presume?"
The young man was embarrassed and left the hall without another word!
Dear Scott,
Nice rendering. Siva Jnana Bodham
Sutra 12 says that Haran's [Siva's]
devotees are only Hara. All devotees of Sri Bhagavan are Sri
Bhagavan themselves. This is called as Isatvam in Sri Dakshinamurty Storam, by Sri Sankara. Isa's [Siva's] devotees are only Siva.
Sri Bhagavan says in Sri Arunachala Akshara Mana Maalai, Verse 104:
Let me a loving servant of the devotees of those devotees who hear Your Name with love, O Arunachala!
Dear hey jude,
Sri Bhagavan said: If you are a
Vivekananda, I can do it for you also. Are you Vivekananda?
Most of us are not Vivekanandas. So we cannot expect Sri Ramakrishna or Sri Bhagavan are unable to transmit the power of attaining nirvikalpa samadhi.
Sri Bhagavan says in Sri AAMM Verse 40:
With no knowledge and with only blind desire for You, I have begun the quest and am tired. To end this weariness, give me the clear knowledge to carry on the quest,
O Arunachala.
CLOSING A CIRCLE IN TIME;
Andrew Burkaba: Mountain Path,
Aradhana, 2005:
Nothing happens by mere chance,
Nothing happens that is meaningless.
After running away from a Poland afflicted by Communism, I spent two years in England. Finally I was allowed to settle om the free world. My choice was Australia, but everything there was different;
the mentality, the food, climate and style of life.
I remembered form the small book given by my aunt: Those who sincerely desire to grow in spirit will be found at the right time, called and guided...No single soul will be left unnoticed. My time was filled with struggling to make a living in this new and somewhat hostile world of Western business. One Saturday afternoon, when driving home from work, I passed a sign that said: 'Garage Sale'. An irresistible power persuaded me to stop and see what was on sale. Finding nothing of any use to me in the garage, I started to search through a few cartons of books spread all over the lawn. Despite the fact that until then I'd never read a whole book in English, for some reasons, I bought three books which drew my attention. Initiations by Paul Sedir [translated by Mouni Sadhu],
Concentration, and In Days of Great Peace, both by Mouni Sadhu himself. And it happened!
With the help of a dictionary, I read the entire text of Initiations word by word. This book made such an impact on my mind, that thereafter I felt as if I was living in a dream. So...great Masters did exist!! They are not just illusion created by exuberant imaginations. They are and what is more they are watching the whole of humanity, ever ready to pick up ripe souls and to guide them to Freedom and Immortality.
So I realized that the first step towards conquering my restless mind was to develop concentration. So, the next book by Mouni Sadhu, Concentration, I started with great interest. Then I came to his statement: "If you, dear reader, have any habits like drinking or smoking and can't control them then reading this book further is of no use as you are a slave of your habits and can't even dream about controlling it.... This was my 40th birthday, and I was a chain smoker. Without much deliberation, I decided to give up this harmful habit immediately. I was determined to read this book in full, since it was a key to The Path.
I started practicing the prescribed exercises wondering where I would find a living link to The Path. I discovered from the book that Mouni Sadhu had stated that the book was translated in Melbourne. I decided to make a systematic investigation.
contd.
CLOSING A CIRCLE IN TIME:
[contd.]
Unfortunately, I had missed Mouni Sadhu by eleven years. But in my search I discovered his grave in Springvale cemetry. A commmon 'economy' section in the grave has stone walls two meters high, with 4-5 rows of niches for the ashes of cremated people. Mouni Sadhu was cremated in 1970.
It was here that I came upon a bronze plate that had inscribed on it 'Mouni Sadhu greatly missed by all his friends', along with his age and the exact date of samadhi.
With the help of Cemetery Administration and one Mr. Gangopadhyaya, the President of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, Australia, I went to one Ms. Vera Rundus, a Czech, well known for hatha yoga teaching and she had once been associated with Mouni Sadhu. One more person who had been knowing Mouni Sadhu was also there. So on a rainy afternoon, we met in her school of Yoga. Our meeting formally scheduled for half an hour turned into a Satsangh that lasted over four hours.
We talked about The Path. What did I find out?
I learned that Mouni Sadhu was a Russian. He had completed his education in France. There he learned about Sri Ramana Maharshi from Paul Brunton's Search in Secret India. Mouni Sadhu later worked in Brazil where he formed a group of seekers following the Maharshi's teachings. There he also wrote a small book The Direct Path, which was also translated into Portugese and printed and which he later personally offered at the Feet of Sri Bhagavan. On perusing it page by page, Sri Bhagavan noticed a quotations from Sri Sankara's Vivekachoodamani, and asked Mouni through the translator to add a footnote regarding the source, in the next edition. After the II World War, I learned that Mouni Sadhu had made his only trip t o the abode of the Great Rishi. Everyone who was associated with Mouni Sadhu believed that during this short visit, being a ripe soul, he successfully completed his life long sadhana in Sri Bhagavan's Presence.
contd.
CLOSING A CIRCLE IN TIME:
contd:
Ms. Vera Rundus also informed me that in Melbourne, Mouni Sadhu formed a group of Ramana Maharshi
devotees called the "Arunachala
Group." It was located in the suburb of Burwood. While living in
Brazil, Mouni Sadhu also helped by conducting classes on meditation and spiritual unfolding in a few yoga schools. She also told that there was some dissonance between him and Paul Brunton, since the latter had emphasized some students that they practice guru bhava towards him!
Failing health made the last years a bit of a struggle for Mouni Sadhu. He retired and committed himself to putting together his vast notes about the Path and methods of sadhana. He had passed away in the toilet. His personal attendant a Russian nurse named Natasha, upon hearing a sudden sound, tried to enter the toilet but Mouni Sadhu said firmly: "No need to help! It's time for me to go!" His near compete notes about the influence of diet and health on a Quest, were with Natasha. She could not be traced.
Ms. Vera Rundus also told the writer that after Sri Bhagavan's Maha Samadhi, devotees from Brazil frequently visited Mouni Sadhu, as he was a guide and living link with their Guru, Sri Ramana Maharshi.
During one of his accidents in a van, with Brazilian devotees, he was declared dead. The devotees chanted some Sanskrit slokas. Suddenly Mouni Sadhu sat up as if nothing had happened, and said: "The van is ok. Let us move on!"
The writer himself had an identical accident. He was in debris. Suddenly someone with a very gentle voice from behind told: "Nothing really bad had happened! We are both alive." Then the man touched the writer's back.. and a charge of lightninng passed through the body. The writer was stunned and asked that old Greek man looking with a gentle smile: "Who are you?" For sometime he kept smiling, looking at the writer with a warm and soft eyes, and then answered: "It does not matter who I am. You better try to find ou9t who you are!!!". Sri Ramana Maharshi's Atma Vichara!!! The writer could not meet that gentleman again though the writer wanted to find out whether he was a disciple of Mouni Sadhu. The writer later found out that he was in fact, a disciple of Mouni Sadhu and he was selling fish and chips twice a week in Huntingdale. One day, the writer noticed his shop nicely renovated and hanging on the window was the sign "For Sale!" So he too had merged in Ramana Arunachala!
contd.
CLOSING A CIRCLE IN TIME:
contd.
The writer continued his business along with his Sadhana on The Path.
During next 16 years, he could go to
Mouni Sadhu's grave only once. However, he continued his sadhana and he burned at every Onam, Easter, Christmas, Guru Poornima, incense sticks and offered prayers to Mouni Sadhu. He was guiding me. This was always evident. In times of difficulties and confusion Mouni Sadhu even entered the writer's dreams and supported him with his [Mouni's] advice.
I soon renounced the world, and came to India and remained an inmate in a well known Math in Kerala and offered my wrok in in a charitable hospital in Kochi. Impelled by circumstances, I took my first long break and left for a 21 day retreat in Tiruvannamalai. Is it not strange? After so many years of dreaming about it, such long diversions... and now I am bathing in The Presence, listening to His words of wisdom and truth emerging from a thundering Silence. Finally my unforgettable teacher Mouni Sadhu led me to The Master! So lucky am I!
I soon learnt that the Asramam was aware of the fact that Mouni Sadhu's original name was M. Sudonksi.[Soudousky]. His first name was Michael.
I hear some people say that THERE IS NO LIVING GURU AT SRI RAMANASRAMAM. THEY ARE VERY VERY WRONG. Bhagavan Sri Ramana is now unlimitedly alive and even more alive than ever! I may briefly mention here that, Ramana Maharshi told me this Himself in a vivid dream. Now that Sri Bhagavan has drawn me to Arunachala, I experience His palpable Presence with every cell of my body, with every breath.
Is all of this mere coincidence? The first inmate of Sri Ramanasramam, with whom I spoke, on seeing me borrowing from the Asramam library, a copy of Mouni Sadhu's translation of Sedir's Inititations, asked me if I happened to know anything about the name and life of this most mysterious disciple of Ramana Maharshi. Such was the beginning of this article.
The huge circle in time is closing now!
KaruNaiyal ennai aaNda nee enakku....
concluded.
“In Days of Great Peace” is an interesting book to read no doubt, but always had misgivings regarding Mouni Sadhu’s writings. All his other books expound a confused mish-mash of theories and practices. He seems to have taken Bhagavan’s teachings, added plenty of jargon, added his own methods to still the mind (imagine a series of numbers on a blackboard and count from 1 onwards till as far as you can go, and so on) and presented himself as a great Guru, esp for westerner devotees. His book “Samadhi” (defining Samadhi as “Superconsciousness”), in my humble opinion, is a prime example of a most confused presentation of Bhagavan’s teachings, couched in his own jargon and mixed up with Advaita, Christianity and western occultism. In fact, there is much similarity between how “Search in Secret India” and “Great Peace” worked for a lot of westerners in attracting them to Bhagavan; and sadly, again in the ramblings and sort of “Guruhood” of the later Brunton and the Sadhu Mouni.
Am not happy writing this comment, but it represents a hopefully dispassionate judgement based on Mouni’s writings in his “teaching” books.
Best wishes
Arvind, I think you are quite right. Below is a critique by Arthur Osborne of Mouni Sadhu's book "Theurgy" In his latest book Mouni Sadhu turns back from his unfortunate attempts to expound Hinduism to Christianity, with which he seems far more familiar. By "Theurgy" he seems to mean Christian devotional worship, though on the rather low level of seeking boons in reward for one's worship(p.15) On a more spiritual plane the worshipper turns to God for love alone with no thought of reward. What vitiates the book is the author's obsession with powers and occultism and his constant self-advertisement as a master of these.
Dear arvind,
I have read only IN DAYS OF GREAT PEACE and not his translations etc.,
This book is highly readable to me.
Mouni Sadhu is of Russian-Brazil-Australia background and one can expect some 'stylish' writings but they are not jargons. He is again from a Christian background and so he quotes from Bible, Imitations of Christ etc., But his knowledge of Vivekachudamani and Maha Yoga are also not of small measures.
He went to Sri Aurobindo and Mother once, and has said: ...There was no trace of that sublime spiritual atmosphere felt in the presence of Sri Maharshi...
So the 'experience' differs. And I think it is also the same case with direct devotees of Sri Bhagavan and also their books.
Sitting in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, most of us, are not even making one visit to Sri Bhagavan, annually. But devotees have come from Guyana, Israel, and Australia, with a lot of perseverance, through long arduous journeys to see Sri Bhagavan and also His Samadhi after His Maha Nirvana. It clearly shows their sraddha in the Path and books/articles written by them cannot be discounted just like that.
RAMASWAMI PILLAI - AN EARLY DEVOTEE:
An article written in Jan. 1930. and published in Mountain Path, Oct - Dec. 2005]
Abridged:
I first came to the Maharshi, immediately after my final school examinations were completed in March 1917. At this time, I used to think of my mother, my father and Sri Bhagavan, a lot. I was doing japa by chanting the name of God, Lord Vishnu as Narayana. The first time I saw, Sri Bhagavan was at Skandasramam, and I fancied I was seeing a royal hunter in the forest. His personality was striking and I thought of Him as this hunter hunting down the senses. My first visit was only for one or two days, but no conversation passed between us. Our eyes alone met. Directly when i saw Him, the impact was so great that I have up my previous Narayana Japa. On this visit I met one Sri Narayana Reddiar and he gave me a copy of The Marital Garland. After departing the Maharshi's presence, I used to recite these verses aloud or occasionally silently within the mind, identifying Arunachala with the Maharshi. I kept in touch with the Maharshi by writing occasional letters to Narayana Reddiar.
