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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 801 – 993 of 993SRI RAMANA STAVAM:
Sundarananda Swami - continues...
7. Who else but me can have the hard and impassable illusion destroyed, as it is washed away by the inspiring words of wisdom pronounced unequivocally by the great Sage, Ramana, of Arunachala? O Self Supreme, enshrining at once in my heart Your holy feet, the source of Supreme Bliss, and with a well-disciplined mind, I, Sundara, have been transformed into Your Being.
8. To him who is eager to be free from migrating after death to the regions of the Sun, the Moon, Brahma etc., may there arise Knowledge of the Self in the heart-cavity, by the Grace of Sri Ramana of shining Arunagiri, and unbroken fixity in the Self?
9. Those who by body, mind and possessions serve Sri Ramana, the Sage of Sonagiri, are, notwithstanding there ignorance of scriptures liberated from the great fear of transmigration. What doubt can there be for liberation from the misery of transmigration for others who can steadily meditate upon the most excellent scion of Vasihisthatha's* line Raman, ever fixed in Brahman?
[*?]
10. Question: O Bhikshu, wherefrom you are coming?
Answer: From the slopes of Arunagiri.
Q: What special attraction is there?
Ans: There lives Ramana, a Sage, very kind, who bestows on the deserving prosperity in this life and liberation after death.
Q: How did He become so?
Ans: Only by Supreme Knowledge gained through great tapas. Till now ignorant, I too shall directly go there to see so great a Sage.
Those who everyday in the morning and evening read this excellent stotra of ten verses composed by Sundara, will be made free from sins, will gain Self Knowledge, will live here absolutely happy and after death, by the Grace of Ramana of Arunachala, they will shines forth perfect.
Concluded.
Liberation is the Destruction of the Mind: John Grimes:
Mountain Path - Jan. - Mar. 2009:
Liberation [moksha], according to Adi Sankara, has been defined in a number of ways. "Liberation is the attainment of the Absolute [brahma-
praptih]; liberation is the attainment of the already attained, [praptasya praptih]; liberation is remaining as Absolute, [brahma sthiti]; liberation is nothing but the Absolute Itself [brahmaiva hi muktyavastha]; liberation is remaining as one's own Self [svrupa sthiti]; liberation is the destruction of ignorance/ the mind [avidya nasa/mano nasa]. The object of this article concerns this last definition, namely, 'why is the destruction of the mind equated with liberation, why is the destruction of the mind necessary, and if it is, then how does a Sage perceive the myriad objects of this world?'
There is a saying, "Never mind, no matter. No mind, never matter.' Or, as Sri Ramana Maharshi put it, "Nothing exists except the one reality. There is no birth or death, no projection or drawing in, no seeker, no bondage, no liberation. The One Unity alone exists." [Day by Day - 15th March 1946.].
According to Sri Ramana, the highest and supreme truth that words can convey is the 'the theory of non origination' - ajata vada, as originally expounded by Gaudapada. {Mandukya Karika]. However, acknowledging that even this perspective is but an approximation to the Truth, a concession to words and concepts, Gaudapada said: "Ajati is meaningful only so long as jati [birth] carries meaning. The absolute truth is that no word can designate or describe the Self. [Karika iv.74].
It is a Sage's experience that nothing has ever happened because the Self alone exists as the sole unchanging Reality. However, from the absolute perspective, the relative reality of the world is not denied. A Sage perceives appearances like anyone else. However, the Sages does not perceive the appearances of the world of multiplicity as compared of separate objects viewed by a separate subject. An appearance is not necessarily unreal merely because it is an appearance. The real nature of an appearance, according to the vision of a Sage, is inseparable from the Self and partakes of its Reality. What is 'not real' is to mentally construct an illusory world of separate, interacting objects. Sri Ramana remarked, "The world is unreal if it is percived by the mind as a collection of discrete objects, and real when it is directly experienced as an appearance in the Self."
continued....
Liberation is the Destruction of the Mind - John Grimes - continues...
[Editor's note before the next paragraph: Sri Bhagavan implies that the words cannot go beyond the theory of non origination, which Gaudapada confirms. It is not as though that Sri Bhagavan meant ajata vada to be ulitmate.]
*
If 'nothing has ever happened', if there is no birth or death, then obviously the mind is not real either, and yet, there is more to the story. Sri Ramana said: "The mind is nothing other than the "I-thought". The mind and the ego [ahamkara] are one and the same." [Sri Bhagavan's Letter to Ganapati Muni.] Sri Ramana maintained that the 'I' thought arises from the Self and will sink back into the Self when its tendency to identify itself with though-object ceases. If one arranges thoughts in their order order of value, the 'I'-thought of first-order, the toot or basis of all thoughts. Every thought, arises only as someone's thought and does not exist independently of the ego. All second and third person thoughts [he, she, you, they, it etc.,] do not appear except to the first person I-thought. Therefore, the entire world of multiplicity, of subjects and objects, arises only after the first person thought arises.
Sri Ramana maintained that the individual self is nothing more than an ever-changing thought or idea. This thought, He called the 'I'-thought. The mind, which is but a bundle of thoughts, is an illusion that is generated when the rising 'I' thought identifies itself with the body and imagines that he or she is an individual person. This illusion, that the 'I' is the mind-body complex, is then sustained by the perpetual stream of thoughts that the mind generates. The 'I'-thought identifies with all of these thoughts and thus is sustained and maintained by the illusion that the individual self or the mind is a continuous and real entity. The mind lives by dividing, distinguishing and discriminating. It creates knowing subjects distinct from known objects and yet, all it creates is nothing but illusion.
In the waking state, the mind functions, due to the reflection of Consciousness in it. The same holds true with regard to the dream state. In the deep sleep state, there is no definite knowledge of objects because the mind is not functioning. Only Consciousness is present, in the deep sleep state and this demonstrated by an individual's exclamation upon waking, "I slept so well that I do not remember anything last night."
continued...
Liberation is the Destruction of the Mind - John Grimes - continues...
Sri Ramana declared that a person can reverse this process by depriving the 'I'-thought of all thoughts and perceptions that it normally identifies with. If one can break this false connection, between the 'I'-thought and the thoughts that it identifies with, then the 'I'-thought itself will subside and eventually disappear. Sri Ramana said the 'I'-thought originates from what He called the Heart. He said: "That from which all thoughts of embodied beings issue forth is called the Heart. All descriptions of it are only mental concepts." [Sri Ramana Gita - Ch. 5 Verse 2].
"Search for the source of the 'I' - thought. That is all that one has to do. The universe exists on account of the 'I'-thought. If that ends there is an end to misery also. The false 'I' will end only when its source is sought." [Talks No. 222 - 2.7.1936. Day by Day, 8.10.1946.]. The fact is that the mind is only a bundle of thoughts. How can you extinguish it by the thought of doing so or by a desire? Your thoughts and desires are part and parcel of the mind. The mind is simply fattened by new thoughts rising up. Therefore it is foolish to attempt to kill the mind by means of the mind. The only way of doing it is to find its source and hold on to it. The mind will then fade away of its own accord.
If the mind becomes introverted through enquiry into its source, its mental habits or tendencies [vasanas] become extinct. The light of the Self, Consciousness, falls on these mental habits and produces the phenomenon of reflection that individuals interpret as thoughts, as the mind. Thus, when the mental habits become extinct, the mind also becomes extinct as it is absorbed into the light of the Self. The mind is like a river that ceaselessly flow in the bed of the body. How can an ever-fluctuating mind makes itself steady? It cannot. It is the very nature of thoughts to roam. Thus, one must go beyond the mind. One should not think of changing the mind -- it is already changing all the time. The mind covers the Self like clouds that obscures the sun. The mind with its thoughts, is like a thief. One must constantly watch it, not because you want anything from it, but because you don't want it to steal attention away from what is real, Consciousness.
continued..
David,
I've seen mention of meetings between Sri Gnanananda and Sri Ramana in several sources on the web. I cannot attest to their accuracy, which is why I am asking you about them:
The first one is here:
The earliest we hear of him in South India is around 1860 near Chidambaram. In the course of his wanderings on foot over many decades as a parivrajaka or itinerant monk he had come into contact with the spiritual luminaries of the last century and the present one. Around the turn of the century he was staying in the Sampathgiri Hills of Polur near Tiruvannamalai. He was with Sri Aurobindo after his arrival at Pondicherry from Chandarnagore. Sri Gnanananda also recalled his meeting with Sri Ramana Maharshi in the Virupaksha Cave.
http://www.beezone.com/Gnanananda/gnanananda_early_life.html
Another source is Richard Clarke:
He had close contact with spiritual gurus such as Ramana Maharshi , Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Aurobindo, Seshadri Swami, Vallalar, Shudhananda Bharati and Yogi Ramsuratkumar.
http://richardarunachala.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/tirukkoyilur-sri-gnananandas-thapovanam-ashram/
Here is an account of his travels and meetings, including with Sri Ramana when he was only thirteen:
The Swamiji has mentioned that he knew personally of the initiation given by Totapuri to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahams. (1836-1886) at Dakshineswar and similarly of the initiation given by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to Narendra (later Swami Vivekananda ). He has also met Saint Ramalingam of Vadalur ( near present Neyveli 1823—l874). He had come across the boy Ramana in the Madurai temple when Ramana was just 13 years old. Later when Ramana became Ramana Maharishi and was living in the Virupaksha cave at Tiruvannamalai, Shri Gnanananda Giri Swamiji used to meet the Maharishi frequently and discuss. In the early part of this century, the Swamiji came to many places in the south like Tiruchi, Salem and Attiyampatti where be transformed the dacoits who were causing great hardships to people then. There is an ashram at Attiampatti and another at Siddalingamatam near Tirukoilur itself. He came to Thapovanam in 1950 and in 1953 the present Ashram came into being.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100gurus/5261395044/
Here there is mention of Sri Ramana giving permission to one of his devotees to study under Sri Gnanananda and move to his ashram for six months:
Sri Swami Triveni Giri was known as Sundaram Iyer prior to his initiation to Sannyasa. He was born to a pious Brahmin couple Sri Sankaranarayana Iyer and Smt. Parvati Ammal at Sri Vaikuntam. In 1933, he came to Sri Ramana asram and with the permission of Bhagawan he was engaged in Self Enquiry. He was known as Sundara Arya, and also as Sadhu Swamigal.
Sundara Arya, often had an inner urge to pursue Gayatri Upasana. He mentioned it to Sri Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi and sought His permission to go to Sri Sadguru Gnanananda Giri Swamigal. Obtaining his gracious and ready approval, he became a resident in the asram at Siddalingamadam in 1935.
http://gnanananda-niketan.org/swami-triveni.php
Broken Yogi
I suppose it might have happened, but somehow I am not convinced. What does Swami Abhishiktananda have to say on this in his book?
Liberation is the Destruction of the Mind - John Grimes - continues....
It is not enough to declare that one is not one's body or one's mind. That is still a thought within the mind. Deciding that one is not the mind is an activity of the mind. Experiencing anything is still an experience of the mind. One must pursue the quest to its logical conclusion. Seek the source of thoughts. Eventually, the 'I'-thought will go back to its source and becomes extinct. Thus, the Upanishadic saying, 'Whence words return along with the mind, not attaining it."
[Taittiriyam Up. 2.4.1.]
Sri Ramana said that an enquiry into the source of 'I' thought will render all one's habitual tendencies [vasanas] extinct. Thus arises a question, if all one's vasanas are destroyed, why is the mind's dissolution then necessary? In other words, isn't the mind nothing other than the entire collection of its vasanas? The response is that the life of the lower self forms one type of bondage, i.e vasanas cause misery directly; but another type of bondage, i.e. the mere sense of duality, remains in the mind. Thus, not only vasanas, but also the mind must be dissolved. Secondly, when the mind is dissolved, the effects of all accumulated past actions [prarabdha karmas] are also dissolved. When the mind is dissolved, the recurrence of any vasanas whatsoever is also stopped for ever.
Sri Ramana said: "The ordinary individual lives in the brain unaware of himself in the Heart. The sage lives in the Heart. When a sage moves about and deals with men and things, he knows that what he sees is not separate from the one supreme reality, which he has realized in the Heart, as his own Self, the Real." [Sad Darsana Bhashya, Kapali Sastri]. Thus, Sri Ramana, on numerous occasions says that "He perceives the appearances," He sees monkeys, and people, chairs and doorways, food and squirrels, all that ordinary people see, but He doesn't see them as separate, independent objects, that is the difference. On other occasions, to other individuals, Sri Ramana would also say, replying from the sage's perspective: "You say that the Jnani sees the path, avoids them, etc., In whose eyesight is all this, in the Sage's or ours? He sees only the Self and all in the Self." [Devaraja Mudaliar - 6.3.1946].
The Upanishad gives an analogy as to how this might be possible. "The arrowhead of an arrow implanted deeply in the target will not come out even when pulled. The arrow shaft may come out, but not the tip. The shaft is then useless. When the mind is fixed upon Brahman, it will never come out. The sense of sight, etc., may function towards external objects but they will serve no purpose whatsoever." {Mundaka Up. 2.2.4}.
contd.,
Liberation is the Destruction of the Mind - John Grimes. continues...
Thus a sage may have his or her sense organs functioning, but [s]he is not overwhelmed by them. The sage's mind is always centered in the Self.
Another way to explain how the sage
perceives the world is to invoke the example of the self-luminous sun. When a room is dark, a lamp is necessary to provide light enabling the eyes to perceive objects in it. But when the sun has arisen, there is no need of a lamp to see the objects. To see the sun, no lamp is necessary. it is enough if one turns one's own eyes towards the self luminous sun. In a similar way, to see objects, the reflected light of the mind is necessary. But to a Jnani it is not the reflected light of the mind dominated by the ego that illumines objects. The essence of the mind is Consciousness. When the mind is not dominated by the ego or 'I' thought, then the pure self awareness shines through the mind illuminating whatever is presented to it.
Sri Bhagavan explained: "The Self is the Heart. The Heart is self luminous. Light arises from the Heart and reaches the brain, which is the seat of mind. The world is seen with the mind, that is by he reflected light of the Self. It is perceived with the aid of the mind. When the mind is illumined it is aware of the world. When it is not itself so illumined, it is not aware of the world. If the mind is turned in towards the source of light, objective knowledge ceases and Self alone shines forth as the Heart. The moon shines by the reflected light of the sun. When the sun has set, the moon is useful for revealing objects. When the sun has risen, no one needs the moon, although the pale disc of the moon is visible in the sky." [Talks No. 98.].
What is important to note is that the sage's mind is like the visibility of the moon due to sunlight. In the sky, one can see the moon and clouds, There is no difference in their brilliance and both shine only by the reflected light of the sun. Like the moon or clouds, the Jnani's mind is there, but not shining of itself.
contd.,
Liberation is the Destruction of the Mind: John Grimes - continues....
This, the Jnani is aware of and so, even of 'objects' are perceived by the Jnani, they are not identified as separate, individual objects, but as shining appearance of the one indivisible Self. The Jnani's mind is not beclouded by the 'I'-thought, the ego, and thus what obscures the Self in others, just as clouds obscure the ever present, ever luminous sun, does not obscure a Jnani's perceptions.
The mind is inert and only appears to work because the current of the Self animates it. The sage lives in reality while what the world the mind perceives is a world of imaginings. A familiar analogy ism that the sage is awake while most individuals are dreaming.
The Uddava Gita, the quintessence of the Bhagavata Purana, records the lives and behavior of several sages and describes the jivan mukta: The wise one, even though in the body, is not of it like a person awakened from a dream. [Uddava Gita XI. ix. 8.].
Some people believe that a sage must live in two states of existence at the same time: the empirical plane and the trans-
empirical plane. People observe that a sage moves about in the world and observe that the sage sees the same objects others see, i.e. the other individuals, tables, chairs, monkeys, etc., It is not as if the sage does not see them. Thus, they conclude, since he or she sees both the world and the objects therein, as well as the Self, must not he or she dwell on two planes at once? Sri Ramana replied: "You say that the Jnani sees the path, treads it, comes across obstacles, avoids them, etc., In whose eyesight is all this, in the Jnani's or yours? He sees the Self only and all in the Self. For instance, you see a reflection in the mirror and the mirror. You know the mirror to be the reality and the picture in it a mere reflection. Is it necessary that in order to see the mirror, we should cease to see reflection in it?" [Devaraja Mudaliar, 6.3.1946]. What a wonderful analogy and yet numerous are the individuals who asked such questions. Intellectual curiosity is a hard habit to break and instead of asking what is really important, one's own Self, people ask about others.
contd.,
David
With reference to your time in the Hampstead mansion in 1983 and your meeting with the neighbour whose brother wrote letters from Ramanasramam in the 1940's. Have you ever tried to get hold of copies of those letters?
Liberation is the Destruction of the
Mind - John Grimes - continues...
Srimad Bhagavad Gita gives a description of a Jivan Mukta - the person who is liberated while in the
physical body. Such a person is one who has gained steady wisdom; who has transcended the three qualities [gunas]; who is free from desires,; who has no sense of agency or enjoyership - for he or she has ceassed to identify with the mind-body complex; who is beyond the dual extremes of pleasure and pain, heat and cold. Such individuals are spontaneous expressions of innate goodness and their very presence is a blessing to the world. [B.G.5.25.]. Merely because the mind has been destroyed it does not imply that the sage is stupid or inert. Quite the reverse. The sage is intelligent, aware and sees clearly what is true and what is false.
Sri Ramana said: "Coming here, some people do not ask about themselves. They ask, 'Does the Jivan mukta see the world? Is the affected by karma? What is liberation after being disembodied? Is one liberated only after being disembodied or even while alive in the body? Should the body resolve itself in light o disappear from view in any other manner? Can he liberated though the body is left behind as a corpse? Their questions are endless. Why worry oneself in so many ways? Does liberation consist in knowing these things? Therefore, I say to them, "Leave liberation alone. Is there bondage? Know this. See yourself first and foremost." [Talks No. 578 dt. 15.11.1938.]
Concluded.
*
Mr. John Grimes is the author of an authoritative study of Adi Sankara's Vivekachudamani. He graduated from the Center for Advanced Studies in Philosophy, University of Madras. In the year 2010, another book titled Ramana Maharshi: The Crown Jewel of Advaita has also come out. Sri Ramanasramam stocks this book also.
*
Harijan
It did not occur to me at the time since the contents appeared to be rather mundane. I merely took them to be proof that person who sent them really had lived in Tiruvannamalai.
Broken Yogi, David, folks,
It maybe remembered that in the Indian context, hagiographic accounts of the Guru build up, quite fanciful and under the misguided zeal that to extol one’s Guru even beyond reality is to do him great service.
Abhishiktananda refers to some of these accounts in his book “Guru & Disciple”. He mentions how different devotees had different stories regarding the age of Sw. Gnanananda, and also some stories regarding Sri Bhagavan. Notably one in which a devotee said that the Swami was the one who fed Bhagavan in Akhandannalur & sent Him on to Tiruvannamalai! But Abhishiktananda says that Sw. Gnanananda himself only ever mentioned having met the Sai Baba once from all the prominent sages.
He dismisses all the stories of the Swami being 200 years old and more as:
“The only possibility – one which in fact later investigations tended to support – is that, in an unconscious desire to magnify the Guru, his sojourns in different places have been regarded as following each other in succession, when in fact they were dovetailed together during the same period of time.”
And since the stories about Sw. Gnanananda from his devotees also include gems such as that he had met Auveyar, the poetess of the Sangam era and sister of Tiruvalluvar (2000 years ago), he explains it as:
“ … on what level are we operating? When a Jnani speaks to us, do we ever know the level from which he is speaking? No more than the prophet’s vision of the future, can the sage’s view of the past be pinned down to the chronology which measures the world of external events? He may be speaking at the level of the atman, which alone is real; or again, he may be using the language of ordinary experience, so that his words may be within the grasp of his hearers ……
This particular form which we call the body of such and such a Jnani, does not seem to him to be anymore his own than all other forms….. he is the young Ramana running away to Arunachala, and he is the priest who gave him food on the way. He is the hermit meditating in the forest in the time of the Rajahs, and he is the sanyasi who met Auveyar. He is Yajnavalkya who revealed to king Jananka the upanisad of being, and he is the rishi who first heard the Vedas ….”
Best wishes
David,
I think Arvind's explanation is the most logical and even likely, but then again, we are talking about some pretty extraordinary sages and yogis here, so I don't immediately dismiss these things, even exceptional lifespans. But it does put it all into a different kind of category. The fact that Sri Gnanananda spent a lot of time in the area around Arunachula does lend some credence to the idea that they may have met at some time or other. I was just wondering if you'd ever encountered any evidence for such a meeting. Apparently not. Perhaps, as Arvind says, it's more of a mystical thing made literal by well-meaning devotees. But there still might be some factual basis for it. If you ever hear anything about this, I'd love to know.
From Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - With Various Devotees. " Sri Ramakrishna says "When i first met Keshab at Jaygopal's garden house, I remarked, 'He is the only one who has dropped his tail.' At this people laughed. Keshab said to them: 'Don't laugh. There must be some meaning in his words. Let us ask him.' Thereupon I said to Keshab: The tadpole, so long as it has not dropped its tail, lives only in the water. It cannot move about on dry land. But as soon as it drops its tail it hops out on the bank; then it can live both on land and in water. Likewise, as long as a man has not dropped his tail of ignorance, he can live only in the water of the world. But when he drops his tail, that is to say, when he attains the Knowledge of God, then he can roam about as a free soul, or live as a householder if he likes.'"
Thanks Arvind. It is more than twenty years since I last looked at Abhishiktanannda's book. I couldn't remember what it said, but I think I would have remembered if it had included a report of a meeting with Bhagavan.
All I can say is that there is no record in any of the Ramana literature of such a meeting taking place.
Aradhana - 2011 [Tamizh Chitra Krishnapaksha Thrayodasi]
*
The unique manifestation of Divine Grace on earth known and loved by us as Sri Bhagavan Ramana, receded into its Reality as night set in on Friday, April 14, 1950. The very moment that Sri Bhagavan entered into Maha Nirvana, 8.47 that night, the skies announced the great event with a long, slow trail of light.
.... Devotees and doctors who saw Sri Bhagavan even after the fourth operation, were amazed at His tranquil expression and gracious smile. The 70th birthday of Sri
Bhagavan was celebrated in His Presence on January 5th 1950. Sri
Bhagavan sat up for hours, morning
and evening amid His devotees, that festive day. He read through many hymns newly composed by devotees and heard them sung. The elephant from the Temple of Arunachala came and stood there for a while after bowing down to Sri Bhagavan and then took leave of Him by touching His feet with its trunk...The atmosphere was full of joy and the festivities ended with the prostration of the devotees to their Master after the Vedic chants.
When the devotees prayed to Sri Bhagavan Himself to set His health right by His own potent will, He replied: "Everything will come right in due course." And He asked them: "Who is there to will this?"
contd.,
Aradhana - 2011 -
Recordings of Viswanatha Swami done in 1951 - continues...
Sri Bhagavan kept to His normal routine until it became physically impossible for Him. He took His morning bath an hour before sunrise, sat up for darshan at fixed hours, morning and evening, went through the Asramam correspondence and supervised the printing of the Asrammam publications, often making suggestions. Everything received His attention despite His ill-health.
More than a year before His Maha Nirvana, Sri Bhagavan quoted and rendered into Tamizh verse a sloka from Srimad Bhagavatam: Let the body, the result of fructifying karma, rest or move, live or die; the sage who has realized the Self is not aware of it, just as one in drunken stupor is not aware of His clothes on the body or they have fallen. [The Tamizh verse is available in Devaraja Mudaliar's reminiscences.]
Late in 1949, Sri Bhagavan picked up and expounded a verse from Yoga Vasishtam: "The Jnani who has found himself as formless Pure Awareness is unaffected through his body be cleft with a sword. Sugar candy does not lose its sweetness though broken or crushed.
On one occasion during the last months, Sri Bhagavan said to an anxious attendant: "When we have finished a meal do we keep the leaf-plate on which we have eaten it?" On another occasion, He told him that the Jnani rejoices to be relieved of the body by death as a servant rejoices to lay down his burden at the place of delivery."
With a look of compassion He consoled a devotee, saying: "They take this body for Sri Bhagavan and attribute suffering to Him. What a pity! They are despondent that Sri Bhagavan is going to leave them and go away; where can He go, and how?"
When one of His attendant s entered His room, Sri Bhagavan greeted Him with smile and asked: "Do you know what Mokssha is?" The attendant looked at the Master in receptive silence and Sri Bhagavan continued: "Getting rid of non existent misery and attaining Bliss which is the only existence, that is the definition of Moksha."
Even during the last days, when Sri Bhagavan was unable to leave His room, He continued to give darshan to the hundreds of devotees, morning and evening, reclining on His bed within, majestic like Bhishma on His bed of arrows. Sri Bhagavan would not consent to have the darshan cancelled even on days when His condition was critical, so it went on right up to the last evening.
contd.,
Aradhana - 2011:
Recordings of Viswanatha Swami done in 1951 continues....
The news of the rapid decline in Sri Bhagavan's physical condition spread and hundreds of devotees came to Tiruvannamalai, to have a last darshan. In the queue that filed past His room there were men and women, rich and poor, learned and unlettered, from all parts of India and from abroad, all united in their devotion to this Divine Personification.
On Wednesday evening, two day before the Maha Nirvana, Sri Bhagavan gave a peculiar look of Grace to devotees who passed before Him in the queue. It struck some of them that this might His parting look and it turned out to be so, for during the next two days, Sri Bhagavan had not the physical strength to turn about and look at the devotees. Whether His eyes were open or closed, His mind was clear and He spoke to the attendants when necessary.
On Thursday morning, when a doctor brought Sri Bhagavan some medicine to relieve congestion in the lungs, Sri Bhagavan told him that it was not necessary and that everything would come right within two days. That night Sri Bhagavan told His attendants to retire for sleep or meditation and leave Him alone.
On Friday morning, sri Bhagavan said "Thanks" to an attendant who had just finished massaging His legs. The attendant, who did not know English, blinked with surprise, so Sri Bhagavan, smiling, explained to him the meaning of the English term. It is probable that, when about to leave the physical plane, Sri Bhagavan intended thus to express His thanks to all who had served Him.
contd.,
Aradhana - 2011 :
Recordings of Viswanatha Swami continues...
That evening there was a vast gathering of devotees and all had darshan of Sri Bhagavan. Many stayed at the Asramam, after darshan, as Sri Bhagavan's condition was critical. At about sunset Sri Bhagavan asked His attendants to raise Him to a sitting position. They raised Him up as comfortably as they could, one of them gently supporting His head. One of the doctors began to give Him oxygen but Sri Bhagavan motioned them to stop it with a wave of His right hand.
There were ten or twelve persons, doctors and attendants, in that small room. Two of them were fanning Sri Bhagavan. Hundreds of devotees were anxiously waiting just outside. A group of devotees seated on the temple ramp opposite the little room began chanting with devotional fervor the Hymn of Arunachala, composed long ago, by Sri Bhagavan, with the chorus Arunachala Siva. Sri Bhagavan's eyes opened a little and flashed for a moment. From their outer edges tears of ecstasy rolled down.
The last breaths followed one another, softly, smoothly, and then with no premonition, no shock, breathing stopped.
Sri Bhagavan had receded into His Reality, the Heart of the Universe. The extraordinary peace of that hour overwhelmed everyone in His Presence, felt more new than ever before. It was the transcendental Glory of Sri Bhagavan, the Luminous Self, that prevailed.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana proclaimed in silence:
Unveiled, here I am, Effulgent in my Eternal Reality.
Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva,
Arunachala Siva, Arunachala!
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011:
Recordings of Arthur Osborne:
There was once a discussion in the Hall, as to how long Sri Bhagavan would live. Some quoted the astrologers as saying that He would live to be 80. Others denied the accuracy of astrology and doubted its applicability to Sri Bhagavan, who had no more karma to work out, being One with the Self. Sri Bhagavan listened to the discussion, smiling but taking no part in it. A new comer, puzzled by this, asked: "What does Sri Bhagavan think about it?" Sri Bhagavan did not reply but smiled approvingly as one of the devotees replied for him: "Sri Bhagavan does not think about it!."
The whole last of His bodily life was an illustration of this. We grieved over the suffering and dreaded the threatened death, but He did not.
...During the following months there were two more operations, each with the same result. And there was the deeper feeling of inevitability beyond the medical.
That Sri Bhagavan knew what was appropriate and pitied us for having to witness His suffering and sought to give us strength to endure His body's death. Indeed, this long, painful sickness came to appear more and more as a means of preparing us for the inevitable parting which many felt they would be unable to endure. More profoundly it came to appear as payment of the karma He had lifted from us as expiation of the sins of the world He had taken upon Himself. A devotee begged Him to give the sickness to her instead and He replied: "And who gave it to me?" We did, as surely, as though we had crucified Him. A school girl was told in a letter about the impending danger and wrote back that "Bhagavan knows what is best for us." And the face of Sri Bhagavan was radiant with pleasure as He read her letter and commended her wisdom because she had not said, "What is best for Him" but "what is best for us."
Already frail and weakened by rheumatism, Sri Bhagavan's body grew steadily weaker. Already by September 1949, the end would have surprised nobody, least of all the doctors. By December 1949, it had come to be a matter of waiting and counting weeks and days. By the beginning of 1950, the tumor had reached the shoulder and gone inwards. The doctors said that the pain must be excruciating but Sri Bhagavan gave no sign of it. He was smiling and gracious as usual. In fact more than usual, for towards the end His face became even softer and more gentle. Right up to the end His eyes shone with their old radiance and He insisted on giving darshan to all who came. During the last days, when He was too weak to move, arrangements were made, morning and evening, for the silent throng of worshippers to file past the open doorway where He lay. Only once the Asramam authorities, fearing that it was too strenuous for Him, canceled the darhshan, but He immediately protested and had renewed and to the last day, it was continued.
Some have comforted themselves with the thought that the Jnani does not feel pain, but those who were in attendance on Sri Bhagavan were convinced of the reality of the suffering. Indeed, He would sometime admit, "There is pain" though He would never say, "I have pain." While wearing a body, He accepted the body's sensations although in constant awareness of the Self. He felt heat and cold, distinguished sweet and salt, yellow and red; and with pain as with all other sensations. Only He never for a moment confused the suffering body with the Self.
contd.,
Aradhana - 2011:
Recordings of Arthur Osborne, in 1951: continues...
Throughout, Sri Bhagavan cooperated loyally with the doctors, and yet with an air of dutiful submission to authority rather than with any interest in the outcome. Occasionally, He protested at the amount of attention bestowed on His body.
Several times, when there seemed to be an improvement, He declared that He wanted no more treatment. Only once did He refuse to submit, and that was when it was proposed to amputate the arm.
Many devotees offered remedies or wished to try some other treatment, and the attitude of Sri Bhagavan was His utter selflessness. Loyalty to the doctor who was in charge forbade Him to accept such offers, but He would show interest and consideration, not for His own sake, but for their devotion and the pains they had taken. When Asramam authorities were desperate, He simply said that He would take whatever treatment they could agree upon.
