Nochur Venkataraman introduction of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi to school children in kerala

Once Nochur Venkataraman was invited to a primary school in Thrissur, Kerala to speak about Bhagavan Ramana. He went to a class of small children. He asked one of them: Who are you? 'I am Hari'. How do you know that you are Hari? 'My mother tells
me!' Then suddenly rains started pouring. The lights went off.The windows and doors were closed.It was quite dark. Then,Nochur Venkataraman asked the same child: Who you are you?

Hari replied:'I am Hari.' How do you know you are Hari, your mother is not here. It is quite dark. The child replied with all coolness: 'I am feeling my Presence!'

Nochur then told Hari: "Yes. You are the Presence. The Presence is God. We are all God. And this is what Bhagavan Ramana told all of us. We are God." The Brahma-Upadesam began for the child!

Read More

Ramana Maharshi Explains Why The Self, Though Ever-present Is Not Being Realised

Talk 201.

The Parsi ladies asked for an illustration to explain why the Self,though ever-present and most intimate, is not being realised.

Maharshi cited the stories of

(1) Svakanthabharanam katha - the story of the necklace, on the neck itself, not being detected;

(2) Dasama - of the ten fools who counted only nine, each of them omitting to count himself;

(3) the lion’s cub, brought up in a herd of goats;

(4) Karna not knowing his real parentage and

(5) the king’s son brought up in a low-class family.

They further asked for Maharshi’s opinion of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga,and his claim to have probed beyond the experiences of the Vedic rishis and the Mother’s opinion of the fitness of her disciples to begin with the realisation of the Upanishadic rishis.

M.: Aurobindo advises complete surrender. Let us do that first and await results, and discuss further, if need be afterwards and not now.

Sources:

1) Talks With Ramana Maharshi Book
2) Arunachala's Ramana Volume III Book

Read More

Ramana Maharshi About Different Types Of Samadhis

The following brief definitions formulated by Bhagavan Ramana should be sufficient to guide the uninititated through the terminological jungle of samadhi.

1. Holding on to reality is Samadhi.
2. Holding on to reality with effort is Savikalpa Samadhi.
3. Merging in reality and remaining unaware of the world is Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
4. Merging in ignorance and remaining unaware of the world is sleep.
5. Remaining in the primal, pure, natural state without effort is Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi or Sahaja Samadhi.

Source: Talks With Ramana Maharshi

Question : What is samadhi?

Ramana Maharshi : The state in which the unbroken experience of existence-consciousness is attained by the still mind, alone is samadhi. That still mind which is adorned with the attainment of the limitless supreme Self, alone is the reality of God.

When the mind is in communion with the Self in darkness, it is called nidra [sleep], that is, the immersion of the mind in ignorance.Immersion in a conscious or wakeful state is called samadhi. Samadhi is continuous inherence in the Self in a waking state. Nidra or sleep is also inherence in the Self but in an unconscious state. In sahaja samadhi the communion is con-tinuous.

Question : What are kevala nirvikalpa samadhi and sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi?

Ramana Maharshi :The immersion of the mind in the Self, but without its destruction, is kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. In this state one is not free from vasanas and so one does not therefore attain mukti. Only after the vasanas have been destroyed can one attain liberation.

Question : When can one practise sahaja samadhi?

Ramana Maharshi : Even from the beginning. Even though one practises kevala nirvikalpa samadhi for years together, if one has not rooted out the vasanas one will not attain liberation.

Question : May I have a clear idea of the difference between savikalpa and nirvikalpa?

Ramana Maharshi : Holding on to the supreme state is samadhi. When it is with effort due to mental disturbances, it is savikalpa. When these disturbances are absent, it is nirvikalpa. Remaining permanently in the primal state without effort is sahaja.

Question : Is nirvikalpa samadhi absolutely necessary before the attainment of sahaja?

Ramana Maharshi : Abiding permanently in any of these samadhis, either savikalpa or nirvikalpa, is sahaja [the natural state]. What is body-consciousness? It is the insentient body plus consciousness. Both of these must lie in another consciousness which is absolute and unaffected and which remains as it always is, with or without the body-consciousness. What does it then matter whether the body-consciousness is lost or retained, provided one is holding on to that pure consciousness? Total absence of body-consciousness has the advantage of making the samadhi more intense, although it makes no difference to the knowledge of the supreme.

Question : Can the meditator be affected by physical disturbances during nirvikalpa samadhi? My friend and I disagree on this point.


Ramana Maharshi : Both of you are right. One of you is referring to kevala and the other to sahaja samadhi. In both cases the mind is immersed in the bliss of the Self. In the former, physical movements may cause disturbance to the meditator, because the mind has not completely died out. It is still alive and can, as after deep sleep, at any moment be active again.

It is compared to a bucket, which, although completely submerged under water, can be pulled out by a rope which is still attached to it. In sahaja, the mind has sunk completely into the Self, like the bucket which has got drowned in the depths of the well along with its rope. In sahaja there is nothing left to be disturbed or pulled back to the world. One's activities then resemble that of the child who sucks its mother's milk in sleep, and is hardly aware of the feeding.

Question : How can one function in the world in such a state?

Ramana Maharshi : One who accustoms himself naturally to meditation and enjoys the bliss of meditation will not lose his samadhi state whatever external work he does, whatever thoughts may come to him. That is sahaja nirvikalpa. Sahaja nirvikalpa is nasa [total destruction of the mind] whereas kevala nirvikalpa is laya [temporary abeyance of the mind].