About two years later, I had a family tragedy. My mother committed suicide owing to a disagreement with my father, and as a young man I felt the loss deeply.
I went to college at Pachiappa from 1917-22, losing one year because of my failure in my intermediate examination. In Feb. 1921, I joined the Non-cooperation movement against the British. In course of time, the personal loss decreased and eventually disappeared. All the years, I had some correspondence with Narayana Reddiar.
In 1919, I visited Sri Bhagavan. Just before visit, I had been feeling guilty about my sexual desires. I however did not commit any sin. I confessed to Sri Bhagavan about this. From that point on, I was never again troubled by my desires. In this period I was still very much attracted to The Marital Garland and in addition to memorizing it, I wrote it out again and again. I was still however, involved in Non-cooperation movement, and while still at the Asramam, I cast a lots, thinking of Sri Bhagavan, to decide the course for me. I stayed at the Asramam for 15 days and decided at that time, to quit the college. During my visit I met Sivapraksam Pillai and Ganapati Muni for the first time. After some time, my father came to see what was detaining me and after taking advice in the Asramam, I went back to my village where in 1921, I was married. I found my married life very disagreeable and in June 1922, I returned to the Asramam.
contd.
Mouni Sadhu was Polish, not Russian. This is from a site about him (http://www.mounisadhu.com/):
'Born Mieczyslaw Demetriusz Sudowski on August 17th, 1897 in Warsaw Poland.
'According to Mounis' application for Australian citizenship: He was the child of Alexandre Sudowski born 10/01/1867 and Elisabeth Onacewicz born 05/15/1869, both of Poland. He was married Jan.30,1936 to Catharine Gunt who was killed in a bomb-attack at Wilno Poland during the German invasion, September 1939. He had no children. By the same source, Mieczyslaw Sudowski seems to have fought in the Polish army and was taken as a prisoner of war to the U.S.S.R (Sept.18,1939 to Nov.27,1939) and subsequently Germany (Nov.28,1939 to Jan.12,1945). Upon liberation he was moved to France and changed his name to Michael Sadau. He worked there for the US Army until Nov.15,1946. On Dec.01,1946 he relocated to Brazil were he wrote his first book, "Quem Sou Eu?". He immigrated to Australia in June 1948. He changed his name to Mouni Sadhu after staying with Sri Ramana Maharshi in 1949. He was an electrical mechanic by trade, a member of the Australian Society of Authors (his literary heirs) and very fond of cats (Miss Lapa).'
I spoke to Lucia Osborne about him in the late 1970s. They were both Poles, and she had shown him around when he was in Tiruvannamalai. She thought he had made up stories in 'In Days of Great Peace' about the places she showed him, particularly the story of the visit to the Muslim shrine in Tiruvannamalai, which she said he never went in.
Arthur Osborne and Mouni Sadhu seem to have some sort of feud in the late 60s. I don't know the details except that Arthur thought that Mouni Sadhu was misrepresenting Bhagavan's teachings to his students in Australia.
Dear David,
Thanks for more detailed information about Mouni Sadhu. He might have mis-represented Sri Bhagavan's teachings, which blame is also on Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni [on drishti-srishti vada and vice versa]. But I don't think he called himself a Guru and conducted classes or plagiarised Sri Bhagavan's teachings as his own and released books.
I don't think that in his book In Days of Great Peace, he upstaged occultism and yoga marga against atma vichara. The book is quite readable to me. Of course, views might differ from person to person.
Even in Periya Puranam, where Sekkizhar did not mention anything about brahmin landlords ill-treating Nandanar [Tiru Naalai
Povar] quoting his caste, later Gopalakrishna Bharatiyar made a play where all these things, [which were not in the original source] {Nandan Charitram] - were included. Bharatiyar wanted U.Ve.
Swaminatha Iyer to write a foreword
but on reading the contents, Iyer
refused a foreword. Then Bharatiyar explained that he had included some pageants to suit the times of pre Independent India, i.e. caste-removal, Harijan entry into temples etc., of Gandhi.
Thanks once again.
salutations to all:
Subramanian:
how on earth (nay all the seven lokAs) could you compare 'mouni sAdhu' with 'kAvyakaNTa gaNapati sAstri'!!! first of all, kAvyakaNTa never misrepresented bhagavAn. even if others did find any so-called deviation, it was at best a 'difference in interpretation', which is poles apart from misrepresentation of content, or at worst the thorough incompetence of those who allegedly claimed to have made any sense of kAvyakaNTa's writings.
equating 'mouni' and 'kAvyakaNTa' is as good as placing bhIshmA and any other kaurava on the same plane simply because they fought on the side of duryodhana! there was none in the entire pANDava camp who was even remotely comparable to bhIshmA in any respect (in fact, krShNa himself would have lost to bhIshmA in any 'just' combat) :-)
kAvyakaNTa and bhagavAn remained most dear to each other all their lives. it may not be far-fetched to say that there is perhaps none alive who can make a genuine claim of 'understanding' a fraction of kAvyakaNTa's prolific contributions in sanskrit (mother sarasvati herself could have learnt something from him!!!)
"Nice rendering. Siva Jnana Bodham
Sutra 12 says that Haran's [Siva's]
devotees are only Hara. All devotees of Sri Bhagavan are Sri
Bhagavan themselves. This is called as Isatvam in Sri Dakshinamurty Storam, by Sri Sankara. Isa's [Siva's] devotees are only Siva."
I don't feel comfortable putting myself on equal footing with an enlightened person, or Siva, unless my ego was utterly dissolved. Because as an ego, an individual person, I cannot at all be on equal footing with Siva. As a person, that person is not Brahman. As devotees, I don't think Bhagavan's devotees were Bhagavan. In their real nature, swarupa, perhaps.
@ S.,
I dont know about comparison, but Kavyakantha, I believe has tried to interpret/misinterpret Bhagavan's teachings into his beliefs. I tell this w.r.t. below two instanaces:
1. How/Why Ramana Gita questions were asked.
2. When Sri Lakshmana Sarma sent his Sanskrit version of Ulladu Narpadu to Kavyakantha for polish/final touch as the latter was very good at Sanskrit.
Given his knowledge of Sanskrit and Sastras, there was no way, these could be just 'difference in interpretation', in light of above instances.
Many thanks David, Hey Jude & S. for all the inputs. I will take Lucia & Arthur Osborne’s word anytime over Mouni Sadhu’s. I did not know about Arthur’s opinion of the Mouni’s writing or that Lucia had even found factual inaccuracies in “Great Peace”, and am happy that my independent assessment seems to have some corroboration elsewhere.
Best wishes
Alfred Pulyan, Zen master
The truth does not permeate all religions except in such fantastic disguise that its own father wouldn't know it. Suppose truth is a rabbit. This rabbit is in a field -- a large field. Round the field are very high walls -- creeds and dogma! So -- find your damn rabbit!! And remember the rabbit knows your thoughts & so as you resolve to go one way to catch it, it knows & evades you.
glow
Dear S.,
Misinterpretation is also a form of
misrepresentation.
salutations to all:
Maneesha:
could you please tell what exactly you were pointing at in the instances you referred to?
'interpretation', which is not the same as 'misrepresentation', has been legitimate since days of yore. the commentaries that sankara or madhva wrote on the brahmasutrAs were after all 'interpretations' on vyAsA's aphorisms. similarly, if bhagavAn's words are as good as 'sruti', then kAvyakaNTa, who was no less than a sankara, was fine with making an interpretation to the best of his understanding. in all these cases, while those on the other side may differ, the intent behind the interpretations are unquestionable. if one were to say 'kAvyakaNTa' shouldn't have interpreted, then one can as well say sankara too shouldn't have interpreted the upanishads according to his preferential view!
further, when we read bhagavAn's writings or sayings, what do you think we do? we 'interpret', don't we? i can't possibly think of any way in which the 'mind' is ever going to receive instructions from the 'self' without some kind of an interpretation or the other! perhaps, the only way to 'not' interpret is to abide as the self (and please note that 'this' statement too is merely an interpretation on where interpretation is not!) :-)
sorry to say but given kAvyakaNTa's long years of relationship with bhagavAn (they remind me of krshNa & arjuna) as well as his thorough mastery of the sAstrAs in theory & practice, questioning his credibility is as good as questioning the seers of the upanishads themselves! only a bhagavAn can understand a kAvyakaNTa who perhaps had no equal!
Dear Scott,
Yes. Basically all are Brahma swarupam. But some realize this and
many many do not realize this. This is due to fattened ego, which does not give way so easily.
Saint Manikkavachagar says in Acho
Padigam, [Decad on Oh! Oh!], the last decad in Tiruvachakam, of which only 9 verses are available to us:
Verse 1:
Chittamalam aRuvithu sivamaakki
enai aaNda
Athan enakku aruLiyavaru aar peRuvar achove!
He has severed my impurities [ego etc.,] and made me Sivam and ruled me,
Oh, who can get what I got from my Father?
When Jiva-upadhi is snapped, what will happen? I am Siva. The Saint says in Tirupadai Atchi [The rule of the Holy Army], in Tiruvachakam, Verse 4:
MaamaRaiyum aRiya malarp padam vananguvathu aahathe!
Inniyal chenkazhuneer malar en thalai eithuvathu aahathe!
I can no longer pray to the flowery feet that even the four Vedas, cannot fathom!
I cannot wear the red kazhuneer flower [that has adorned Siva] on
my head!
Why? What is the necessity of doing all these things, when I have myself become Siva?
That is Sivabodham.
I am traveling in a public transport. If I touch the cheek of a pretty girl sitting next to me, I shall be lynched by fellow travelers. If I touch my own cheek, who will lynch me? This
is Jeeva bodham and Siva bodham.
When I become Sivam, there is no other acts or thoughts. All are only Sivamayam.
Such Siva devotees are only Siva.
Such Sri Bhagavan's devotees are only Sri Bhagavan.
RAMASWAMI PILLAI:
[Mountain Path, Oct-Dec. 2005:
On this occasion [June 1922], I stayed for one or two months doing all kinds of odd jobs. Dandapani
Swami wanted me to go fund-raising with him for the Asramam. But I declined because I preferred doing service in the Asramam itself. I remained in the Asramam during his absence for one year, looking after the management with Chinnaswamy, and keeping the accounts. During this period, over Rs 2000 were spent on clearing and levelling the ground in and around the Asramam buildings.
That year was the best so far in my spiritual life -- months at a stretch were spent in Sri Bhagavan's company with frequent opportunities to walk around the Hill with Him. It was a period of intense activity, for we were working night and day to clear the stones, and Sri Bhagavan often used to join us and give us a hand.
After 10 months, I returned to my village, with some visits to the Asramam in between. During my visits, sometimes I used to concentrate on Sri Bhagavan's face in the middle of the night, and usually I would see a halo of flowing glorious light in all the seven colors of the rainbow.
Sri Bhagavan's inner personality used to manifest to me several occasions like Kartikai Deepam, Jayanti, Maha Sivaratri and His Mother's Maha Puja -- also when old and staunch devotees came to see Him. It was on such occasions that we saw His light especially shining on us. He would be all love, mercy and grace.
In 1923, on the first Sivaratri day when I was with Him, Sri Bhagavan did not start to walk around the Hill and only four of us stayed with Him. Dandapani, Viswanathan, myself and one other devotee sat with Him all through the Sivaratri night. We were all awake throughout the night in a blissful state impossible to express in words.
RAMASWAMI PILLAI [CONTINUES]
Mountain Path, Oct Dec 2005.
From my experience, the best way to communicate with Sri Bhagavan was to gaze into His eyes when He was in the silent samadhi state. Then, peace of mind came spontaneously, and the inward search was made much easier. When He was in such a state, merely to be near Him was to experience pure happiness.