Many a time, devotees implored Him to desire to be well, if only for our sake. On one occasion, a devotee begged Him to give but a single thought to getting well, as that would be enough, and He replied: "Who could have such a thought?" It was evident that, having submitted to the conditions of human life, He would use no powers for His cure that ordinary men and women could not use.
He simply sat as a spectator, watching the disease destroy the body. Many times, He spoke to the devotees in such a way as to make them realize that the body was not Sri Bhagavan.
The last few days were quite painful. But He had more than once during these days said: "They say I am dying. But I am not going away. Where could I go. I am here."
On Aprilm 14th, the doctors and attendants knew that it was the last day. In the morning He bade them go and meditate. About noon, when his liquid food was brought, He asked the time, punctual as ever, but then added, 'henceforth time doesn't matter.' In His delicate way of expressing recognition of service, he said: "The English have the word 'thanks' but we only say, 'santosham.'
contd.,
Aradhana - 2011:
Recordings of Arthur Osborne done in 1951: continues...
The devotees also, passing in a long line that morning, silent with grief, before the doorway where He lay, saw an almost lifeless body, the face pinched, the stomach sunken, the ribs protruding. And after the evening darshan, they felt that it was the end. Instead of dispersing to their homes, as they usually did, they hung about in small groups, or stood silently waiting or sat in grief along temple ramp facing the little room where Sri Bhagavan lay. There was an air of foreboding. Many eyes were fixed on the window of the room and the two fans gently weaving inside -- the sign that there was a still a living body to fan.
A group of sadhus and devotees sat together on the temple ramp just opposite the little room and began singing 'Arunachala Siva', the supreme song of Divine Love that Sri Bhagavan had given us. More joined in. The singing swelled louder to drown murmurs and cries of grief. Inside the room, Sri Bhagavan bade the attendants sit Him up. The pain must been intense, but He found it appropriate to leave the body sitting, as our Guru. At the sound of "Arunachala Siva" He opened His luminous eyes, with a brief smile indescribable tenderness, and a tear of bliss trickled down from the outer corner of His eyes. And then, at 8.47 PM. breathing stopped. There was no struggle or spasm, no other sign of death. Only that next breath did not come.
For a few moments, people stood bewildered. The singing continued. A French photographer who had been pacing the road outside came quickly into the throng and asked a devotee at what precise moment it had happened. The devotee, taking it to be journalistic callousness, answered bursquely that he did not know, and then recalling Sri Bhagavan's unfailing courtesy, gave a precise an answer as he could. And the photographer thereupon declared that at that very moment, an enormou9s star had passed slowly across the sky. Many had seen it, even as far away as Madras. Many who were not present felt what it portended.
After the first numbness, there was a wild burst of grief. The body was carried out on to the balcony of the room, and men and women crowded near and wept aloud.
contd.,
Aradhana - 2011:
Recordings of Arthur Osborne done in 1951: continues...
The body was placed garlanded upon a couch in the temple hall and the devotees thronged there and sat around it. One had expected to the face to be rock like in samadhi, but it was pitiable, so marked by pain. Only gradually during the night, the air of mysterious composure returned to it.
All that night devotees sat in the large hall and townsfolk passed through in awed silence. Some of the devotees sang songs of praise and grief. Others sat silent. And yet, what was most noticeable was not the grief but calm. For they were men and women deprived of Him whose love had been the very meaning of their life. Already that first night, and much more during the days that followed, it became clear how vital had been His words "I am here." It was not the mere intellectual truism that the Self cannot go away; it was a promise full of love, and warmth. One after another, devotees would say, each as though it were a discovery of his own, "Sri Bhagavan has not gone away. I feel His Presence more than ever."
The body was interred next day with divine honors in the ground between the Old Hall where Sri Bhagavan had sat so many years and the north wall of the Mother's Temple. It is hoped eventually to erect there a Hall of Silence, where devotees from far and near can come and sit in meditation as they did before the living Ramana. Even now, those who sit there before the Samadhi find the Grace
of Sri Bhagavan as powerful and as sweet and subtle as during His body's lifetime. Some who lived there have remained. Some who went away returned. Many more will come.
For, according to His promise, he has not left us. He is here in our hearts. He is here at Arunachala.
contd.,
Aradhana - 2011:
Recordings of Dr. T.N. Krishnaswami:
The Maharshi was our great solace.
During His last illness, He taught us how a Jivan Mukta takes suffering;
He gave us the most perfect lesson in forbearance. We know what excruciating pain, His malady must
have caused Him. And yet He went through it in silence, submitting to every painful complication, without a remonstrance, without a single word of complaint. To stand by and watch Him suffer like this, unable to relieve the suffering, was the most painful part for many of us.... He took whatever medicine was given to Him and submitted to the doctors' treatment, never showing preference for this or that line of treatment, never complaining against anything, never remarking that the remedy failed to bring relief.
It made us wonder, if He was really suffering at all. He lived so distinctly from His body that His face was radiant with graciousness while His body lay mute with unexpressed suffering. We marveled at this transcendental state in which the individual body still persisted but no individual mind or will remained to function in it.
And yet we cannot but ask why Sri Bhagavan took on Himself this long suffering. Some say that He had taken the prarabdha of His mother, whose life and breath He stilled by sitting at her deathbed with His hands upon her Heart and head. Some say that it is the sins of all His devotees that Sri Bhagavan took upon Himself. To me it is a riddle beyond my understanding. This suffering wounded the hearts of thousands of Sri Bhagavan's devotees. Many of them would gladly have laid down their lives to relieve Him.
....
Only a few hours before the end, two peacocks sat screeching upon a neighboring tree. And Sri Bhagavan heard their cry and asked whether they had been given their usual
meal of nuts.
It was remarkable how Sri Bhagavan kept perfect control of His faculties to the very end. He spoke clearly only a few minutes before the end. Seeing the long queue He asked to be sat up and insisted on ignoring the pain in His arm and body and remained sitting till He breathed His last.
During the preceding months, Sri Bhagavan had let fall many remarks to prepare us for His physical death. Once He remarked about a laborer carrying a load from market anxious to put down the load. On another occasion, He compared the body to a plantain leaf on which delicious food had been served and eaten. "Do we keep the used plantain leaves. Do we not throw them away after eating the food on it?" He asked.
contd.,
Aradhana - 2011:
Recordings of Dr. T.N. Krishnaswami:
continues....
So Sri Bhagavan cast away His body.
He has flown from the cage. But for us the He is still exuding the Grace of Arunachala. He has made Arunachala sacred for His devotees, as it was for Him..... The holy place of Arunachala has been made holier by the lotus feet of our Master. The whole place is full of memories of our Bhagavan. Every spot, every scene, has an association that calls Sri Bhagavan to our minds. Looking at the slopes of the Hill, one can picture His graceful from moving up and down with stick and kamandalu. Looking at the couch, one imagines the gracious form of Sri Bhagavan recumbent there again, with His radiant eyes turned upon us. Going to the dining hall one imagines Sri Bhagavan there as before. One can feel His living Presence in every corner of the Asramam.
Deep beneath our pain and bereavement we know that Sri Bhagavan has not left us. He has only left His body. He who taught in silence can guide us in the Spirit. His Presence and influence, though unseen, abide with us. Though the physical presence is lost to us, if we seek His Light we shall find it. The Light of Sri Bhagavan has merged in the Universal Light of the Self. A remarkable ocular demonstration of this was the phenomenon of the star like radiance that trailed across the sky at the very moment of His Maha Nirvana. It was seen by many even as far away as Madras, and many who saw it intuitively what it portended. May He continue to lead us to the Light, and may we be worthy of His guidance.
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011:
Sadhu Arunachala (Major Chadwick)
writes in his reminiscences:
....Let them do what they like was His attitude. The Allopaths did things in style. They came down with a lorry load of material and laid down a special circuit from the electric main for diothermic treatment. As many as ten doctors attended the last operation in which Sri Bhagavan almost passed out and had to be revived with a blood transfusion.
The night before the operation took place, I went to see Sri Bhagavan, and on my knees begged Him not to have it. It was obvious it could no good. Each time the tumor had grown bigger and bigger, spreading up His arm to the armpit. I prayed that this extra suffering was useless and that He would let us be spared the strain, but He refused. For, as He said, the doctors had taken so much trouble, it would be shame to disappoint them now!
...The length of this terrible illness of just about one year gave everybody a fair warning that the end was inevitable and not very far off. But out of His Grace, He in this way, saved all from a sudden shock. Hem also repeatedly warned the devotees that giving up the body would make absolutely no difference. "Where can I go? I shall always be here."
He said, "Let nature take her course.", but we would not heed Him. In fact we knew better than He. What absolute arrogance!
...An hour before His end, the DMO who was present was prompted by the Manager to come out and announce that there was no immediate danger of anything happening that night. It was a scandalous thing to do. Naturally many of the people went home for their evening meal and so missed the last moments.
There were some American reporters and photographers, who were there for a scoop. They were living less than half a mile away. One of them standing outside the house suddenly looked up and saw a very bright star or meteor swing slowly across the sky towards the North over the top of the Hill. He called out the rest of the party who ran out and saw the same phenomenon. One and all agreed that something had happened to Sri Bhagavan. Even though they were without any special faith in Him, by some intuition they were certain that this must be the case. It happened exactly at that time of the passing, 8.47 PM. on April 14th 1950. This was seen by many people, all of whom strangely enough associated with the same thing. People in Madras, too saw it and some got into their cars to rush immediately and make their way to the Asramam.
This is a fact which I will not attempt to explain. But I must accept it as it happened.
Though we talk as though He were dead, He is indeed here and very much alive, as He promised, in spite of appearances
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011:
Annamlai Swami's words [as mentioned
in Living by the Words of Bhagavan.]:
...Bhagavan gave me His grace and then severed the personal relationship between us. The bond of love and devotion was not separated. It was just restricted to the mind and the Heart.
When Sri Bhagavan became very sick at the end of 1940s, I was sorely tempted to visit Him. I never succumbed because I knew that Sri Bhagavan had instructed me to stay away from His Presence. Some people who were not aware of what Sri Bhagavan had told me thought that I was being disrespectful by staying away. One devotee even asked Sri Bhagavan about this.
"Annamalai Swami served Sri Bhagavan for a long time," he said,
"but he is not coming to see Sri Bhagavan now that Sri Bhagavan is seriously ill."
Sri Bhagavan, detecting a certain self-righteousness in the questioner remaked, "He is the one who is not causing me any trouble." Then He added, "You people are here but your minds are elsewhere. He is elsewhere but his mind is here."
Rangaswami, Sri Bhagavan's attendant, reported this to me later that day. It was good to hear that Sri Bhagavan was consciously aware that I was constantly thinking and worrying about Him.
During the last year of Sri Bhagavan's life I suffered from a continuous, severe stomach pain. Some of the doctors who came to treat Sri Bhagavan, treated me as well but none of them was able to relieve the pain. I was unable to eat anything except gruel, and even that only in small quantities. If I tried to eat a lot of gruel, or any different kind of food, the pain in my stomach would become unbearable. In the last days of Sri Bhagavan's life, the pain got much worse. During some times, I remember thinking, "Let me give up this body before Sri Bhagavan gives up His. I cannot stand this pain any longer."
I finally decided to pray to Sri Bhagavan not for good health, but for death. At that time there were some steps going up to my flat roof. I climbed up very slowly and painfully and looked on
Sri Bhagavan's direction.
"Please Bhagavan", I prayed, "let me attain samadhi before you attain samadhi,let me die before you die." At that moment, I saw the great light in the sky, the light that signified that Sri Bhagavan had died. Many people saw this light and most of them reported that it resembled a meteor. It appeared to me in a different form: I saw a great column of light about 20 feet high, and 1.5. feet wide in the middle of the sky. While it was manifesting for a period of about two minutes, it was then slowly descending towards the Asramam. A few minutes later, a Sadhu came and told me that Sri Bhagavan had passed away. At the exact moment, when he told me the news, my stomach pains vanished and never reappeared again!
Sri Bhagavan was buried the following day. Swami Satyananda one of my neighbors in Palakottu, assisted in the burial. I saw him returning to Palakottu about 8.30 that evening, his whole body covered in Vibhuti. I asked him naturally how he had got into such a state.
"I put Sri Bhagavan's body in the samadhi pit," he said, "Since devotees had put a lot of vibhuti there, I inevitably got covered with it. Can you give me some water for bath?"
Before I gave him the water, I embraced him tightly, in an attempt to cover my own body with this Vibhuti. Since it had touched Sri Bhagavan's body, I regarded it as His final prasad to me.
continued....
Aradhana - 2011:
Annamalai Swami's reminiscences; [From Living by the Words of Bhagavan.]
I received two other forms of prasad that evening. A girl who used to work for me collected some of the water that had bathed Sri Bhagavan's body and brought it to me. I drank it with great pleasure. Another woman who had a reputation of being slightly mad brought me one of the garlands that had adorned Sri Bhagavan's dead body. So many people had wanted to garland Him [something He never permitted while He was alive] each garland had to be removed to make way for the succeeding one. I plucked a few flowers from this garland and ate them. This water and flowers were the last contact I had with Sri Bhagavan's body. In the years, that followed I tried to remain in contact with the real Bhagavan, the Bhagavan, who exists eternally in the Heart.
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011:
Krishna Bhikshu's reminscences -
From his book Ramana Leela:
On 13th April [1950] Sankramanam [transit of the sun into Aries] took place. On 14th April, the doctors could not guess that there would be any immediate danger. Also, the Governement doctor who came from Vellore, saw Sri Bhagavan at about 6 pm. and reiterated that there was no immediate danger. People were asked to go and have their supper.
The Government doctor pleaded with
Sri Bhagavan to have some orange juice. Sri Bhagavan declined it at first but seeing the sorrow on the doctor's face, agreed to have a few sips. He took just two spoonfuls.
At 8 O clock, Sri Bhagavan wanted to be kept in the sitting posture and this was done by propping Him
up against the pillows. A little later, His breathing became difficult. Dr. Krishnaswami wanted to give oxygen but Sri Bhagavan declined it. Half an hour passed this way, during which time Sri Bhagavan could breathe through His mouth with great difficulty. Outside, the devotees began chanting Akshara Mana Maalai, with refrain, Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva., ... A few drops trickled down from His eyes on listening to it.
Later the dreaded moment arrived. Sri Bhagavan opened His mouth to breathe, the mouth remained like that, the breath stopped slowly and Sri Bhagavan shed His mortal coil. It was Friday, 8.47 pm. The devotees outside kept singing Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva. Arunachala Hill reverberated with that sacred name. At that very
moment, a brilliant shooting star traced its way across the skies towards Arunachla. People in distant places saw its appearance.
Sri Ramana Jyoti left its temporary abode, the earth, and returned to its natural place of stay.
Witessng the bright light people in the town suspected the worst and rushed to the Asramam. Their father, guide, guru and their all was no longer than. He had shed the body.
The Asramam resounded with wails of the assembled people. Sri Bhagavan's disciples seated Him in the Padmasana posture and brought Him to the darshan hall for public viewing. After the initial outbursts subsided, devotees sat near the body and began singing devotional songs and hymns. The body was smeared with sandal paste and Vibhuti and decorated with flowers.
The next day amidst the chanting of Vedic mantras, the holy mortal coil was bathed in holy waters, milk, and honey. A huge crowd witnessed it. A little later the body was decorated and lowered in a pit dug between the Matrubhuteswara Shrine and the Old darshan Hall. The pit was filled with vibhuti, camphor, and other aromatic substances.
There were hundreds of people in the Asramam that evening -- all that they expressed was desolation, the mind was benumbed.
"In your absence, the world now resembles a dilapidated house", said a poet. How true!
On Sri Bhagavan's advent one the earth, there was a light seen only by a blind midwife. He departed in a blazing trail of light seen by
hundreds of people. That night the stars in the firmament shone with a new brilliance. The sky was clear blue and utterly still. The
darkness was frightening. The heart became forlorn.
Where did that light go? What happened to it? For many devotees,
Sri Ramana was nothing less than the attributeless Brahman.
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011:
Suri Nagamma's reminiscences:
After 7 O clock, Sri Bhagavan asked the people nearby, whether darshan was over. Then, He asked the attendants to make Him sit propped by pillows. Around 8 pm. in the western side to the room, some brahmins were chanting Namasthe rudrmanyava. On the southern side, some devotees were singing Arunachala Pancharatnam. Some Tamizh devotees were singing Akshara Mana Maalai with the refrain, Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva. Sri Bhagavan, on listening this, opened His eyes, and from His eyes tears of anandam dropped. Soon the breath became quite and then stopped. Around 8.47 one great light moved in the skies and rested on the North. People who have seen this rushed to the Asramam....
...There was some delay in fixing the place for samadhi and it was decided to do it only in the afternoon, as per Tirumoolar's Tirumandiram verses on the subject. The hungry devotees were given uppuma and milk and a milk prasadam was also offered to Sri Bhagavan's mortal coil with arti.
Around 5 pm. Samdahi ceremonies were completed with nadaswaram music. Vibhuti, sandal powder, some gems, other aromatic substances, salt, waters from holy rivers, fine sand were used. A Siva lingam was also installed over the closed samadhi.
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011:
S.S. Cohen - from Guru Ramana:
So about 9 pm on 1st Jan. 1950, Sri Bhagavan decided to make the tiny room next to the lavatory, His permanent bedroom, and immediately moved to it with the help of His silent attendants from the dispensary, where He had been staying since the 19th December 1949. He never again crossed the stone threshold, which reminds one of the abandonment of Dwaraka by Krishna.
It was in the narrow passage of this small room, that the sofa of Sri Bhagavan was placed in the daytime, where He gave darshan from the 2nd Jan. 1950 onward to the devotees who flocked by hundreds.
What happened to Sri Bhagavan's body in the three and a half months which followed, is public knowledge through newspapers, through the Asramam's books and through the devotees who were having darshan twice a day, until the last moment, in and around Sri Ramanasramam. It was admitted on all sides that the Asramam did its work as was expected, and could not have done it otherwise for lack of other medical mediums at the right time. Besides, as loyal disciples of Sri Bhagavan, we have to have His faith that everything was ordained by Providence, through the action of a grim destiny, and be thankful to Sri Bhagavan that His presence continues to be felt as much as by the old as by the new devotees, even by some who were not yet born at the time He was still in the body as pure knowledge and eternal bliss.
Those who visited the Asramam, after the Maha Nirvana, of Sri Bhagavan know that the old Hall has since become the most holy meditation Hall of the Asramam, due to its longest association with the Master as His reception hall, bedroom, office, study and the receptacle of His sublime teaching.
And when one raises one's eyes and sees His life size photograph installed on the very couch He had used, leaning on the very cushions which had supported His back and limbs for a good number of years, one transcends the illusion of time and space, and feels as if the physical presence is actually
there too, and so, one cannot but respond in love and adoration of Him, who used to be called Bhagavan Ramana Arunachala, the Guru of Gurus, and Supreme Consciousness and Grace personified.
concluded.
Dear David,
I have covered many of the reminiscences and recordings of close devotees on this day of Aradhana, 2011. I do not find anything about the last years and Maha Nirvana of Sri Bhagavan, in the reminiscences of T.R. Kanakammal. As regards, Muruganar, a small Tamizh book MURUGANAR does not contain details
about the Maha Nirvana and Samadhi ceremonies. Perhaps the book Bhagavan and Muruganar [English] may have some information. Please give them as your comments, if there are any.
Thanking in anticipation.
Subramanian. R
R.Subramanian,
I wonder whether any devotee would like to write/narrate on the last days and proceedings of Mahanirvana.Cohen as well as Chadwick have given intimate accounts.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna also contains some intensely painful accounts of the last days of Sri Ramakrishna,yet a lot is missng.
Here is an interesting conversation between M,disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and Dr Hummel.
"Morton School. It is 5 p.m.; the sitting room on the second level. M. is seated in the centre, facing east. Dr. E.M. Hummel (M.D.) is before him, seated on a chair facing southwest. A devotee attendant is standing behind M. This gentleman has come from Los Angeles, a city in the State of California in USA A man of heavybuilt, he is about 50, and a bachelor. He practises spiritual disciplines. His family members say that he is crazy. He has come for M.'s darshana. Once before, he had come in the morning at about 11:30 for a little while. He has read the English version of the first part of the Kathamrita (M.'s English Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna times without number. He knows the book by heart. His book is marked with a variety of coloured pencils, almost the same way as children do while reading their textbooks. With what attention he has read the book! Even the difficult words occurring in the songs have been marked by him with the intention of asking M. to explain their meaning. Such devotees of foreign lands are rare indeed-so peaceful, so thoughtful, so full of faith! Some kind enquiries and the conversation begins.
Dr. Hummel (to M.)-When I set out for India, I made up my kind to see you. I have read your book. A good many people in America have benefited highly by reading it.
M. - It is a matter of great pleasure Well have you been to the Belur Math?
The Doctor - Yes sir. I have been there and also to Dakshineswar. A young man has shown me all the holy places. I have some questions to ask. May I?
M. - Yes, please do.
The Doctor-What are the signs of Godvision?
M. He who has seen God becomes like a child of five. He is always in communion with God. Sometimes he laughs, sometimes cries, sometimes he behaves like mad.
The Doctor-Why did you not write particularly about the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna?
M. - That was too tragic an event. I didn't like to write about it.
The Doctor:How many more records relating to him have you?
M. - Four parts of 'Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita' have already been published in Bengali. I have written only one part of it in English. Besides there are some more records.
The Doctor-Aren't you thinking of publishing the rest in English? Or perhaps you do not wish to give it to the West.
M. No, no, I am unable to do so because of weak physical health. If the Lord gives me strength, then alone it may be possible ."
Those interested may read the complete article here:
http://www.kathamrita.org/apostle/m5.html#v5c8
Namaskar.
Aradhana - 2011:
Reminiscences of N. Balarama Reddy:
...Dr. Guruswamy Mudaliar, after getting a summary of Sri Bhagavan's
condition and the treatments thus so far made, from Dr. Shankar Rao, of the Asramam dispensary, said:
"It was a mistake to have cut the tumor in the first place. Cutting with the knife drives the cancer further inside. But now that the
damage has been done, there is no other solution than to try surgery again."
On August 7, 1949, a third surgery was performed. There was a large team of physicians attending to Sri Bhagavan's needs during this surgery and throughout His illness....When the tumor reappeared again, after the third surgery, and the doctors concluded that only by amputating the entire arm there be any hope of a cure, Sri Bhagavan flatly rejected the option.... On December 19,1949, a fourth and final operation was performed....
In Feb. 1950, a new cancerous growth appeared. Many devotees began to lose hope that His life would be spared....
About this time, my sister visited the Asramam with her husband and child, who was then just seven months old. I asked permission from office to take them to meet Sri Bhagavan in the Nirvana Room. Although very few visits were permitted, I was allowed to take my sister and her child to see Sri Bhagavan. Inside the room, the baby began to cry. With evident difficulty, Sri Bhagavan learned His head over to His left and looked upon the crying child, making endearing sounds with His lips, just as a mother would do. I was astonished at the tenderness and grace He radiated, in spite of His severely debilitated condition.
Sri Bhagavan's tumor had grown to the size of a cauliflower; blood was oozing between the buds and His whole arm was blackened. A doctor friend, who was experienced in all aspects relating to this type of cancer, told me that the pain associated with it at this stage of Sri Bhagavan's illness would be similar to the suffering
experienced if a fully loaded lorry ran over your arm.
contd.,
Dear Ravi,
On the Aradhana Day, there are many ways of remembering a guru, his teachings, his life etc., This we are doing everyday. But how to remember guru's sufferings FOR OUR SAKE? It is like Jesus Christ's crucifixion. They call it Good Friday. He has lived for us and He has left the body with indescribable sufferings for more than 16 months, to hammer again and again the truth that the body is not I. I am the Self. Eternal, ever present, and without beginning and end. By reading Sri Bhagavan's last months, we cry and the tears would wash away our sins, and realize that the body is not I.
Aradhana - 2011
Reminiscences of N. Balarama Reddy:
continues....
On another occasion, during this period, a government minister from
Madras, Sitarama Reddy, arrived at the Asramam. This was his firs visit and since he was known to me, I was asked by the management to personally take him to visit Sri Bhagavan in the Nirvana Room.
When we walked into Sri Bhagavan's presence, I noticed a peculiar radiance, or a strange kind of soft splendor, pervading the room. I thought I was seeing this because of my devotion to Sri Bhagavan. Rationalizing it in this manner, I even tried to dismiss it.
As soon as we came out of the room the minister turned to me and asked, 'What was the brilliance, or radiance, pervading the Maharshi's room? When he ssaid this, without any probing from me, I thought that there must be something to it. Then all of a sudden, I remembered Ganapati Muni's second verse in his Chatvarimsat:
Who is the Master and guide of the whole group of learned scholars, starting with Ganapati, Who is the repository of all the highest virtues, Whose beatific effulgence is hidden by the sheath of the gross body, like the blazing sun hidden behind the clouds?
On March 15, several allopathic doctors met in the cottage west of the dispensary. After discussing Sri Bhagavan's condition, they concluded that He had only one more month to live in the body. This prognosis was correct, on the night of April 15, 1950, exactly one month later, Sri Bhagavan left His body.
Dr. Lt. Col. P.V. Karamchandani and his wife from Vellore, came to see Sri Bhagavan on April 14. His wife wanted to give some orange juice to Sri Bhagavan. When offered, twice He declined and instead asked for water. I was feeling sorry for his wife's unfulfilled longing. When the doctor prayed mutely to spare his wife from heart breaking disappointment, Sri Bhagavan, at once looked at her, and said: "Give me orange juice." And when the doctor offered it, He drank it.
It was nothing but total compassion on Sri Bhagavan's part to have asked for the orange juice, simply to fulfil the desire of a devotee.
.....
.....
For the samadhi ceremonies, there were discussions as to where the pit has to be dug. The Sarvadhikari had to concede to the will of the majority and Sri Bhagavan's mortal coil was buried between the Mother's Temple and the Old Hall, where we now see His Samadhi. [Samadhi Hall.]
On April 16, at noon I boarded the train to Madras. Several others also moved out in a few days. In the course of next one year or more, the Asramam was struggling to stay afloat financially. In the mid 1950s, T.N. Venkataraman the new President took over and brought the Asramam a stable institution.
People who went away, including me, flocked back to the Asramam, where the guiding Presence is still there for eons to come.
Concluded.
Aradhana - 2011:
Reminiscences of G.V. Subbaramayya:
....
On the same day, that is, April 4,
1950, a photograph of Sri Bhagavan, reclining on a raised bed in His room was taken by the famous French photographer. Since the darshan was restricted, I could not see Sri Bhagavan that evening. At night, as I neared the wicket gate of Sri Bhagavan's room, Sri Jayadevalal who was guarding it whispered to me: "Do you want to see Sri Bhagavan?" I replied: "Yes, but there is no permission." He said: "Never mind, get in."
Sri Bhagavan lay alone facing the entrance as though He was expecting someone. As soon as I got up from prostrating at the door step, He said, "Come in." As I went in and stood up before Him, He asked me: "What do you want?"
I said with streaming eyes:
I want Abhayam, [protection from fear.]
Sri Bhagavan replied with overflowing Grace.
"Saree, Icchanu" [Yes. I have given it.]
Concluded.
R.Suramanaian,
I do not agree with your view of 'Devotion'.Devotion is not being sentimental and the idea of 'Suffering' vicariously is a form of indulgence-No guru recommended this.They clearly said that we need to recognize the deeper aspects of their lives-least of all identification with Body and its travails.
It is true that when the Guru is alive,the Disciple should do everything to alleviate the suffering and serve in all possible ways.This does not mean that one should continue to do that after the passing away,which is plain sentimentalism.Every fan of every film star or politician also does this.How is this different?
Namaskar.
Aradhana - 2011:
Reminiscences of A. Devaraja Mudaliar:
....During this illness many devotees used to entreat Sri Bhagavan either orally or by letter to cure Himself and live on for some more years for the benefit of His numerous devotees. Once Muruganar wrote a poem in Tamizh to the same effect. When I read it one or two days afterwards, I was also moved to
make an appeal to Sri Bhagavan:
"Our court poet has already appealed that you should not depart before you have perfected the protection of your subjects. I have to tell you another thing, in my humble way. What is to happen to me and several others like me who, like helpless children, have
thrown themselves entirely to your feet and on whom you have showered your kindness, tenderness and solicitude, irrespective of their merits and even ignoring their faults, if you should leave them thus? Surely you cannot find it in your heart to leave us stranded like this. So we live in hope you will preserve this body still for your benefit."
Muruganar afterwards kept up an appeal to Sri Bhagavan everyday for eleven days. If I remember aright, all these eleven verses are in the Asramam.
But Sri Bhagavan's attitude was always the same, that we were not to attach so much importance, to the body. Sometimes during this last illness, Sri Bhagavan would say: "They say I am going away, but where to?"
In illustration of this He had quoted a Sanskrit verse which He subsequently translated also into a Tamizh verse:
"As one intoxicated with drink, is not aware whether his cloth is on his body or not, the self realized person is not conscious of his body."
Thanunilai ilathan thanginum ezhinum,
Vinaiyinal aduthu viduthidu menum,
Punai thugilinai kaL veRi kurudanai pol
Thanai uNar siddhan thanu unarkilane.
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011:
Jagadeesa Sastri writes:
Sri Bhagavan had once restored me to life from a sickness where all hope seemed extinct. Hearing of Sri Bhagavan's serious condition, I went to Him a few days before His passing away and entreated Him: "You have given me a new lease of life, pulling me out of the very jaws of death. If only you will it, you can live some time more for the benefit of all of us."
Sri Bhagavan replied: "Is it to tell me this, you came all the way? The body is our great burden, Who should be anxious to keep it on?"
All the Jnanis like Sri Bhagavan
regard the body only as a burden to be discarded.
Long time before this conversation, Sri Bhagavan had discussed this question with me. He said: "Suppose you go to a firewood depot, buy a faggot of firewood and engage a cooly there to carry to carry it to your home. As you walk along with him, he will be anxiously looking forward to his destination so that he can throw of his burden and be happy and relieved. In the same way, the Jnani is anxious to throw off his body."
He then quoted the verse, Thanu nilai ilathan thanginum ezhinum....
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011
Reminiscences of K.K. Nambiar:
Sri Bhagavan's blood pressure and pulse rates were low and this was
causing anxiety. I was there on 12th April 1950 to see Him and also to seek blessings for my Grihapravesam of my new house in Madras. Since Sri
Bhagavan had refused to take any further medicines, Niranjananda Swami asked me to try to coax Him to take the medicine. When I went to the bedside with the cup, He was lying in a slanting posture, with half closed eyes and having occasional hiccoughs. I put the medicine to His lips. He did not open His mouth properly and the liquid medicine was flowing out from the side of His half closed mouth. Then He said to me in a feeble voice: Ethellam adangatte -
in Malayalam. {let all this subside}. That was the last thing He spoke to me. On 13th, a letter of blessings was received from Sri Niranjananda Swami for the Grihapravesam function. The large photograph of Sri Bhagavan in padamsana posture was hung by wife in the hall, and with veneration and prayers, in the drawing room. The next day was Vishu [Malayalam New Year].
Later in the evening, when my wife and I along with children were sitting on the courtyard, my son
Vijayan looking at the sky, told me: "Papa, see what is in the sky, a big star?" Somewhere in the Western sky was a bright meteor moving at an unusual speed, too low for a shooting star, and too fast for an aircraft. My immediate intuition was about Sri Bhagavan and I exclaimed: It is Sri Bhagavan passing away and started reciting the sloka:
Apaara satchit sukhavaariraser
Yasyoormimaatram bhuvanam samastham |
Guhahitam tam Ramanam gabheeram
Chintaviheenam hrdi chintayaami ||
The time was 8.47 PM.
I immediately left for Tiruvannamalai by midnight driving my own car and reached the Asramam in the small hours of the morning.
They were waiting for me to get my view on the exact location of the Samadhi, since there appeared to be some dispute between Sarvadhikari and other devotees.
I told them about my dream, in which Sri Bhagavan showed me a rectangular spot by drawing with His walking stick on the ground and told me: "Nambiar how do you feel about this spot?"
Thereafter, with further discussions, the Samadhi in the place of the present shrine was finalized.
concluded.
Aradhana - 2011
Reminiscences of Smt. Desur Akhilandamma. [From the Tamizh book,
Sri Ramana mathuranubhavam.]
A few months back, I had taken the blue print of the proposed Sri Ramana Matalayam in Desur. Sri Bhagavan saw the plan and said: "It looks it will come up quite well."
With the help of Sadhu Sankarananada and a lot of other people of the village, the Matalayam was completed and Kumbhabhishekam also took place.
When I went again, and told Sri
Bhagavan about Kumbhabishekam festivities, He checked thrice asking: "Is it all done well?...It is all done well? Is it all done well?" Only at that occasion, I saw the small boil on His left arm.
I started asking Him: Bhagavane! What is this? He immediately said
"Nothing. Who told you all this? He did not allow me to ask further.
A few days before His Maha Nirvana, I went to the Asramam again and people at the entrance did not even allow me inside. When I was feeling very bad, one Asramam inmate identified me and asked me to come in.
With some delay, they sent me then inside the Nirvana Room. I saw His condition. He is my god, guru, mother and father. I could not bear the scene. All my emotions burst out and I cried: O Bhagavane!, and cried bitterly without even thinking that so many hundreds are waiting to see Him.
Sri Bhagavan said: "Why do you cry for this gross body? I am ever your protector! Do not worry about this body."
After Sri Bhagavan left the body, I got drowned into a sea of sorrow. After some gap, I started
visiting His Maha Samadhi, as often
as possible and praying to Sri Ramaneswara Maha Linga Murty.
R.Subramanaian/Friends,
Here is an excerpt from that wonderful book-'Living by the words of Bhagavan'.
"Bhagavan was buried the following day.Swami Satyananda,one of my neighbours in palakottu,assisted in the burial.I saw him returning to palakottu at about 8:30 that evening,his whole body covered in Vibhuti(sacred ash).I naturally asked him how he had got into such a state.
'I put Bhagavan's body in the samadhi pit,'he said.'Since devotees had put a lot of vibhuti there I inevitably got covered with it.can you give some water for a bath?'
Before I gave him the water I embraced him tightly in an attempt to cover my own body with this vibhuti.since it had touched Bhagavan's body I regarded it as his final prasad
I received two other form of prasad that evening.A girl who used to work fo me collected some of the water that had bathed Bhagavan's body and brought it to me.I drank it with great pleasure.Another woman who had a reputation for being slightly mad brought me one of the garlands that had adorned Bhagavan's dead body.So many people had wanted to garland him(something he never permitted while he was alive)each garland had to be removed to make way for the succeeding one.I plucked a few flowers from this garland and ate them.This water and the flowers were the last contact I had with Bhagavan's body.In the years that followed
I tried to remain in contact with the real Bhagavan,the Bhagavan who exists eternally in the Heart."
We are deeply indebted to David to have given us this intimate account of one of the exemplary devotees of Sri Bhagavan,Sri Annamalai Swami.
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
Annamalai Swami was one of the greatest devotees of Sri Bhagavan.
After the construction work inside the Asramam was completed, Sri Bhagavan asked him to stay away. He stayed in Palakottu and several people like Chadwick helped him to construct a cottage and also gave money for food. He ate frugally, coconuts, jaggery etc., and lived with that type of food. He never went into the Asramam as per Sri Bhagavan's words. But when Sri Bhagavan came to Palakottu for a stroll, He used to spend some time with him. He once ate palm fruits given by Annamalai Swami. As a true followers of Sri Bhagavan's words, he did not step in to the Asramam, even during the months of illness and later when He left the body on the night of April 14, 1950 and then even to the Samadhi ceremonies. The water, vibhuti and rose petals brought by others were the adequate prasadam for him, and he was immensely pleased. He had a severe colic pain and one evening, he came to up to stand on the terrace not knowing what to do. When the meteor swung past announcing the passing away of Sri Bhagavan, his colic pain vanished not to come again! I think I have covered some of these incidents in my Aradhana 2011 comments.
Aradhana - 2011:
Mudaliar Parti was the one like Echammal who was sending food for
Sri Bhagavan for years. In 1949, she became blind. Sri Bhagavan's first surgery was then over. She came and touched Sri Bhagavan from head to foot, since she could not see Him. Sri Bhagavan asked her: Are you happy now/ I am alight. by the end of 1949, she passed away and food was served until her last day to Sri Bhagavan. After knowing the demise of Patti, Sri Bhagavan said: A Samadhi has to be made as per Tirumandiram specifications, since she was a realized soul. This was duly done. Sri Bhagavan said: Echammal is gone. Mudaliar Patti is gone...Hm,,, In a few months Sri Bhagavan had also left His body.
concluded.
All reminiscences of devotes about Sri Bhagavan's months of illness and His shedding the body - concluded. If there were to be any missing anecdotes, members may kindly post them.
Sri Ramanarpanamastu.
Upadesa Manjari - Spiritual Instruction:
Chapter II - Abhyasa - Practice:
10. Why do thoughts of many objects arise in the mind even when there is no contact with external objects?
Sri Bhagavan: All such thoughts are due to latent tendencies [purva samskara vasanas]. They appear only to the individual consciousness [Jiva] which has forgotten its real nature and become externalized. 'Who is that sees them?' should be made; they will then disappear at once.
11. How do the triple factors [i.e. knower, known and knowledge], which are absent in deep sleep, samadhi etc., manifest themselves in the Self [in the states of waking and dreaming?
Sri Bhagavan: From the Self arise in succession:
[i] Chidabhasa [reflected consciousness] which is a kind of luminosity.
[ii] Jiva [the individual consciousness] or the seer or the first concept.
[iii] Phenomena, that is the world.
Upadesa Manjari - Spiritual Instruction:
II - Abhyasa - Practice:
12. Since the Self is free from the notions of the knowledge and ignorance, how can it be said to pervade the entire body in the shape of sentience or to impart sentience to the senses?
Sri Bhagavan: Wise men say that there is connection between the source of the various psychic nerves and the Self, that this is the knot of the Heart, that the connection between the sentient and the insentient will exist until this is cut asunder with the aid of true knowledge, that just as the subtle and invisible force of electricity travels through wires and does many wonderful things, so the force of the Self also travels through psychic nerves and, pervading the entire body, imparts sentience to the senses, and that if this knot is cut, the Self will remain as it always it, without any attributes.
Encounters with Bhagavan:
Part I - A Vision of Lord Subrahmanya: - T.R. Kanakammal - April-June 2006 - Mountain Path:
In the old days, upon stepping into Sri Ramanasramam, one could easily be reminded of Kalidasa's immortal verse: Santam Idam Asramam [Peaceful is this Asramam.]
Indeed upon entering, the visitor immediately a deep peace and tranquility.
Hugging the lower spur of Arunachala, as if resting comfortably on the lap of the Hill, near the banks of the placid waters of Pali tirtham, surrounded by majestic trees and lush gardens
where peacocks danced sprightly here and there, the Asramam setting would capture the heart of every beholder, transporting him to holy sites of ages gone by. The
monkeys from the Hill, being a perennial source of amusement for children, would often surprise their young admirers with playful pranks. In the days of Sri Bhagavan, they enjoyed unlimited liberty, as though it were their exlusive privilege.
In this setting, it was common for sadhakas to come from far and wide to prostrate humbly before Sri Bhagavan, pose questions about sadhana, and in due course, leave again, fully satisfied with the answers they received. Others had the experience of silent seeing, simple darshan where no words were exchanged.
One day a visitor came to the darshan hall. Since hi8s youth he had been an upasaka of Lord Subrahmanya and had been faithful in following all the practics enjoined in the scriptures regarding worship of Lord Subrahmanya.
continued....
Encounters with Bhagavan -
T.R. Kanakammal - continues...
This gentleman entered the darshan hall and spoke plaintively to Sri Bhagavan in this vein: "O Swami! All my life since my childhood, I've devoted myself to Lord Murugan and yet, in all this time, I've not been blessed with a vision of the Lord." Sri Bhagavn sat in silence, merely gazing upon this devotee before Him.
Meanwhile, the poet Muruganar was sitting nearby, listening to this. Normally Muruganar never spoke to or even acknowledged anyone, least of all short-visit visitors. Even when devotees challenged him, prodded him in some way, he would simply remain quiet. But this day was different. Upon hearing the young man's pleas, Muruganar interrupted him and with uplifted hands emphatically directed toward Sri Bhagavan, he said:
"You've been waiting for the day to have Lord Subrahmanya's darshan. Why, dear man, the day you've been waiting for has arrived!"
Then without the least hesitation, he gestured toward Sri Bhagavan's regal form reclining on the sofa before them and with words that seemed to pierce the very air itself, he cried out:
"Who else do you think this is here in front of you? Can you not see Him sitting right here before you?"
As if in response to a lifelong yearning, Sri Bhagavan's form evidently transformed before this
visitor's eyes and indeed shone as Lord Subrahmanya. The man stood still, speechless, transfixed. Then he began to rub his eyes as if to be sure that what he was seeing was real and not some trick of sight. Finally with eyes open wide, mouth agape and a countenance full of wonder, profuse tears began to stream down the man's cheeks. His voice quivered and cracked as he shouted out loud before the entire gathering, "Aamaam, aamaam" - Yes, Yes!
*
The details of this account came to us by way of Muruganar, who, on the evening of the day in question, was visited by this devotee. The man came to Muruganar
at his residence opposite the Asramam, approaching him with pranams and prostrations and other gestures of thanksgiving for Muruganar's role in the former's "miraculous vision" of the Lord.
continued....
Encounters with Bhagavan:
Part II - T.R. Kanakammal, Mountain Path, July-Sept. 2006:
Once an earnest seeker came, prostrated in all humility to Sri Bhagavan, and asked Him:
"Sri Bhagavan has said that the real nature of the Self can be attained only by constant dhyana. But how is it possible for one like me saddled with official responsibilities and management of household affairs? If a major part of one's life is spent managing these, where is the time for atma vichara, much less uninterrupted dhyana? What is the way out? I beseech Sri Bhagavan to enlighten me on this."
Looking at him compassionately Sri Bhagavan said:
"Suppose you leave your house with the intention of coming to the Asramam and on the way you meet a friend. You greet him, exchange plesantries and then take leave of him, proceeding to the Asramam while your friend goes his way. Now you don't go away with your friend but rather continue toward the Asramam, do you not? The thought of coming to the Asramam is so fixed in your mind that whomsoever you happen to meet on the way is spoken to in the proper way and parted with in order that you may fulfil your original intention. Likewise, if the mind is deeply engaged in meditation after doing whatever has to be done, the mind will return to meditation. By engaging the mind before starting work and after finishing it, even while waking, it will automatically acquire the ability to do the necessary while inhering in its natural state. In the course of time, this becomes in built, habitual and natural, and one no longer fees the lack of being engaged in constant meditation."
continued...
Encounters with Bhagavan:
Part II - T.R. Kanakammal - continues...
Another time, in the Jubilee Hall, a Telugu devotee came to Sri Bhagavan and complained about the pallavi of
Atma Vidya, where there is mention of release being easy.
"O Bhagavan, how can someone such as I get release? Release may be easy for one like you, but how is it possible for an ordinary person
like me?"
Sri Bhagavan said: "If it is easy for me how can it be difficult for you?"
"But you are Bhagavan, I am just an ordinary man!"
Sri Bhagavan then said: "If you were to have to carry something too heavy for you to pick up, what would you do?"
"I would seek the help of others." the devotee responded.
"In the same way, seek the help of the Divine or simply surrender to Him.", Sri Bhagavan said.
"That is one thing that is just impossible for me. Today I will say I have surrendered but the next day, the ego will rise up and dance with abandon."
Sri Bhagavan replied: "In that case, do one thing, pray to Him to help you surrender. If you cannot do even that, then simply suffer what comes your way!"
*
A devotee once asked why the impure world of maya came forth from Pure Brahman.
Sri Bhagavan said everything is pure. It is only the mind, that comes in between that is impure.
*
continued.
Encounters with Bhagavan:
Part II - T.R. Kanakammal - continues:
One day, the attendant Venkataratnam
was accompanying Sri Bhagavan up the
Hill. There is steep stretch with steps at one particular place on the path from the Asramam to Skandasramam. While climbing down Sri Bhagavan would often manoeuvre
this inclined portion by bracing Himself on a big rock. planting His stick firmly against the ledge and descending slowly. One day, some devotees evidently asked a young boy to wait at this place and approach Sri Bhagavan as He passed, and take hold of His feet. The youngster said to Him: "Bhagavan, if you do not grant me mukti, I will not let go of your feet." Apparently the devotees were hiding themselves behind the nearby bushes. Bracing Himself with His stick, Sri Bhagavan said: "Adei, it is you who are in a position to give mukti because if you don't let go of my feet, I am going to fall and attain complete release at this moment." At these words, the boy became frightened and took to His heels. Astonished by this strange happening Venkataratnam asked who the boy could have been and what this unusual episode could mean. Bhagavan's ready reply was, "Oh, it was all staged."
How could anyone ever succeed in hoodwinking Sri Bhagavan?
*
concluded.
Fellow Travellers
I havent been here for a while, perhaps this has already been posted. But i enjoyed it and wanted to post it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-6ESfGTUOQ&feature=related
Peter
and one more, it is very good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weXKuURMgMs
regards
Peter,
Thanks for posting those links. It was great to listen to Davidji again.
best
Dear everyone,
Osama bil Laden has been killed by
American forces. Kill Osama order was given by Obama, the President
of U.S.A. on April 29th. The American forces killed Osama and his two sons, inside the specially built mansion for him, in Pakistan, thus proving that Pakistan was keeping them inside their territory. Hence the American operations were done not even informing Pakistan prior hand. The Americans are rejoicing the death as they were killed, about 3000 of them, in and around the World Trade Center [the Twin Towers].
There are some collateral issues. How can American forces enter into some other nation's territory? How can they do so and conduct the operations without even giving a clue to that nation. These collatral issues will fade away, since, in war and anti terrorist activities, all rules are fine in love and war. India should be specifically happy, particularly when 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were done by Pakistan terrorists with the training of Osama's men.
The revenge has taken 10 years.
And with it comes high alert notifications in all parts of world particularly in India and USA. As said in the Fifth Horseman, the war will henceforth be between Christians and Moslems with Indians sandwiched between them.
As the Bible says: The one who takes the sword, will die by sword [or one who takes the gun will die by gun.]
If someone discusses this with Sri Bhagavan, what would He have said?
'Everything is ordained by god. Summa Iru.'
Upadesa Manjari - Spiritual Instruction:
Qn.No.14: What is dhyana [meditation]?
Sri Bhagavan: It is abiding as one's Self without swerving in any way from one's real nature and without feeling that one is meditating. As one is not in the least conscious of the different states, [waking, dreaming, etc.,] in this condition, the sleep [noticeable] here is also regarded as dhayana.
Qn. 15: What is the difference between dhyana and samadhi?
Sri Bhagavan: Dhyana is achieved through deliberate mental effort; in samadhi there is no such effort.
Qn: 16: What are the factors to be kept in view in dhyana?
Sri Bhagavan: It is important for one who is established in his Self [Atma Nishta] to see that he does not swerve in the least from this absorption. By swerving from his true nature, he may see before him bright effulgences, etc., or hear [unusual] sounds or regard as real the visions of gods appearing within or outside himself. He should not be deceived by these and forget himself.
... Osama bin Laden ...
In the human world there is no end of the fear.
They killed him, but the fear does not stop. Now they fear the revenge of Osamas friends.
What do we learn of this? The world eagerly wants to fight the fear but is not able to do so - the fear lives forth or is even enlarged.
Dasa Sloki - Sri Sankara:
Just as everyone has, I too have mother, father, and so on. I worship the deities believing that they are Gods and Goddesses in heaven. But all these are like actions of of an expert actor on a stage. On the stage, there are friends, and enemies, for the role of the actor, there are elders and youngsters. How long will this drama last? Until, the actor goes to the green room and remove all his make-up? Then isn't he devoid of all those imaginary relationships? My situation is very similar to the example of the actor! My green room back stage is my state of deep sleep. There I have not mother, father, heaven, or hell and so on. So how can that relationship be 'real' if it is not enduring? When one expresses there is nothing in deep sleep, one does not have to conclude it is 'absolute vacuum' or 'sarva soonya'. There has to be someone - "I" - even to negate everything and experience this 'sarva soonya' state. Is it not patent that "I" exist who is experiencing and has the knowledge of this absence of any second entity!
Dear Clemens Vargas Ramos,
Yes. The fear lives for ever though the fearsome can be annihilated here
and there. How to overcome the fear?
Muruganar has dealt with fear in many places in Guru Vachaka Kovai.
Verse 551 says: Only the ignorant who have not enquired and realized the supreme reality in the Heart, will, becoming trapped in treacherous illusion, experience fear. But the enlightened ones who have attained perfect jnana by realizing the vast supreme, whose transcendent bliss surges like a flood, will never feel fear in their hearts.
Verse 607 says: When people, through pramada [Self-forgetfulness], slip from their true state, which is all bliss and fear-free since no other thing exists, they become insignificant jivas and are subject to the misery of birth. Is this not so? When noble people fall from their eminent state through improper conduct, they will suffer losing their greatness, like a hair that has fallen from the head.
Verse 1078 says: Because of its non-dual nature, the Self is the abode of fearlessness. But within it, even the great gods suffer from fear through the sense of differences, [bheda buddhi] that has arisen via ignorance, the mind. Therefore, the wise course is to abide in the supreme non dual state, without fear, by merging with the truth of one's own swarupam, rejecting the non-Self through the process of 'not this' [neti].
Verse 1079 says: The unassailable peace of mind, full of enduring bliss of the Self, will arise only on the day, one merges with the absolute freedom of the Self, and not in any way before that day. In the paramount sovereignty of that non dual state understanding, that reality which is wholly space-like, there can exist no duality, to give desire and fear.
[Tr. David Godman and Ors.]
The Unexpected Feast:
T.R. Kanakammal - Mountain Path - April - June 2007:
One day two destitute looking brahmins entered the hall. It was known that they earned their livelihood by the wretched and socially demeaning occupation of bearing the dead bodies to the cremation grounds. Both were extremely hungry after having discharged their duties.
Custom demands that anyone entering a house recently visited by death should take a bath immediately upon leaving. This stricture applies particularly if one steps into the cremation ground, and more particularly if one is involved in removing and physically transporting the departed to this place.
A heated argument had ensued between the two men about the propriety of coming to the Asramam to have a meal without having bathed. While one of them keenly felt the unseemliness of transgressing this hallowed custom, the other dismissed it as impracticable in view of their acute hunger. Assured of a meal in the Asramam, which was on their way home, they thought they might appease their appetite. They came to the Hall and sat down. One of them excitedly and abruptly said to Sri Bhagavan:
"Swami, I have been insisting on the customary bath before we sit for meal. Is that not but just and proper?" Sri Bhagavan responded in very soft tone: "No one can say you are unjust." The other at once in a greatly agitated voice, burst forth:
"The pangs of hunger are so intense, that our entrails are being devoured. Is it wrong to eat when hunger is so gnawing?"
Sri Bhagavan quietly replied: "Who says it is wrong? Not at all."
Shocked, looking at one another, they asked in one voice, "But then who is wrong?"
continued...
The Unexpected Feast:
T.R. Kanakammal - continues...
Sri Bhagavan answered:
"Don't think you alone are pall-bearers. All of us are carrying these lifeless corpses. This body is a veritable corpse. Everybody carries it saying, "I,I". Whoever has the 'I am the body' feeling is but a pall bearer. As long as one has not gone beyond this, one remains as impure and polluted as pall bearer. The pollution of bearing this dead body cannot be washed away by a dip in any tank. Bathing in the holy waters of the Atman alone can remove this pollution."
The brahmins, though initially feeling vindicated, were now startled and stared at each other. In an instant, the entire complexion of the issue stood transformed. Everyone without exception was equally polluted! All people shared their fate!
Rid of their social inferiority they felt lifted up. The felicity with which atma bodha - the eternal truth - was transmitted to them and others in the Hall, and the sama drishti of Sri Bhagavan, that knew no distinction between regular devotees and stray visitors, however socially unsavoury their vocation might be, left those seated in the Hall astounded. That we are all bound to die is known to everyone. But even before we die, if we have not yet bathed in the waters of the Atman, we are already as though dead, being with us lifeless corpses lost in 'I am the body' consciousness. This was a revelation for one and all gathered in the Hall.
The next minute, the two brahmins were nowhere to be seen. No one knew where they had gone, to the dining hall for food or elsewhere. But one thing was certain. For their spiritual hunger, Sri Bhagavan's words had been an unexpected feast.
continued....
The Unexpected Feast:
T.R. Kanakammal - continues...
The exalted and unique greatness of a realized guru is sung gloriously in Guru Gita [Chapter I, verses 25 and 26] from Skandapuranam:
kaasi kshetram nivaasas'cha jaahnavi charondakam |
guru vis'ves'varah saakshattarakam brahma nis'chayah || [25]
The place of residence of a guru is verily Kasi Kshetra. His charamrutham [waters dripping of his feet] is verily the holy Ganga. He is verily Visweswara, Takra Brahman, the Saviour.
guroh paadaakitam yathu gayaaste'kshayovatah |
tirtharaajah prayaago'sau gurumurtyai namo namah || [26]
His foot prints are verily holy Gaya, Akshayavata [the imperishable Banyan Tree] and Prayga, the king of holy waters. Salutations to such a Guru again and again.
The preceding story is not a mere instance of poetic flamboyance, but a stark truth in relation to a Jnani like Sri Bhagavan. No wonder that whoever had but a look from Sri Bhagavan -- being Brahman in manifested form -- enjoyed the purificatory effect of obalations in the holiest of holy waters. Need we doubt that the two pall bearers were purified the moment they came in for Sri Bhagavan's darshan?
concluded.
Supreme Love -
The Example and Teaching of Sri Bhagavan: Monica Bose - April - June 2007:
Sri Bhagavan was often asked about the role of love in Being-Consciousness-Bliss [sat-chit-ananda]. Normally He would reply that the peace and joy of the Self is love.
How correct that is, as indeed was everything Sri Bhagavan said. In the peace of pure Being-Consciousness, there is no conflict possible since there is no 'other' seen as separate from oneself. Supreme Love is Impersonal Love. It is a Jnani's love that can only take root and grow in the awareness of truth. To attain true love we have first to find out who we are by following the Path of Self Inquiry to realize the God within us. When we know that we can and go on, by seeing beyond the veil of personality, to the God in others.
Sri Bhagavan's hymns to Arunachala - the Self - are spontaneously spoken from a heart overflowing with a Jnani's love. As in this beautiful verse from the Marital Garland of Letters to Arunachala:
"Let me melt with Love in Thee Who art Love Itself, Oh Arunachala!"
Yet once there was doubt among some of the devotees as to whether such expressions of love were those of a true Advaitin. An old devotee posed the question to Sri Bhagavan. "Love postulates duality. How can the Self be the object of Love?"
Sri Bhagavan replied, "Love is not different from the Self. Love of an object is of an inferior order and cannot endure. Whereas the Self is identified Love. God is Love." [Talks No, 433]. Love is the Self loving the Self. There is no duality. Thus affirmed Sri Bhagavan who knew, for unlike His questioners, He had realized the Self.
continued....
Supreme Love - Monica Bose- continues..
Yet the starting point for attaining true Love is ordinary love as Sri Bhagavan once made clear to a young man who asked Him whether God could be worshipped through the Path of Love. Sri Bhagavan said: "Love itself is the actual form of God. If by saying, 'I do not love this; I do not love that.' you reject all things in your mind, that which remains is Swarupam, or the innate Self. That is pure Bliss. Call it pure bliss, God, Atma, or what you will. That is devotion; that is realization and that is everything."
[Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, Suri Nagamma]
When the young man doubted that it was possible to reject anything saying, "This is no good, that is no good", unless from experience of them, Sri Bhagavan agreed, "That is true. To reject the bad you must love the good. In due course, that good also will appear to be an obstacle and will be rejected. Hence you must necessarily first love what is good. That means you must first love and then reject the thing that you love. If you thus reject everything, what remains is the Self alone. That is real love. One who knows the secret of that love finds the world itself full of universal love." [Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, Suri Nagamma.]
Sri Bhagavan's entire teaching was based on love because the Path of Jnana, which means Self realization through the removal of the ego shadow which obscures the Self from our sight, it is essentially the Path of Selflessness. Selflessness requires renunciation that is not just the giving up of worldly goods and attachments, or the subjugation of desires and passions, but rather the enlargement of one's potential for love until no trace of self interest remains. To one devotee who felt he could not truly renounce while remaining in the world, Sri Bhagavan said: "No. One who truly renounces actually merges in the world and expands his love so as to embrace the whole world. It would be more correct to characterize the attitude of devotee as one of love than that of a person forsaking the home to don ochre robes." [Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge - Arthur Osborne.]
To Sri Bhagavan, the true renunciate is not a malcontent who seeks to escape from a worldly life out of some disillusionment or disappointment. Nor is it a person who doubts that he can love anyone and in safety prefers his own company. No, the true renunciate is firmly planted in the world but his desire to get closer to God he loves is so great that all other desires fall down like ripe fruit from a tree.
contd.,
Supreme Love - Monica Bose - continues...
Such was Sri Bhagavan's teaching, but what were His actions with respect to His devotees? The answer is that Sri Bhagavan radiated His deep experience of the God within -
the Divinity that is Supreme Intelligence and at the same time Supreme Love. That is, seeing, protecting and caring. Of the many instances of Sri Bhagavan's protection and care it is difficult to single out some for mention. But when Sri Bhagavan was living in the caves of Arunachala, we hear of His refusing His own safety, to abandon a young boy in His care who was lying there ill with plague [Ramanatha Brahmachari].
Then, there is the touching tale of the low caste women who toiled at cutting grass, on the Hill and carried heavy burdens in the hot sun, but were not allowed because of their caste to drink water at a spring there. Water is hard to fetch and store for cave dwellers, but Sri Bhagavan always had water for each one of them. We know too how He took into his cave-hermitage His mother and younger brother in their time of need. Few ascetics would have had the inclination to admit into the freedom of their lives, the family cares they had left behind. A kitchen was eventually set by the Mother and since those sharing Sri Bhagavan's retreat were being looked after, their number increased. There eventually came regulations, restrictions, and organization; all that a renunciate expects to be free from. But Sri Bhagavan exemplified the true meaning of renunciation and lack of ego by obeying all the rules which were made for the Asramam and allowing no special exemption to be made for Himself while still extending His love to all.
To us, His devotees who were with Him while He was still physically present, His love was continuously transmitted through darshan. Throughout the many years that He was physically there for us Sri Bhagavan placed the greatest importance on giving darshan, sharing with us the blessed presence of the Divinity embodied in Him. Giving darshan can be hard and demanding task. For Him there were no holidays, no sick leave, no time set apart for Himself. Not everyone today knows that He did not have a separate room in which to sleep or relax in. In the Asramam Hall, He was all the time in public gaze. Since He slept very little, some people approached Him even at night, with a question or a problem and were never sent away. In 1949, from the time of his first operation to remove a cancerous growth it was with great difficulty that Sri Bhagavan was persuaded to take rest for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
Supreme Love - Monica Bose:
continues...
His love extended to the humblest and poorest. The poor were fed everyday in front courtyard just within the gate, before Sri Bhagavanand the Asramam devotees and visitors. If by some mischance there was not enough food for the poor, Sri Bhagavsn would not go for His own meal, until He saw that food had been found for them and their feeding started. This applied equally to animals at the Asramam who, knowing that He loved them, loved Him in return. He loved animals because He saw the Self in them as He did in all beings. He never considered them inferior. He also was concerned with feeding us spiritually. When Sri Bhagavan was once asked by a devotee to prolong His life for the sake of all devotees who needed Him, He replied, "The body is like a banana-leaf...Do we not throw it away now that it has served its purpose? When you had your meal do you keep the used plantain leaf? [Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge -
Arthur Osborne]. The leaf was the body; the meal was His Presence, teaching and care, offered to us with the generosity of true life.
It is said that one someone is drawn to Sri Bhagavan and Arunachala, it is as if they are caught in the jaws of a tiger that will never let go. Well, I have since childhood been blessed by being firmly caught in those jaws! My mother, a doctor, was Sri Bhagavan's devotee for fourteen years. My grandmother was a frequent visitor to Tiruvannamalai and during my school and later college holidays, I myself visited Sri Bhagavan for ten years. The three of us felt protected and guided, my mother to deeper understanding and great peace. My grandmother, at a time when she was losing her sense of purpose in life, handed over Sri Bhagavan, a little note on which were simply written the words, "Please give me guidance for the future." Sri Bhagavan told her to go back to her religion, which in in itself was extraordinary for she had told no one that she had left it. She was to derive immense benefit from returning to her original religion, walking closer and closer to her Lord during the twenty three remaining years of her long pilgrimage on the earth.
contd.,
Supreme Love - Monica Bose -
continues....
And then, there is the mysterious evidence of Sri Bhagavan's "actionless activity." Sometimes, a devotee who fervently prayed in secret to Sri Bhagavan for His help would have his or her prayer granted, even when Sri Bhagavan Himself did not seem to know about it. Sadhu Arunachala, in A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi, tells about a gentleman from Kashmir who came to the Asramam with his servant who could speak only Kashmiri. One night when the
Hall was almost dark the servant came into the Hall and standing before Sri Bhagavan chattered away in Kashmiri. Sri Bhagavan simply reclined, looking at him. After a while, the man saluted Sri Bhagavan and left the Hall happy, evidently he got his answer. Next morning, his master came to Sri Bhagavan and complained, "Bhagavan, you never told me you could speak Kashmiri, was it fair?" "Why, what do you mean?" asked Sri Bhagavan, "I know not a single word of your language." Sri Bhagavn asked the gentleman how he had got hold of this absurd idea and the latter explained: "Last night my servant came to you and asked you several questions in his language. He tells me that you answered every one and cleared his doubts!" "But I never opened my mouth," replied Sri Bhagavan!