Even in His absence, or even I was away from the Asramam, I used to think of His Person and of His Name, and I would experience the sinking of all thoughts into the Self. During one stay of two months, at the Asramam, we read the
Ribbu Gita often. There would usually be six or seven of us, including Sri Bhagavan, and we each read a few verses in turn, going all the way through the book until we had finished the complete book. Sri Bhagavan used to tell us, and on occasions we felt and experienced it, that to read the Ribhu Gita is to be in samadhi. Viswanathan, Muruganar, Chinnaswamy and anyone else who ws present would sit together in a ring with Sri Bhagavan and take in turns to read. No other book was read so often, but sometimes we would vary our reading by going through Tiruvachakam and the works of Tayumanavar. Sometimes Sri Bhagavan Himself would read out three or four stanzas from a work, and then explain the meaning to us.
As soon as His new works, Upadesa Saram and ULLadu NaRpadu were composed, we all learned them by heart in all the four languages in which these have been composed.
To me, He is still more than father, mother, king, country, guru and God.
concluded.
Dear Maneesha - Ganapati Muni was a great Tantric and wrote from his own experience. He was one of the greatest of all Sanskrit poets and understood the entire tradition, back to the oldest Vedas. He presented all the correlations of Tantra from outer ritual to the highest spiritual knowledge, and from its ancient Vedic roots. In his own life Ganapati had a unique yogic experience that indicates the extent of his realization. After years of intense yogic practice he experienced the opening up of his skull, the loosening of the suture at the top of his head. After that a light and energy radiated from the top of his head. He lived in that state transcending the ordinary mind-body complex.
The Muni did not really practice self enquiry but he was very close to Ramana. His knowledge of Sanskrit was extraordinary and his poems praising Bhagavan are very moving.
glow
JOURNEY OF FAITH:
[Niall Anglin - M.P. JAYANTI 2005]
In 1975, at the age of 27, I experienced a spiritual rebirth during a long hitchhike through the U.S. and Canada. I had been earlier cynical and pessimistic.
My renewed interest in spirituality came through Eastern influences that proved a refreshing relief from the hellfire and damnation that was the message received from the religion of my childhood. I began reading many books from various sources including Sankhya philosophy of Hinduism and popular Western works on Eastern philosophy and religion. Alan Watt's beautiful works on the playfulness of God especially inspired me. I learned of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahamsa Yogananada but was never able to find it at the time in the Western bookstores.
Having been raised as a Catholic, I wondered about the strange ways of a god who could give us prophets and saints hundreds of years ago, who were no longer to be found. We seemed forsaken. Eventually, I read the Be Here Now by Ram Das, the American disciple of Neekaroli Baba, and quickly became aware that such saints abound in India even today. I had by that time learned the all important principle that it is the Guru who draws the devotees to him, despite the devotee's feeling that it is he who is exercising his free will in deciding to find the Guru.
My trip to India in 1977, entalied flying from Toronto to London, hitchhiking to the English coast, taking a ferry to Holland, and then hitchhiking from there into Germany, Denmark, back down through Germany, Austria, Italy and Yugoslavia till I reached the Greek Islands. I spent 6 weeks in the Mediterranean on three islands of Corfu, Crete and Rhodes. Finally by bus to Turkey, Iran, Afganistan, Pakistan and into India.
It was during my southern trip through Germany, that life altering event happened. One day after being dropped on the autobahn near Stuttgart, I stood by the roadside beckoning for my next ride. I was there four hours, but in that long delay the most amazing thing happened.
contd.
THE JOURNEY OF FAITH;
continues...
The longer I waited the stronger the feeling came to me that something great was coming. I had no idea what it could be and the thought occurred perhaps I might get a lift all the way to India. I waited and waited and nobody stopped for me but, incredibly, I grew more optimistic. Hunger and tiredness were ignored in favor of anticipation of this coming blessing, which I palpably felt approaching. Finally a Volkswagen pulled over with some young hippy types inside. The ride they gave me was for only 15 minutes. I got in and a young bearded man named Dietmar asked me where I was going. I answered "India". He said, "I have a house in India and I am not using it. Would like to have the key?" I said, "Sure" and he wrote down on a scrap of paper, 'Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, Tamizh Nadu' and then added "OM". He gave me a small key, which I attached to a string and carried around my neck for the next two months, that it took me to reach my final destination, Arunachala.
This key was the culmination of my wait in that state of great anticipation for the miracle which I expected without knowing exactly what would happen. I knew without a doubt that this gift was the key to my soul.
Along the rest of the way to India, I did meet someone who knew a bit about Tiruvannamalai. He told me that there was a Hill with some cottages on the hillside. Dietmar's house which I thought might become my 'cottage', I eventually discovered on arrival at Arunachala, to be a dilapidated shack beside a tea shop in front of the Asramam. It was Raja, the old ex-postmaster and Asramam inmate, who figured out which Dietmar used to occupy, and indeed the key around my neck did open the door to the hovel which, as it was rainy season, had a roof tht leaked on a mud floor. It was not suitable for occupation. I was to discover then that the Guru does indeed move in mysterious ways.
This was in Sept 1977. Though I had never heard of Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, or seen His face, my days of travel for travel's sake came to an end upon reaching Tiruvannamalai. On my trip into India, while in New Delhi, I had stopped to look at a hawker's books laid on a public walkway at Connaught Circus, I felt a book about fifteen feet away beckoning to me; the face on the cover was shining a light to me. I went to see what it could be. It was the face of Paramahamsa Yogananda. the long elusive Autobiography of a Yogi I had searched over months. I bought it and read it and knew about raja yoga and kriya yoga.
contd.,
THE JOURNEY OF FAITH:
continues...
When I first read Sri Bhagavan's teachings in the book, Talks, I found them uninspiring. I came from bhakti marga so when first contemplating self enquiry, though I knew a little about what it meant, I could not find the emotion for spiritual fervor in it. I was accustomed to religion being emotional -- Jesus on the Cross, the Christian martyrs, the lives of Saints, sufferings and sacrifices, miracles, visions, and visitations, Lourdes, Fatima, and most recently the amazing experiences of Yogananda, many of which were quite spectacular.
Later I came to realize that the combination of solemnity and intensity of feeling one harbors towards God is the same delicacy or solemnity one should adopt in the path of self enquiry. Realization must be of the utmost subtlety - transcendental and indescribable.
The devotion that South Indians naturally have towards God or Iswara makes a difference for them -- they naturally recognize the Divine in life. Westerners, especially those of us from
northern and materially developed countries, with the exception of the passionately devoted in southern European countries such as Spain and Italy, lack the yearning to realize a happier truth than this material life. Most, in fact, wish to get even better with the consequent incremental satisfaction the pleasures of the world offer; and they tend to aspire to an afterlife heaven very much like an earthly Utopia.
In my early days at Arunachala, I had a vivid dream. Sri Bhagavan
was seated in a room with many people and I was there with my Guru who suggested to Sri Bhagavan that I give a discourse to those present on some spiritual subjects. Sri Bhagavan gave permission and I carried on at some length discussing aspects of spiritual life I had memorized from book learning. Finally Sri Bhagavan approached me and, blessing me by putting His hand on the right side of my chest, He said: "This is spiritualism, not truck driving."
contd.,
THE JOURNEY OF FAITH:
continues...
I awoke from the dream thrilled at having received His personal direct
blessing and I absorbed His instructions: The way of showing off limited knowledge by preaching to others was not the way. A little knowledge and a little understanding does not make a man a guru nor does preaching bring us closer to our goal, rather the
opposite, it fans the flames of the ego.
Having my view on spiritual life changed as a result of absorbing Sri Bhagavan's teachings and coming under His influence is the most important lesson I can pass on to others. From this perspective one can see that Sri Bhagavan's teachings are not an intellectual exercise. So many devotees, I later discovered, get together in what they call Satsangh, to discuss the philosophy of Sri Bhagavan as an intellectual exercise. Many people, especially the Westerners, seem to need some intellectual satisfaction. In the beginning I suspected that the self inquiry was for those who lacked devotion to God but over time and perhaps with some maturity, I realized that a balanced intellectual understanding illuminates the true import of the teachings. However, too much intellectualism can create a superfluous barrier of concepts. Why confound the mind with intellectual gymnastics when elimination of the mind by letting thoughts subside is what Sri Bhagavan prescribed?
So many books of Sri Bhagavan's words are produced that it is easy to miss the fact that He was mostly silent. One might get the impression that He sat all day, everyday, expounding teachings. This was not His way. I think the books we have of Sri Bhagavan's words pretty well cover everything He said in WORDS. He is in fact, the Silent Teacher, indeed the Self, Arunachala. He Himself told that Sri Daksnhinamurty, the silent guru, who actually started teaching in words but finally resorted to silence to convey the highest truth. It is as though he was telling, "Let them have some words to draw their minds here, and then they can receive This Essential Teaching in Silence."
Sri Bhagavn showed us a direct path to the clear, unmistakable goal. In the stillness of our being, we can find that bliss that we long for, the peace that surpasses all understanding.
[Niall Anglin lives in Toronto, Canada. From 1977 to 1997, he spent a total four years in Tiruvannamalai over several visits, staying near the Asramam.]
From Spiritual Instruction of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi
1. What are the marks of a real teacher (Sadguru)?
Steady abidance in the Self, looking at all with an equal eye, unshakeable courage at all times, in all places and circumstances, etc.
2. What are the marks of an earnest disciple (sadsisya)?
An intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure.
Dear hey jude,
Nice. Sri Bhagavan exhibited very high courage in His life in Tiruvannamalai, both in early years and also later. When the rocks fell down on Him in the Hill and when He was struggling to come out of the rubble, He found His thumb severed and was hanging near the little finger. He just re-fixed it and with body full of bruises and blood, He came back to
Skandasramam. The Mother was horrified to see His plight. Similarly, earlier when He was near the tortoise rock, suddenly His vision was slowly receding and there was a white sheet. The blood circulation had stopped and
perhaps He was to dissolve as atoms. He sat on the rock and Vasudevachari cried at His plight.
It was Sri Arunachala's grace, that He came back to His original state, with circulation of blood starting again and His vision became normal.
... An intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure. ...
Attainment of joy: That is really the point. Where is the one feeling real joy? Mother Teresa said: It is always difficult to feel joy.(!)
Sri Tinnai Swami:
contd.,
In the mid-1940s, Tinnai Swami came to Tiruvannamalai on three occasions to have darshan of Sri Bhagavan, each time staying for just a brief while, but these three first visits appear to have caused no immediate change in his outward life. The first hint of an outward change in his life occurred later, possibly sometime around the end of 1948. At that time, he was chosen by the College to go to America for higher studies or research, but his selection was reversed and a junior colleague was selected instead. He got annoyed with this political influence that unjustly denied him an opportunity, he resigned his job. Before seeking another job, he told his wife that he would take this opportunity to spend some time in Sri Bhagavan's Presence.
Thus he came to Tiruvannamalai for the fourth time, and soon he wrote to his wife saying that he planned to stay longer and would bring her and the children, later for the forthcoming Kumbhabishekam of Matrubhuteswara Temple. His family accordingly joined him in Tiruvannamalai and stayed with him until about July that year. By that time, his wife was about to give birth to their fourth son, so he sent her and other children to stay with his father in law in Kolar.
During his stay in Tiruvannamalai during that period, he spent most of his time, either in Sri Bhagavan's Presence or doing giri pradakshina. During this period, he also developed close association with Sri Muruganar.
One incident at that time, gave a clue to the inner change that was taking place within him. One day when he came home unusually late for lunch, his mother asked him:
"Have you been to see Swami?" He replied, "What is the use of merely seeing Swami? We must become Swami."
After his family left, one day, he approached Sri Bhagavan and asked permission to leave for Pondicherry to secure a job. To which Sri Bhagavan replied: "Iru". 'Iru' is a Tamizh word that literally means, 'Be' or even in common usage it means, 'Stay' or 'Wait'. Though it was unusual for Sri Bhagavan to tell someone to stay when they asked permission to leave, most of the devotees who were present at that time probably took little notice of it. However, Sri Muruganar who was present was able to understand the great power of that single word, uttered by Sri Bhagavan and the profound impact it had upon Sri Tinnai Swami.
contd.,
SRI TINNAI SWAMI:
contd.,
Sri Tinnai Swami obeyed both the colloquial and the literal meaning of the word "Iru" uttered by Sri Bhagavan. From the moment, he never left Tiruvannamalai, and he also remained firm in the eternal state of Self-abidance. As Sri Sadhu Om once commented, "Lord Murugan bestowed Jnana upon Arunagiri Nathar by uttering two words, 'Summa Iru' [Kandhar Anubhuti], whereas Sri Bhagavan bestowed Jnana upon Tinnai Swami by uttering just one word, 'Iru'.