This incident evokes the miracle of the sick woman, who touched the hem of Jesus' garment and was cured instantly, although, Jesus seems to have known about it only when he perceived that the 'power had gone out of him'. Sri Bhagavan did not give formal initiation, but some people who longed to get the initiation from Him said they had received it in a dream or vision or by Sri Bhagavan's look or simply by being in His Presence, and this when Sri Bhagavan Himself seems not to have deliberately bestowed it. The explanation given by Swami Abhishiktanada, himself a very saintly man is that in a realized being, like Sri Bhagavan, Grace or Love is sometimes a spontaneous manifestation of the inner Reality. Swami Abhishiktananda held that between the Master and the disciple, initiation is communion of Being 'from depth to depth', or in his word 'from abyss to abyss.'
contd.,
Dear David,
Smt. T.R. Kanakammal merged with Sri
Bhagavan on 1st Jan. 2010, which was also Sri Bhagavan's Jayanti. I was present in the Samadhi Hall and my found her entering the Hall alighting from a car. Soon, as she was prostrating to Sri Bhagavan, she did not rise again.
I just want to know whether any Samadhi has been constructed for
Smt. Kanakammal, and if so, where at? Or was she cremated like any ordinary mortals? Is her day i.e 1st Jan. 2010 is observed in Asramam as a day of solemn prayers
and meditation?
Peter,
Thanks for the links to the interview with David Godman.
Upadesa Manjari - Spiritual Instruction:
Chapter II : Abhyasa - Practice;
Question 17: What are the rules of conduct which an aspirant [sadhaka] should follow?
Sri Bhagavan: Moderation in food, moderation in sleep, and moderation in speech.
Question 18: How long should one practice?
Sri Bhagavan: Until the mind attains effortlessly its natural state of freedom from concepts, that is till the sense of 'I' and 'mine' exists no longer.
Question 19: What is the meaning of dwelling in solitude [ekanta vasa]?
Sri Bhagavan: As the Self is all-pervasive, it has no particular place of solitude. The state of being free from mental concepts is called 'dwelling solitude.'
Question 20: What is the sign of wisdom [viveka]?
Sri Bhagavan: Its beauty lies in remaining free from delusion after realizing the truth once. There is fear only for one who sees even a slight difference in the Supreme Brahman. So long there is idea that the body is the Self one cannot be a realizer of truth whoever he might be.
Question 21: If everything happens according to karma [prarabdha, the result of one's acts in the past] how is one to overcome the obstacles to meditation [dhyana]?
Sri Bhagavan: Prarabdha concerns only the out-turned, not the in-turned mind. One who seeks his real Self will not be afraid of any obstacle.
Supreme Love - Monica Bose -
continues....
As Sri Bhagavan became physically weaker through illness, as the flesh was burnt out by cancer and the radical treatments applied to it, as if the disguise that was His body was wearing thin before us, the Love within Him became more and more evident. In March 1950, after a visit to Tiruvannamalai, I came to take leave of Sri Bhagavan before returning to college in Madras. In the final stage of His illness, He had been moved to a small cottage, and lying in the room facing the doorway, He still gave darshan daily. By then there were a thousand devotees a day coming for His darshan. I joined the queue of devotees lined up before the platform of earth built in front of the room. When it came to my turn to stand in the doorway, I looked at Him in astonishment. I had often seen Him look tenderly or compassionately at someone, but had never seen Him like this before. In His poor worn body there was Supreme Passionate Love. The sight is still with me, vividly real to this day.
In the experience of many people, even today, Sri Bhagavan's Presence is still there and His Love still acts in their lives. For Supreme Love is Undying Love. Vain pride bows its head, spurious thoughts, doubts and illusions are dissipated. An answering love wells up in the heart before Sri Bhagavan's revelation of the true nature of the Self - the eternal, unchanging, wondrous Love that excludes no one, even if the judgment of the word may find us unworthy.
Concluded.
Reminiscences of an Old Devotee:
N. Ramachandra Rao - Tr. from Kannada by S.K. Swamy:
[The author is the Kannada biography of Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. He was a teacher in Oorgaum, Karnataka. He was also an Ayurvedic doctor and there are a number of references to him in some Asramam publications.]
I learned of Sri Bhagavan's greatness in 1918. Immediately, I went to Tiruvannamalai and had His darshna at Skandasramam. Sri Bhagavan was sitting on a raised platform and He graciously enquired my name and where I was coming from, then later I was served meals in the Asramam. His darshan, loving talk, food offered with affection and above all this, His Grace, - it is difficult to explain what powers of loving intimacy all these had. Like iron filings attracted to a magnet, I was drawn to Him and anxious to become worthy of His benign Grace. As and when I could get leave, I used to come and live in Sri Ramanasramam and serve Him in whatever capacity I could until His Mahasamadhi. Here I would like to impart many interesting anecdotes that happened during ore than 30 years of my association with Sri Bhagavan.
A few months after the first visit, I took my wife with me to have His darshan. He bid us sit on a raised podium and served us food with His own hands. Can there be a match to the love of a great soul? Even now it is fresh in my memory, as His love was like that of a mother.
Once when my wife had fallen ill, she was unable to take any food; and even though doctors concluded it to be tuberculosis, when Sri Bhagavan appeared in her dreasms and blessed her, she was cured of her illness miraculously to everybody's amazement! She is to this day a great devotee of Sri Bhagavan.
contd.,
Reminiscences of an Old Devotee:
N. Ramachandra Rao :
[Mountain Path - July - Sept. 2007]
continues...
On the day we were served food, we had an intense desire to perform Padapuja to Sri Bhagavan, but it was contrary to Asramam rules which did not permit it. But Sri Bhagavan, who was compassionate,
saw to it that everybody went out of the Asramam, and enabled us to fulfil our desire!
Again when we had holidays during the Navaratri festival, we both proceeded to Tiruvannamalai to have His darshan. Then we prepared ragi gruel and servd it to Sri Bhagavan. As per a Bhagavad Gita verse, Sri Bhagavan lovingly accepted it. Sri Bhagavan who would take luxurious food brought by so many rich devotees, accepted even the ragi gruel with love from poor people like us. How can there be such discrimination as rich and poor for Sri Bhagavan? Is He not equal to all? This time also, He blessed us by accepting Padapuja from us!
When I went to Tiruvannamalai in 1932, Sri Bhagavan was staying in a small thatched shed near the Mother's Samadhi. When I went there to have His darshan, just as before, I took with me a flower garland, some sweets, camphor etc., When I was getting ready to offer these, Sri Bhagavan did not accept them, but sternly told me, "If you want me to take these eatables, place this garland on the photo nearby or if you wish that I should wear this flower garland take back your eatables and go." Hearing this, I was non plussed. Finally I placed the flower garland on the photo and waved the camphor before it. Only then Sri Bhagavan took the eatables. It appeared as though it was a warning, since the crowd of devotees at the Asramam was increasing, such a display of ritual worship was unwarranted.
contd.,
Reminiscences of an Old Devotee:
N. Ramachandra Rao:
continues....
In those days, Sri Bhagavan and also inmates of the Asramam would get up at 4.00 am. and would cut vegetables and keep them ready for the day's cooking. While thus engaged Sri Bhagavan would narrate the events of His life. Many a time He would go to the kitchen and grind iddli-batter and chutney for breakfast. He would bring the chutney He had prepared and give each of us a little, to taste and ask us to tell Him how it was. Oh, how beloved was He to His devotees!
I feel it would not be wrong to say that it was because of my medical profession, I had the privilege of touching and serving His feet. After breakfast and also meals, Sri Bhagavan used to go for a walk barefoot on the Hill. On such occasions, thorns and sharp stones would prick His feet and cause wounds. Soon after His returning to the Asramam, I would apply ointment I had with me to His feet although He would be unwilling. As a result of this I got the title 'doctor' from Sri Bhagavan.
Once Sri Shamanna, Financial Controller of Mysore State had come by bus to have Sri Bhagavan's darshan. {see Talks}. He was unwell and vomiting several times and was extremely exhausted in the Asramam. The same evening I also had come from Bangalore and reached the Asramam. No sooner did Sri Bhagavan see me than He ordered me, "Shamanna has come. It seems he is unwell. Go and see him." Immediately I hastened to where Shamanna was. After giving necessary treatment, I came back and reported to Sri Bhagavan. It is clear from this how much concern and kindness Sri Bhagavan had towards His devotees.
Sri Bhagavan had as much love for dumb animals and birds as He had for humans. Once the Maharshi saw a dog suffering from scabies all over its body. Immediately He called the veterinary doctor Ananthanarayana Rao who was in the Asramam and got the dog treated. By this kind act of His, He exemplified the saying of the Bhagavad Gita by actually practicing it. [B.G. 6.32].
contd.,
Reminiscences of an Old Devotee:
N. Ramachandra Rao:
continues....
In 1929, I was in Mysore. One day suddenly, the idea of my approaching death came over me. I did not have any illness in my body. I was carrying out my daily activities as usual. Still, day by day, the fear of death was increasing. Besides this, one night a lizard fell on my head. From this my apprehension of going to die reached a climax and I was almost certain that my life would pass away that night. I did not inform anyone in the house. I just spread a mat on the ground and lay down praying and expecting death any moment. Sleep came. Then I had a dream. In that dream, it appeared as though I was wandering in a forest. Suddenly, there came a three or four thieves with big swords in their hands, chasing me in order to kill me. When I started running panic-stricken, there I saw Sri Ramanasramam and no sooner did I remember Sri Bhagavan, then the three thieves vanished. I woke up soon after. What a wonder! My fear of death had gone. Having the fear of death vanish merely remembering Sri Bhagavan, is there any doubt that the cycle of birth and death can vanish by remembering the holy feet of Sri Ramana? Has not Krishna vouchsafed in the Gita, 'These I speedily lift up from the ocean of death and existence.' [BG; 12.6-7].
Contd.,
Reminiscences of an Old Devotee:
N. Ramachandra Rao -
continues....
I want to cite one more pre-eminent
greatness of Sri Bhagavan. By this time, the purpose of the human manifestation of Sri Bhagavan on this earth was coming to an end, the period of my official service also nearing completion. In April 1950, Sri Bhagavan's time of Maha Nirvana was also nearing. So there was no possibility of getting leave. It had been publicized in newspapers that Sri Bhagavan's physical condition was deteriorating to a critical state. On seeing this, I had an intense desire to rush to the Asramam, to render my service to Sri Bhagavan. I proceeded without my leave being sanctioned, surely there would be trouble about my pension. If I cared for pension, I would be deprived of serving my Sadguru. This state of mine was critical for me. I thought at length and decided that Sri Bhagavan was my everything, that serving Him should be of paramount importance and that my life's course should be according to its destiny, prarabdha. Deciding thus, I hastened to the Asramam, the same day and engaged myself in His service. Sri Bhagavan who was aware of my inner feelings allowed me to serve Him. In his final days, from time to time, I was dispensing the medicines left in the Asramam by Kaviraj of Calcutta. Then I wrote to my superior authorities requesting leave. Soon came a telegram from the Minister of Education, "Ramachandra may stay and serve Sri Bhagavan", and thus enhancing the prestige of the Mysore Government. Besides, this, within one week of my retiring from service, my pension also reached me!
Thus in both spiritual and temporal affairs, Sri Bhagavan directly displayed His exceeding greatness directly to me. May His full Grace be on me always.
concluded.
Sri Maharshi The Alchemist
Girdharlal - Sri Aurobindo Ashram:
*
What Maharshi knew at seventeen, we
do not know at seventy. Why?
Ah! We lack the fire; our hearts
are cold and our heads are
hard.
Alas! what shall we do?
Go to Maharshi? Yes; He'll lend
us fire, warm our hearts - now
cold - and turn the stones in
us into gold.
That is Maharshi, the Alchemist.
* * * * *
Him that Gods do praise
Men do not recognize;
-- Nay, even crucify!
How long the world cared not for
Him, the Maharshi!
How few now too are they that care
for Him?
They that dare ignore the Self
Wouldn't they ignore all else?
But then, God knows and cares,
Himself in Gita so declares..
********
My Humble and Heart-felt Homage To
Sri Ramana Maharshi
William S. Spaulding [Jr.], New York
*
Though quite a few years have elapsed since I had the privilege of being in the presence of Sri Maharshi, the tremendous impression made on me at that time has remained undimmed.
I shall not discuss Maharshi's method of approach to full realization, for that is well known, though undoubtedly little understood. Rather, I would like to attempt to describe the impression that came over me as I sat in His Presence for the first time. The most powerful impression was that of what I can only call
an almost palpable "golden radiance", the visual effect of a tremendous spiritual force. There was an intense and subtle radiation that seems to flow from Him continually, -- and once having sensed this, words, questions, techniques of meditation, etc., seemed to dissolve immediately.
And to those unable to hear that "Ultimate Voice of Silence", their questions are answered with simple yet shattering clarity, sweeping away all dialectic and verbalism, uncovering the way that leads to the ultimate Source - the Self.
Maharshi also possesses to a high degree that quality described as "divine indifference", attributed to certain saints of the Christian church. This must not be taken to mean what is generally associated with the term 'indifference', but rather as a beneficent, unfettered out-pouring of the healing radiation of a realized Being.
Additional words would in no way give a clearer conception of that great person, Sri Maharshi. Let those who cannot fail to take advantage of the blessed opportunity of going to the Holy Hill of Arunachala, to expeience the rare instance of contact with One who has reached the high pinnacle of pure Being.
***
... What Maharshi knew at seventeen, we
do not know at seventy. Why?
Ah! We lack the fire; our hearts
are cold and our heads are
hard.
Alas! what shall we do? ...
Best is to be quiet and not to drive oneself and others mad.
Remembering Bhagavan:
T.R. Kanakammal - Mountain Path -
Jan.-Mar. 2007:
During the initial days of the Asramam, conditions were very simple and the facilities meagre. It was a hand to mouth existence. Cooking in the kitchen was done in turn by the lady cooks.
One day when Shantammal had just finished preparing food sufficient only for the Asramam inmates, a party of dozen or so guests, eager to have Sri Bhagavan's darshan, showed up. It was a hot day and the Asramam, in those days being on the outskirts of the town, was far from the nearest public place to eat. The approach of the lunch bell was imminent and Shantammal was in a quandary. What she had cooked would not suffice for both inmates and the newly arrived guests. Neither was there enough time to cook additional food. Even if none of the guests asked permission to have lunch at the Asramam, Shantammal was pretty sure that Sri Bhagavan, in His characteristic way, would wave them into the dining hall with His stick at the sound of the bell. After mustering up the courage, she approached Sri Bhagavan, "Bhagavan, food has only been prepared for the inmates." But Sri Bhagavan didn't even appear to have heard her! Shantammal went back to the kitchen and wrung her hands in despair, expressing her predicament to Madhava Swami. The latter replied instantly: "Don't worry; we will lay our leaves for everyone but serve only a little food as prasad to each."
The bell rang and all were seated before the leaf plates. Everytime Shantammal went to the rice pot to take out rice, trepidation seized her. But lo and behold! The supply was inexhaustible. All ate to their hearts content and everybody was served liberally. Enough was left in the pot to feed a dozen over and above those who had eaten!
During the early evenings, when few people were about, Sri Bhagavan would normally sit in a chair on the veranda outside the Hall. On the evening of the same day, Shantammal approached Him reverentially and said, "Wonder of wonders, Bhagavan! Today there was only enough food for inmates, yet it turned out to be sufficient for a dozen more. What a great siddhi, Sri Bhagavan displayed today!" Sri Bhagavan answered, "Oh, I remember your saying something about food before lunch." Then in a seemingly casual manner, He asked, "Who did the cooking today?" Taking it to be a routine question, one that He often asked, she unsuspectingly said, "I did, Bhagavan." At once, He replied: "Then the siddhi is yours!"
Annam palikkum aNi koL Thillai kandene!
- Saint Manikkavachagar.
contd.,
Remembering Bhagavan -
T.R. Kanakammal - continues...
The Sixth Kosa:
It was an unusually cold winter and this particular day among the coldest. Manavasi Ramaswamy Iyer had two shirts made because he wanted Sri Bhagavan to be warm with something more adequate to protect Him from being cold than the usual loin cloth and the occasional cotton towel to over His top. Lacking the courage to present them personally, he placed them on the stool in front of Sri Bhagavan's sofa while Sri Bhagavan was taking a walk on the Hill. Upon His return, Sri Bhagavan saw them and questioned the attendant. Just then Manavasi put his appearance and murmured inaudibly, "Bhagavan, it was I who put them there. It is very cold Bhagavan and..." But Sri Bhagavan interrupted him, saying, "Did I complain that it was cold?"
"No, Bhagavan, I took the initiative. I thought Sri Bhagavan should protect Himself."
But Sri Bhagavan wouldn't hear it. "No take them away."
Manavasi persisted and yet nothing would make Sri Bhagavan accept them. Finally, with a tinge of frustration, Sri Bhagavan said, "I already wear five shirts," referring to the pancha kosas. Is the sixth one necessary?"
Thannaiye kovaNamai saathinan kaaN chazhalo!
- Tiruvachakam, Tiru Chazhal -
Saint Manikkavachagar.
contd.,
Remembering Bhagavan:
T.R. Kanakammal - continues...
Devaraja Mudaliar was a lawyer by profession. He had a highly developed legal mind which railed against inconsistency in any form. He also like to have every detail
accounted for.
When Tamizh poets such as Manikkavavachagar and Jnana Sambandhar alluded to their renunciation in verse, they would write something like, "I gave up my spirit, my body and my personal possessions," But Sri Bhagavan, in one of His verses, {Navamani Maalai Verse 7}, does not include 'personal possessions' among the list of items which He renounced. Devaraja Mudaliar took Him to task on this point wanting to know why Sri Bhagavan did not mention giving
up His personal belongings.
Sri Bhagavan replied, "I didn't have any belongings. How can I give up what I don't have?" But
Devaraja Mudaliar was not satisfied. "So, Bhagavan, do you mean Manikkavachagar and Jnana Sambandhar had possessions?"
Sri Bhagavan: "I don't know about them. But I didn't have any so. I didn't write it that way!"
AnRe enRan aaviyum udalum udaimai
ellamum,
KunRe anaiyai ennai aatkonda podhe
koNdilaiyo?
InRor idaiyooRu enakku uNdo?
eNthoL mukkaN emmanei,
NanRe seyvai pizhai seyvai
Nano ithaRku nayakame!
Saint Manikkavachagar - Kuzhaitha Pathu, Tiruvachakam.
concluded.
Dear Clemens Vargas Ramos,
"There is method in his madness."
- Shakespeare, Hamlet
Upadesa Manjari - Spiritual Instruction:
Chapter II - Abhyasa - Practice:
22. Is asceticism one of the essential requisites for a person to become established in the Self?
Sri B: The effort that is made to get rid of attachments to one's body is really towards abiding in the Self. Maturity of thought of enquiry alone removes attachment to the body, not the stations of life [asramas], such as brhamacharya, etc., For the attachment is in the mind while the stations pertain to the body. How can bodily stations remove the attachment in the mind? As maturity of thought and enquiry pertain to the mind, these alone can, by enquiry on the part of the the same mind, remove the attachments which have crept into it through thoughtlessness. But, as the discipline of ascetism [sannyasa asrama] is the means for attaining dispassion [vairagya] and as dispassion is the means
for enquiry, joining an order of ascetics may be regarded, in a way, as a means of enquiry through dispassion. Instead of wasting one's life by entering the order of ascetics before one is fit for it, it is better to live the householder's life. In order o fix the mind in the Self which is its true nature, it is necessary to separate it from the family fancies [sankalpas] and doubts [vikalpas], that is to renounce the family [samsara] in the mind. This is real asceticism.
... "There is method in his madness."
- Shakespeare, Hamlet ...
I am sure.
Vichara and the Turning Word:
An Ashram devotee: MP: Apr.-Jun.2007:
When asked about specific methods for making progress on the spiritual path, Sri Bhagavan gave only a few. Among them was Atma Vichara - inquiring into one's true nature through the question "Who am I?" - which, in time, proved to be central to His teaching, "Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?, a devotee once asked Sri Bhagavan. The Master replied: "Other than enquiry, there are no adequate means." And: "In order to gain that happiness, which is one's nature...where there is no mind, one should know one's Self. For that, the path of knowledge, enquiry in the form of Who am I? is the principal means."
Sri Bhagavan made numerous similar comments on other occasions, in terms that were more powerful, direct and unhesitating, extolling Vichara {# Talks 251, 532}. When one considers how much store Sri Bhagavan set by Vichara, it is rather remarkable how few of us actually seem to make the effort to practice it. Why is that? Newcomewrs to the Asramam hear older devotees say things like, "vichara is for great souls like Sri Bhagavan but it is too difficult for ordinary person like me." Evidently quite a number of devotees over the years have bowed out of ever even attempting Vichara. For His part, Sri Bhagavan never forced anything on anyone. If asked an honest question, He gave a truthful answer. When asked how to bring
peace of mind, He said that one should trace the mind's first mode, "the-I-thought", to its source, which is the Self. [TMP Mahadevan, Self Inquiry].
If Vichara is unapproachable and beyond the reach of ordinary devotees, why did Sri Bhagavan regularly urge us to take it up? Is it not a lack of faith on our part to think that He didn't intend it for us? Is it not lack of confidence in Sri Bhagavan' teaching ability if we question the relevance His teaching has for us?
continued...
I managed to make page-turn digital books out of my own books. It's nice.
You find a book with Vichara Sangraham (german: Selbst-Erforschung), Gems from Bhagavan (german: Die Perlen Bhagavans), Ramana Maharshi and Thayumanavar, Frank H. Humphreys - Glimpses of the life and teaching... (german: Einblicke in das Leben und die Lehre...) and Ramanagiri (Peer Westin) (german: Ich segelte an einen fernen Ort) here:
philosophisch inspiriert...
Maximize the browser window.
Dear Clemens Vargas Ramos,
It is a nice achievement. But people who understand German can only read and get benefited..
Vichara and the Turning Word:
An Asramam devotee:
continues....
While the merit of guru bhakti can hardly be over estimated and while the path of self surrender is also eminent among Sri Bhagavan's teachings [# Talks No. 31 & 462], one still has to wonder why followers of Sri Bhagavan don't take more interest in enquiry. Sri Bhagavan once asked rhetorically: "Will a person become a high officer, by merely looking at him? Is it not by steady effort in that direction, that he becomes a highly placed officer?" [Self Enquiry - TMP Mahadevan].
As for effort in vichara, have we exhausted every available means to put into practice? Is it so inaccessible or we are just
resistant?
These questions are the subject of the following pages where we will examine Sri Bhagavan's instructions pertaining to enquiry. We will consult other enquiry traditions, such as the Turning Word in Chan monasticism, to see what clues they hold for beginning practice. Those who are already practicing vichara many not find here much of intrest. But for those, who, like the author, are newcomers to Vichara - just beginning or wanting to being enquiry practice -- the following pages serve as an exploration into practical means for getting started.
What is Vichara?
Before going further let us ask, what is atma vichara? While atma vichara is most frequently rendered as 'self inquiry', some have pointed out, that 'enquiry', through perhaps, the most meaningful, is but one of many possible translations of 'vichara': 'reflecting', 'pondering', 'considering', 'investigating', 'being fascinated with', ''worrying', 'wandering' and interestingly enough, 'coming to an end' offer additional flavors. {In the Japanese koan tradition, 'coming to an end' is a metaphor for enquiry's double bind, where habits of the mind are exhausted through the quandary of questioning, a process likened to a mouse struggling in the hollow end of a cow's horn.}
Beginning with Max Mueller in the 19th century, 'Atma' has been
translated as 'Self'. But it has been suggested that 'Self' as applied to formless awareness prior to thought' carries a lot of unwanted baggage with it. It implies, first of all, someone or something - a person or entity -- while "Atma", -- allowing for that [Atma like Self functions as a reflexive pronoun in Sanskrit and other Indian langauges.], accesses a broader semantic field which include 'soul' 'essence' 'nature' and points to Brahman, the transcendental reality beyond all attributes.
continued...
Vichara and the Turning Word:
An Asramam devotee:
continues....
Even in Sri Bhagavan's 'Naan Yar?' the first person Tamizh pronoun Naan
has a different grammatical feel to it than the English 'Self' or 'I'. The Tamizh first person pronoun has much less the sense of agency or dodership. [In Tamizh, which is a highly inflexional language, the first person pronoun Naan may be, and regularly is, omitted, personhood marked by verb affixation.] In enquiring into It, those of us who are new comers will do well carefully consider how we cognize That which is being enquired into. We will want to leave open all possibilities as Vichara may as much a 'what' or 'where' question as it is a 'who' question.
Elucidating the Term:
We will also want to remember that 'atma vichara' is Sri Bhagavan's term, the English 'self enquiry' coming only with subsequent translations. While the English designation approximates Sri Bhagavan's Sanskrit Term, many English speakers may not appreciate the latter's subtleties: 'investigating the Atman', 'pondering the subject-self', 'probing essence', 'seeking the hidden mystery', 'I wondering', 'drowning in Conscioussness', 'losing oneself in the vasanas of the Self', etc., are phrases that may help one get a better feel for atma vichara's broader signification. While not adequately conveyed in the English word "enquiry", this aspect of immersion in seeking and searching is essential for true vichara. Indeed, enquiring into the Self is seeking the unseen by means of the probing power of questioning. It is the earnest search for the hidden essence and source of Being.
The Perplexity of Questioning:
So we who are starting out in vichara practice will want to put forth effort in making our questioning sincere. But what constitutes true question asking, one might ask? How does one formulate a sincere question? And how does one avoid falling into a mechanical routine?
contd.,
Clemens,
It should be of great help to the German devotees. A brilliant offering to the guru, if I may say so.
Subramanian,
I think it was intended only for the German audience, if I am not mistaken. :)
:)
best,
m
Yes, it was for german readers but for folks interested in the technique too (if someone knows a better costfree technique than this please let me know).
A minimal monitor resolution of 1024x768 and more would be fine because the page losts sharpness by zooming in and out. The button [1:1] sharpens the page.
This is the link to the site with more books:
philosophisch inspiriert...
Clemens Vargas Ramos
Your page turner is a nice feature. Is it an option you can turn off if you don't like it?
Your programming tweak in the recent comments has so far stopped the usual problem of the comments not registering properly once the number passes 800. Let's hope it stays that way.
Dasa Sloki: Sri Sankara:
Whenever one recognizes an object, one identifies it with some distinguishing features or attributes. It may be the attributes such as color, form or shape, class, function, role, or could be anything. We cannot recognize, and hence cannot experience any external entity bereft of all attributes. But here is an entity. This entity, if we may refer to, though bereft of any of these attributes, is in our direct experience and knowledge. Because, this entity is none other than our very experience itself! Neither 'I', nor any experience possesses any attributes such as color, shape, size, smell, nor any other features. Therefore, I am That Pure Infinite Bliss indeed. 'I' do not exist as depicted in the tenets of Sankhya school of philosophy and so on.
****
... Your page turner is a nice feature. Is it an option you can turn off if you don't like it? ...
Unfortunately not. But it's sure that I will like it forever... I compared it with the Mountain Path page turner. Both techniques suffer the same problem - the page looses its sharpness by zooming in and out.
The INTERNET ARCHIVE uses a similar technique. This is an example: Meeting Ramana Maharshi. Conversations with John Sherman. This technique seems to work quicker but on the other hand one can easily copy the pages. This is eventually not desired by people looking for kind of a copy protection for their texts.
... Your programming tweak in the recent comments has so far stopped the usual problem of the comments not registering properly once the number passes 800. Let's hope it stays that way. ...
That's fine to hear. Would it be possible for you to give the user (in the case they don't know it already) a few explainations to the new user filtering system of the script? It's very easy now to search for comments of a specific user.
Upadesa Manjari - Spiritual Instruction:
Qn.23: It is an established rule that so long as there is the least idea of 'I am the doer', Self Knowledge cannot be attained. But is it possible for an aspirant who is a householder to discharge his duties properly without this sense?
Sri Bhagavan: As there is no rule that action should depend upon a sense of being the doer, it is unnecessary to doubt whether any action will take place without a doer or an act of doing. Although the officer of a government treasury may appear, in the eyes of others, to be doing his duty attentively and responsibly all day long, he will be discharging his duties without attachment, thinking, 'I have no real connection with all this money' and without a sense of involvement in his mind. In the same manner a wise householder may also discharge without attachment the various household duties which fall to his lot according to his past karma, like a tool in the hands of another. Action and knowledge are not obstacles to each other.
****
Clemens Vargas Ramos
Thanks for reminding me. I don't think I explained this feature when you added it.
In the 'Recent Comments' box there is an icon of two people. If you click on it, you will see a list of the users who have made the last twenty-five comments. If you then tick the white box to the left of the user's name, the recent comments of that particular user will be featured. You can then open them all with the 'expand all' option, or open them one by one by clicking on the plus sign.
If you want to do a search for older comments, click on the 'next' box and comments 26-50 will display. Click again and 51-75 will appear. And so on. The same search facility is available inside each twenty-five comment block.
If I need to start a new Open Thread, I will put these instructions in the post.
Vichara and the Turning Word:
continues...
Experienced persons tell us the secret is allowing oneself to be beset by a pervading sense of perplexity -- a sensation of doubt and wonderment - and overcoming the natural disinclination to being in a state of "not-knowing." What would such a mind be like, you ask? Adepts say it is very simple and not unknown to the average person. It is not unlike searching for a lost valuable in one's house or, at a critical moment in conversation, trying to recall a name or or phrase just on the tip of the tongue. It is a state of fascination and absorption where the whole world is momentarily excluded in order to allow one to focus on the matter at hand. In the method Sri Bhagavan imparts to us, this is among the most essential ingredients. [See Sat Darsanm, Verse 28]. In the following paragraphs, we shall see why.
The Steep Staircase of Vichara;
Overcoming a Resistant Mind:
As questioning can be said to be the core orientation in Vichara, it is also the root cure for any obstacle that might impede the method. When unwanted mind-states intrude, one simply comes back to the question. If the question gets interrupted, one simply uses the same questioning to recover it. Sri Bhagavan puts it this way:
When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire, "To whom do they arise?" It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, in should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?" The answer that will emerge is 'to me'. Thereupon if one inquires, 'Who am I?' the mind will go back to its source and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to say in its source. [Who am I? # 11].
continues....
Vichara and the Turning Mind:
continues...
Now, the utter simplicity of the technique is probably also what makes it maddeningly abstruse, at least for those of us just starting out. But if we reflect on what Sri Bhagavan tells us about the nature of the mind [Thought indeed is the nature of the mind. - Who am I? # 12 and Upadesa Undiyar Verse 18], it is no surprise that we find Vichara so uncomfortable. By its nature, Sri Bhagavan tells us, the mind habitually thinks. If loves random thoughts and concepts, doubts and positions, opinions, and views. What it does not like is anything that prevents it from thinking, least of all, unfathomable questions. This being the case, it is easy to see why the mind repels Vichara. It turns back the mind back on itself, prohibiting it from doing what it loves best, namely, to think, analyze, conceptualize, label, worry and discriminate. Through the questioning, Sri Bhagavan emphasizes, all these activities are brought to a halt. This being so, the reason we resist Vichara is plainly and simply this: IT IS EFFECTIVE.
Indeed, one can say that it is the sheer potency of 'Who am I?' that works against those of us who are beginners. Vichara is a steep path -- a lot of ground is covered in short distance. But, as many who have gone ahead of us will testify, it is tough going, at least at the start. Might there be some way for novices and the uninitiated to start this practice incrementally and work their way up?
contd.,
Vichara and The Turning Word:
continues:
Preparing the Ground - The Turning Word:
In other enquiry traditions, such as Chinese Chan, beginners are urged to use a variety of basic questions, as stepping stones, to more direct questioning. The initial stages involve accustoming the mind to the process of questioning, and regularly confronting it with gradual [and increasingly uncomfortable] states of not-knowing. This is an important first step, where one acquaints the mind with disconcerting feeling of groping in the dark without firm handholds. It is the stage of loosening up the mind's insistence on conceptual anchors and the inner world of forms.
What are some of these stepping stones? Within the k'an-hua or saying contemplation' Chan of the 12th century Masster Ta-hui, the preparatory techniques employed were called the turning words. These were sayings borrowed from the dialogues of Tang dynasty Chan masters or taken from the classical mystical poetry, scriptures and sacred texts used by such teachers. Turning words are opaque phrases or expressions containing both ordinary and transcendental signification, adapted to the meditation setting, and often taking the form of inscrutable questions. The mainstay in some Chan, Son, and Zen lineages even still today, monks often have the central occupation of their meditation practice contemplating some ineffable phrase question. They are urged to unravel its deeper meaning by becoming intimate with it and working with it, as far as possible, both day and night. And they might continue with a single phrase for months or even years.
"What is the root of Awareness?" "Where is Awareness to be found?" "What is the Light of Awareness spoken of by the ancient sages?" Such questions could be called turning words. "That which hears" or "the realm of no boundaries", though not questions, still direct the attention towards that which precedes thinking, and thus could be called turning words.
continues....
Vichara and the Turning Word:
continues...
Though their approaches are different, 'Who am I?' and the aforementioned questions point to one and the same reality. "Who am I?" covers it all at once, pointing directly to that which is being enquired into. But if we take a question like, 'Where does hearing and seeing come from?' it is not immediately clear that the place one is being directed to, is one's very own Self. Of course, this also has certain usefulness to it; because 'I' is so prominent in our everyday thinking, the question 'Who am I?' is arguably difficult to get a handle on. At the same time, its elusiveness is part and parcel of what makes it so effective in unraveling an obstinate mind. The important thing is that beginners allow themselves to use the line of questioning that most stimulates engaged probing, putting off more direct approaches for the appropriate time. Thus the perplexity of questioning be activated -- this is the crucial thing. In genuine questioning, even if the enquirer clearly perceives that in reality, he does not know who this I is or where hearing actually comes from, all the while, he longs to find out.
Ramana Vichara:
Finally, we cannot compare Sri Bhagavan's Vichara with other enquiry traditions. They are distinct and heave divergent contexts. Yet, as beginners, in trial and error stage, and feeling the lack of Sri Bhagavan's physical teaching presence, we will want to take whatever hints we can. Adapting the turning word method to Sri Bhagavan's teaching is simple and innocuous. It is a matter of selecting key phrases from Sri Bhagavan's writings and putting them into a question format for enquiry in the meditation setting. Examples: What is the nature of the Reality within? What is this Self where there is absolutely no thought? What is the nature and essence of that Awareness which alone remains? {These three paraphrased from Sad Darsanam, Verse 1 & Who am I? Qn.# 16 and 2.]
These turning word style questions all essentially ask the same thing, Who am I? Their purpose is two fold. To penetrate a word's deeper meaning and thereby gain insight into Sri Bhagavan's teaching. And to train us in the art of questioning in preparation for Who am I?. The essential thing is doing whatever it takes to initiate active, lively questioning. This is the basis of Vichara.
continues...
Vichara and the Turning Word:
by an Asramam devotee: continues....
Direct Experience:
Now it should be emphasized that successfully responding to any phrase question , whatever its source, has nothing to do with giving concrete answers or 'cracking the code', as it were. Rather the key component in questioning is maintaining an openness, and allowing feelings of ambivalence and mystification engendered by the enquiry, to arise in oneself. Early Chinese meditation teaches called this cultivating the doubt sensation. They would say that non knowing is the goal. By allowing mental structures to be dislodged from the mind, one is unburdened of what one thinks one knows -- one's conceptual ideas and fixed opinions -- thus enabling the receptivity that is the hallmark of true enquiry. Interpretations and analyses, on the other hand, no matter how creative, reflect our old mental patterns and bind us to them.
In meeting the challenge of he phrase-question, tradition tells us
us that trying to figure it out, as though it were a puzzle to be solved, is a vain pursuit. Likewise, responding with memorized phrases or advaitic slogans is also useless. Even quoting scriptures, exalted though they may be, when done as substitute for personal vichara
responses, is trafficking in dead words. [While not substitute for Vichara, "answers", scripture is a great source for vichara questions.]
Why? Because, like the bookkeeper tallying another man's riches, they are not our own.[An ancient Chinese prover says, the family treasure does not come in through the front door. See also Who am I? Qn: # 23. They come to us second hand, invariably getting us off the hook of doing our own questioning work.
By contrast, the enquiry of Sri Bhagavan enjoined us to do is direct. It beckons us to take our own steps, to make our own discoveries, and to put forth our own effort in order to become the 'highly placed officer.' {Rama to know that he is Rama, does he require a mirror? - Who am I?].
continues...
Vichara and the Turning Word:
By an Asramam devotee:
continues....
Conclusion:
Once questioning is genuinely undertaken and one throws one's whole weight into it, the energy, strength and determination for further questioning comes of its own. Even if the routine of ordinary daily life, at work or among people, one may find oneself spontaneously, even if only intermittently, absorbed in the question at hand. At times the involvement becomes so thoroughgoing, that it takes on an obsessive quality, the feeling of perplexity pervading the entire body and mind. All ideas and thoughts seem to be temporarily suspended. This is the moment when Vichara seems automatic and little exertion is only required.
To know the blessedness of questioning, if only briefly, provides the impetus for further effort. One discovers that Vichara is available to all, even to those of us who are complete neophytes. When we discover that we can, by Sri Bhagavan's Grace, exercise some control over our minds, the apparent conflict between finding time for the interior recollection demanded by Vichara and the external demands made by the world, is itself resolved in questioning. We discover that we are able -- by Sri Bhagavan's Grace - and no doubt, by lots of repeated practice -- to take Vichara with us, within us, wherever we go and into whatever we do.
concluded.
****
Dasa Sloki: Sri Sankara:
I do not have any directions such as
above or below, inside or outside and so on. I am omnipresent like the ether, the sky, everywhere. This is because I do not have any specific form or shape to limit me. I am indivisible as I cannot be made into parts. Will it ever be possible to divide me, who is indeed of the intrinsic form of the very Infinite Bliss. Is it possible to draw a boundary or border and say - I am this long, this broad, I am here but not here? I, who is everywhere like ether, am also inside him! I am also inside you. I am everywhere. So, whom can I hate? Who can I distance away from me? Everyone is my own self. Truly, I am everyone in the truest essence. Thus the Upanishads establish that for the one who sees in all things and everywhere, transcends delusion, and sorrow for ever.
****
Friends,
"It beckons us to take our own steps, to make our own discoveries, and to put forth our own effort in order to become the 'highly placed officer.' "
Every approach has a certain validity.Yet I find that the approach by the writer misses the utter simplicity and directness that Sri Bhagavan has expressed in his writing(nAnAr-nAn yAr).I went through the Tamil original and through the English translation of the same.It is always difficult to import the original Flavour into the Translation.
Here is the Translation:
"Every living being longs to be perpetually happy, without any misery. Since in everyone the highest love is alone felt for oneself, and since happiness alone is the cause of love, in order to attain that happiness, which is one's real nature and which is experienced daily in the mindless state of deep sleep, it is necessary to know oneself. To achieve that, enquiry in the form 'Who am I?' is the foremost means."
I find that the above translation misses the Flavour of the Original.In Sri Bhagavan's original there is an inexhorable flow and aDefinitiveness and inevitability,a certain simplicity and spontaniety-in one sentence he covers the gist.This gets diluted in breaking it into seperate sentences.
I am attempting to improve on the Translation here:
"All Living beings wish to be happy sans misery all the time ,and as for all Supreme(unreserved)Love is in oneself ,and as Happiness(sans misery) alone is the cause of love,that happiness experienced as one’s being daily in mindless sleep –to attain that one needs to know oneself;for that,nAnAr(I who), the Jnana vichara is the principal means."
This fundamental premise is the main driver for self enquiry and without this premise all other approaches(while being valid for whaever objectives one may have)miss the simplicity and directness.
One needs to be simple to succeed in any form of Sadhana and no mental training can lead to this.
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
The article "Vichara and the Turning
Word", has been written by an Asramam devotee, name not mentioned. Unless the article has got some elements of truth, the MP editorial board will not publish it. I agree with you that Sri Bhagavan's method is direct and simple. David himself wrote once that for a sincere seeker, Who am I? alone is a sufficient guide for Atma Vichara. The author also agrees and says:
"Now, the utter simplicity of the technique is probably also what makes it maddeningly abstruse..."
R.Subramaian/Friends,
Sri Bhagavan has said All Living Beings and not every Living Being-is is quite significnt.There is an instant feeling of Expansion as against the contraction that Every Living Being engenders.No play of words here.
This deviant initial step leads to this-"It beckons us to take our own steps, to make our own discoveries, and to put forth our own effort in order to become the 'highly placed officer.' "
This approach misses the mark,however valid it be in achieving whaever objective it may have.
Sri Bhagavan's writing has a ring of universalit,whereas the one by the writer seems to emphasize the personal,however valid it be for its objective-to trace the 'i' as if the Tracing is the objective.
In Sri Bhagavan's approach the Means and the end seem to be one.
Namaskar.
Ravi
Sadhu Om has most of the opening paragraph as one sentence in his translation of the essay version of Bhagavan's 'Who am I?'
Since all living beings desire to be happy always without any misery, since in everyone supreme love exists only for oneself, and since happiness alone is the cause of love, in order to obtain that happiness, which is one's very nature and which is experienced daily in deep sleep where there is no mind, it is necessary for one to know oneself. For that, enquiry in the form 'Who am I?' alone is the principal means.
This paragraph was not part of the original question-and answer-version that Sivaprakasam Pillai recorded. It was added by Bhagavan when he wrote the essay version in 1926.
David,
Thanks very much for that translation by Sri Sadhu Om.I still find " since in everyone ".This is totally wrong -as it emphasizes individuality of the 'I'.Sri Bhagavan has written yAvarukkum in plural meaning 'For all' and not 'ovvoruvarukkum'(everyone).
This initial sentence sets forth the true spirit of enquiry.
I am a little wary of anyone trying to simplify and explain what Sri Bhagavan has written.Most liely they have not understood what sri Bhagavan has said.
Namaskar.
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar:
Robert Butler, T.V. Venkatasubramanian & David Godman:
{Mountain Path - Deepam 2004)
Thayumanavar was a distinguished Tamizh poet-saint who lived in the first half of the eighteenth century, from 1705 to 1742 AD. His devotional poetry was frequently cited by Sri Bhagavan, with obvious approval, and many Sri Ramanasramam books record fragements of his poems that Sri Bhagavan either read out or quoted from memory. However, in most cases the full verse is not given in Asramam literature. In this article we are presenting the complete versions of most of the verses that Sri Bhagavan referred to, giving, wherever possible, the circumstances and context in which they were quoted. [We have not been able to identify all the verses since some of the references are too general]. We do not propose to analyze Thayumanavar's poetry or philosophy in any great detail. We merely wish to present, in a full form, those portions of his work that particularly appealed to Sri Bhagavan.
Sri Bhagavan was sometimes so emotionally moved when He read out verses by Thayumanavar, He would be unable to continue. Devaraja Mudaliar, who was responsible for recording many of Sri Bhagavan's references to Thayumanavar, wrote about this on two occasions:
"I may record that I have noticed on more than one occasion in the past how Sri Bhagavan could not proceed with the reading of any deeply devotional poems of Tamizh works such as Thevaram and Thayumanavar." [Day by Day, entry dated 12th Dec. 1945. afternoon.]
...When touching songs were recited or read out before Him, or when He Himself was reading out to us poems or passages from the lives or works of famous saints, He would be moved to tears and find it impossible to restrain them. He would be reading out and explaining some passage and when He came to a very moving part He would get choked with emotion that He could not continue but would lay aside the book. To quote a few instances, such a thing happened when He was reading and explaining some incidents in Sundaramurti Nayanar's life in connectins with the Tiruchuzhi Maahaatmyam, and also when He was reading out Akarabhuvanam- Chidambara Rahasyam in Thayumanvar's works, and came to the twenty fourth verse:
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar:
continues...
Conceiving you as everything from earth to space,
I shall record my thought on the large part of my mind,
and looking at that image ever and again, I shall cry out:
"Lord my life, will you not come?"
Repeatedly believing myself to be You,
I am unable to fix my attention on anything else.
Lamenting in this way, like one whose heart is wounded,
dissolving inwardly, so tears pour down in floods,
uttering deep sighs, unaware even of my body,
I stand transfixed.
His [Sri Bhagavan's] eyes were so filled with tears and His throat so choked with emotion [as He read these words] that He had to put aside the book and break off his discourse.
[Authors' notes: My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, Devaraja Mudaliar, 1992 ed. page 45-46. The translation of "Akarabhuvanam-Chidambara Rahasyam" verse was done by the joint authors of this article and does not appear in the book. We have made new translations of all the Thayumanavar verses that appear in this article and have inserted them at the appropriate places, that is, whenever Sri Bhagavan quotes from them or refers to them.]
{In Tamizh version of Recollections, Thaayum Neeya Thanthaiyum Neeye, the related Thayamanavar verses have been given as Appendix 5.}
{Akarabhuvanam-Chidambara Rahasyam, appears as the 14th work in Thayumanavar's Poems - Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tiruparai ThuRai, Tiruchirapalli Dist. Tamizh Nadu. Compiled with notes by Swami Chidbhavananda. This work contains 33 verses in all, under the said title, and Mudaliar mentions Verses 15 to 23. From Naan ennum or ahanthaki evarkum vanthu... to
KadhikaNdu koLLavum aruL koor; inthak kadhi anRi uRangen; mel karumam paaren.]
contd.,
Ravi
Here is Robert Butler's unpublished rendering of the same paragraph. It's a little more elegant, but not quite so literal:
Since all embodied beings desire to be always happy, and since everyone loves himself above all, and since happiness is the source of love, in order to attain that happiness, which is one’s own nature, and which is experienced every day in the state of deep sleep where the mind is absent, one must know oneself. The means for achieving this is the method of knowledge through enquiry [atma vichara], known as 'Who am I?'
The final part of this paragraph indicates that Bhagavan is aiming his teachings at those who take themselves to be 'embodied jivas' and who want to transcend that particular erroneous concept.
The opening paragraph accepts in its grammar that there is a plurality of individual selves who could discover their inherent nature as happiness by pursuing the inner quest 'Who am I?' Though Bhagavan knows that this is not true from the standpoint of the Self, he makes the statement because he knows that he is dealing with people who are conditioned to believe that this is true and who furthermore might want to investigate this assumed perspective.
For me, the distinction between 'for all' and 'for everyone' is not a relevant one here. Bhagavan is addressing those who believe themselves to be individuals. Getting stuck on whether he says 'all of you' or 'each one of you' ignores the main point of the message: that happiness, one's own birthright, is discoverable through the practice of self-enquiry.
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part I -
continues....
Thayumanavar was brought up in the Thanjavur District of Tamizh Nadu in the coastal town of Vedaranyam [Tiru MaRaikkadu in Tevaram songs]. His father Kediliappa [Pillai], came from an agricultural background but progressed from being a farmer to being the administrator of the local Vedapureeswarar Temple. He carried out this responsibility so well, he was subsequently offered the job of palace manager and royal advisor by Vijayaranga Chokkalinga Naicker, the reigning prince of Tiruchirapalli. When Thayumanavar was born, his father named him after Thayumanavar, the presiding deity in the temple of Siragiri, which is nowadays known as Tiruchirapalli Fort Temple. [Siva is named Matrubhuteswarar in Sanskrit and the goddess Uma, is named Mattuvar Kuzhali Ammai or
Sugandha Kunthalambal.]
Thayumanavar received a good education at court in which he ended up acquiring an outstanding knowledge of Tamizh language and literature. He must also have made a good impression on the royal family because, when his father passed away, Thayumanavar, who was still in his teens, was considered qualified to take over his job. He subsequently managed the financial affairs of the kingdom and apparently fulfilled his duties with some distinction. However, while this was going on, his religious yearnings impelled him to look for a Guru who could help him to progress spiritually. Unfortunately, as many seekers have discovered before and since, such beings are hard to find. In later life, Thayumanavar wrote about the qualifications that are necesary for one who is looking for a qualified Guru. Sri Bhagavan once cited this verse, and endorsed its contents, in the following dialogue:
Question: What is Satsangh?
Sri Bhagavan: Satsangh means only Atma Sangh [association with the Self]. Only those who cannot practice that are to practice being in the company of realized beings or Sadhus.
Question: When does one get the company of Sadhus?
Sri Bhagavan: The opportunity to be in the company of a Sadguru comes effortlessly to those who have performed worship of God, japa, tapas, pilgrimages etc., for longer periods in their previous births. There is a verse in Thayumanavar that points out the same thing:
For those who, in the prescribed manner,
have embarked upon the path
of divine images, holy sites, and holy tanks,
a Sadguru, too will come
to speak one unique word,
O Supreme of Supremes!
{Parapara KaNNi - Verse 156. It runs as Moorthi nalam teertham muRaiyal thodanginaarkku,
Vaarthai sola sadguruvum vaaikum paraparame!]
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part I -
Robert Butler and Ors: continues....
Only he who has done plenty of niskamya punyas [austerities performed without any thought of a reward or consequence] in previous births will get abundant faith in the Guru. Having faith in Guru's words, such a man will follow the path and reach the goal of liberation.
{Living by the Words of Bhagavan, 2nd edition, 220-221. David Godman].
We can assume that Thayumanavar had the requisite qualificatiojns since his search for a teacher ultimately led him to a man called AruL Nandi Sivachariyar, who was also known as Mouna Guru. This teacher could trace his lineage back the famous saint Tirumoolar, whose book Tirumandiram, written more than a thousand years ago, became one of canonical texts of Saivism. [It is called Canon X]
When Thayumanavar approached him and asked him if he could become his disciple, Mouna Guru nodded his head, thereby giving his consent. Thayumanavar then asked if he could follow him wherever he went. Mouna Guru responded by telling him Summa Iru, which can mean Be Still, Be Quiet and also Remain as You are. This one phrase apparently brought about a major spiritual transformation in Thayumanavar. In later years, when he began to write ecstatic devotional poetry, he frequently mentioned his event, this phrase, in his verses, [including the one cited in last quotation.].
This phrase was also used by Sri Bhagavan, often with similarly dramatic effect. Muruganar has written in several of his poems that Sri Bhagavan enlightened him by uttering this phrase.
Saying, "Enough of dancing, now be still [summa iru]". Padam {Sri Bhagavan} bestowed on me the state of true jnana that exists for ever in my Heart as my own nature.
The Sovereign grace of Padam completed my sadhana with the
words Be Still. What a wonder is this!
{Padamalai Verses 1222 and 471}
contd.,
A story from The Life of The Buddha:
Kisa Gotami had an only son, and he died. In her grief she carried the dead child to all her neighbors, asking them for medicine, and the people said: "She has lost her senses. The boy is dead. At length Kisa Gotami met a man who replied to her request: "I cannot give thee medicine for thy child, but I know a physician who can." The girl said: "Pray tell me, sir; who is it?" And the man replied: "Go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha."
Kisa Gotami repaired to the Buddha and cried: "Lord and Master, give me the medicine that will cure my boy." The Buddha answered: "I want a handful of mustard-seed." And when the girl in her joy promised to procure it, the Buddha added: "The mustard-seed must be taken from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent, or friend." Poor Kisa Gotami now went from house to house, and the people pitied her and said: "Here is mustard-seed; take it!" But when she asked Did a son or daughter, a father or mother, die in your family?" They answered her: "Alas the living are few, but the dead are many. Do not remind us of our deepest grief." And there was no house but some beloved one had died in it.
Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless, and sat down at the wayside, watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again. At last the darkness of the night reigned everywhere. And she considered the fate of men, that their lives flicker up and are extinguished. And she thought to herself: "How selfish am I in my grief! Death is common to all; yet in this valley of desolation there is a path that leads him to immortality who has surrendered all selfishness."
Putting away the selfishness of her affection for her child, Kisa Gotami had the dead body buried in the forest. Returning to the Buddha, she took refuge in him and found comfort in the Dharma, which is a balm that will soothe all the pains of our troubled hearts.
Namaskar.
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar:
Part I -
Robert Butler and Ors.,:
continues....
In the recent issue of Mountain Path
[MP Aradhana 2004], there was a report of how a shorter version of this phrase Iru meaning be or stay, effected a life transforming change in Tinnai Swami.
The 'unique word',Summa Iru, uttered by a qualified Guru, has an immediate and liberating impact on those who are in a highly mature state. For a vast majority, though, hearing this word from the Guru's lips is not enough. Sri Bhagavan discussed this in the following dialogue, which He illustrated with more verses from Thayumanavar.
A young man from Colombo asked Sri Bhagavan: "J.Krishnamurti teaches the method of effortless and choiceless awareness as distinct from that of deliberate concentration. Would Sri Bhagavan be pleased to explain how best to practice meditation and what form the object of meditation should take?
Sri Bhagavan: Effortless and choiceless awareness is our real nature. If we can attain it or be in that state, it is all right. But one cannot reach it without effort, the effort of deliberate
meditation. All the age long vasanas carry the mind outward and turn it to external objects. All such thoughts have to be given up and the mind turned inward. For that, effort is necessary for most people. Of course, every book says, Summa Iru, i.e. Be quiet or still. But it is not easy. That is why all this effort is necessary. Even if we find one who has at once achieved the mouna or supreme state indicated by Summa Iru, you may take it that the effort necessary has already been finished in previous life. So, that effortless and choiceless awareness is reached only after deliberate meditation. That meditation can take any form which appeals to you best. See what helps you to keep away all other thoughts and adopt that method for your meditation.
In this connection, Sri Bhagavan quoted Verses 5 and 52 from Udal PoyyuRavu and Verse 36 from Paya Puli of Saint Thayumanavar.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar : Part I:
Robert Butler and Others:
continues....
The gist of the verses is as follows:
"Bliss will follow if you are still.But however much you may tell your mind about the truth, the mind will not keep quiet. It is the mind which tells the mind "Be quiet and you will attain bliss." [Compare Verse 5 of Ashtakam]. Though all scriptures have said it, though we hear about it everyday from the great ones, and even though our Guru says it, we are never quiet, but stray in the world of maya and sense objects. That is why conscious deliberate effort is required to attain, that mouna state or the state of being quiet." [Day by Day - 11.01.1946].
This is the full version of the three verses that Mudaliar summarized:
"Remain still, mind, in the face of everything!"
This truth that was taught to you,
where did you let it go?
Like wrestlers, bent upon their bout,
you raised your arguments.
Where is your judgement? Where, your wisdom?
Be gone!
The Tamizh verse says:
Ethukku summa iru, maname! enRu unakkup
Bodhitha uNmai enge poha vittai? - vadhukku
vanthu edhirtha mallarai pol vaadhaadi naye, un
Bundhi enna? Bodham enna po.
Bliss will arise if you remain still.
Why, little sir, this involvement still
with yoga, whose nature ism delusion?
Will [this bliss] arise
through your own objective knowledge?
You need not reply, you are addicted to 'doing'!
You little baby, you!
The Tamizh verse reads as:
Summa irukka sukam udhayam aahume;
immaayaa yogam enii en adaa? - tham aRivin
suttaale aahumo? solla vendaam; kanma nishta; siRu piLLai nee!
contd.,
David,
"For me, the distinction between 'for all' and 'for everyone' is not a relevant one here."
I feel that this distinction is relevant in the sense that there is an 'impersonality' in this approach-It helps to get past all the 'personal' baggage that one tends to associate the 'I' with and focusses on the core sense of 'I'. This is 'Jnana Vichara' as Sri Bhagavan calls it.
Interestingly,the Bhakti path,on the other hand ,is quite personal and thrives on the 'particular' slant or inclination of the individual and carries it forward to union with God or Beloved and where again the 'I' sense is Dissolved.
Thanks very much for Robert Butler's Translation.
Namaskar.
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part I :
by Robert Butler and others -
continues....
The third of the three verses quoted, Paya Puli, Verse 36:
Though I have listened unceasingly to the scriptures
that one and all declare,
"To be still is bliss, is very bliss,"
I lack, alas, true understanding,
and I failed even to heed
the teachings of my Lord, Mouna Guru,
Through this stupidity
I wandered in maya's cruel forest,
Woe is me, for this my fated destiny.
The Tamizh verse reads:
Summa irukka sukam sukam
enRum suruti ellam
amma nirantharam sollavum,
kettum, aRivu inRiye,
Pemman mavuni mozhiyaiyum
thappi, en pedhamaiyal
Vemmaya kaattil alainthen; an
tho en vidhi vasame.
{Paya Puli Verse 36 and Udal PoyyuRavu Verse 52 have also been quoted by Sri Bhagavan vide Talks No. 646}
One may presume from the complaints in the last verse that Thayumanavar was not one of the fortunate few who attained liberation instantly merely by hearing his Guru tell him 'Summa Iru'. As Sri Bhagavan remarked in an earlier quotation, it is necessary for all people to make some conscious effort to control the mind. Mouna Guru, Thayumanavar's Guru, accepted that this was the case with Thayumanavar and he consequently gave him detailed instructions on how he should pursue his sadhana. Thayumanavar recorded many of these instructions in his verses, some of which were selected by Sri Bhagavan and included in the Tamizh parayna at Sri Ramanasramam.
[A reference to this selection was made in My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, by Devaraja Mudaliar.]
During Sri Bhagavan's life time Tamizh poetic works were chanted in His Presence, everyday. Initially, at Skandasramam, only Akshra Mana Maalai was chanted, but as the years went by, more and more works were added. By the 1940s, there was a prescribed list of poems, all selected by Sri Bhagavan Himself, that took fifteen days to complete at the rate of about one hour per day.
{The 15-days parayana songs are
available in Sri Ramanasramam official website.}
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part I:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
Here are nine of the ten verses that Sri Bhagavan selected. The first three describe the suffering inherent in samsara, while the remainder contain Mouna Guru's prescriptions for transcending it:
The first three are Verses 15 to 17 of Akara Bhuvanam: [Akara means Form; Bhuvanam means World].
In all people, as soon as the ego sense
known as 'I' arises to afflict them,
the world illusion, manifesting as multiplicity,
follows along behind.
Who might have the power to describe the vastness
of the ocean of misery that grows out of this;
as flesh; as the body; as the intellectual faculties;
as the inner and the outer; as the all pervasive space;
as earth, water, fire and air; as mountains and forests;
*
as the multitudinous and mountainous visible scenes;
as that which is invisible, such as remembering and forgetting;
as the joys and sorrows that crash upon us,
wave upon wave, in maya's ocean;
as the deeds that give rise to these;
as the religions of manifold origin
that try to put an end to them;
as their gods, as their spiritual aspirants, and as methods
described in many a treatise that bear witness to their practices;
and as the doctrinal wrangling among them,
It is like trying to count the fine grains of sand on the sea shore.
*
In order to teach me to discern the truth,
of how all these woes, impossible to measure --
which accumulate, multiplying by bundle by bundle --
were insubstantial, like the spectacle of a mountain of camphor
that disappears entirely at the touch of a flame,
he associated with food, sleep, joy, misery, name and place,
and wearing a bodily form similar to my own,
he came as the grace bestowing Mouna Guru
to free me from defilement, in just the same way that a deer is employed to lure another deer.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part I:
By Robert Butler and others:
continues....
The Tamizh verses of Akara Bhuvanam-
Chidambara Rahasyam read as under:
Naan ennum or ahanthai evarkum vanthu
nalinthavudan jagamayai nana aahith
than vanthu thodarum; itthal vaLarum thunbac
Chakarathin perumai evar saaRRa vallaar?
Oon enRum, udal enRum karanam enRum
uL enRum puRam enRum ozhiya ninRa
vaan enRum, kaal enRum, theeneer enRum,
maN enRum, malai enRum vanamathu enRum,
*
malaimalaiyam kaatchi kaN kaaNaamai aadhi
maRappu enRum ninaippu enRum maya vari
alai alaiyai adikkum inba thunbam enRum
athai viLaikkum vinaigaL enRum athanai theerkath,
thalai pala aam samayam enRum deivam enRum
sadhakar enRum athaRuku sakshi aahak
kadal uRum nun maNal eNNik kaaNum podhum,
*
KaaNariya allal ellam thaane kattuk
kattaha viLaiyuml athaik kattodethan
veeNinil karpura malai padu theep patta
vindhai enak kaaNa oru vivekam kaatta,
OoN uRakkam enba thunbam per oor aadhi
ovvidavum, enaip pola uruvam kaattik,
KoNaRa or maan kaatti manai eerkum
koLgai ena aruL Mouna Guruvai vanthu,
*
The idea that God takes on a human form to catch other beings who have this same [human] form is one that appears in many spiritual texts. Sri Bhagavan explained this particular reference in the following reply:
The Master appears to dispel...ignorance. As Thayumanavar puts it, he appears as a man to dispel the ignorance of a man, just as a deer is used to as decoy to capture the wild deer. He has to appear with a body in order to eradicate our ignorant 'I am the body' idea.
{Talks # 398.}
contd.,
Friends,
An excerpt from the wonderful book 'Living by the words of Bhagavan':
In the mid 1940s,when Bhagavan began to find it difficult to walk,Arumugam and I levelled and cleared the path on which Bhagavan usually took his daily walk.The path ran through the ashram to palakottu and then back to the ashram via the lower slopes of the hill.To make a smooth surface we put mud on the path and covered it with soft sand.We also installed a tall stone at a place where there was a break in the slope so that bhagavan could hold on to it while he was climbing.The path needed occasiona maintenance because the herds of goats which roamed around the lower slopes of the hill frequently kicked thorny twigs onto it.One day,as I was walking along this path,I noticed several new thorns.I took a branch from a nearby tree and swept the path clean.
That night,when I went to the ashram for darshan,Bhagavan asked me,'who cleared that path?'
I told him that I had decided to clean it because I had noticed some thorns while I was out for a walk.
Bhagavan then asked me rather sharply,'Why are you reflecting on this act which you have done?'(I recall swami telling me this story-it seems Sri Bhagavan said-Oh!nee pannayO! meaning -Oh!you did it!)
I immediately understood that Bhagavan was trying to tell me tht I should not have the idea,'I have done this service for Bhagavan'.I was not aware that I was dwelling on this thought but Bhagavan must have seen it in my mind.
'You can see my mind.I was not aware that I was thinking,"I have done this".I just cleared the path because I didn't want Bhagavan to tread on any thorns.'
Bhagavan responded by saying,"If you do not look back at the actsthat you have done,a lot of benefits will accrue to you.'