Sri Tinnai Swami's inward transformation was reflected in a complete transformation in his outward life. From that day on, his outward behavior was changed radically. He seldom spoke and when he did, his words were usually enigmatic, often allegorical and at time, even appeared quite meaningless.
He neglected his appearance, allowing is hair to grow long and matted, and he lived by begging his food, usually just one meal a day, and sometime even not that.
Since the family had heard nothing from him for sometime, they became worried, so his brother in law came to Tiruvannamalai to find out what had happened to him. When he finally found him and discovered that he had changed so completely, and when he showed no sign of response, when requested to come, his brother in law concluded that he had become mad.
His wife, however, refused to believe this, and asked her father to take her to see him. Finally they came, shortly after Sri Bhagavan's Maha Nirvana, but their plea to him to come home, were of no avail. Seeing this, his wife said to her father, "If he wishes to live like this, I do not wish to stand in his way. But as his wife, I have the right and duty to serve him. So please allow me to remain here to take care of him."
When his wife requested Sri Tinnai Swami to accept her service, he consented and lived for a while in an adjacent hut. During that time, he would spend most of his time in deep Self-absorption, from which he would rise only to accept food or to do giri pradakshina.
When Sri Tinnai Swami told her to go since her duty was to look after the sons, she agreed an d left for Kolar. She visited Tiruvannamalai on many occasions, sometimes for just a few days and sometimes for several weeks. Soon she understood that he did not want her to remain with him, she left for Kolar.
contd.,
SRI TINNAI SWAMI - contd.,
After his wife's return for Kolar,
Sri Tinnai Swami started living in
Virupaksha Cave. As had become usual, he spent most of his time in Self absorption, and would on most days get up only once for giri pradakshina and to beg hs meal on the way.
At first he would beg from houses anywhere in the town, but gradually he restricted himself to begging from just a few houses, in Sri Ramana Nagar. As time went on, he slowly stopped begging from other houses, and came on most days to the house of Sri C.P. Nathan to eat his only meal. Finally one day, in the late 1950s, when he came to their house as usual, he said to Mrs. C.P. Nathan, "Amma, it is raining outside. May I take shelter here?"
She replied: "Swami, this is your house. You are welcome to stay here." He therefore sat on the tinnai in their verandah and remained there. That day was actually a very hot sunny day in the Tamizh month of Purattasi, [Sept-October], and there was no sign of any rain. After a short while, however a small black cloud appeared, and a few drops of rain fell! Nevertheless, it appears that what he had really meant when he said, "It is raining outside', was that living in a public place like Virupaksha Cave, he was exposed to all sorts of unwanted attention.
At that time C.P. Nathan was living with his family in a rented house, but because he had recently be disabled by a paralytic stroke, he knew that he would be unable to continue paying the rent, and was therefore in need of some other accommodation. When Mrs. C.P Nathan informed this difficulty to Sri Tinnai Swami, he pointed out to a nearby piece of vacant land and said: "Why should you worry? Your house is built there." Soon after that, it became known that the plot of vacant land belonged to David McIver, and that he was ready to sell it for the nominal price he had paid for it some 15 or 20 years earlier. Though the Nathans could buy the plot, they had no idea how they could afford to build a house on it. When they told this to Sri Tinnai Swami, he said, "The sadhus will build your house for you." Later, with some money lent by some friends, and with the help of three sadhus, Sri Sadhu Om, Swami Sankarananda of Desur Ramanananda Matalayam and Swami Krishnananda, a small house was built for them with a coconut leaf verandah and tinnai for Sri Tinnai Swami to live on!
contd.,
@S.,
Those are long stories... tahst why dint publish. You can get a hand on the books that refer to the instances to get to know the details. In these instances, he had deliberately misinterpreted Bhagavan's teachings. Why dont you get your hands on these berfore you compare him with seers of Upanishads?
Clemens, Mother Teresa is not Ramana. I would rather not speculate about mother Teresa's state and her difficulty with feeling joy.
Vishwanatha Swami said "We enjoyed the shade of the tree and the Grace of Bhagavan which like a cool breeze blew away man's torments"
It is difficult to convey the difference between, joy, bliss and the absence of all brooding and suffering.
salutations to all:
Maneesha/Others:
from whatever little i have read on & by kAvyakaNTa, i have felt him to be no less than a sage. a day might come when i will at least know enough to study his principal works, but that will merely be an affirmation of what i feel now. i still don't understand where did he "deliberately misinterpret". who says so? those who allege on such "deliberate misinterpretation" ought to be those who must have "correctly understood" bhagavAn. other than bhagavAn, who else can claim that? :-)
as i already said, given his mastery, he had as much right to "interpret" as sankara or madhva had done with "interpreting" the upanishads (a right which i certainly don't have) :-). if there had ever been a 'just' debate of words, aruNAchala himself might have lost to kAvyakaNTa as much as krishNa would have lost against bhishma in a 'fair' combat of arms! before such a towering presence, the dust of whose feet am not worthy of, i shall not 'point a finger' of misinterpretation in a hundred lives... :-)
as regards "misrepresentation", which i guess a few may equate it to 'misinterpretation', let me ask - every day, we keep saying a 'hundred' glorious things about the 'self' (which we don't know) & every day, we say at least a 'hundred' ignominious things about the 'ego' (which we don't understand)! wonder if there can be a greater "misrepresentation" than this? :-)
SRI TINNAI SWAMI:
Michael James:
contd.,
For more than forty years Sri Tinnai
Swami lived on that tinnai and only on a very few occasions, did he leave that compound. In the twenty years, I lived in Tiruvannamalai from 1976-1996, he left the compound only on one occasion, in the late 70's for some unknown reason, he went and crouched for three or four days in the open ground between the compound and Arunachala.
During my early years in Tiruvannamalai, he left his tinnai only to crouch on the floor to eat food, or to visit the outdoor latrine, or occasionally to sit on the outdoor tinnai facing Arunachala, or very rarely to walk to the front gate. Other than this, he remained quietly on his tinnai.
Earlier, I am told that he went to Pali tirtham [the tank beside Sri Ramnasramam] to dip himself briefly, and returned in his wet
clothes, which he allowed to dry on his body.
From the day that Sri Bhagavan told him 'Iru' Sri Tinnai Swami remained completely indifferent to all forms of physical discomfort. His hair grew long and matted, and his finger and toenails also grew long, thickened and curled and it was only in the later years of his life, when his nails had become so distorted and curled that they were growing back into his flesh,
causing bleeding and obviously very painful wounds that he finally acceded to our repeated requests to allow to cut his nails.
The most remarkable thing about his outward life was the fact that he lived silently in one place, unconcerned about the world. But he knew what was happening outside including many things which are usually known through our five senses.
During the many years that he lived on their tinnai, C.P. Nathan's family were blessed with the good fortune of providing him with little food, clothing and shelter. The family had done similar service to Sri Sadhu Om and other sadhus too.
contd.,
R.Subramanaian,
Wonderful story of Tinnai swami-I have not heard this before.C P Nathan&family are truly blessed to have served these Mahatmas.
Thanks very much.
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
Thanks. One more "comment" is still pending.
I once I wrote to David that he should write another volume of the Power of the Presence, where in he can include, Tinnai Swami,
Rajalakshmi Amma, and a few others.
SRI TINNAI SWAMI:
Michael James [contd.,]
Towards the end of 1985, Sri Tinnai Swami lost his eye sight apparently due to cataract, but he never allowed any doctor to check his eyes. With this, his physical activities became even less. He was eating from a plate placed on a table beside his tinnai and to answer the calls of nature, a bowl was was also placed beside the tinnai. Nevertheless he remained unshakable as ever.
Finally, a few days before his 91st birthday, he left his body quietly as he lived in it, in the early hours of the morning when everyone in the compound was asleep. His holy remains were found reclining peacefully as ever, and were interred with due respect and devotion in the manner traditional for a Sadhu that afternoon, a few hours before the Maha Deepam was lit on Arunachala. His Samadhi is beside the samadhi shrine of Sri Sadhu Om, close to the tinnai where he had lived for so many years.
In the eyes of the world, which attaches importance only to doing, overlooking the importance of mere being, there may appear to be of little greatness in the extraordinary life of Sri Tinnai Swami. He did not speak, write or teach anything, nor did he perform any other 'useful work.' But whether we are able to recognize it or not, his mere being was a great blessing bestowed upon the whole world by Sri Bhagavan, the effect of which cannot be known or measured by our finite intellects. As Sri Bhagavan says in Verse 303 of Guru Vachaka Kovai:
They [the wise] say that the ucchistha [the left over of food] consumed by God is the supreme purifier that removes all sin. Take to heart, that the life of sat-achara [abidance in the state of being] lived by a Jnani in this material world is itself that ucchistha."
That is, mere existence of a Jivan Mukta, whose physical form continues to live in this world after God has consumed his ego, this supreme good is done by his mere being, what need is there for the Jnani to do anything - whether to speak, write, teach or perform any other kind of good deed?
*
Michael James had been associated with Tinnai Swami since 1976. This article was written in 2004, after Sri Tinnai Swami left his body in December 2003. [1912-2003]
s/Friends,
Devotees of Sri Ramana maharshi call him 'Bhagavan', 'Ramana','Maharshi'-all this ,thanks to sri kAvyakanta ganapathi muni.
Sri Bhagavan used to call him with respect as 'gAru'-as the muni was elder to Sri Bhagavan besides a great tapasvi well versed in vedas.As sri ganapathi muni was not comfortable with Sri Bhagavan addressing him thus,Sri Bhagavan used to call him 'nAyana' or 'Father'.
This is proof enough of the love and respect that Sri Bhagavan had for this great one.
All 'ideas' are interpretations only,as s has passionately and rightly pointed out.There are always bound to be differences in these 'ideas' even among great ones.
It is important for the sadhaka to realise this and not be carried away by such differences.This is why the upanishads have said-Ekam sat,bahuda vadanti-Truth is one,expressions are many.
Among those who have written their reminiscences of Bhagavan,not all have the same level of maturity-especially when i read about the so called 'pettiness' and 'feud' that existed among Suri nagamma,Devaraja Mudaliar,and Krishna Bhikshu -I read about this from David's post;if I remember right,it was balarama reddy(?) who recounted these things to David-I always take such tales with a pinch of salt-it may well be the fabrication(imagination)of balarama reddy himself!May be ,he saw it that way!
These need to be filtered as not 'authentic' and one has to go directly to Sri Bhagavan-what he had said in public(not in privacy!).
The other aspect seems to be the 'timegeist' of our times-where armed with 'information' we feel entitled and emboldened to stamp our views on anyone and anything.If we watch a cricket match-we say 'Tendulkar should not have played that careless shot'-as if we know better,or that we are more 'responsible' than Tendulkar!This same trait we carry on in the spiritual dimension,where we know even less!
Thanks to the popularisation of 'Advaita',spiritual attitude of Humility,nobility,respect for elders,etc are considered as 'indigestion of the mind' and outmoded.
Sri KAvyakanta ganapathi muni is undoubtedly a Great one to whom all of us are deeply indebted, for giving the world the mantra-'Bhagavan,Sri Ramana maharshi'.
Namaskar.
Friends,
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
Master:What is the goal of books or scriptures? The attainment of God.
A man opened a book belonging to a sadhu. He saw the word 'Rama' written on every page.
There was nothing else.
Namaskar.
Extent of duty and atma vichara.
I am Mr. (No more) Confused again here. By more and more careful enquiry and devotion my confusions and doubts are getting melted away one by one. I am moving towards getting the natural shanthi which great mahatmas speak about.
Off late my life has largely got stablizied and those who gave trouble earlier in my material life are slowly getting out of my way.
Now I dont have the real burden of a householder anymore. But even then there are duties to look after parents and a need to work still on a job.
I am working and not neglecting worldy duties.
Here I have a new dilemma. My parents want me to devote the time I do for meditation, bhakthi etc. also only to my job skills and improve furhter on my salary, skillset etc. For example, on weekends also they want me to puruse new courses ,certifications etc. rather than going to Arunachala hills.