Bhaavan still seemed to be suggesting that I was consciously dwelling on the act so I told him again,'Bhagavan knows that I was not consciously thinking,"I did this job"'.
Then I quoted a verse by Thayumanavar:O God,you know my mind,you know my actions.If,inspite of this,you chase me away from you,I shall have many troubles.'
(உள்ளம் அறிவாய் உழப்பறிவாய் நான்ஏழை
தள்ளிவிடின் மெத்தத் தவிப்பேன் பராபரமே. Verse 33 of parApara kaNNi)
Bhagavan smiled at my quote ad didn't pursue the matter any further.
(I have to say that Swami completely won him(bhagavan) over by this simple devotion.The ParApara kaNNi of Thayumanavar is a moving one and Swami was quite on the dot in quoting this paticular verse-Having heard swami reciting this,I realize that Bhagavan simply did not have any other alternative to what he did!)
Namaskar.
Friends,
An excerpt from 'Living by the words of Bhagavan':
"Are you an atheist who has no belief in God?"asked Bhagavan.
I was too puzzled to make a reply.
'If one has no faith in God,'Bhagavan eventually continued,'one will commit a lot of sins and be miserable.But you,you are a mature devotee.When the mind has attained maturity,in that mature state,if one thinks that one is seperate from God,one will fall into the same state as an atheist who has no belief in God.
'you are a mature sadhaka(spiritual seeker).It is not necessary for you to come here any more.Stay in Palakottu and do your meditation there.Try to efface the notion that you are different than God.'
I left the ashram and never went back again.Although my room is only about 200 yards from the ashram gate,I have not visited the ashram once since that fateful day in the 1940s.
About 20 days later,as Bhagavan was walking in the palakottu,he came up to me,smiled and said,'I have come for your darshan'.I was quite shocked to hear Bhagavan speak like this even though I knew he was joking.(Swami told me that he said to Bhagavan:ethAvadhu thappu senja(seithAl) mannikkanum-If I had done anything wrong,Please forgive)
When I asked him for an explanation he said,'You have obeyed my words.you are living simply and humbly as I have taught.Is this not great?'
Wonder whether any other devotee received this sort of an acknowledgement from Sri Bhagavan-hence the title of the book is so appropriate.
Namaskar.
Sri Sankara Jayanti - 08.05.2011:
Today is Chaitra, Suklapaksha Panchami, with Ardra asterism, on which day, Sankara was born to the divine couple Aryambika and Sivaguru in Kaladi, Kerala, about 1200 years ago. He has attained the pinnacle of spiritual knowledge and also realized the purpose of such knowledge at a very young age. His guru is Govinda Bhagavadpada and his guru's guru, Parama Guru is Gaudapda.
Sri Bhagavan has rendered either in Tamizh poems or prose many of the works of Sri Sankara. When asked once, Sri Bhagavan had said:
"After realization and after many years, I understood that it was my experience that has been described by Sri Sankara, in his works."
Amongst several works of Sri Sankara, somehow I am more attracted to Sri Sivananda Lahari,
so far as devotion is concerned, as I am attracted to Tiruvachakam amongst Saiva works. Among the prakarana granthas, I love Vivekachudamani and Sri Bhagavan's prose rendering. This runs to about 70 pages in His Collected Works.
Sri Bhagavan has also recommended 10 verses of Sri Sivananda Lahari to eager devotees, who wanted to read Sivananada Lahari. These are verses Nos. 61, 91, 9, 6, 12, 83, 10, 76, 11 and 65.
The verse 100 reads:
"O Sambu! Your glory is beyond mind and words. Whatever I speak or write, I can never describe it in full. So it is enough that I complete my Stuti. Taking into the various gods, You are the first one ever remembered. Your state, if inquired, all devas are like haystack and You are the separated grain!
***
Dasa Sloki: Sri Sankara:
I do not have any directions such as above or below, inside or outside and so on. I am omnipresent like the ether, the space everywhere. This is because I do not have specific form or shape to limit me. I am indivisible as I cannot be made into parts. Will it ever be possible to divide me, who is indeed of the intrinsic form of the very infinite bliss? Is it possible to draw a boundary or border and say - I am this long, this broad, I am here but not there? I, who is everywhere like ether, am also inside him! I am inside you. I am everywhere. So, whom can I hate? Whom can I distance away from me? Everyone is my own Self. Truly, I am everyone in the truest essence. Thus the Upanishads, establish that for the one who sees oneness in all things and everywhere, transcends delusion, and sorrow for ever.
*
Atman is formless, therefore cannot be comprehended. There are no prime distinguishing features to recognize him. He is effulgent like light. Light shines over other objects. There is no other light that needs to shine over light itself. It is self effulgent by itself. Likewise, Atman enlightens all objects other than Itself, in the universe, giving him knowledge of the objects in the external world. After all, He is pure knowledge itself in essence and substance and is not an 'object' of knowledge. He is extolled by Srutis as incomprehensible, self effulgent Consciousness Itself.
****
Upadesa Manjari - Spiritual Instruction:
27. What is the meaning of brahmacharya?
Sri Bhagavan: Only enquiry into Brahman should be called brahmacharya.
28. Will the practice of brahmacharya which is followed in conformity with the four orders of life [asramas] be a means of knowledge?
As the various means of knowledge, such as control of senses, etc., are included in brahmacharya, the virtuous practices duly followed by those who belong to the order of students [brahmacharins] are very helpful for their improvement.
29. Can one enter the order of ascetics [sannyasa] directly form the order of students? [brahamcharya]?
Those who are competent need nor formally enter the orders of brahmacharya, etc., in the order laid down. One who has realized his Self does not distinguish between the various orders of life. Therefore no order of life
either helps or hinders him.
***
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part I:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
The next six verses contain the upadesa that Mouna Guru gave to Thayumanavar, and a description of the effect it had on him:
Coming thus, he claimed my body, my belongings,
my very life as his possessions,
and teaching the path of rejection, he declared:
"The five senses, the five elements,
the organs of action, and all the rest,
you are not. You are none of these.
Nor are you any of the qualities that pertain to these.
You are not the body, nor are you knowledge and ignorance.
You are Chit, the real, which is like a colorless crystal,
that appears to assume the colors
of whatever is placed before it,
and yet having no connection with it.
It is my inherent nature is enlighten you,
when I find that you are ripe for it."
*
"If you desire to gain the vast, supreme reality
that is the temple of refreshing grace,
inseparable from all that is, becoming pure consciousness
and obtaining the indestructible state whose nature is bliss,
listen as I explain to you the proper means:
May you live long, winning in your heart
the reality that is devoid of all qualities!
May you attain the state of bliss-consciousness,
so that all the dense accumulation of ignorance disappears!
May you liberate yourself from bondage!"
*
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part I:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
Through his grace, he imparted to me the state of mauna,
the true knowledge in which bondage is abolished;
"For that state, there is no thought, no 'I' sense,
no space, no time, no directions, no pairs of opposites,
nothing lost, nothing other, no words,
no phenomena of night and day,
no beginning, no end, no middle, no inner or outer.
Nothing is."
*
"When I say, "It is not, it is not",
this is not a state of nothingness.
It is pure identity; it is the nature that eternally endures,
a state that cannot be expressed in words,
It is the Swarupa which engulfs everything,
so that neither 'I' nor anything else appears.
As the day consumes the night, it consumes the ignorance entirely,
Easily overcoming and swallowing up
your personal consciousness, it transforms your very self.
here and now, in its own Self.
It is the state that distinguishes itself as self luminous silence".
*
Other than the nature that is its own Self,
it allows nothing else to arise,
Because there is no other
consciousness,
should anything attempt to arise there
it will, like a camphor flame, vanish.
The knower, devoid of both knowledge and objects known,
falls away, without falling, since it still remains.
But who can tell of its greatness, and to whom?
By dint of becoming That, one exists only as That.
That alone will speak for itself."
*
"If we call it "That", then the question will arise,
"What is That?"
Therefore did Janaka and the other kings
and the rishis, foremost among whom is Suka,
live happily, like bees intoxicated with honey,
entirely avoiding any mentin of "That".
Remain in this state." Thus did he speak.
Grant me the abundance of your grace
so that, in the nirvikalpa state of total tranquillity,
I may know and attain the condition of supreme bliss,
in accordance with your rule.
I shall not sleep or take up any other work
until I attain this state.
*
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part I:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues.....
Thayumanavar's reverence for his Mauna Guru, for the teachings he gave him, and for the experiences he ultimately bestowed on him, were the subject of another poem that Sri Bhagavan mentioned. The subject arose when Sri Bhagavan was asked about the necessity of having a Guru:
"Is it possible to gain knowledge without the blessings of a Guru?" asked a devotee. "Even Rama, who was like a dullard in his early life, became a realized soul only with the help of his guru."
"Yes", said Sri Bhagavan, 'how can there be any doubts? The grace of the Guru is absolutely necessary. That is why Thayumanavar praised his Guru in his hymns." {Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, p.26.}. The verse has not been specifically mentioned by Sri Bhagavan. We have inserted the following verse because it closely resembles the contents of the verse by another author that Sri Bhagavan quoted immediately after mentioning Thayumanavar. That verse said: O Gurudeva, you look falling upon it, a tiger becomes gentle like a goat, a snake like a squirrel, and a bad man becomes a good man...."
Mauna Guru Vanakkam - Verse 7:
Kanakam ilangu puli pasuvodu kulaavum; nin kaN kaaNa madha yaanai nee, kai kaattavum kyail negidikkum ena periya kattai miha endhi varume;
Bonagam amainthathu ena ak kaamadhenu nin pon adiyil ninRu solume; bhuvi rajar, kavi rajar dhava rajar enRu unaip potri jaya potri enbar;
Jnana karunaakara mukam kaNda pothile, nava nadha siddhargalum, un natpinai virumbuavaar; sukar vama devar mudhal jnanigalum unai mecchuvaar;
Vanagamum, maNNagamum vanthu edhir vaNangidum un mahimaiyathu solla eLitho? mantra guruve, tantra guruve moolan marabil varum Mouna Guruve!
At your {Mouna Guru's} glance,
the tiger that roams the forest
will sport with the cow.
At a sign of your hand,
the rutting elephant will come,
carrying with his trunk
a huge load of great logs for bonfire,
Kamadhenu herself will attend
your golden feet,
saying, "Your meal is prepared".
Kings of earth, and kings of verse,
will laud you as the king of tapas,
crying out 'Victory and praise to you!'
At the mere sight of your face,
abode of Knowledge and compassion,
the nine siddhas will desire your friendship.
Realized sages, with Suka
and Vamadevar at their head,
will express their admiration for you.
Is it easy to tell of the greatness of you,
before whom both heaven and earth
come to offer their worship?
Mantra Guru! Yoga Tantra Guru!
Mauna Guru, sprung from Tirumoolar's ancestral line!
After reciting the verse, Sri Bhagavan concluded by saying, "The Guru's grace is extraordinary." {Letters from Sri Ramanassramam,page 26.}
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part I:
by Robert Butler and others - continues....
Having been refused permission to follow Mauna Guru wherever he went,
Thayumanavar continued to serve at the royal court. After some time, though, the prince, who was a pious man himself, noticed the depth of Thayumanavar's devotion and offered to release him from service. When Thayumanavar told the prince he just wanted to spend his life in meditation, the prince accepted his resignation and gave him a small house on the banks of river Kaveri where he cold meditate undisturbed. The prince, who had recognized his holiness, visited him regularly and often brought him gifts.
In 1731, the prince, who apparently was not a very able ruler, died soon, after losing a major battle to an army that had attempted to invade part of his territory. His widow Rani Meenakshi, took over the running of the kingdom. She came to Thayumanavar for advice on how to run the country's affairs, and for some time he had to go back to his former job as a royal advisor. However, in an unexpected turn of events, Meenakshi fell in love with him and started to make amorous advances. Thayumanavar decided that the only way to escape her sexual demands would be to flee to a place that was beyond her jurisdiction. With the help of Arulaiyar, one of his devotees,
he escaped, disguised as a soldier,
and eventually moved to Ramanathapuram, where the local Raja welcomed him and arranged for him to stay in a quiet place where his meditations would not be disturbed. For sometime he lived a very ascetic life there.
Rani Meenakshi ran her kingdom very badly. In 1731, her country was overrun by various invaders and she ended up committing suicide by drinking poison. Siva Chidambaram, Thayumanavar's elder brother, came in person to tell Thayumanavar to it was safe for him to return home, if he wanted to, since there was no longer any danger of royal revenge. He went back to his ancestral home where he was treated with great reverence by both his family and his community. However, a surprise was in store for him. His family wanted him to marry, and they were backed up by Mauna Guru who told Thayumanavar that it was his destiny to get married and have a child. In obedience to his Guru's wishes, he married a girl called Mattuvaar Kuzhali and they eventually had a son whom they named Kanakasabhapathi. The marriage did not last long because Mattuvarkuzhali died soon afterwards, leaving Thayumanavar with the responsibilities of bring up a child.
Around this time, Mauna Guru visited him again to give him darshan and instructions, one of which was to make a pilgrimage to Chidambaram. During their meeting Thayumanavar went into deep samadhi that lasted for several days. When he returned to his normal consciousness, he reaized that he could not longer fulfil his duties as a householder, and a father. He handed over the care of his son to his elder brother and left for Chidambaram.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part I:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues..
Thayumanavar spent about two months in Chidambarm, mostly immersed in deep samadhi state. He then embarked on a pilgrimage that took him to several of the sacred places in Tamizh Nadu, including Tiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvarur, Madurai and Tiruvotriyur, His final destination was Rameswaram at the southern tip of India. Shortly after his arrival there he made a very public appeal in the temple for God to intervene and end drought that had severely afflicted that part of the counry. An immediate and torrential down pour filled all the tanks and wells. Thayumanavar, who generally shunned publicity, as much as possible, found himself being carried in triumph, through the streets of Ramanathapuram on a palnquin. He was feted by the local king, the Raja of Ramnad, and even offered a new job as royal advisor.
Thayumanavar rejected all the royal honors, and spent the remaineder of his brief life in a small hut, meditating and composing songs that were to make him famous. His two principal disciples, Arulayyar and Kodikarai Janai, wrote down the poems and began to sing them in public. They were immediately popular and spread even during Thayumanavar's life time.
{In Ramanathapuram, the saint is said to have written the poem MalaivaLar Kaadhali consisting of eight verses. Malai VaLar Kaadhali means the girl brought about by the Malai, Mountain, Himalayas, Himavan, the king. She is called Parvatha Vardhini, the goddess of the temple.]
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part I:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues...
In Jan. 1742 he withdrew into his hut and left the following message pinned to the outside of the door:
Dear friends, withdraw the mind from the senses and fix it in meditation. Control the thought-current. Find out the though current and fix yourself there. Then you will be conscious of the divine Self. You will it dancing in ecstasy. Live in that delight. The delight consciousness is the God in you. He is in every heart. You need not go anywhere to find Him. Find our own core and feel Him there. Peace, bliss, felicity, health - everything is in you. Trust in the divine in you. Entrust yourself to His Grace. Be as you are. Off with the past impressions! He who lives from within an ingathered soul is a real Sage, even though he may be a householder. He who allows his mind to wander with the sense is an ignoramus, though he is learned. See as a Witness, without the burden of seeing. See the world just as you see a drama. See without attachment; Look within. Look at the inner light unshaken
by mental impressions. Then, floods of conscious bliss come pouring in and around you from all directions. This is the Supreme Knowledge. Realize! Aum! Aum!
This was his final message. When
Arulayyar went in he found that
Thayumanavar had left his body. He was given a royal funeral by the local raja, and his songs were sung
as his body was interred.
{Swami Chidbhavananda says that Saint Thayumanavar left the body in 1783 A.D. His Samadhi is on the outskirts of Ramanathapuram in a place called Lakshmipuram and a temple has been built there and this temple is managed by Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tiru Parai ThuRai, near Tiruchirapalli.}
Part I -concluded.
Friends,
An excerpt from The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
Sri Ramakrishna was gradually becoming conscious of the outside world. Nilmadhav of
Ghazipur and a Brahmo devotee were talking about Pavhari Baba. Another Brahmo
devotee said to the Master: "Sir, these gentlemen visited Pavhari Baba. He lives in
Ghazipur. He is a holy man like yourself." The Master could hardly talk; he only smiled.
The devotee continued, "Sir, Pavhari Baba keeps your photograph in his room." Pointing to
his body the Master said with a smile, "Just a pillow-case."
The Master continued: "But you should remember that the heart of the devotee is the abode
of God. He dwells, no doubt, in all beings, but He especially manifests Himself in the heart
of the devotee. A landlord may at one time or another visit all parts of his estate, but people
say he is generally to be found in a particular drawing-room. The heart of the devotee is the
drawing-room of God.
Attitude of jnanis and bhaktas
"He who is called Brahman by the jnanis is known as Atman by the yogis and as Bhagavan
by the bhaktas. The same brahmin is called priest, when worshipping in the temple, and
cook, when preparing a meal in the kitchen. The jnani sticking to the path of knowledge,
always reasons about the Reality, saying, 'Not this, not this'. Brahman is neither 'this' nor
'that'; It is neither the universe nor its living beings. Reasoning in this way, the mind
becomes steady. Then it disappears and the aspirant goes into samadhi. This is the
knowledge of Brahman. It is the unwavering conviction of the jnani that Brahman alone is
real and the world illusory. All these names and forms are illusory, like a dream. What
Brahman is cannot be described. One cannot even say that Brahman is a Person. This is the
opinion of the jnanis, the followers of Vedanta philosophy."
Continued...
Friends,
Sri Ramakrishna continued...
"But the bhaktas accept all the states of consciousness. They take the waking state to be real
also. They don't think the world to be illusory, like a dream. They say that the universe is a
manifestation of God's power and glory. God has created all these - sky, stars, moon, sun,
mountains, ocean, men, animals. They constitute His glory. He is within us, in our hearts.
Again, He is outside. The most advanced devotees say that He Himself has become all this
- the twenty-four cosmic principles, the universe, and all living beings. The devotee of God
wants to eat sugar, not to become sugar. (All laugh.)
"Do you know how a lover of God feels? His attitude is: 'O God, Thou are the Master, and I
am Thy servant. Thou art the Mother, and I am Thy child.' Or again: 'Thou art my Father
and Mother. Thou art the Whole, and I am a part.' He doesn't like to say, 'I am Brahman.'
Attitude of yogis
"The yogi seeks to realize the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. His ideal is the union of the
embodied soul and the Supreme Soul. He withdraws his mind from sense-objects and tries
to concentrate it on the Paramatman. Therefore, during the first stage of his spiritual
discipline, he retires into solitude and with undivided attention practises meditation in a
fixed posture.
"But the Reality is one and the same. The difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is
verily Atman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He is Brahman to the followers of the path of
knowledge, Paramatman to the yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God."
The steamer had been going toward Calcutta; but the passengers, with their eyes fixed on
the Master and their ears given to his nectar-like words, were oblivious of its motion.
Dakshineswar, with its temples and gardens, was left behind. The paddles of the boat
churned the waters of the Ganges with a murmuring sound. But the devotees were
indifferent to all this. Spellbound, they looked on a great yogi, his face lighted with a divine
smile, his countenance radiating love, his eyes sparkling with joy-a man who had
renounced all for God and who knew nothing but God. Unceasing words of wisdom flowed
from his lips.
As Sri Bhagavan says in upadesa undiyar verse 15:
"manavuru mAyamaim mannumA yogi
thanakkOr seyalilai undhE paRa
thanniyal sArndhanan undhE paRa"
For the great yogi who is established as the reality due to the death of the mind form, there is not any action [to do], [because] He has attained His nature [His natural state of Self abidance].
Namaskar.
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar : Part II;
By Robert Butler, T.V, Vnakatasubramanian and David Godman:
Jayanti issue of MP, 2005:
The state of the Self:
This first section begins with a discussion that central on experiences of Tennyson, the famous 19th century English poet, introduced in himself:
In continuation of yesterday's conversation about Tennyson, the relative passage was found in a footnote to the English translation of Upadesa Saram. It was not in a poem but in a letter to Mr.B.P. Blood. Sri Bhagavan asked me to read it out, so I did..."a kind of waking trance I have frequently had, quite up form boyhood, when I have been all alone. This has generally come upon me through repeating my own name two or three times to myself, silently, till all at once, as it were out of the intensity of consciousness of individuality, the individuality itself seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being; and this is not a confused state, but the clearest of the clearest, the surest of the surest, the weirdest of the weirdest, utterly beyond words, where death was almost laughable impossibility, the loss of personality [if so it were] seming no extinction but the only true life."
Sri Bhagavan said: "That state is called abidance in the Self. It is described in a number of songs."
He took up Thayumanavar and it opened at the very page He was looking for.... [Day by Day entry dated 17th June 1946].
Mauna Guru, you who declared:
"The state in which there is neither merging nor separation,
no pairs of opposites, no expansion or contraction,
no qualities, no coming or going,
that leaves no lasting trance;
that is free of the three defilements;
that cannot be conceived
in terms of having a top, bottom or sides;
that in which there is neither bindu nor nadham,
and in which the five elements,
variously constituted, do not exist;
that in which the knower and his knowledge are not;
that which is without decay;
that which, moreover, is not one and not two,
and is without voice and without mind;
that which is free, even, of the ecstatic seeking,
wherein [the devotee] tastes with his lips,
and drinks from the ocean of bliss,
that is the eternally enduring
supreme and all pervading reality -
that is the enduring state.
Siddhanta Mukti's Primal Lord!
Dakshinamurti, enthroned in glory upon the lofty Siragiri!
Guru, you who are pure consciousness's form!
-Chinmayanandaguru, Verse 8.
contd.,
Friends,
An excerpt from The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
Brahman cannot be expressed in words
"What Brahman is cannot he described. All things in the world - the Vedas, the Puranas, the
Tantras, the six systems of philosophy - have been defiled, like food that has been touched
by the tongue, for they have been read or uttered by the tongue. Only one thing has not
been defiled in this way, and that is Brahman. No one has ever been able to say what
Brahman is."
VIDYASAGAR (to his friends): "Oh! That is a remarkable statement. I have learnt
something new today."
MASTER: "A man had two sons. The father sent them to a preceptor to learn the
Knowledge of Brahman. After a few years they returned from their preceptor's house and
bowed low before their father. Wanting to measure the depth of their knowledge of
Brahman, he first questioned the older of the two boys. 'My child,' he said, 'You have
studied all the scriptures. Now tell me, what is the nature of Brahman?' The boy began to
explain Brahman by reciting various texts from the Vedas. The father did not say anything.
Then he asked the younger son the same question. But the boy remained silent and stood
with eyes cast down. No word escaped his lips. The father was pleased and said to him: 'My
child, you have understood a little of Brahman. What It is cannot be expressed in words.'
Parable of ant and sugar hill
"Men often think they have understood Brahman fully. Once an ant went to a hill of sugar.
One grain filled its stomach. Taking another grain in its mouth it started homeward. On its
way it thought, 'Next time I shall carry home the whole hill.' That is the way shallow minds
think. They don't know that Brahman is beyond one's words and thought. However great a
man may be, how much can he know of Brahman? Sukadeva and sages like him may have
been big ants; but even they could carry at the utmost eight or ten grains of sugar!
"As for what has been said in the Vedas and the Puranas, do you know what it is like?
Suppose a man has seen the ocean, and somebody asks him, 'Well, what is the ocean like?'
The first man opens his mouth as wide as he can and says: 'What a sight! What tremendous
waves and sounds!' The description of Brahman in the sacred books is like that. It is said in
the Vedas that Brahman is of the nature of Bliss - It is Satchidananda.
"Suka and other sages stood on the shore of this Ocean of Brahman and saw and touched
the water. According to one school of thought they never plunged into it. Those who do,
cannot come back to the world again.
continued...
Friends,
Sri Ramakrishna continued...
Parable of salt doll
"In samadhi one attains the Knowledge of Brahman - one realizes Brahman. In that state
reasoning stops altogether, and man becomes mute. He has no power to describe the nature
of Brahman.
"Once a salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean. (All laugh.) It wanted to tell
others how deep the water was. But this it could never do, for no sooner did it get into the
water than it melted. Now who was there to report the ocean's depth?"
A DEVOTEE: "Suppose a man has obtained the Knowledge of Brahman in samadhi.
Doesn't he speak any more?"
MASTER: "Sankaracharya retained the 'ego of Knowledge' in order to teach others. After
the vision of Brahman a man becomes silent. He reasons about It as long as he has not
realized It. If you heat butter in a pan on the stove, it makes a sizzling sound as long as the
water it contains has not dried up. But when no trace of water is left the clarified butter
makes no sound. If you put an uncooked cake of flour in that butter it sizzles again. But
after the cake is cooked all sound stops. Just so, a man established in samadhi comes down
to the relative plane of consciousness in order to teach others, and then he talks about God.
"The bee buzzes as long as it is not sitting on a flower. It becomes silent when it begins to
sip the honey. But sometimes, intoxicated with the honey, it buzzes again.
"An empty pitcher makes a gurgling sound when it is dipped in water. When it fills up it
becomes silent. (All laugh.) But if the water is poured from it into another pitcher, then you
will hear the sound again. (Laughter.)
Namaskar.
Punarvasu VaNNam:
Today is the asterism of Punarvasu,
the birth star of Sri Bhagavan. In today's abulations and adornment with flowers, Ramaneswara Maha Lingam in the Samadhi Hall, will be fitted with a golden gasket also. The punarvasu star is golden in color, while Ardra, the star of Sri
Sankara is blood red in color.
Muruganar has composed 11 songs on this star of Sri Bhagavan, under the title Punarvasu VaNNam in Sri
Ramana Sannidhi MuRai.
Verse 10 reads:
In melodious music the poets will sing colorful songs of nice metrical sounds,
The musicians adept in seven notes will play in Yazh and Veena, these songs,
Women with flowing hairs will submit flowers and pour golden spangles at His feet,
Long Live Ramanan, this is the good day of Punarvasu, the golden star.
***
Tiruchuzhi[yal] Padigam-
Decad on Tiruchuzhi:
Tiruchuzhi is Sri Bhagavan's birth place. Like about His star Punarvasu, Sri Murganar has also
composed ten verses on Tiruchuzhi.
This decad is sung in the same raga as Ramana Sadguru of Venkataramana Iyer.
Verse 5 reads as under:
O the king, who ascended the summit of non attachment, which confers no miseries in life,
On reaching You, I earned limitless happiness in life, O
Ramanesa!
Many of the ancient Vedas speak the glory of ancient Pandyan town of Tiruchuzhi!
O the embodiment of Goodness, even if I forget you, my tongue will tell your name!
I love this decad and chant every day.
***
Tirumandiram - Poems of mystery:
Tirumular's Tirumandiram consists of nine parts called Tantras and totally the book has got more than 3000 verses.
Half of this book is quite difficult to understand, unless one has got a commentary to refer to.
I have been reading it with some support of an English commentary for the past 2 months. The Ninth Tantra is the most mysterious one. And there is one collection of poems under this called Soonya Sambhashanai - Dialogue of Esoteric Symbolism.
Verse 2866:
Kaayam palagai kavaRainthu kaN moonRa
Aayam poruvathor Ayimbathor akkaram
Eya peruman irunthu poruginra
Maaya kavaRRinn maRaipparRiyene!
Body the gambling board;
Five - the dice;
Three - channels;
Fifty one - the squares;
Thus the Jivas play the game;
He who thus leads them to it,
The mystery of His play
I know not.
We are able to guess that five indicates five senses. But what are three channels? These could be waking, dreaming and deep sleep. Or these could be three malas, impurities, ego, maya and karma. Or these could be three types of births - male, female and transgender. I spent some time thinking about it. No solution.
Okay, then what could the fifty one squares? Fifty one normally reads fifty one letters of Sanskrit. Arunagiri Nathar also uses this word.
I checked up with the English commentary of Dr. B. Natarajan.
The three channels refer to three
malas, ego, maya and karma.
The fifty one squares refer to fifty one letters {of Sanskrit} but the commentary adds - 'they represent "nada pervading the body."
The mystery of Tirumandiram is a steep stair case.
***
Tirumandiram - Soonya Sambhashanai -
Tantra 9 - Dialogue of Esoteric Symbolism:
Verse 2868 reads:
AaRu theruvil agappatta santhiyil
SaaRu paduvana naangu panaiyuLa;
ERaRkariyathor eNi ittu appanai
ERaluRRen kadal Ezhung kandene!
Six are the streets
In their junction are juicy palm trees four;
With ladder difficult to climb,
I ascended the palm's heights;
And there I saw the seas seven!
The six streets are six adharas starting from mooladhara, svadhishtana etc., Climbing the four palm tree where there are three junctions, means three nadis - surya nadi, chandra nadi, meru and sushumna. In the yogic method, one who ascends this, he will behold the seven seas that is, Sahasrara.
*
Verse 2869 reads:
Vazhuthalai vithida paahal muLaithathu,
Puzhuthiyai thondinen poosani poothathu,
Thozhthu kondondinor thottakudi kaN
Muzhuthum pazhuthathu vazhai kaniye!
I sowed the seed of brinjal[1]
And the shoot of balsam pear[2] arose;
I dug up the dust[3];
And the pumpkin[4] blossomed;
The gardener-gang[5] prayed and ran;
Full well ripened the fruit of plantain[6];
All [1 to 6] are allegorical. This is really soonya sambhashanai, dialogue of esoteric symbolism.
1. Vazhuthalai means shaven head, mottai; also means brinjal;
2. balsam pear is a bitter vegetable which use for curry. This means bitterness or world negation.
3. dust means the body - the dust of tattvas or universals that constitute the body. Sri Bhagavan says that tattvas are only garbage, in Who am I?
4. Pumpkin, the white gourd full of ashes around it, symbolizes Siva or Siva Lingam, covered with holy ashes.
5. gardener gang means the five indriyas or sense organs. May also refer to three impurities or malas; ego, karma and maya;
6. Plantain means mukti or liberation from birth. The plantain is thought of as being seedless; vazhai is vazh and i creating a symbolism, to mean life giving fruit.
Tirumular and Tirumandiram are great mysteries. Particularly the ninth tantra is the most mysterious.
*****
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues...
Sri Bhagavan quoted two other Thayumanavar verses on this occasion, but they are not really expressions of what the Self is like. They are, instead, pleas from a disciple who wants to attain this state. Sri Bhagavan mentioned them because He said that they both contained references or allusions to Sahaja Nishta, the natural state of abidance in the Self. [Day by Day with Bhagavan, 17th June 1946].
Reality, pervading everywhere!
Like a supplicant who seeks the favor of a benefactor,
begging him, in a manner free of all reproach,
to show compassion and grant his petition
[I apply to You]. Hear my plea! O Transcendent Supreme!
Listen to the petition of one
whose heart is of wood and show pity.
[My plea] is to dwell in mauna
in the fullness of your ethereal grace,
the state of Sahaja Nishta.
- Asainenum, Verse 2.
Tamizh verse reads as-
irappan angu oruvan avan venduvakettu,
aruL sei ena, echaRRe thaan
purappan than aruL naadi iruppathu pol,
engum niRai poruLe keLai!
marappanmai nenjinan yaan venduvakettu,
irangu enave, maunathodu an-
tharappanmai aruL niRavil iruppathuvo?
paraparame sahaja nishtai.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues...
Sri Bhagavan quoted two other Thayumanavar verses on this occasion, but they are not really expressions of what the Self is like. They are, instead, pleas from a disciple who wants to attain this state. Sri Bhagavan mentioned them because He said that they both contained references or allusions to Sahaja Nishta, the natural state of abidance in the Self. [Day by Day with Bhagavan, 17th June 1946].
Reality, pervading everywhere!
Like a supplicant who seeks the favor of a benefactor,
begging him, in a manner free of all reproach,
to show compassion and grant his petition
[I apply to You]. Hear my plea! O Transcendent Supreme!
Listen to the petition of one
whose heart is of wood and show pity.
[My plea] is to dwell in mauna
in the fullness of your ethereal grace,
the state of Sahaja Nishta.
- Asainenum, Verse 2.
Tamizh verse reads as-
irappan angu oruvan avan venduvakettu,
aruL sei ena, echaRRe thaan
purappan than aruL naadi iruppathu pol,
engum niRai poruLe keLai!
marappanmai nenjinan yaan venduvakettu,
irangu enave, maunathodu an-
tharappanmai aruL niRavil iruppathuvo?
paraparame sahaja nishtai.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part II:
by Robert Butler and others.
continues...
... Well indeed does your divine mind know,
how my heart melted in tender love,
how I languished,
hoping that I might clearly apprehend this state.
If I try to abide in this state for a while,
then my ignorance, a foe posing as a friend,
comes and makes my mind its home.
Shall defiling maya and karma return again?
Shall births, in unbroken succession, assault me?
These thoughts fill my mind.
Lend me the sword of true steadfastness -[sraddha],
give me the strength of true jnana
so that my bondage is abolished;
guard me, grant me your grace!
Consummate perfection of bliss,
whose abundant fullness reigns,
without exception, everywhere I look!
[Paripurananadam, Verse 5]
{santhathamum enathu seyal ninathu seyal yaan enum thanmai ninai anRi illaath,
thanmaiyal veRu alen; vedanta siddhanta samarasa subavam ithuve;]*
intha nilai theLia nekkurugi vaadiya iyaRkai thiru uLam aRiyume;
intha nialaile saRRu irukka enRaal madamai hitha satru aaha vanthu
chintai kudi koLLuthe; mala maayai karmam thirumbumo? thodu vazhakkai
jenmam varumo? enavum yosikkuthe manathu;
siraddhai enum vaaLum udhavip
bantham aRa meijanan dheeramum
thanthu enaip
padhukaathu aruL seiguvai;
paarkum idam engum oru neekkam aRa niRaiginRa paripoorananandame!
* This line is not in the English translation.
continued.....
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
In the next dialogue, Sri Bhagavan is questioned about turiya, the underlying substratum of the Self in which the three states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep appear and disappear. He answered the query about these states and concluded with a brief quotation from Thayumanavar.
Question: How are the three states of consciousness inferior in degree of reality to the fourth? What is the actual relation between these three states and the fourth?
Sri Bhagavan: There is only one state, that of consciousness or awareness or existence. The three states of waking, dream, and sleep cannot be real. They simply come and go. The real will always exist. The 'I' or existence that alone persists in all the three states, is real. The other three are not real and so it is not possible to say that they have such and such a degree of reality. We may roughly put it like this. Existence or Consciousness is the only reality. Consciousness plus waking, we call waking. Consciousness plus sleep, we call sleep. Consciousness plus dreaming, we call dream. Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it. Because by long habit we have been regarding these three states as real, we call the state of mere awareness or consciousness as the fourth. There is, however, no fourth state, but only one state.
In this connection, Sri Bhagavan quoted the Verse 386 of Parapara kaNNi of Thayumanavar and said that this so called fourth state is described as waking sleep or sleep in waking -- meaning asleep to the world and awake in the Self. [Day by Day, dated 11th Jan. 1946.]
O Supreme of Supremes!
To remain,
free of sleep,
beyond thought's corruption,
is this the pure state of grace?
Pray, speak!
Nitthiraiyum paazhtha ninaivum aRRu niRpathuvo
Suttha aruL nilai nee sollai paraparame!
[Nitthirai - Nidra, sleep
Suttha - suddha, pure.]
[ParaparakaNNi is the longest two line poem of Thayumanavar. It runs to 389 two line verses, like Akshramana Maalai. KaNNi means a knot, knot of two lines with the same idea.]
In the final verse in this section, Thayumanavar describes the moment of Self realization and some of the experiences that stem from it. Arthur Osborne [Vide Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge, page 61 of B.I. Publications, 1979] wrote that this was the verse that Sri Bhagavan particularly liked, but there are no recorded instances of Sri Bhagavan quoting this verse in His replies to devotees.
This is from NinaivonRu of Thayumanavar.
continued....
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part II:
by Robert Butler, T.V. Venkatasubramanian, & David Godman:
continues.
The verse from NinaivonRu mentioned by Arthur Osborne:
When overpowered by the vast expanse
that has neither beginning, middle or end,
the truth of non-dual bliss will arise in the mind,
Our entire clan will be redemmed.
Nothing will be lacking.
All our undertakings will prosper.
There will be sporting in the company
of those wise ones who,
like sunrise at the break of day,
have known the dawn of grace,
where there is neither abundance nor lack.
Our nature will become such,
that like babies, madmen or ghouls,
we should not rejoice,
though offered heaven and earth in their entirety.
The Tamizh verse:
Adimudiyum naduvum aRRa paraveLi melkondaal,
advaita ananda chittam undaam; namathu
kudi muzhuthum pizhiakkum; oru kuRaiyum illai; eduttha
kolam ellaam nanRu aahum; kuRaivu
niRaivu aRave,
vidiyum udhayam pola aruL udhayam
peRRa
vithahorudum koodi viLaiyadal aahum;
padi muzuthum viN muzhuthum thanthalum kaLiyap
Balarudan unmtthar pisachar guNam varume.
[eudttha kolam - all efforts;
vithahar - jnanis; unmathar - madmen; pisachar - ghouls. padi - the world or earth; viN - heaven.]
continued...
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
The mocking comments of the mind:
...{Khanna} handed Sri Bhagavan a piece of paper on which he had written something.
After reading it, Sri Bhagavan said:
"It is a complaint. He says, 'I have been coming to you and this time I have remained nearly a month at your feet and I find no improvement at all in my condition. My vasanas are as strong as ever. When I go back, my friends will laugh at me and ask what good my stay here has done me."
Then, turning to Khanna, Sri Bhagavan said, "Why distress your mind by thinking that Jnana has not come or that the vasanas have not disappeared? Don't give room for thoughts. In the last stanza of "Sukavari" in Thayumanavar, the saint says much the same as is written on this paper."
And Sri Bhagavan made me read the stanza and translate it into English for the benefit of those who did not know Tamizh. It goes: "The mind mocks me, and though I tell you ten thousand times, you are indifferent, so how am I to attain peace and bliss?" {Day by
Day with Bhavavan, Devaraja Mudaliar, entry dated 26th June 1946. In the same work, it is stated that Sri Bhagavan also explained this verse to Dr. Srinivasa Rao on 22nd November 1945, but the explanation itself was not recorded.}
The translation recorded by Devaraja Mudaliar in Day by Day comes from the second part of the verse. G.V. Subbaramayya has noted [Sri Ramana Reminiscences, 1967, p. 49] that Sri Bhagavan explained the first half of the verse in the late 1930s, although neither the circumstances nor the explanation itself is given.
This particular verse seems to have been one that particularly interested Sri Bhagavan, for Devaraja Mudaliar has reported: "On one occasion, stanza 8 to 11 of "Mandalattin" and twelve of "Sukavari" [the verse just referred to] were elaborately explained by Sri Bhagavan and were translated into English by me for he benefit of those who did not know Tamizh. These stanzas used to be frequently referred to by Sri Bhagavan." {My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, Devaraja Mudaliar, 1992 edition, pages 54-55}.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
The mocking comments of the mind:
...{Khanna} handed Sri Bhagavan a piece of paper on which he had written something.
After reading it, Sri Bhagavan said:
"It is a complaint. He says, 'I have been coming to you and this time I have remained nearly a month at your feet and I find no improvement at all in my condition. My vasanas are as strong as ever. When I go back, my friends will laugh at me and ask what good my stay here has done me."
Then, turning to Khanna, Sri Bhagavan said, "Why distress your mind by thinking that Jnana has not come or that the vasanas have not disappeared? Don't give room for thoughts. In the last stanza of "Sukavari" in Thayumanavar, the saint says much the same as is written on this paper."
And Sri Bhagavan made me read the stanza and translate it into English for the benefit of those who did not know Tamizh. It goes: "The mind mocks me, and though I tell you ten thousand times, you are indifferent, so how am I to attain peace and bliss?" {Day by
Day with Bhavavan, Devaraja Mudaliar, entry dated 26th June 1946. In the same work, it is stated that Sri Bhagavan also explained this verse to Dr. Srinivasa Rao on 22nd November 1945, but the explanation itself was not recorded.}
The translation recorded by Devaraja Mudaliar in Day by Day comes from the second part of the verse. G.V. Subbaramayya has noted [Sri Ramana Reminiscences, 1967, p. 49] that Sri Bhagavan explained the first half of the verse in the late 1930s, although neither the circumstances nor the explanation itself is given.
This particular verse seems to have been one that particularly interested Sri Bhagavan, for Devaraja Mudaliar has reported: "On one occasion, stanza 8 to 11 of "Mandalattin" and twelve of "Sukavari" [the verse just referred to] were elaborately explained by Sri Bhagavan and were translated into English by me for he benefit of those who did not know Tamizh. These stanzas used to be frequently referred to by Sri Bhagavan." {My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, Devaraja Mudaliar, 1992 edition, pages 54-55}.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar : Part II:
by Robert Butler, T.V. Venkatasubramanian, & David Godman.
continues...
In the first half of the "Sukavari" verse, the mind of Thayumanavar is complaining to its jiva, its spirit or soul, about the division that has sprung up between them.
Sukavari Verse 12, followed by three lines of refrain:
"Like yourself [the jiva] who are spirit, have not I, the mind,
and my friend, the prana, always dwelt within the body?
Long ago someone or other separated us,
designating us as 'insentient' and yourself as 'sentient'.
From the day you heard that, right up to the present day,
you have unjustly erected a barrier between us and suppressed us,
exercising your oppressive rule.
What a great task you have accomplished,
right before our eyes?
When my foolish mind thus gross abuses me,
my heart is scorched and blackened,
like beeswax exposed to a leaping flame!
Can this be right and proper?
Though I have called upon You [God] ten thousand times,
you have not taken pity on me, and bestowed your grace.
Henceforth, how may happiness ever come to me? Speak!
Supreme Godhead,
pure and devoid of all attributes!
Supreme Light! Ocean of Bliss!
The Tamizh verse reads:
ennaLum udalile uyiram unaip pol
irukka ilaiyo? manathu enum
yaanum en natpaam prananum emaich
chadamathu
enRu unaich chittu enRume
annaaLil evano pirithan; athaik ketta
anRu mudhal inRu varaiyum
aniayayamai emai adakkik kuRukke
adarnthu arasu paNNi, engaL
munnaga nee enna kottai koNdai enRu
moota manam mihavum esa,
MooNdu eriyum anal itta mezhugaai uLam karukal
muRaimayo? padhinaayiram
sonnalum nin aruL iranga iliaye, inich
sukam varuvathu eppadi solaai;
Suddha nirgunamaana para deivame
param
jothiye Sukavariye!
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar : Part II:
by Robert Butler, T.V. Venkatasubramanian, & David Godman.
continues...
In the first half of the "Sukavari" verse, the mind of Thayumanavar is complaining to its jiva, its spirit or soul, about the division that has sprung up between them.
Sukavari Verse 12, followed by three lines of refrain:
"Like yourself [the jiva] who are spirit, have not I, the mind,
and my friend, the prana, always dwelt within the body?
Long ago someone or other separated us,
designating us as 'insentient' and yourself as 'sentient'.
From the day you heard that, right up to the present day,
you have unjustly erected a barrier between us and suppressed us,
exercising your oppressive rule.
What a great task you have accomplished,
right before our eyes?
When my foolish mind thus gross abuses me,
my heart is scorched and blackened,
like beeswax exposed to a leaping flame!
Can this be right and proper?
Though I have called upon You [God] ten thousand times,
you have not taken pity on me, and bestowed your grace.
Henceforth, how may happiness ever come to me? Speak!
Supreme Godhead,
pure and devoid of all attributes!
Supreme Light! Ocean of Bliss!
The Tamizh verse reads:
ennaLum udalile uyiram unaip pol
irukka ilaiyo? manathu enum
yaanum en natpaam prananum emaich
chadamathu
enRu unaich chittu enRume
annaaLil evano pirithan; athaik ketta
anRu mudhal inRu varaiyum
aniayayamai emai adakkik kuRukke
adarnthu arasu paNNi, engaL
munnaga nee enna kottai koNdai enRu
moota manam mihavum esa,
MooNdu eriyum anal itta mezhugaai uLam karukal
muRaimayo? padhinaayiram
sonnalum nin aruL iranga iliaye, inich
sukam varuvathu eppadi solaai;
Suddha nirgunamaana para deivame
param
jothiye Sukavariye!
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
On the occasion that Devaraja Mudaliar read out and translated the
Sukavari verse for Khanna's benefit, there was a further dialogue on this subject, after which Sri Bhagavan quoted three more Thayumanavar verses, the same ones that Mudaliar said Sri Bhagavan had once given a lengthy
explanation on:
Then I [Devaraja Mudaliar] said to Khanna: "You are not the only only who complaints to Sri Bhagavan like this. I have more than once complained in the same way, and I still do, for I find no improvement in myself."
Khanna replied: "It is not only that I find no improvement but I think I have grown worse. The vasanas are stronger now. I can't understand it."
Sri Bhagavan again quoted the last three stanzas of "Mandalattin" of Thayumanavar, where the mind is coaxed as the most generous and disinterested of givers, to go back to its birthplace or source and thus give the devotee peace and bliss, and He asked me to read out a translation of that I had once made. [Day by Day entry dt. 26th June 1946].
Mind, you who evolve from maya
as jewels are wrought from gold!
If you are freed from your defects
so that blissful Samadhi is attained
by meditating on reality within oneself
as oneself, by melting within,
and by making [you] fall away,
I shall attain redemption.
No one is as kind to me as you are - no one.
When I ponder on this, you [the mind]
are equal to the grace of God.
*
Amongst those who have taken on bodies,
to experience [the world],
be they Brahma, or any other gods,
it is true, is it not,
that for any of them to reject you [the mind],
and exist without you,
is impossible, quite impossible.
Without you, can anything be,
in this world or the next?
To vainly label you as 'unreal' also.
In order that my wretched state may be ended,
you must return to the glorious land of your birth.
*
You, who have been my companion
for many a day, were you to lie dead
through the enquiry [vichara]
that has separated you from me,
I should revere that ground with perfect devotion,
Through the mauna Guru who has ruled me,
I will be free from 'I' and 'mine',
becoming one with his grace.
The eight siddhis, liberation itself,
which is a vision delightful to behold,
shall be mine upon the earth.
Through you my anxieties shall be ended.
*
All my interminable wrangling
with birth will end in this evry birth.
For me, the state of jivan mukti,
which is difficult for anyone to experience,
will arise.
Oh, Sir [mind]! will even a cloud
on a grove of karpaga trees [wish fulfilling trees]
suffice as a comparison to you?
Can your greatness be described
in the seven worlds, beginning with earth?
[Mandalattin Verses 8 - 11. The last four verses of Mandalattin are given here since Mudaliar has already mentioned earlier in the article that Sri Bhagavan once gave an extensive explanation of all four of them. {My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, pp 54-55, 1992 edition.}
contd.,
R.Subramanaian/friends,
'Bhagavan and Thayumanavar' is a fine compendium.Here is a verse from ThayumAnavar's AnandamAna Param:
எத்தனை விதங்கள்தான் கற்கினும் கேட்கினும்என்
இதயமும் ஒடுங்கவில்லை
யானெனும் அகந்தைதான் எள்ளளவு மாறவிலை
யாதினும் அபிமானம்என்
சித்தமிசை குடிகொண்ட தீகையொ டிரக்கமென்
சென்மத்து நானறிகிலேன்
சீலமொடு தவவிரதம் ஒருகனவி லாயினுந்
தெரிசனங் கண்டும்அறியேன்
பொய்த்தமொழி யல்லால் மருந்துக்கும் மெய்ம்மொழி
புகன்றிடேன் பிறர்கேட்கவே
போதிப்ப தல்லாது சும்மா இருந்தருள்
பொருந்திடாப் பேதைநானே
அத்தனை குணக்கேடர் கண்டதாக் கேட்டதா
அவனிமிசை யுண்டோசொலாய்
அண்டபகி ரண்டமும் அடங்கவொரு நிறைவாகி
ஆனந்த மானபரமே.
However much I learn,
However much I listen,
My heart does not attain oneness.
The ahankara that inflates I-ness
Has not disappeared even a bit.
In all things egoity dominates my thought.
I know not charity, nor compassion
In all my life.
Even in dream have I not visioned
Goodness and holy penance.
Except lies, even for a change,
I have not spoken truth.
Except that I teach for others to hear,
I have not sat in meditation
And sought Divine Grace.
So worthless am I.
Has there been anyone
Seen or heard in the world,
So evil? Pray speak!
Oh! Thou, Param that is Bliss
Encompassing in Pervasive Fullness,
The Universes many and Spaces vast!
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
I am posting this 3 part article in
full, because the authors have put in tremendous efforts to collect materials from various works of Sri
Bhagavan's devotees and also have taken pains to translate the verses. Thayumanavar's poetry is again an enchanting one with long verses, like Tirupadai Atchi of Tiruvachakam. Sri Bhagavan has mentioned Anandamana Param Verse 7 in one place, which we shall see in due course. The verse 9 that you have mentioned is also a gem. Thanks.
Tirumandiram - Tanta 9 -
Soonya Sambhashanai - Dialogue of
Esoteric Symbolism:
Verse 2871:
PaLLachey onRu uNadu paadac chey iraNduLa,
KaLLachey ange kalanthu kidanthathu,
ULLachey ange uzhavu seyvarkatku,
VeLLacheyyaahi viLainthathu thaane.
A deep field is one;[1]
Waste fields two[2] are there;
Another alien field[3] with them lay mingled;
Those that plough the field of heart,
For them the field fed with water[4],
Lay ripe in harvest rich.
[1] State of Sushupti
[2] States of Waking and dreaming
[3] Turiya
[4] Ambrosia, nectarine bliss.
Verse 2873:
ERRam iraNduLa ezhu thuravuLa
Moothan iRaikka iLaiyan padutha neer
Patthiyir paayathu pazhap paynthu poyidiR
Koothi vaLarthathor kozhi puLlame!
Two the piccottahs[1] seven the wells[2]
The elder draws out [3], the younger waters [4]
If into the field[5] the water flows not,
And into waste flows[6]
Verily is it like the fowl
That the harlot rears.
1. Two nadis - ida and pingala.
2. Seven centers - the six adharas leading to the seventh, sahasrara,
3 & 4 - exhalation and inhalation,
5. The central suhsumna nadi,
6. The fowl can be consumed by the
harlot at any time as food in pleasure seeking.
***
Tirumandiram - Tanta 9 -
Soonya Sambhashanai - Dialogue of
Esoteric Symbolism:
Verse 2871:
PaLLachey onRu uNadu paadac chey iraNduLa,
KaLLachey ange kalanthu kidanthathu,
ULLachey ange uzhavu seyvarkatku,
VeLLacheyyaahi viLainthathu thaane.
A deep field is one;[1]
Waste fields two[2] are there;
Another alien field[3] with them lay mingled;
Those that plough the field of heart,
For them the field fed with water[4],
Lay ripe in harvest rich.
[1] State of Sushupti
[2] States of Waking and dreaming
[3] Turiya
[4] Ambrosia, nectarine bliss.
Verse 2873:
ERRam iraNduLa ezhu thuravuLa
Moothan iRaikka iLaiyan padutha neer
Patthiyir paayathu pazhap paynthu poyidiR
Koothi vaLarthathor kozhi puLlame!
Two the piccottahs[1] seven the wells[2]
The elder draws out [3], the younger waters [4]
If into the field[5] the water flows not,
And into waste flows[6]
Verily is it like the fowl
That the harlot rears.
1. Two nadis - ida and pingala.
2. Seven centers - the six adharas leading to the seventh, sahasrara,
3 & 4 - exhalation and inhalation,
5. The central suhsumna nadi,
6. The fowl can be consumed by the
harlot at any time as food in pleasure seeking.
***
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part II:
by Robert Butler, T.V. Venkatasubramanian, & David Godman.
continues....
Siddhis, Yoga and religious harmony:
Though Thayumanavar mentioned in the last verse but one, that siddhis would come automatically, when his mind had, through the grace of his Guru, ceased to function, he generally disapproved
of attempts to pursue such powers. Sri Bhagavan mentioned this in the following reply:
One man said that a siddha of Kumbakonam claimed to overcome the defects in Sankara's system, which deals only with transcendentalism and not the work-a-day life. One must be able to exercise super human powers in ordinary life, that is to say, one must be a siddha in order to be perfect. Sri Bhagavan pointed out a stanza in Thayumanavar which condemns all siddhis. [Talks No. 122].
In the English version of Talks, the Thayumanavar verse is not specified, but in the Tamizh edition, the translator and editor, Viswanatha Swami, states the that the following verse is the one that Sri Bhagavan was referring to:
Tejomayanandam, Verse 8:
kanthu uga madhakariyai vasama nadatthalaam;
karadi vempuli vaaiyum kattalam, oru singam mudhuhin mel koLLalam;
kanchevi edutthu aattalaam;
venthazhalin iradham vaithu ayinthu lohathaiyum vedithu viRRu uNNalaam;
veRu oruvar kaaaNaamal ulahathu ulaavalaam; viNNavarai eval koLalaam;
santhathamum iLaimaiyodu irukkalaam; maRRu oru sarirathinum puhuthalaam;
jalam mel nadakkalaam; kanal mel irukkalaam; than nigar il siddhi peralaam;
Chintaiyai adakkiye summa irukkinRa
thiRam arithu, sathaahi en,
chittamiai kudi koNda aRivu aana deivame, tejo mayananadame!
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues...
The English translation of Tejo mayanandam is as under:
To tame a rutting elephant, who has snapped his tethering post,
and to walk him under our control - that is possible.
To muzzle a bear, or a fierce tiger - that is possible.
To ride upon the back of the incomparable lion - that is possible.
To charm snakes, and make them dance - that is possible.
To put mercury into a furnace, transform the five base metals,
sell them and live from the proceeds - that is possible.
To wander the earth, invisible to everyone else - that is possible.
To command the celestials in our own service - that is possible.
To remain for ever young - that is possible.
To transmigrate into another physical body - that is possible.
To walk on water, or sit amidst flames - that is possible.
To attain supernatural powers, that know no equal - that is possible.
But the ability to control the mind, and remain still,
is very difficult indeed.
God, whose nature is consciousness,
who as the reality, impossible to seek,
took up his abode within my understanding!
Refulgent light of bliss!
Thayumanavar did not merely disapprove of the pursuit of siddhis. His criticism extended to extreme ascetic practices, attempts to prolong life span of the body, and methods which aimed to raise the kundalini to the sahasrara. In the following verse, which Devaraja Mudaliar said Sri Bhagavan occasinally referred to, Thayumanavar asserts that none of these practices by themselves can lead to liberation.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
Though we firmly stand upon the devotion's path,
though we perform pradakshina of the broad earth's nine divisions,
though we bathe in the ocean, and in the rivers too,
though we place ourselves between the rising flames
without a thought of thirst or hunger,
stopping up the gnawing pangs with water, air and fallen leaves,
though we dwell in silence, retreat to lofty mountain caves,
though we purify the ten channles which ever endure,
though we contain within the sphere known as somavattam
the inner fire, along with vital air which rises from the root,
tasting thus the nectar that no words can describe,
though we practice the acquisition of powerful siddhis, to prolong this mere trifle of a body through every aeon of time,
other than through Jnana can liberation be attained?
Siddhanta Mukti's Primal Lord!
Dakshinamurti, enthroned in glory upon the lofty Siragiri!
Guru, you who are pure consciousness form!
[Chinmayananda Guru, Verse 11]
There are a few technical terms in this verse that may need to be explained:
1. The five fires - Panchakkini, Panchagni, are those amidst which an ascetic performs tapas - four at the cardinal points and the fifth being the sun.
2. The ten channels are the ida, pingala and sushumna nadis along with seven lesser known ones.
3. The somavattam, associated with the moon, is a circular area at the center of the sahasrara chakra, located in the area of the crown of the skull. When the vital breath, originating in the mooladhara or the root chakra, combines with kundalini energy, it rises through all the six chakras, until it becomes co;ntained and held in the seventh, the sahasrara chakra, the thousand petalled lotus with the somavattam at its center. At this point, a nectar is released through the melting effect of the fiery energy. The yogi, in this state of absorption, is able to feed upon this nectar, and thus remain in this state for long periods. Sri Bhagavan referred to this practice when He said: "The yoga marga speaks of six centers, each of which must be reached by practice and transcended until one reaches the sahasrara where nectar is found and thus immortality." [Talks 398.]
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
Chinamayananda Guru, Verse 11: the original Tamizh version:
bhakti neRi nilai ninRum, navakanda bhoomip,
parappai valam aaha vanthum,
paraviyidai moozgium, nadhikaLidai moozhgium,
pasi dhaham inRi, ezhu naa,
matthiyidai ninRum udhir sarugu punal vaayuvinai
van pasi thanakku adaithu,
mounathu irunthum, oyar malai nuzhai thanil pukkum,
mannu dasa naadi muRRum,
suddhi seythum, moola prananodu anginyaich
Chomavattathu adaithum,
sol ariya amudhu uNdum, aRpa udal kaRpangaL
thoRum nilai niRka veeRu,
siddhi seyithum, Jnanam alathu kadhi koodumo?
Siddhanta mukti mudale!
Siragiri viLanga varu Dakshinamurtiye!
Chinmayananda Guruve!
The key line in this verse is the last one in which Thayumanavar asserts, "other than through Jnana can liberation be attained?", a rhetorical question whose answer is clearly 'no'. This conclusion and the preceding comments about the pointlessness of pursuing siddhis can both be found in a remarkably similar answer that Sri Bhagavan gave out when He was asked about the relationship between enlightenment and the attainment of siddhis.
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
Only Jnana obtained through enquiry
can bestow Liberation. Supernatural powers are all illusory appearances created by the power of maya. Self realization which is permanent is the only true accomplishment [siddhi]. Accomplishments which appear and disappear, being the effect of maya, cannot be real. They are accomplished with the object of enjoying fame, pleasures, etc., They come unsought to some persons through their karma. Know that union with Brahman is the attainment of the sum total of all the siddhis. This is also the state of Liberation [Aikya Mukti] known as union [Sayujya].
[-Upadesa Manjari - Spiritual Instruction - IV. 10.]
Thayumanavar and Sri Bhagavan were in agreement that yogic practices alone will not directly result in liberation. Sri Bhagavan has pointed out in several places that its practices can result in bliss, siddhis, and even nirvikalpa samadhi, but He also maintained that it is not until the 'I' dies in the Heart that Jnana, true liberation, occurs. [Talks 398 & 474].
Though Sri Bhagavan and Thayumanavar both pointed out the limitations of yogic practices, and though both were sharply critical of people who attempted to attain siddhis, they had a generally tolerant attitude
to different religions and their various practices. They knew that they are all ultimately resolved themselves into the state of mauna in which all such distinctions and differences were rendered invalid. The next quotation on this subject is from Sri Bhagavan, and it is followed by a very similar statement from Thayumanavar.
The doctrines of all religions contradict each other. They wage war, collide with each other and finally die. {Padamalai 1032}
On the battlefield of all the religions retreat defeated when they stand before mauna, which abides beneficently, sustaining them all. {Padamalai 1033}
The rare and wonderful power of mauna is that it remains without
enmity towards any of the religions. {Padamalai 1034}
The many different religions are appropriate to the maturity of each indvidual, and all of them are acceptable to reality. {Padamalai 2838}
Abandoning vain disputation, which only deludes and torments the mind, accept the doctrine of mauna religion, which always remains undisturbed. {Padamalai 1035}
{Under Religions and Religious Knowledge of Padamalai, David Godman.}
continued....
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues...
Shining Supreme!
If we scrutinize all the religions
that look so different,
we find no contradiction in their purpose.
They are all your sport.
Just as all the rivers discharge into the sea,
they all end in the ocean of mauna.
{Kallalin - Verse 25}
The Tamkizh Verse reads:
VeRupadum samayam ellam puhunthu paarkin,
ViLangu param poruLe! nin viLaiyattu allal,
MaRupadum karuthu illai; mudivu il mona,
Varidhiyil nadhi thiraL pol vayangiRRu amma!
The two major competing systems of religious and philosophical thought in South India have, for several centuries, been Vedanta and Saiva Siddhantam. The proponents of each school have been criticizing the other in their writings for much of the last thousand years. Sri Bhagavan tended to use the language and philosophical structures of Vedanta when He answered visitors' questions, whereas Thayumanavar, in his poems, showed a strong Saiva Siddhanta influence. However, neither was dogmatic about his system since they both knew, from direct experience, that in the experience of the Self, all philosophical divisions and distinctions are dissolved. As Thayumanavar wrote
Since my own actions are forever your own actions,
and since the 'I' nature does not exist apart from you,
This is the state in which Vedanta and Siddhanta are harmonized.
{Paripurananadam Verse 5}
contd.,
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part II:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues.
Paripurananandam Verse 5:
Tamizh verse:
sandhathamum enathy seyal ninathu
seyal, yaan enum thanmai ninai anRi
illath,
thanmaiyal veRu alen; Vedanta siddhanta samarasa swabhavam idhyuve;
innilai theLiya nan nekku uruhi vaadiya iyaraki tiru uLam aRiyume;
innilaiyile saRRu irukka enRaal madamai hithachatru aaha vanthu
Chintai kudi koLLuthe; malamaayai karmam thirumbumo? thodu vazhakkai
jenam varumo? enavum yosikkuthe manathu;
siraddhai enum vaaLum udhavip
padukaathu aruL seyiguvaai;
paarkum idam engum or neekkam aRa niRai ninRa
Parpuaranandame !
Sri Bhagavan's own synthesis of the two apparently contradictory philosphies can be found in the following two replies:
Question: What is the end of devotion [bhakti] and the path of Siddhanta [i.e Saiva Siddhanta]?
Sri Bhagavan: It is to learn the truth hat all one's actions performed with unselfish devotion, with the aid of the three purified instruments, [body, speech and mind], in the capacity of the servant of the Lord, become the Lord's actions, and to stand forth free from the sense of 'I' and 'mine'. This is also the truth of what Saiva Siddhantins call Para-bhakti [supreme devotion] or living in the service of God [iRai paNi niRRal].