My plan is that as I have now got more oppurtunity and burdenless life (relatively), I want to just finish my work in office for 10 hours, come back and then forget all about it. Concentrate and contemplate only on Bhagavan's and my living Guru's devotion.
I dont want to look for more and more ways to stabilize my career. My argument is that I do my work and come back, not to fear about job stability and all. Leave the burden to Bhagavan, stop desiring and aspiring for new career heights and just wait for the moment to come when I can permanently settle in Thiruvannamalai.
Can someone clarify how I can convicne them and devote my non working hours only towards meditation and bhakthi? Or is this wrong and I should only try to do work all the time without bondage and do the work as a sadhana. For me I find it very tough, all the time before monitor I am not fit for that type of sadhana. I need separate and more time for meditation and bhakthi.
Friends,
Brother lawrence life and teachings are among the most inspirational and practical.Here is an excerpt from wikipedia on this wonderful saint and sage:
During the winter, Herman looked at a barren tree, stripped of leaves and fruit, and realized it awaited the sure hope of a springtime revival and summer abundance. Gazing at the tree, Herman grasped deeply the extravagance of God's grace and the unfailing sovereignty of divine providence. Like the tree, he felt seemingly dead, but held hope that God had life waiting for him, and the turn of seasons would bring fullness. At that moment, he said, that leafless tree "first flashed in upon my soul the fact of God," and a love for God that never ceased. Shortly after, an injury forced his retirement from the army, and after a stint as a footman, he sought a place where he could suffer for his failures. He thus entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Paris as Brother Lawrence.
He was assigned to the monastery kitchen where, amidst the tedious chores of cooking and cleaning at the constant bidding of his superiors, he developed his rule of spirituality and work. In his Maxims, Lawrence writes, "Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?"
For Brother Lawrence, "common business," no matter how mundane or routine, could be a medium of God's love. The sacredness or worldly status of a task mattered less than motivation behind it. "Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."
Brother Lawrence felt having a proper heart about tasks made every detail of his life possess surpassing value. "I began to live as if there were no one save God and me in the world." Brother Lawrence felt that he cooked meals, ran errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world alongside God. One of his most famous sayings refers to his kitchen:
"The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament."
While the other monks in the monastery were busying themselves in Prayer,contemplation,etc,they could not help notice how this simple brother could spend his time amidst chores in the kitchen and yet exuded cheerulness and joy.
It is the quality of prayer that matters,not the amount of time spent in meditation,etc.This would ensure the continuous current of smarana of God(Presence of God) and work would seem less of a burden.
Namaskar.
Folks, on Ganapati Muni:
Those who might feel that the Sri Ramana Gita misrepresents Sri Bhagavan’s words, it might be remembered that Bhagavan Himself translated the Ramana Gita into Malayalam in 1936. Can we have a bigger endorsement of the Ramana Gita than that? I believe that other than His own works, and those of the Advaita Masters and ancient texts, Sri Ramana Gita is the only work written by one of His own devotees that He ever translated!
It is true that the book has a few questions and answers of a different nature. Sri Ganapati Muni had disciples of all temperaments, maturity and inclinations. If the question was asked by, say, an immature Sakta, or one following Kundalini Yoga, then Bhagavan’s answer was tailored to suit that devotee’s level of understanding. But no one can say that that Sri Ganapati Muni recorded the same inaccurately. It is we who misrepresent the teaching by taking it out of context and holding it up as a basic teaching of Bhagavan’s; whereas it was intended only for certain persons of a certain temperament. And my personal belief is that the book should be read only after a devotee is somewhat familiar with Bhagavan’s teachings.
Also, do remember folks with respect to Sri Ganapati Muni’s greatness, that the lovely and melodious Sri Ramana Chatvarimsat composed by him is the only hymn written by a devotee that is part of the daily Veda Parayana at Sri Ramanasramam, and this was so in Bhagavan’s lifetime even. In fact, other than this, even in the evening Tamil Parayana, the only works recited now that were written by a devotee are the poems of the mysterious Sri Satyamangalam Venkataramayyar whom we think was actually Lord Visnu in disguise. (All works recited otherwise are either works of Bhagavan Himself or are from some ancient text).
And with respect to Sat-Darsanam, the text is a marvel of sophisticated and melodious Sanskrit. In my humble opinion, having studied the Sanskrit text itself a bit, it quite accurately follows Ulladu Narpadu. Anyone here who feels that Sat Darsanam (and we are NOT talking about the Bhasya written by Kapali Sastri) misinterprets Ulladu Narpadu even slightly, do come back with the particular verse you have in mind.
Best wishes
Friends,
An excerpt from Suri NAgamma's 'Recollections of Sri Ramanasramam':
(4) HOW FORTUNATE IS THIS SABARI!
Sometime in 1946, S. Doraiswamy Iyer came to the
Ashram. He was a very successful lawyer practising in Madras,
earned a lot of money, gave up practice, donated all the money
to the Aurobindo Ashram, and lived there as an Ashramite.
Off and on, he used to come to Ramanasramam. Once it so
happened I was copying in a notebook various stotras in Telugu
in praise of Bhagavan, when Doraiswami came into the hall
and sat there. He saw how Bhagavan was calling me now and
then and giving me instructions about copying the stotras and
others in Telugu. Doraiswamy appears to have observed the
paternal affection with which Bhagavan was calling me and
so when Bhagavan left the hall and when I too was about to
leave soon after, he came directly behind me unobserved and
began singing the famous Thyagaraja kirtan: “How fortunate
is Sabari? How fortunate is this Sabari!” Startled at the
unexpected singing right behind my back, I turned round
and found him looking at me smiling. I asked him why he
was singing like that. Pointing his hand towards me he said,
“Yes, Amma, I am saying how fortunate is this Sabari!
Bhagavan does not speak to us even once though we ask him
all sorts of questions. In your case, Bhagavan himself asks for
you saying, ‘Where is Nagamma?’ and speaks to you every
now and then. How lucky you are!” I naturally felt very much
elated at that.
In 1954 I shifted my permanent residence from the
Ashram to Andhra Pradesh and was coming to the Ashram
once or twice a year for a few months’ stay. On one such
occasion, perhaps in 1957, I remained in Bhagavan’s hall a
little longer than usual and with all thoughts of Bhagavan
crowding in on my mind, was going out when all of a sudden
I heard a voice from behind similar to Bhagavan’s calling,
“Where is Nagamma?” (Nagamma yedhi?). Startled at that,
I looked behind and found Devaraja Mudaliar smiling at me.
Noticing the tears that had welled up in my eyes, he said,
“Bhagavan used to call you like that, didn’t he?” Recovering
my balance of mind I replied, “Yes, Brother. What you have
said is perfectly correct. For a fleeting moment I felt it was
Bhagavan himself that was calling me. What a delusion! Be it
as it may, I have heard those soothing words once again at
least through your mouth. What a good day for me! It was
only after hearing those words from Bhagavan that
Doraiswamy Iyer sang the song ‘How fortunate is this Sabari!’
Those good days are gone never to return,” I said. Mudaliar
also felt likewise, and shared with me my regrets, being a
fellow devotee."
Namaskar.
Friends,
(21) SECRETARY
In 1943-44, I began copying in a notebook verses in
Telugu which were lying scattered, and so Bhagavan was
giving me for copying whatever was received subsequently.
Incidentally, he was also discussing with me the affairs
relating to the printing of Telugu books. I was also looking
after the library, lending books and receiving them back.
As I was doing all this work, Bhagavan was calling me
frequently and entrusting me with some work or other.
Later on, I also commenced writing my Letters from Sri
Ramanasramam. Thus I came into closer contact with
Bhagavan than the other devotees.
Noting all this, one day Devaraja Mudaliar jocularly said,
“Nagamma is Bhagavan’s Telugu Secretary.” As I did not like
his saying so I protested saying, “My dear Sir, if you have any
regard for me, please keep it to yourself. Why all these
designations? After all, what is the work I am doing for
Bhagavan? Really speaking, what work is there for Bhagavan
to be done by me?” “That is not it, my dear sister. Is it not a
fact that whenever anything written in Telugu is received he
passes it on to you? You are looking after all the Telugu work.
So I am calling you his Telugu Secretary,” he said. I begged of
him not to call me that way but he would not listen. Finally
one day I told him, “Look. If you persist in calling me Secretary
I shall make you stand before Bhagavan and complain to him.”
I thought the threat would have the desired effect but was he
of the sort that could be so easily threatened?
The next morning after looking through the mail,
Bhagavan went out as usual and returned. While he was seated
leisurely on the sofa with Balarama Reddy opposite to him,
Devaraja Mudaliar suddenly came in, prostrated himself before
Bhagavan and after getting up said with a smile, “Bhagavan,
Nagamma says she will make me stand before you and impeach
me today.” Mudaliar with a further smile turned towards me
and said, “Yes. Start with your impeachment. I am now
standing before Bhagavan.” “So you have started it. All right.
What am I to do, Bhagavan. He teases me saying ‘Nagamma,
Secretary, Secretary.’ I requested him several times not to do
so but he ignores my entreaties. What great work has
Bhagavan got to require a Secretary?” No sooner had I said it
than Mudaliar laughed and said, “Yes. I did say so. It is based
on actual facts. Nagamma is the Telugu Secretary and
Muruganar Tamil Secretary to Bhagavan. What is wrong if I
say so?” He left the hall thereafter. Bhagavan merely laughed
and kept quiet.
Taking up the thread of the conversation, Balarama
Reddy remarked, “Bhagavan has no work whatsoever.
Where is the need for a Secretary?” “That is exactly what I
have been saying. When Bhagavan has no work to do where
is the need for two secretaries, Nagamma and Muruganar?
Whatever little work there is, we are doing it on our own to
satisfy ourselves; otherwise, where is any work worth
mentioning? I have told him several times that if he has any
opinion, to keep it to himself, but not give such high sounding
designations. He however persists. So I thought I should
bring the matter to the notice of Bhagavan hoping it would
have the desired effect on him. That is all.” Bhagavan laughed
and said, “I have already been dubbed as a man having no
work.” “Yes. That is just it. This is just like the saying, ‘A
person having no work has ten people working under him’,”
I said. We all had a hearty laugh. In spite of all that had
happened, Mudaliar did not give up calling me Secretary.
Namaskar.
Maneesha, V.S.Ramanan wrote "Thanks to the questions put by Kavyakanta and others from an advanced level of sadhana we could get from Sri Bhagavan himself some rare and unique explanations and revelations not found in yoga sastras"
Subramanain, You give some great examples of Ramana's courage but you forgot to mention the plague. Everyone ran away out of fear, only Ramana was willing to stay behind and take care of Ramanathan Brahmacharya.
When the Leopard appeared near Pachiamann Koil devotees were trembling only Ramana kept calm.
These are wonderful examples of Ramana's fearless state.
I was fortunate enough to meet Tinnai Swami and Ramaswami Pillai
many years ago. Tinnai Swami was silent but Ramaswami Pillai who was advanced in years, was happy to talk about Ramana and the wonderful years he spent on and around Arunachala.
Dear Ravi,
Excellent post on Brother Lawrence.
"The time of business does not differ from the time of prayer."
Excellent quote.
By the way, is he the author of "Three Pillars of Wisdom"? Is he
the same person who also called
the Lawrence of Arabia?
Dear Ravi,
Suri Nagamma was one of the foremost devotees of Sri Bhagavan. Sri Bhagavan often used to ask "Where is Nagamma? Has she not come as yet?"
She was called the Telugu Secretry
of Sri Bhagavan! Once Viswantha
Swami said : "That is why Ganapati
Muni had earlier written [in Sri
Ramana Gita], 'Suri Sabha'.."
Ganapati Muni meant the court of learned Rishis. Suri also meant
Suri Nagamma and Viswanatha Swami
punned on the word.
Thanks for the post.
Dear hey jude,
Yes. Ramanatha Brahmachari suffered
from plague with boils on his body.
He was wailing with a lot of pain.
When others wanted to leave the Hill, Sri Bhagavan said: "No. Ramanatha Brahmachari was entrusted to me. I should take care of him. If you want, you can all go." He was with him and with Sri Bhagavan's grace he survived the plague attack and lived up to 1946.
Ramanatha Brahmachari was also a pet son of Mother Azhagmma. Once Sri Bhagavan said: I am afraid of only two people if they come to me to ask something, which I cannot refuse. One is Echmma and the other is Ramanatha.
Once there was big fight between Ramanatha Brahmachari and Chinnaswami. The latter wanted the former to stop spinning on the charka since he had already a high myopic eyes and spinning would cause for the loss in eyesight. But Ramanatha Brahmachari would not stop spinning. Chinnaswami got very angry and was about to lift him up and roll him down the steps. Chinnaswami thundered: "Do you know who am I?" Ramanatha Brahamchari replied: "If you and I know that, we will not be [fighting] like this!"
Ramanatha was a Veda patasala student, very poor, puny figure with myopic eyes. He will do any work for others. He was doing a lot of service to devotees in Palakottu. He was called the Sarvadhikari of Palakottu, which title, Sri Bhagavan relished!
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
[T.R. Kanakammal, from MP July-Sept.
2008]
From all the corners of the world
countless devotees come to Arunachala seeking wisdom. The web
of Sri Bhagavan's grace, which abides in the form of the timeless Hill, beckons all who are open to its influence.
Among the many that come are mature souls whose faces are aglow, with the benefit of tapas, while there are others who seem ordinary, but who have discovered the pearl of great wisdom, and heed the call of Arunachala. Their dedication is characterized by unshakable rock like faith in the Sadguru and forbearance in the face of vicissitudes of fortune, and above all, a mind at peace.
Mahalaskhmi Amma belonged this group of seekers. She was the wife of Gangaraju Mallikarjuna Rao, from the Vijayawada region of Andhra Pradesh. They were Telugu Brahmins. He had lost his mother at the age of three and suffered cruel treatment from stepmother. Disillusioned with life, he grew up and set up a workshop and lived independently and also prospered. At this point, he chanced to see the photograph of Sri Bhagavan and instantly was captivated. Sri Bhagavan became his Sadguru.
For Mahalakshmi, his wife, it was her mother who was, in a sense her guru. She lived a life of ideal and chaste woman mentioned in puranic lore. She was not sent to school, and spent a lot of time with her mother. Her first darshan of Sri Bhagavan in 1933, was a deeply rewarding experience for her.
Both became ardent devotees of Sri Bhagavan and visited the Asramam frequently, never missing the Mahapuja and Jayanti celebrations. Sri Bhagavan was, for them, their family deity. In the prayer room at home was a portrait of Sri Bhagavan, where they performed puja together daily and recited Sri Bhagavan's works.
Since the Asramam in those days was very small and ladies were not allowed to stay beyond 6 p.m., they stayed near the newly developing Ramana Nagar, whenever they came, and where Alamelu Athai and Picchu Iyer had moved as permanent residents.
contd.,
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
continues...
During one such visit, the festival of Sri Rama Navami occurred. It is customary to celebrate that day with puja to Sri Rama, with offerings of panakam [mixture of jaggery with water seasoned with ginger, cardamom, and lemon] and neer mor [buttermilk with salt] and vadai paruppu, [soaked green gram salted and seasoned with grated coconut, ginger, mango and cucumber]. Having acquired the ingredients, for the offering, Mahalakshmi, getting up very early on the special day, prepared them on a large scale, performed her puja to to pictures of Sri Rama and Sri Bhagavan at the house where she was staying and then carried the offerings to the Asramam. As she
was not conscious of the time, on reaching the Asramam, she found to her dismay that she was too early and the attendant wondered why she had come much before 4 a.m. As she was sure that if she went back her children would not let her come again. She requested the attendant to please let her stay in the ladies guest room till 4 a.m. Sri Bhagavan who suddenly happened to pass by just then, affirmed this by saying, "yes, yes, stay there," thereby relieving her anxiety.
At 4 a.m. she went into the presence of Sri Bhagavan and placing her buckets of offerings before Him, prostrated. Sri Bhagavan looked at her with compassion and exclaimed, "Look! Lord Ramachandra has come to the Asramam so early! Come on! Distribute the prasad to everyone." After Sri Bhagavan par took of it, the prasad was given to everybody.
It was probably to bring to light the extraordinary purity of their devotion and loving faith, that Sri Bhagavan appeared one night in Mahalakshmi's dreams and asked: "Will you not make me some mysore pak?" The very next morning, the euphoric Mahalakshmi prepared this sweet with ardent devotion, offered it to Sri Bhagavan's picture, and distributed the prasad to everyone around her. But she was not content with just this. She felt that it would be far more appropriate if she made the offering directly to Sri Bhagavan Himself. Sri Bhagavan after all was the embodiment of chaitanya like Arunachala Himself and though achala, He was freely available and moved about in a human form.
contd.,
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
continues...
Shortly afterwards, she and her husband arrived at the Asramam, with all the necessary ingredients for mysore pak. They arranged for a bhiksha [feast] for Sri Bhagavan and the Asramam inmates. Mahalakshmi got permission from the management and set about preparing mysorepak on a large scale in the Asramam kitchen. Some objected to this, saying, "Don't you know that sweets don't agree with Sri Bhagavan? He doesn't eat them anyway." She quickly rejoined: "Let us see! Won't He even eat a small piece? Anyway others can enjoy it." She did not divulge her dream to anyone. During lunch, she herself served everybody, including Sri Bhagavan with one piece of the sweet, along with everything else. Sri Bhagavan ate it and exclaimed, "It is delicious! Will another piece be available for everyone?"
While the inmates of the Asramam looked puzzled, Mahalakshmi, who was in seventh heaven, replied: "Why not Sri Bhagavan! It is available in plenty - dhandika undi." She then served Sri Bhagavan and everybody else, with an extra piece. It was only afterwards, that she disclosed her dream to other devotees, who were struck with amazement.
Sri Bhagavan, who never accepts second helping, alone, could discern the taste of pure devotion, like this incident.
Mallikarjuna Rao was in transport business and owned a fleet of buses. Though he and Mahalakshmi lived in a palatial house, with all comforts, they were simple souls, however, unaffected by this opulence. Mallikarjuna was bereft of false pride, and at peace, with himself. Both he and his wife lived virtuous lives and were of generous and charitable dispositions.
Theirs was a prolific family. Mahalakshmi always had a small baby to nurse. At that time, coming from Vijayawada, changing two trains, and coming with numerous children, was a tough task but Mallikarjuna never grew tired bringing the large family for the sake of benign glance of grace of Sri Bhagavan.
The couple had five daughters and
fou9r sons. Unfortunately all the sons died young. The grief of losing so many children in succession at so tender an age, made them miserable and it was difficult for them to come to terms with this great tragedy.
Then the fifth son was born to them.
contd.,
Subramanian, "Once Sri Bhagavan said: I am afraid of only two people if they come to me to ask something, which I cannot refuse. One is Echmma and the other is Ramanatha."
Please check as I think you'll find it was Ramanathan and not Echmma but Mudaliar Patti.
Ravi and S., Hey Jude & Glow, nicely written on Ganapati Muni. Indeed, Ganapati Muni was such a towering personality of tapas, austerity and purity that few could even stand without quaking in his presence. He was an ascetic in the Vedic mould, a powerful personality, a true Viswamitra or Vasista or Vyaasa.
Sadly, a lot of people these days make it all a sort of Sri Ganapati Muni v/s Sri Muruganar affair. We take sides and then try to say how one was greater than the other. Personally, I think that both were equally great in their different ways. For me, I would be incredibly happy to have the blessings of even any one of them; and if I could have the blessings of both, I would be truly blessed indeed.
--------------------------
Here is more on what Sri Bhagavan said on the writing of the Ramana Gita:
(From “Day by Day” 23.5.46)
“In the course of the day, G.V. Subbaramayya asked Bhagavan how Ganapati Sastri wrote his Ramana Gita, whether he took notes on the conversations and then wrote them out. Bhagavan replied, “Remembering such talks was child’s play to him. He could listen to a long and learned lecture on some intricate subject and then at the end reproduce the gist of it accurately in the form of sutras, not omitting anything of importance that had been said. Once he and Arunachala Sastri, who was also a learned man, had a discussion. Ganapati Sastri took up the position of drishti srishti, that we create and then see, that is to say that the world has no objective reality apart from our minds, while Arunachala Sastri took up the opposite view of srishti drishti, that creation exists objectively before we see it. Arunachala Sastri argued first and upheld his standpoint with a great display of logic and learning and many quotations. Then Ganapati Sastri wrote down in the form of sutras all that he had maintained and asked him whether the sutras gave a faithful summary of everything he had said. He agreed that they did, so Ganapati Sastri said: “Then now you will have my criticism and condemnation of it”. He then expounded very ably the advaitic point of view, that the world is an illusion as world but real as Brahman, that it does not exist as world but exists and is real as Brahman. In the same way he could record any discussion he heard; so remarkable was his power of memory, that he must have reproduced the Ramana Gita in that way. It would have been mere child’s play for him.”
Best wishes
R.Subramanian/Friends,
Brother Lawrence lived in the seventeenth century in France(1614-1691).I came across his teachings when I visited a CLS bookshop a long while ago,in that wonderful small book-'The practice of the Presence of God'.His teachings are a pure blend of Bhakti and Jnana:
To practice the presence of God in the Brother Lawrence tradition we walk before God simply, in faith, with humility, and with love. We engage in a continual, silent, and affectionate conversation with Our Father.This is exactly what Sri Ramakrishna advocated and practised.
Here are some wonderful excerpts from this wonderful Brother:
1.My most usual method is this simple attention, an affectionate regard for God to whom I find myself often attached with greater sweetness and delight than that of an infant at the mother's breast. To choose an expression, I would call this state the bosom of God for the inexpressible sweetness which I taste and experience there. If, at any time, my thoughts wander from this state from necessity or infirmity, I am presently recalled by inward emotions so charming and delicious that I cannot find words to describe them.
2.As for my set hours of prayer, they are simply a continuation of the same exercise. Sometimes I consider myself as a stone before a carver, whereof He is to make a statue. Presenting myself thus before God, I desire Him to make His perfect image in my soul and render me entirely like Himself.
At other times, when I apply myself to prayer, I feel all my spirit lifted up without any care or effort on my part. This continues as if my soul was suspended yet firmly fixed in God like a center or place of rest.
I know that some charge this state with inactivity, delusion, and self-love. I confess that it is a holy inactivity. And it would be a happy self-love if the soul, in that state, were capable of it. But while the soul is in this repose, she cannot be disturbed by the kinds of things to which she was formerly accustomed. The things that the soul used to depend on would now hinder rather than assist her.
Yet, I cannot see how this could be called delusion, because the soul which enjoys God in this way wants nothing but Him. If this is delusion, then only God can remedy it. Let Him do what He pleases with me. I desire only Him and to be wholly devoted to Him.
-----------------------------------
For those who may wonder whether our beloved Brother is a Jnani,the above passage is exactly the same as 'Summa Iru' or 'Pani leni vAdu' of Sri Bhagavan or like what Sri Ramakrishna said about himself,that he has scored maximium points and is out of the game of Nax.
Those interested in reading the wonderful 'Practice of the Presence of God' may visit:
http://www.practicegodspresence.com/index.html
You may also like to explore the Reflections on the 'Practice of the Presence of God'on this site.
Namaskar.
Dear hey jude,
Thanks, I shall check up tonight.
Dear Ravi,
Thanks. I think, but here again I am not sure, Lawrence of Arabia was a practicing Moslem. Incidentally who has written Three Pillars of Wisdom?
R.Subramanaian,
I do not know much about 'Lawrence of Arabia',except that it came a Hit film(I rarely watch motion pictures).The Brother Lawrence that I refer to is different,and he did not write any book.He wrote letters to other seekers,and these along with his conversations were issued as 'The Practice of the Presence of God'-These teachings have a universal appeal.
Namaskar.
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
continues...
Mallikarjuna Rao and Mahalakshmi Amma determined to have the Anna prasana [introducing a child to annam or cooked rice for the first time, usually the parents give it with milk and sugar] of the child, performed by Sri Bhagavan Himself. They brought the child to the Asramam in his sixth month. When they expressed their desire, Sri Bhagavan agreed saying, "Good." They arranged for a bhiksha and requested Chinnaswami to provide Pal Payasam [sweet dish with rice boiled in milk and sugar] as an item of bhiksha.