*
Question: What is the end of the path of knowledge {Jnana} or Vedanta?
Sri Bhagavan: It is to know the truth that the 'I' does not exist separately from the Lord [Iswara] and to be free from feeling of being the doer [kartrva, ahamkara]. [Upadesa Manjari Ch. I. 9 & 10.]
Part II concluded.
continued....
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part III:
Aradhana Issue of Mountain Path, 2005:
by Robert Butler and others:
Death and Liberation:
Question: Is liberation to be achieved before the dissolution of the body or can it be held after death?
Sri Bhagavan: Is there death for you? For whom is is death? The body which dies, were you aware of it, did you have it, during sleep? The body was not, when you slept. But You existed even then. When you awoke, you got the body and even in the waking state, You exist. You existed both in sleep and in waking. But the body did not exist in sleep and exists only in waking. That which does not exist always, but exists at one time and not at another, cannot be real. You exist always and you alone are therefore real.
Liberation is another name for you. It is always here and now with you. It has not to be won or reached hereafter or somewhere. Christ has said: The Kingdom of God is within you", here and now. You have no death. [Day by Day 9th March 1946].
Sri Bhagavan then cited some lines from Thayumanavar to illustrate His theme:
...those whose state of nishta [Self abidance] is permanent,
will not even entertain the thought that death exists.
This is not a thing to be taught to those of little understanding.
At the mere mention of it, numerous disputations will ensue,
Are not the divine natured Markanedya and Suka,
and the rest of the [great] sages immortals, their minds transcended?
Divine One, to whom,
Indra and all the devas, Brahma and all the gods,
sages learned in the Rig and other Vedas,
the countless leaders of the celestial hosts,
the nine principal siddhas
the Sun, the Moon and the rest of the planets,
he gandharvas, kinnaras, and all the rest,
join their palms together in worship!
My Lord, compassion's home, who dance your dance,
beyond the reach of thought, in consciousness's Hall!
{Karunakara KadavuL, Verse 7].
continued...
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part III:
Aradhana Issue of Mountain Path, 2005:
by Robert Butler and others:
Death and Liberation:
Question: Is liberation to be achieved before the dissolution of the body or can it be held after death?
Sri Bhagavan: Is there death for you? For whom is is death? The body which dies, were you aware of it, did you have it, during sleep? The body was not, when you slept. But You existed even then. When you awoke, you got the body and even in the waking state, You exist. You existed both in sleep and in waking. But the body did not exist in sleep and exists only in waking. That which does not exist always, but exists at one time and not at another, cannot be real. You exist always and you alone are therefore real.
Liberation is another name for you. It is always here and now with you. It has not to be won or reached hereafter or somewhere. Christ has said: The Kingdom of God is within you", here and now. You have no death. [Day by Day 9th March 1946].
Sri Bhagavan then cited some lines from Thayumanavar to illustrate His theme:
...those whose state of nishta [Self abidance] is permanent,
will not even entertain the thought that death exists.
This is not a thing to be taught to those of little understanding.
At the mere mention of it, numerous disputations will ensue,
Are not the divine natured Markanedya and Suka,
and the rest of the [great] sages immortals, their minds transcended?
Divine One, to whom,
Indra and all the devas, Brahma and all the gods,
sages learned in the Rig and other Vedas,
the countless leaders of the celestial hosts,
the nine principal siddhas
the Sun, the Moon and the rest of the planets,
he gandharvas, kinnaras, and all the rest,
join their palms together in worship!
My Lord, compassion's home, who dance your dance,
beyond the reach of thought, in consciousness's Hall!
{Karunakara KadavuL, Verse 7].
continued...
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar - Part III:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
The Tamizh verse reads:
Sandhathamum vedamozhi yathu onRu paRRinathu, thaan vanthu muRRum enalaal,
Jagameethu irunthalum maranam uNdu enpathu sadha nishtar ninaivathillai;
Chintai aRiyaathu eethu podippathu allave, seppinum vegu tharkamaam;
divyaguNa markandar, sukar aadhi munivorgaL, siddhanta nityar alaro?
Indradi devathaigal biramathi kadavuLar, irrukkathi veda munivar, eNNariya gaNanathar, navanadha siddhargaL, iravi, madhi aadhiyorgaL,
kandharuvar, kinnnrargaL, maRRaiyarhal yaavarum,
kai kuvithidum deivame, karudhariya chitsabhaiyil ananada nirthamidum karunakara kadavuLe!
Markandeya and Suka are deemed to be immortals, as are all the other sages, who have permanently transcended the mind. Some of the commentators on this verse, say, that all the other beings, who are listed after Markandeya and Suka are not immortal and therefore have to continue to pay obeisance to forms of the divine.
It is worth nothing that Devaraja Mudaliar noted in his reminiscences, that Sri Bhagavan once quoted him a portion of this same verse. Mudaliar understood this to mean that Sri Bhagavan was occasionally circumspect about giving out some aspects of His teaching to people who were not ready for them, because to do so would merely provoke pointless disputations. {My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana.}
continued...
R.Subramanian,
Yes,Thayumanavar's hymns are among the finest ever composed-rich blend of Bhakti and Jnana,the language is contemporary with a free mix of Sanskrit and Tamil,the rhythmic refrain echoes in the heart of the listener like a mantra.Just chanting the refrains of ParipooranAnandam,karunAkarak kadavuL,chinmayAnanda guru,Mouna guru leaves one dissolved in the vastness of the spirit.
David,Robert Butler and Venkatasubramanian have done great service in putting together the fine series 'Bhagavan and Thayumanavar'.
Thanks very much for posting this series.I agree that posting it here in toto rather than just providing a link to the articles(not sure whether the complete series is available elsewhere)serves as a form of Sadhana for the one who posts and the readers.
Namaskar.
Friends,
ThAyumAnavar's paripooranAnandam verse 3:
ஆராயும் வேளையில் பிரமாதி யானாலும்
ஐயவொரு செயலுமில்லை
அமைதியொடு பேசாத பெருமைபெறு குணசந்த்ர
ராமென இருந்தபேரும்
நேராக வொருகோபம் ஒருவேளை வரஅந்த
நிறைவொன்று மில்லாமலே
நெட்டுயிர்த் துத்தட் டழிந்துளறு வார்வசன
நிர்வாக ரென்றபேரும்
பூராய மாயோன்று பேசுமிட மோன்றைப்
புலம்புவார் சிவராத்திரிப்
போதுதுயி லோமெனற விரதியரும் அறிதுயில்
போலேயிருந்து துயில்வார்
பாராதி தனிலுள்ள செயலெலாம் முடிவிலே
பார்க்கில்நின் செயலல்லவோ
பார்குமிட மெங்குமொரு நீக்கமற நிறைகின்ற
பரிபூர ணானந்தமே.
When you come to think of it,
Even Brahma and the rest of the gods are powerless to act on their own.
Even those who habitually observed a calm demeanor
And were sparing of words,
And who built up the reputation
As acme of gentle behaviour
Sometimes do fly into a temper, losing all balance
And breathing hard, indulge in sudden outbursts.
Even those who were reputed as men
That are masters of expression
Sometime miss the central point
And blabber at will.
Even those who vowed
That they would not have a wink of sleep
On the Holy Night of Siva,
Fall into a twilight sleep,
Waking and waking not.(as if they are in Samadhi-Thayumanavar refers to those who maintain vigil during sivarathri Night and who struggle hard to keep awake and alternate between the states of waking and sleep!This is far removed from the jnanis who are ever in Samadhi beyond wakefulness and sleep)
When thus, you come to examing
The activities that go on in the myriad worlds,
Are they not really all
Of Thine own willing?
Oh! Thou who filleth all visible space
In unbroken continuity!
Thou, the Bliss that is Perfect Full.
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
"What is knowledge? And what is the nature of this ego? 'God alone is the Doer, and none
else' - that is knowledge. I am not the doer; I am a mere instrument in His hand. Therefore I
say: 'O Mother, Thou art the Operator and I am the machine. Thou art the Indweller and I
am the house. Thou art the Driver and I am the carriage. I move as Thou movest me. I do as
Thou makest me do. I speak as Thou makest me speak. Not I, not I, but Thou, but Thou.' "
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
Thanks. I am giving the three part
article in full because verses of
Thaymanavar mentioned by Sri Bhagavan, at various places/conversations have been covered in full. I do not have a translator in my comp. as otherwise
I might have given the Tamizh version itself.
Yes, as you said, "Everything is His, what is my role, excepting being still?" Sri Bhagavan has also said, in Navamani Maalai, "kuRaiyum guNamum nee allaal..."
Again, Sri Bhagavan says in Akshara Mana Maalai, Verse 11:
When the thieves - five senses are entering my house, are you not there in the house Arunachala!"
The next Verse 12 says:
Without You, the One with the second, who else can come? It is all your trickery, O Arunachala!
Ellam avan seyal. Everything is His work. But to say that we should remain still. We should not run here and there and do all dirty work with the mind and then say, everything is His work.
Thanks once again.
R.Subramanian,
You may visit shaivam.org for the Thayumanavar songs.The unicode version is available and can be cut and pasted here.It will add greatly to the fine article that you are posting here.
Namaskar.
Tirumandiram - Tantra 9: Soonya
Sambashanai - Dialogue of Esoteric
Symbolism:
Verse 2877:
ArikkinRa naaRRangal allaR kazhani
ThirikkinRa vottanch chikkenk katti,
VarikkinRa nallan kaRavaiyai poottil
VirikkinRa veLLari vithu vithaame.
In the eroding seed bed
Of sorrow's field,
Train the flowing water
And dam it tight;
Then plough the cucumber seediling;
That shall indeed into good seed ripe.
Plough the eroding seedbed means
'thoughts' that are filled with sorrow'. With the good young bull,
Yoga, one can transplant the cucumber seedling [bindu]. Truly it will ripe into the good seed -
macrocosmic bindu.
Verse 2833:
Paarpan ahathile paal pasu aithundu,
Meipaarum inRi veRitthu thirivana,
Meipaarum uNdaai veRiyum adanginaal,
Paarpand pasu ainthum paalai choriyume.
This verse is known to many Tamizh readers.
The Brahmin's home are milk cows five,
With none to herd them, they stray uncontrolled,
If a cowherd there is, and controlled they are,
The five cows will milk in abundance give.
If there is a Jnani or Yogi to control the five milky cows [senses] in the brahmin's home [the body], they will give milk [ambrosia] in abundance. So hold firm control over your senses. You will remain peaceful and youthful for ever. Youthfulness is for Yogis. Peace is for Jnanis.
A Jnana Guru makes others Jnanis by teaching them to control senses. He is always a cowherd. The cowherd or shepherd symbolism is given in both Christian and Hindu theologies.
***
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar : Part III:
by Robert Butler, T.V. Venkatasubramanian and David Godman.
continues.....
The real 'I' and the spurious 'I'
There was once a discussion in the Hall about the true meaning of verse 10 of ULLadu Narpadu - Anubanndham, which states:
The body is like an earthen pot, inert. Because it has not consciousness of 'I' and because daily in bodiless sleep we touch our real nature, the body is not 'I'. Then who is this 'I'? Where is this 'I'? In the Heart Cave of those that question thus, there shines forth as "I", Himself, the Lord Siva of Arunachala. {My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, p.91}
Dr. Srinivasa Rao asked whether this stanza does not teach us to affirm Soham [repeating I am He as a spiritual practice]. Sri Bhagavan explained as follows:
It is said that the whole Vedanta can be compressed into four words. deham - [the body], naham [not I], koham [Who am I?], soham {I am He]. This stanza says the same. In the first two lines it is explained why deham is naham, i.e why the body is not 'I' or na aham. The next two lines say, if one enquires ko aham, i.e. Who am I? i.e., if one enquires whence this springs and realizes it, then in the heart of such a one, the omnipresent God Arunachala, will shine as 'I', as sa aham or soham i.e. he will know That I am i.e 'That is 'I' '.
In this connection, Sri Bhagavan also quoted two stanzas, one from Thayumanavar and the other from Nammazhwar, the gist of both of which is: "Though I have been thinking I was a separate entity and talking of "I" and "mine", when I began to inquire about this "I", I found you alone exist. [Day by Day, entry dt. 23rd Jan. 1946].
This is the Thayumanavar verse:
ParparakaNNi Verse 225:
O Supreme of Supremes!
Searching without searching who this 'I was,
soon I found You alone,
standing as the heaven of bliss,
You alone, blessed Lord.
Naan aana thanmai enRum naadaamal naada inba,
Vaan ahi ninRanai nee vaazhi paraparame!
{Naan aana thanmai - Jeeva bodham;
Vaan ahi ninRanai nee - Atma bodham or Siva bodham which is full of bliss.}
continued...
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar-Part III:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues...
The next morning [Day by Day entry.
dated 24th Jan., 1946), Sri Bhagavan showed Devaraja Mudaliar the written texts of both these verses; and He also added the following Thayumanavar verse which, in its middle portionm expounds the same theme:
Though you dwell as space and other elements,
as all the worlds in their tens of millions,
as the mountains and the encircling ocean,
as the moon, and sun, and all else that is,
and as the flood of heaven's grace;
and though, as I stand here as 'I',
you dwell united with myself;
still there is no cessation of this 'I'.
And since I go blabbering 'I','I',
undergoing countless changes,
ignorant in spite of knowing all this,
will it be easy to overcome the power of destiny?
Is there any means of awakening one,
who even before the day has ended,
remains, feigning sleep, his eyes tightly closed?
What, then, is the way, that may be taught?
Yet, this vilness is unjust, so unjust,
Who is there to whom I might plead my cause?
Supreme One, whose form is bliss,
whose unique fullness of encompasses
this universe and that which lies beyond!
[Anandamanaparam - Verse 7]
Van aadhi boothamai akilanda kotiyai,
malai aahi, vaLai kadalumai,
madhi aahi, iraviyai maRRu uLa elam aahim
Vaan karuNai veLLam aahi,
nan ahi ninRavanum nee aahi ninRidavum,
nan enbathu aRRidathe,
nan nan enakuLaRi, nana vihariyai,
nan aRinthu aRiyamaiyaip
ponaal adhristhavali, vella eLitho?
pahal
pozhuthu puhum mun kaN moodip
poithuyil koLvaan thanai ezhuppa
vasamo? inip
podhippathu entha neRiyai?
aanaalum en kodumai aniyayam aniyayam;
aar paal eduthu mozhiven?
aNda pagiraNadamum adanga oru niRavu aahi
anandam aana parame!
continued.
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar- III:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues...
Mauna and the thought free state:
Mr. Nnavati asked Sri Bhagavan, 'What is the heart referred to in the verse of Upadeasa Saram, where it is said, 'Abding in the heart is the best karma, yoga, bhakti and jnana?
Sri Bhagavan: That which is the source of all, that in which all live, and that into which all finally merge, is the heart referred to.
Nanavati: How can we conceive such a heart?
Sri Bhagavan: Why should you conceive of anything? You have only see wherefrom the "I" springs.
Nanavati: I suppose mere mauna in speech is no good; but we must have mauna of the mind.
Sri Bhagavan: Of course. If we have real mauna, the state in which the mind is merged into its source and has no more separate
existence, then all other kinds of mauna will come of their own accord, i.e. mauna of words, of action, and of the mind or chitta.
Sri Bhagavan also quoted in this connection the following from Thayumanavar. [Day by Day, 29th April 1946].
O Supreme of Supremes!
If the pure silence, suddha manas,
arises within me,
my mind will be silence,
my actions and words, all
will be silence.
{ParaparakaNNi - Verse 276}
siddham mavunam seyal vaakku elam mavunam
suddha mavunam en paal thonRin
paraparame!
[mavunam - maunam]
contd.,
R.Subramanian,
Here is verse 276 from parAparakkaNNI:
சித்த மவுனஞ் செயல்வாக் கெலாமவுனஞ்
சுத்த மவுனம்என்பால் தோன்றிற் பராபரமே.276.
Chitta (in) silence,acts and speech are all (in) silence
Pure Silence manifests in me,Oh!ParAparam!
Namaskar.
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar:Part III:
by Robert Butler and others:
continues....
In Talks No. 122, Sri Bhagavan mentions that Thayumanavar mentions mauna in many places, but only defines it in one verse. The definition given in Talks is that "Mauna is said be that state which spontaneously manfiests after the annhiation of the ego.".
The specfic verse is not given but in the Tamizh edition of Talks, Viswanatha Swami, identifies it as Payappuli, verse 14:
Tamizh verse:
Nan enRu oru mudhal uNdu enRa
Nan thalai naana, en uL
Than enRu oru mudhal pooraNam
aahath thalaipattu oppu il
Anandam thanthu en aRivai ellam
uNdu, avasam nalgi
Monam thanai viLaiththaal ini
yaathu mozhiguvathe?
[avasam - being with Oneness; thanmayam - see Navamani Maalai, Verse 8]
The unique source [tan] fullness [purnam],
prevailed within, in my Heart
so that the 'I' which deemed itself
an independent entity
bowed its head in shame
Conferring matchless bliss,
consuming my whole conscioousness
and granting me the state of rapture,
it nurtured in me the condition of mauna,
This being so, what more is there to be said?
This verse, a clear expression of the state that Thayumanavar finally reached, closely parallels the idea contained in ULLadu Narpadu, verse 30, in which Sri Bhagavan describes how the individual 'I' subsides into its Source, the Heart, leaving only the perfection of the Self:
When the mind turns inwards seeking Who am I? and merges in the Heart, then the 'I' hangs down his head in shame, and the one 'I' appears as itself. Though it appears as 'I-I', it is not the ego. It is Reality, perfection, the substance of the Self.
Naanarena mana muNNadi uLa naNNave,
Nanamavan thalai naaNa muRa - Naanath
ThonRum onRu thaanahath thonRidinum nananRu poruL
PoonRamathu thaanam poruL.
The similarities are so marked, it should come as no surprise that Sri Bhagavan once commented that this was His favorite Thayumanavar verse. [Talks 122]. It was included in the Tamizh parayana at Sri Ramanasramam, along with the nine verses from Akarabuvanam - Chidambara Rahasyam that have already been given.
contd.,
"...try to feel what it means to be, just to be, without being 'this' or 'that'." Nisargadatta, p. 60
"...without memory, what are you?" It doesn't seem to
matter. All of matter and the trees exist
without memory. The wind exists without a body.
Space exists, turns blue or white or gold
or orange, but it is never here, there, anywhere.
"I am" -- even as a body in a cave,
even as consciousness mute, deaf, blind, infirm, invisible.
Can you sit in a cave without influence?
Who breathes the air after you?
Why bother with such ennui-inducing questions? You
can retreat to the cave, become rock, but
say it: "Because of you, there is a world."
Jan Haag
... i just find out with the help of my script that this blog has 11012 comments total.
That's a lot. What do we do with them now?
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar : Part III:
by Robert Butler, T.V. Venkatasubramanian and David Godman.
continues.....
The real 'I' and the spurious 'I'
There was once a discussion in the Hall about the true meaning of verse 10 of ULLadu Narpadu - Anubanndham, which states:
The body is like an earthen pot, inert. Because it has not consciousness of 'I' and because daily in bodiless sleep we touch our real nature, the body is not 'I'. Then who is this 'I'? Where is this 'I'? In the Heart Cave of those that question thus, there shines forth as "I", Himself, the Lord Siva of Arunachala. {My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, p.91}
Dr. Srinivasa Rao asked whether this stanza does not teach us to affirm Soham [repeating I am He as a spiritual practice]. Sri Bhagavan explained as follows:
It is said that the whole Vedanta can be compressed into four words. deham - [the body], naham [not I], koham [Who am I?], soham {I am He]. This stanza says the same. In the first two lines it is explained why deham is naham, i.e why the body is not 'I' or na aham. The next two lines say, if one enquires ko aham, i.e. Who am I? i.e., if one enquires whence this springs and realizes it, then in the heart of such a one, the omnipresent God Arunachala, will shine as 'I', as sa aham or soham i.e. he will know That I am i.e 'That is 'I' '.
In this connection, Sri Bhagavan also quoted two stanzas, one from Thayumanavar and the other from Nammazhwar, the gist of both of which is: "Though I have been thinking I was a separate entity and talking of "I" and "mine", when I began to inquire about this "I", I found you alone exist. [Day by Day, entry dt. 23rd Jan. 1946].
This is the Thayumanavar verse:
ParparakaNNi Verse 225:
O Supreme of Supremes!
Searching without searching who this 'I was,
soon I found You alone,
standing as the heaven of bliss,
You alone, blessed Lord.
Naan aana thanmai enRum naadaamal naada inba,
Vaan ahi ninRanai nee vaazhi paraparame!
{Naan aana thanmai - Jeeva bodham;
Vaan ahi ninRanai nee - Atma bodham or Siva bodham which is full of bliss.}
continued...
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part III:
by Robert Butler and others...
continues.....
The subject of silence and the thought-free state came up again after Sri Bhagavan had cited, with great approval, a passage from Gandhiji in which the latter had given a description of his own experience of this state:
Sri Bhagavan referred to the following passage of Gandhiji in the Harijan of the 11th instant.
"How mysterious are the ways of God! This journey to Rajkot is wonder even to me. Why am I going, whither am I going? What for? I have thought nothing about these things. And if God guides me, what should I think? Even thought may be an obstacle in the way of His guidance.
"The fact is, it takes no effort to stop thinking. The thoughts do not come. Indeed, there is no vacuum -- but I mean to say that that there is no thought about the mission."
Sri Bhagavan remarked how true the words were and emphasized each statement in the extract. Then He cited Thayumanavar in support of the state which is free from thoughts. [Talks No. 146]
The state in which you are not,
that is nishta [Self abidance]/
But, even in that state,
do you not remain?
You whose mouth is silent,
do not be perplexed!
Although [in that state] you are gone,
you are no longer there,
yet you did not go.
You are eternally present.
Do not suffer in vain.
Experience bliss all the time!
{Udal PoyyuRavu, Verse 53}
Sri Bhagavan mentioned two other Thayumanavar verses on this occasion, Udal PoyyuRavu Verse 52 and Payappuli Verse 36. But since they feature elsewhere in this article, they are not repeated here.
Nee aRRa nilaiye nishtai; adhil nee ilaiyo?
Vai aRRavene mayangathe; - poi aRRu
irunthalum nee pohaai; enRum uLLai! summa
Varuthanthe; inbam uNdu vaa.
continued....
Bhagavan and Thayumanavar: Part III:
by Robert Butler and others.
continues.
Two days after Sri Bhagavan had cited Thayumanavar to illustrate Gandhiji's thought-free experiences, a visitor returned to the subject.
Devotee: Is not what Gandhiji describes the state in which thoughts themselves become foreign?
Sri Bhagavan: Yes, it is only after thee rise of the 'I'-thought that all other thoughts arise. The world is seen after you have felt 'I am". The 'I'-thought and all other thoughts had vanished for him.
Devotee: Then the body sense must be absent in that state.
Sri Bhagavan: The body sense is also a thought whereas he describes the state in which 'thoughts do not come.'
Devotee: He also says, "It takes no effort to stop thinking."
Sri Bhagavan: Of course no effort is necessary to stop thoughts whereas one is necessary for bringing about thoughts.
Devotee: We are trying to stop thoughts. Gandhiji also says that thought is an obstacle to God's guidance. So it is the natural state. Though natural, yet how difficult to realize. They say that sadhanas are necessary and also that they are obstacles. We get confused.
Sri Bhagavan: Sadhanas are needed so long as one has not realized it. They are for putting an end to obstacles. Finally, there comes a stage when a person feels helpless notwithstanding the sadhanas. He is unable to pursue the much cherished sadhana also. It is then that God's power is realized. The Self reveals Itself.
Devotee: If the state is natural, why does it not overcome the unnatural phases and asserts itself over the rest?
Sri Bhagavan: Is there anything besides that? Does anyone see anything besides the Self? One is always aware of the Self. So it is always Itself.
[Talks No. 647]
Part III - concluded.
The three part article concluded.
Sri Ramanarpanamastu |
Dear Ravi,
If this three part article makes one
to have some interest in reading Thayumanavar who is held in close to heart and in high esteem by Sri Bhagavan, it is really good. Those who understand Tamizh can read the book of Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tiruparaithurai 639 115. Price Rs 30 for year 2000 edition. It may be more now. Or they can read Himalayan Academy's English version, available in www. Shaivam.org.
Thayumanavar was a Siddha and Jnani - two in one. He repeatedly stressed Maunam as the best sadhana.
Dear Clemens Vargas Ramos,
What to do with all the posts
in the blog. One can read them if they want. Or switch off the comp. and be still. Either of the two is a Sadhana, if done sincerely.
Dear Ravi,
If this three part article makes one
to have some interest in reading Thayumanavar who is held in close to heart and in high esteem by Sri Bhagavan, it is really good. Those who understand Tamizh can read the book of Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tiruparaithurai 639 115. Price Rs 30 for year 2000 edition. It may be more now. Or they can read Himalayan Academy's English version, available in www. Shaivam.org.
Thayumanavar was a Siddha and Jnani - two in one. He repeatedly stressed Maunam as the best sadhana.
Dear Clemens Vargas Ramos,
What to do with all the posts
in the blog. One can read them if they want. Or switch off the comp. and be still. Either of the two is a Sadhana, if done sincerely.
parama śānta svarūpākārē by Muthuswamy recited by Dhanya
-------------------------------
http://dhanyasy.org/go/2008/11/25/nagagandhari-raganute/
Lyrics
Pallavi
nāga gāndhārī rāga nutē nagajā nanditē māmava nāga gāndhārī rāga nutē nagajā nanditē mām-ava
Anupallavi
nāga rāja vinutē sura hitēvāgīśādi guru guha vanditē(madhyama kāla sāhityam)bhāgavatādi nuta para dēvatēparama tatvārtha bōdhitē śivēnāga rāja vinutē sura hitēvāg-īśa-ādi guru guha vanditēbhāgavata-ādi nuta para dēvatēparama tatva-artha bōdhitē śivē
Charanam
parama śānta svarūpākārē pāda paṅkajē padma karē(madhyama kāla sāhityam)niratiśaya sukha karē surucirē1saśara cāpa pāśāṅkuśa dharē
Sri Arunachala Akshara Mana Maalai:
Thoughts of magizham flower:
----
For Arunachala Akshara Mana Maalai,
there is benedictory verse by Muruganar. It is a Viruttam verse.
There, Muruganar says Akshara Mana
Magizh Malai... Mana magizh means in simple English "the joyful marital garland". But when one reads Tamizh original verse, one would see the word "magizh", having two meanings. It means both, 'that which confers joy or joyful' or magizh flower malai, magizh flower garland. Magizh is a small white/brown flower which has got great fragrance.
This tree of magizh flower is incidentally the Sthala Viruksham, the temple/pilgrim center's special tree, of Arunachaleswarar
Temple. Each Siva temple has got a temple special tree. For the Big Temple of Tiruvannamalai, this magzih flower tree is the special temple tree.
Magizha or magizh flower is the flower suited for people born in Scorpio Rasi [moon's place].
****
Sri Ramana Maharshi, The Supreme Guru: Alan Jacobs.
Alan Jacob's [the President of the
Ramana Maharshi Foundation, U.K.]
above book was read by me a few days back. I got it through post from the Asramam. The information given by Alan is mostly repetitive from other existing books on Sri Bhagavan. But a few photographs are quite new. The publishers are Yogi Impressions, Mumbai.
A sample:
Brunton: Many people do meditate in the West but show no progress.
Maharshi: How do you know that they don't make progress? Spiritual progress is not easily discernible.
Brunton: A few years ago, I got some glimpses of bliss but in the years that followed I lost it. Then last year, I again got it. Why is that?
Maharshi: You lost it because your meditation had not become natural -sahaja. When you become habitually in-turned, the enjoyment of spiritual beatitude becomes a normal experience.
.......
Brunton: does the Maharshi know whether an avatara already exists in the physical body?
Maharshi: He might.
.....
Brunton: Is a guru necessary for spiritual progress?
Maharshi: Yes.
.....
Brunton: Is it possible for the guru to help the disciple forward on the path?
Maharshi: Yes.
Brunton: What are the conditions for discipleship?
Maharshi: Intense desire for Self realization, earnestness and purity of mind.
Brunton: Is it necessary to surrender one's life to the guru?
Maharshi: Yes. One should surrender everything to the dispeller of darkness. One should surrender the ego that binds one to this world. Giving up the body-consciousness is the true surrender.
Brunton: Does a guru want to take control of the disciple's worldly affairs also?
Maharshi: Yes, everything.
Brunton: Can he give the disciple spark that he needs?
Maharshi: He can give him all that he needs. This can be seen from experience.
****
Tirumandiram - Tanta 9 -
Soonya sambashanai - dialogue on
esoteric symbolism:
Verse 2887:
Moongin muLaiyil ezhunthathor Vembundu,
Vembinir chaarnthu kidantha Panaiyilor,
Pampundu Pambai thuraththin paarinRi,
Vembu kidanthu vedikkinRavaRe.
From the bamboo shoot arose a Margosa tree,
Close on Margosa was a palmyrah,
In that Palm is a Snake,
Knowing not to drive that Snake and eat it,
The Margosa tree withered away.
From the bamboo shoot [karmas], arose a margosa tree, [body]. Very close to that was a palmyrah tree [sushumna nadi]. Knowing not how to drive that Snake [kundalini] that was in the Palm, the margosa tree withered away, the body perishes, without yoga siddhi or jnana siddhi.
***
Tirumandiram - 9th Tantra:
Soonyha sambhashanai - dialogue on esoteric symbolism:
Verse 2888:
Pathu parum puli yanai padhinainthu,
Vitthahar aivar vinodhahar eereNmar.
Atthahu moovar aRuvar maruthuvar,
Atthalai eivar amarnthu ninRare
Ten, [1] the tigers big,
Ten and Five [2] the elephants,
Five [3] the learned,
Ten [4] the jesters,
Three [5] that are upright,
Six [6] the physicians,
Five [7] the lordly ones,
There they all stand.
1. Nadis - dasa vidha nadi,
2. Ten sense organs, five jnanendriyas and five karmendriyas,
3. Anthakarana organs of intelligence,
4. Six vayus
5. three lights, sun, moon and fire.
6. Adharas - six adharas, mooladhara etc.,
7. Avasthas - five avasthas, waking, waking dream, dreaming
sleep, dreaming, dreamless deep sleep.
****
T.R. Kanakammal - Ninavil NiRainthavai: Tamizh reminiscences:
Once a devotee came near Sri Bhagavan and told Him: Bhagavan!
See there, see there! He showed a man rocking to the front and back and sleeping. 'I am seeing for four days. That man is sitting before You and is sleeping daily,' the devotee added.
Sri Bhagavan told smilingly to the complaining devotee:
Why have you come here? Is it to find who is sleeping and who is wakeful? He is doing the work for what he came. YOU DO YOU WORK FOR WHAT YOU HAVE COME.
Sri Bhagavan never criticized anyone.
{Once He said: I have come here to grace and not to punish. If I start punishing others, then not even a crow could fly over this Asramam.}
Dear David,
The comments are appearing two times
each, for one click. I think, the thread is full. Kindly start a new thread for comments.
I have just started a new 'Open Thread'. Please continue your discussions there.
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