On that day, Chinnaswami filled a small silver bowl, given by Mahalakshmi Amma with pal payasam and placed it before Sri Bhagavan when He sat down for lunch. Mallikarjuna Rao, holding the child sat in front of Sri Bhagavan who tasted a morsel and then fed the child with payasam three times. The child was indeed blessed. But, after reaching home, this child too unfortunately died.
Wondering whether they were destined to have any male progeny at all, the couple consulted various astrologers who prescribed various rituals. Sometime in 1947-48, a sixth male child was born to them. Mallikarjuna Rao decided to bring him up only beggar food and dress him in begged clothes. It grew to be a healthy child. To ensure the survival of this son at least, they once again decided to perform anna prasanam in the holy presence of Sri Bhagavan.
They arrived at the Asramam, with their family a week in advance of the auspicious day. They quietly stood and waited in front of the ladies guest house for Sri Bhagavan's return from the post office. They prostrated and Mallikarjuna holding the child told Sri Bhagavan the reason for their visit. Sri Bhagavan playfully snapped His thumb and middle finger to attract the attention of the child. The child, learning towards Him and looking at Him fixedly, finally caught hold of Sri Bhagavan's hand and started to suck His thumb. Sri Bhagavan was amused and said to the child, "Won't you go?" Mallikarjauna forcibly drew back the child, not wanting to make Sri Bhagavan stand for too long a time. Sri Bhagavan agreed to their request. A bhiksha was arranged for the auspicious day.
When there were just two days sto go before the function, the child suddenly became ill, with high fever. Dr. M.R. Krishnamurty, a devotee of Sri Bhagavan who was then at the Asramam, treated the child but fever did not subside.
contd.,
All/Ravi,
"But while the soul is in this repose, she cannot be disturbed by the kinds of things to which she was formerly accustomed. The things that the soul used to depend on would now hinder rather than assist her."
Interesting use of 'she' & 'her' for the soul. Madhura Bhava?
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
continues...
As there was no sign of the fever abating, Mahalakshmi's heart became numb with fear. She was convinced that if Sri Bhagavan were to touch the child and apply Vibhuti to its forehead, the child would survive. It was common knowledge that Sri Bhagavan, at set times, went to gosala. She carried the child in her arms and with some vibhuti, waited for Sri Bhagavan to pass by. When Sri Bhagavan did come, she prayed to Him that He touch the child and apply vibhuti. Sri Bhagavan remained silent. She repeatedly begged and beseeched Him and Sri Bhagavan, just to satisfy her, applied Vibhuti and went on His way.
Next day, the child died. Mallikarjuna who had gone in between to Madras, returned the next day. Sri Bhagavan with great compassion and solicitude, sent someone to the station to fetch him with instructions to break the sad news only on approaching the Asramam. When he did hear the news, he threw down on the road all the playthings he had brought for the child and wept broken hearted.
When this was reported to Sri Bhagavan, He narrated the happening of the previous day, how Mahalakshmi had insisted on His touching the child to apply vibhuti. Sri Bhagavan said, "Wondering why I was just kept quiet in spite of her insistence, she begged even harder and so I applied the vibhuti. The next day the child died. Nayana sued to tell devotees, "Do not allow the children to be touched by Sri Bhagavan. If you do, he will liberate them are at once!"
But a slender hope lurked in Mahalakshmi who had boundless faith in and devotion to Sri Bhagavan. She hoped that the child might be, with Sri Bhagavan's grace, come back to life. Those were the days when orthodoxy reigned supreme, and lifeless body cannot be held for long without burial or cremation. However her maternal heart yearned for His grace. A little distance away from the path to gosala was a huge haystack/ With great terpidation and hesitation, she brought the life less child and laid it on the ground by the haystack and waited for Sri Bhagavan to pass by, with abundant hope. Varanasi Subbalakshmi Ammal was with her giving moral support.
When Sri Bhagavan did come, Mahalakshmi was hesitatnt to come near and prostrated from where she was. Sri Bhagavan stopped, and He, the very embodiment of compassion, rested His eyes on the child with a long look of grace. He stood in silence for sometime, and then proceeded His way. The desolate mother took in the situation and stood speechless. She resigned herself to her prarabdha from which she had realized that there was no escape. The next day, they bathed the child and adorned it with garlands from the Matrubhuteswara Temple, and later that morning, they buried the child.
continued...
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
continues...
They then packed for the trip home.
Their train was leaving at 9 p.m. and at 2 p.m. they came into the presence of Sri Bhagavan in the Jubilee Hall in order to take leave of Him and avoid the crowd which would gather around Vedaparayanam in the evening. As if to do away with the grief, the divine will prompted a devotee to pose certain questions to Sri Bhagavan, the answers to which brought soothing comfort to the sorrow stricken parent and lifted them from their despondency. Sri Bhagavan's responses gave them courage and made them feel consoled at the thought that, as the child had given up his body in the holy abode of Sri Bhagavan, His short prarabdha spent, he must have attained a high state of being in his previous evolution.
This is the dialogue:
The devotee asked: "Swami, It is said that the body can be kept alive for a long time, by the practice of pranayama and that the jnani can accomplish this. Is it true and is it good to do so?"
Sri Bhagavan remained silent for sometime and then solemnly said: "Yes! If they do so, they will live long. But can one become a Jnani by just living long? Adi Sankara lived for just 32 years.
Manikkavachagar attained liberation at 32 years. Sujndarmurti lived for just 18 years. And Jnana Sambandha for just 16. Are they not Jnanis?
"A Jnani who is ever in bliss, has no attachment to the body and to him, the body is just a disease. He only awaits the release from the body. Preserving the body is the practice of siddhas. When I was living up on the Hill, there were many who professed to follow the ways of the siddhas. If somebody went to see them, these men would enquire, "Where are you from? What is the name of your grandfather? Your great grand father?" Then they wold say, "When your great grand father was a small child, I came here to the Hill. People listening to them, would be astonished at their longevity and health. Then they would prostrate to them, thinking that they must be great mahatmas, make their offerings and go away. But all this was only to hoodwink the world. Can they be called jnanis?"
Sri Bhagavan then quoted some
Yoga Vasishta stories. He also said about the story of Romasa Maharshi, who lived so long, that a hair would fall from his body, once when a Bramha dies. Ashtavakra then told Bramha, "When one Romasa muni dies, one twist of my body will straighten. Sri Bhagavan concluded: When the right jnana is gained, who want this body?
contd.,
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
continues...
The disconsolate couple who were listening to all these stories, exclaimed that their despondency had lifted. "Look, how we have been granted the grace of our guru. By deliberately narrating these stories, He has made our grief laden hearts light once more." The gloom caused by the loss of their son, faded away when they returned home. Early next morning, when Sri Bhagavan enquired where the child had been buried, He was told, "Somewhere outside." Sri Bhagavan remarked:
"The child could have been buried here, but if that had been done, this place would become a general burial ground." When I [Kanakamnmal] narrated this comment of Sri Bhagavan, to Mahalaskhmi, during her next visit, she felt tremendously comforted and said: "This child's spiritual future has been assured."
Thereafter, Mahalaskhmi Amma's major occupation in the house was telling the beads of a rosary. Even while during the day's household work, like cutting vegetables, she would be mentally saying: "Sri Bhagavan, I am making such and such curry today, as per your command." Thus, with her mind focused on Sri Bhagavan, she created an atmosphere permeated with the presence of Sri Bhagavan and reveled in it whatever she was.
She became somewhat silent in later life. She used to eat inside the kitchen with the permission of the Asramam management. She started bringing three bowls with her and received a small quantity of side dishes and rice on a leaf plate and she would never accept second helping.
The entire family came for Maha Kumbhabishekam of the Matrubhuteswara Temple. The girl children especially the older ones, who had for sometime not had the opportunity to sit with Sri Bhagavan during lunch, longed to sit beside Him. The day of their return was fast approaching. One day, Mahalakshmi managed to find places for everyone except for herself and the eldest daughter, who appeared very disappointed. Both stood at the threshold to the dining hall where they feasted their eyes on Sri Bhagavan. When lunch was served, Sri Bhagavan usually looked to His left and right and then signalled its start by nodding His head. On that day, He looked at left and right and then told someone to lay two more leaves. He waited until they had been served and only then nodded, signaling start of the lunch. They ate happily and then waited for Sri Bhagavan finished His food.
When they heard of the impending operation on Sri Bhagavan for the cancerous growth, they immediately rushed to the Asramam and patiently waited for the next morning and Mahalakshmi sat at the entrance of Mother's Temple in front of the closed door behind which, Sri Bhagavan was resting. As she was telling her beads, suddenly the doors opened and Sri Bhagavan emerged. Looking at her, Sri Bhagavan said: Um...Um., thus acknowledging her presence and walked to the now Maha Nirvaana Room. That very afernoon, darshan recommenced and they returned home after jointly seeing Sri Bhagavan.
contd.
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
continues....
Later, when Sri Bhagavan's health had deteriorated very badly, they were unable to stay away and returned again to the Asramam, which was swarming with people. Mahalakshmi Amma had brought with her a new towel, some raisins and sugar cubes. She stood opposite the Mother's Temple and looked towards Nirvana Room. Her one longing to was to preserve these items, as relics, after wiping the feet of Sri Bhagavan with the towel, and after a simple glance at the raisins and sugar cubes by Him. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Sri Bhagavan the living embodiment of compassion, sent a Telugu speaking gentleman to find out what she wanted. When she disclosed, her desire, the gentleman taking the articles with him, informed Sri Bhagavan of her desire. Then, Sri Bhagavan, the ocean of grace, stretched His feet so that he could wipe both His feet with the towel. Sri Bhagavan, who could now eat practically nothing, ate a few of raisins. When all the three items were returned to her, Mahalakshmi was overwhelmed by great joy and profound grief at the same time. She preserved these items till her end of life.
Misfortunes befell, starting with the Mahasamadhi of Sri Bhagavan. Mallikarujuna passed away. In the absence of a competent person to conduct the family business, it soon fell into decline. With only two daughters married, the entire responsibility of marrying off the other two daughters had to be borne by her, though she was assisted by her elder son in law. With all these, her inner poise remained untouched. At last, when all responsibilities had been discharged by the grace of Sri Bhagavan, she resumed her visits to the Asramam.
Though her husband had bought a huge plot of land, in Tiruvannamlai, on which to build a house, for various reasons, this did not materialize. So she settled for a rented room. Now she further tightened her self imposed discipline by cooking herself, a simple meal for day and night. It was a spartan life, given to wholly for devotional practices and meditation. Unattached, independent, highly compassionate, and beaming with joy, her life reflected her inner peace.
contd.,
REMEMBERING MAHALAKSHMI AMMA:
continues....
Once she arrived at the Asramam after a long break. She had adopted an attire of a widow, with white saris and shaven head. She told Kanakammal, that she had done so, to have darshan of Kanchi Paramacharya and Sringeri Archarya, when both were touring Andhra Pradesh.
Both the swamijis had assured her that she would have permanent peace throughout her life like still water.
When she had become further older, she could not come to the Asramam, as before. It was through one of her daughters who came occasionally, that Kanakammal got the news of her passing away., Because her heart was firmly anchored at Sri Bhagavan's feet, she emerged victorious from all struggles with her inner calm unruffled.
Thus ended the inspiring life of a pure and holy devotee. With solely having weapons of pure devotion, and the grace of Sri Bhagavan, the kingdom of peace was her gain.
It is said in Srimad Bhagavatam:
He on whom I am going to bestow My Grace, I solemnly deprive him of all his wealth. When his wealth has gone all his friends, his kith and kin will desert him. Making him sink into the utmost sorrow and despair, thanks to My Will, he becomes filled with dispassion and become associated with My devotees.
On such a one I bestow My Grace fully."
concluded.
*
Bradley, a commentator on Shakespeare's tragedies, once said:
The King Lear is the most painful tragedy, so painful, that I am not able to read it again for the second time. I am reading this story of Mahalakshmi Amma for the second time for sharing it in the blog. Every sentence, brought me tears, realizing her steadfast devotion to her guru, and with which she stood against all calamities of life and emerged in higher esteem and greatness than even ordinary ascetics and renunciates.
She and her husband were gems of devotees, the like of which one can see only rarely.
Sri Ramanarpanamastu.
Ramprax/Friends,
"Interesting use of 'she' & 'her' for the soul. Madhura Bhava?"
Sri Ramakrishna says:"Bhakti may be likened to a woman who has access to the inner court of a
house. Jnana can go only as far as the outer rooms."
Indeed our Brother Lawrence's Love is parAbhakti.
Namaskar.
R.Subramanian,
The Bhakti of Mahalakshmi amma is exemplary.The simple unsophisticated bhakti of these simple women devotees leaves us speechless.
Thanks very much.
Namaskar.
Ravi,
The 'songs from the kathamrita' cd set was not in stock at the local Sri Ramakrishna center. They did say that they would procure it by end of April.
Till then,
Another song!:
Cry to your mother Syama with a real cry, o mind!
and how can she hold herself from you?
How can syama stay away?
...
Best wishes,
murali
murali,
"Cry to your mother Syama with a real cry, o mind!
and how can she hold herself from you?
How can syama stay away?"
Wonderful song indeed!Friend,I am very happy that you are soaking in the nectar of the kathamrita.
As Thakur says so beautifully:
"Your philosophy is mere speculation. It only reasons. God cannot be realized that way.
"God cannot remain unmoved if you have raga-bhakti, that is, love of God with passionate
attachment to Him. Do you know how fond God is of His devotees' love? It is like the
cow's fondness for fodder mixed with oil-cake. The cow gobbles it down greedily.
"Raga-bhakti is pure love of God, a love that seeks God alone and not any worldly end.
Prahlada had it. Suppose you go to a wealthy man every day, but you seek no favour of
him; you simply love to see him. If he wants to show you favour, you say: 'No, sir. I don't
need anything. I came just to see you.' Such is love of God for its own sake. You simply
love God and don't want anything from Him, in return."
Saying this, the Master sang:
Though I am never loath to grant salvation,
I hesitate indeed to grant pure love.
Whoever wins pure love surpasses all;
He is adored by men;
He triumphs over the three worlds. . . .
He continued, "The gist of the whole thing is that one must develop passionate yearning for
God and practise discrimination and renunciation."
Today,we had been to the R K Mutt in Chennai.It is the 100th centenary of the visit of our Holy Mother Sri sarada devi to this mutt.After the wonderful Arati to Thakur,we were regaled to songs on The Holy Mother by the Monks and Brahmacharis.Sweet pongal as prasad was distributed.
One of the best biographies on our Holy Mother is in Tamil by the Great devotee,Sri rA Ganapathi-called 'Amma'.In this wonderful biography,Sri Ganapthy fondly observes the role played by our Holy Mother in the development of Great ones like Swamis Vivekananda,Brahmananda,Premananda,et all-He gives more weightage to their eating the 'Rotis' prepared by our Holy Mother than to Sri Ramakrishna's Teachings and influence!
Namaskar.
murali,
"The 'songs from the kathamrita' cd set was not in stock at the local Sri Ramakrishna center. They did say that they would procure it by end of April."
End of April!Why so late?Please mail me your address to my id:niveditahr@rediffmail.com.I will courier the set.
Namaskar.
Friends,
Wish to share the story of another great woman Devotee,Gopaler Ma, about whom Swami Vivekananda said to his western devotees:"'Ah! This is the old India that you have seen, the India of prayers and tears, of vigils and fasts, that is passing away'.
Unsurpassed among the woman devotees of the Master in the richness of her devotion and
spiritual experiences was Aghoremani Devi, an orthodox brahmin woman. Widowed at an
early age, she had dedicated herself completely to spiritual pursuits. Gopala, the Baby
Krishna, was her Ideal Deity, whom she worshipped following the vatsalya attitude of the
Vaishnava religion, regarding Him as her own child. Through Him she satisfied her
unassuaged maternal love, cooking for Him, feeding Him, bathing Him, and putting Him to
bed. This sweet intimacy with Gopala won her the sobriquet of Gopal Ma, or Gopala's
Mother. For forty years she had lived on the bank of the Ganges in a small bare room, her
only companions being a threadbare copy of the Ramayana and a bag containing her rosary.
At the age of sixty, in 1884, she visited Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. During the
second visit, as soon as the Master saw her, he said: "Oh, you have come! Give me
something to eat." With great hesitation she gave him some ordinary sweets that she had
purchased for him on the way. The Master ate them with relish and asked her to bring him
simple curries or sweets prepared by her own hands. Gopal Ma thought him a queer kind of
monk, for, instead of talking of God, he always asked for food. She did not want to visit
him again, but an irresistible attraction brought her back to the temple garden. She carried
with her some simple curries that she had cooked herself.
One early morning at three o'clock, about a year later, Gopal Ma was about to finish her
daily devotions, when she was startled to find Sri Ramakrishna sitting on her left, with his
right hand clenched, like the hand of the image of Gopala. She was amazed and caught hold
of the hand, whereupon the figure vanished and in its place appeared the real Gopala, her
Ideal Deity. She cried aloud with joy. Gopala begged her for butter. She pleaded her
poverty and gave Him some dry coconut candies. Gopala sat on her lap, snatched away her
rosary, jumped on her shoulders, and moved all about the room. As soon as the day broke
she hastened to Dakshineswar like an insane woman. Of course Gopala accompanied her,
resting His head on her shoulder. She clearly saw His tiny ruddy feet hanging over her
breast. She entered Sri Ramakrishna's room. The Master had fallen into samadhi. Like a
child, he sat on her lap, and she began to feed him with butter, cream, and other delicacies.
After some time he regained consciousness and returned to his bed. But the mind of
Gopala's Mother was still roaming in another plane. She was steeped in bliss. She saw
Gopala frequently entering the Master's body and again coming out of it. When she
returned to her hut, still in a dazed condition, Gopala accompanied her.
Continued....
Friends,
The Story of Gopaler ma continued...
She spent about two months in uninterrupted communion with God, the Baby Gopala never
leaving her for a moment. Then the intensity of her vision was lessened; had it not been, her
body would have perished. The Master spoke highly of her exalted spiritual condition and
said that such vision of God was a rare thing for ordinary mortals. The fun-loving Master
one day confronted the critical Narendranath with this simple-minded woman. No two
could have presented a more striking contrast. The Master knew of Narendra's lofty
contempt for all visions, and he asked the old lady to narrate her experiences to Narendra.
With great hesitation she told him her story. Now and then she interrupted her maternal
chatter to ask Narendra: "My son, I am a poor ignorant woman. I don't understand anything.
You are so learned. Now tell me if these visions of Gopala are true." As Narendra listened
to the story he was profoundly moved. He said, "Yes, mother, they are quite true." Behind
his cynicism Narendra, too, possessed a heart full of love and tenderness.
-----------------------------------
Those interested may read a beautiful article on Gopaler Ma here:http://www.theylivedwithgod.info/gopalerma.htm
The photograph of The Holy Mother and Sister Nivedita nursing Gopaler ma is absolutely wonderful.
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
"Bhakti is like a woman who can have access to the inner courts of a palace. The Jnana can go only up to the outer rooms." I am not able to understand this. Please elaborate.
Dear m and Ravi,
Nice posts on Kathamritha songs and Gopaler Ma. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: Janaka was taking milk from both the cups. i.e. Karma and Jnana.
Saint Manikkavachagar was also reveling in both bhakti and jnana.
He says in Verse 5 of Ananda Maalai, Tiruvachakam:
Thayai mulaiyai tharuvone,
Thaarathu ozhinthal savalaiyai,
Nayen kazhinthu poveno...
You are like mother giving your breasts, knowing when I should take milk. If you do not give,
will I not be ruined like a savalai baby, this lowly dog.
Savalai baby is one for which a sibling is born say within 15 months, and this baby is denied breast milk, since the younger one has to be fed. The saint says he has become one like savalai baby, and is ruined without mother's milk.
Devotee: Is it not our duty to be
patriots?
Sri Bhagavan: It is your duty to BE
and not to be this or that. "I am that I am" sums up the whole of the Truth. The method is summarized in
"Be still."
In general, Sri Bhagavan discouraged political activity among those dedicated in the quest. However, when people who were engaged in political life approached Him, He would simply advise them to carry on in a spirit of service and surrender, seeking to eliminate all egoism from their work.
[THE TEACHINGS OF RAMANA MAHARSHI IN HIS OWN WORDS - ARTHUR OSBORNE.]
A Gujarati gentleman said that he was concentrating on the sound [nada]
and desired to know if the method was right.
Sri Bhagavan: Meditation on nada is one of the various approved methods. Its adherents claim a very special virtue for it. According to them, it is the easiest and the most direct method. Just as a child is lulled to sleep by the lullabies, so nada soothes one to the state of samadhi. Again, just as a king sends his state musicians to welcome his son on his return from a long journey, so also nada take the devotee into the Lord's abode in a pleasing manner. Nada helps concentration, but after it begins to be felt, the practice should not be made an end in itself. Nada is not the objective; the subject should be firmly held. Otherwise a blank will result. Though the subject is there even in the blank, one must remember his own Self. Nada Upasana [meditation on the sound] is good; it is better if associated with Self Inquiry.
[THE TEACHINGS OF RAMANA MAHARSHI IN HIS OWN WORDS - ARTHUR OSBORNE.]
*
Saint Manikkavachagar says about this Nada in two verses of Tirupadai Atchi - The Rule of the Holy Army, [Tiruvachakam], after his jiva upadhi has been severed.
Veenai muranRezhum osaiyail inbam mikuthidum aahaathe... [Verse 6]
I shall not hence forth be attain any special bliss in the sound of Veena.
Sanku thiraNdu muranrezhum osai thazhaippana aahaathe...[Verse 8]
I shall not flourish henceforth in the sweet music of conch-shell....
R.Subramanian,
"Bhakti is like a woman who can have access to the inner courts of a palace. The Jnana can go only up to the outer rooms."
This is a very profound statement.
For our simple understanding,it is enough to understand that Bhakti dissolves the Ego and takes one to the source,the Heart,The inner chamber;Thought,however subtle cannot reach to this inner chamber.
The Way of Bhakti is the Way of Love and intrinsically it is devoid of words-that is why it is said that lovers whisper sweet Nothings.
The way of Jnana is through thought even if it aims at eliminating thought and going past it.
Eventually,the two paths merge and leads to the Goal-God or Self.
Namaskar.
Concentration on the point between the eyebrows is a yogic practice. Sri Bhagavan recognized its efficacy, especially when combined with incantation, but recommended concentration on the Heart on the right side as being both safer and more effective.
A Maharashtrian lady of middle age, who had studied Jnaneswari and Vichara Sagara, and was practicing concentration between the eyebrows, had felt shivering and fear and did not progress. She required guidance.
The Maharshi told her not to forget the Seer. The sight is fixed between the eyebrows, but the Seer is not kept in view. If the Seer be always remembered it will be all right.
[THE TEACHINGS OF RAMANA MAHARSHI IN HIS OWN WORDS - ARTHUR OBSORNE.]
*
Saint Tirumoolar speaks about this in slight variance as suzhumunai nattam, concentration on Sushumna nadi, in Tirumandiram.
*
Devotee: Is not a vow of silence helpful?
Sri Bhagavan: A vow is only a vow.
It may help meditation to some extent. But what is the use of keeping the mouth shut and letting the mind run riot? If the mind is engaged in meditation, what need is there for speech? Nothing is as good as meditation. What is the use of a vow of silence, if one is engrossed in activity?
On the whole, the Maharshi did not approve of vows of silence. If the mind is controlled, useless speech will be avoided; but abjuring speech will not quieten the mind. The effect cannot produce the cause.
[THE TEACHINGS OF RAMANA MAHARSHI IN HIS OWN WORDS - ARTHUR OSBORNE.]
Dear Ravi,
Thank you. Sri Bhagavan has also told that bhakti is mother of jnana.
Saint Manikkavachagar says in Tiru
Anda Pahuthi [Tiruvachakam], lines
38 to 42:-
Biraman maal kaaNa periyon kaaNga,
ARputhan kaaNga; anehan kaaNga,
SoRpatham kadnatha thollon kaaNga,
Chittamum sella setchian kaaNga,
Bhakti valaiyil paduvon kaaNga..
He, the Great, is not yet fathomed
by Bramha and Maal [Vishnu],
He is a wonder, he is many,
He is beyond the words,
He is far far away, and cannot be fathomed by mind,
[but] he is caught in the net of bhakti.
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