Those who are in the laya samadhi state will have to bring the mind back under control from time to time. If the mind is destroyed, as it is in sahaja samadhi, it will never sprout again. Whatever is done by such people is just incidental, they will never slide down from their high state.

Those that are in the kevala nirvikalpa state are not realized, they are still seekers. Those who are in the sahaja nirvikalpa state are like a light in a windless place, or the ocean without waves; that is, there is no movement in them. They cannot find anything which is different from themselves. For those who do not reach that state, everything appears to be different from themselves.

Question : Is the experience of kevala nirvikalpa the same as that of sahaja, although one comes down from it to the relative world?

Ramana Maharshi : There is neither coming down nor going up - he who goes up and down is not real.In kevala nirvikalpa there is the mental bucket still in existence under the water, and it can be pulled out at any moment. Sahaja is like the river that has linked up with the ocean from which there is no return. Why do you ask all these questions? Go on practising till you have the experience yourself.

Question : What is the use of samadhi and does thought subsist then?

Ramana Maharshi : Samadhi alone can reveal the truth. Thoughts cast a veil over reality, and so it is not realized as such in states other than samadhi. In samadhi there is only the feeling `I am' and no thoughts. The experience of `I am' is `being still'.

Question : How can I repeat the experience of samadhi or the stillness that I obtain here in your presence?

Ramana Maharshi : Your present experience is due to the influence of the atmosphere in which you find yourself. Can you have it outside this atmosphere? The experience is spasmodic(Occurring in spells and often abruptly). Until it becomes permanent, practice is necessary.

Sources:

1) From David Godman Excellent Book "Be As You are"
2) GURU VACHAKA KOVAI Part3 3rd Chapter

Read More

Few Important Verses Of Sri Devi Mahatyam Regarding Emotions

Mind is there for every living being.Ordinary mortals do not worry about mind. They live as per their minds' command.They prosper and ruin. The seekers after the Truth only are worried about their minds. They want to control the mind, conquer the mind
and then rest in Peace. What is Mind? Bhagavan Ramana says there is no mind. In some other place, He says: Kill the mind.

The Mind is Prakriti, it is Maya, it is Sakti. When Maya stays with Brahman she is Mahamaya. She is concorporate with Siva as Siva-Sakti. Sri Lalita Sahasranamam starts as " Sri Matha!" Oh, Mother! It ends with Siva-Sakti-Ikya rupini! Annamalai and Unnamulai of Tiruvannamalai!

How to go about the mind? I go on the road.I see a beautiful woman.I lust her. Till you realize, this emotions cannot be avoided.Even devas like Indra had lust! I can perhaps say: O Maya, you only appear here as this beautiful woman. Please go back to Siva and stay as Siva-Sakti in my Heart. The woman on the road becomes the Sakti within me.

Ya devi sarvabhuteshu thrushna rupene samstitha.
Namsthasyai Namasthasyai Namasthasyai Namo Namah:

- Sri Devi Mahatmyam 5.35-37

I see someone on the road whom I love.Oh mother, you only appear as the friend I love.Why this emotion for me? Please go back to Siva and stay as Siva-Sakti in my Heart.The man on the road is no longer lovable but neutral.

Ya devi sarvabhuteshu kanthi rupene samstithta
Namashasyai Namasthasyai Namasthasysai Namo Namah:

- Sri Devi Mahatmyam 5.53-55

I see someone on the road whom I hate.I am angry.Oh, mother you only appear as the hateful man with whom I am angry.Why this emotion for me? Oh mother! Please go back to Siva and stay as Siva-Sakti in my Heart.The man on the road is no longer hateable but neutral and I have no anger with him. I am neutral.

Ya devi sarvabhuteshu shanthi rupene samstitha
Namasthasyai Namasthasyai Namasthasyai Namo Namah:

- Sri Devi Mahatmyam 5.38-40

I go to the shop to buy something.On checking up my pocket,I find I have not brought my wallet.O this blessed forgetfulness! I become wretched. Why this emotion for me? O Mother, please back to Siva and stay as Siva-Sakti in my Heart. The forgetfulness is no longer wretched and I have not sulkiness with it. I am neutral.

Ya devi sarvabhuteshu smrithi rupene samstitha
Namasthasyai Namasthaysyai Namasthasyai Namo Namah:

- Sri Devi Mahatmyam 5.62-64

I go on a suburban route.There is a spilliting headache.Saridon is there, but no water. I am also hungry.The hunger makes me tired and weak.It will be at least 2 kms till I get my water in a shop and some biscuits or fruits.What to do? O Mother,you only appear as hunger and pain for me.Why this emotion for me? Please go back to Siva and stay as Siva-Sakti in my Heart. The hunger and pain are no longer intolerable and I become neutral.

Ya devi sarvabhuteshu shudha rupene samstitha
Namasthasyai Namasthasyai Namasthasyai Namo Namah:

- Sri Devi Mahatmyam 5.26-28

O Mother you are only Sakti.You make all these dances in me.Please stay with Siva. O Mother, you appear as Sakti everywhere,sometimes negative sometimes positive. But I would like to be Achala - Siva.Annamalai.Please go back and stay with Siva as Siva Sakti in my Heart.

Ya devi sarvabhuteshu Sakti rupene samstitha
Namasthasyai Namasthasyai Namasthasyai Namo Namah:

- Sri Devi Mahatmyam 5.32-34


O Siva, though non moving, you dance against the Sakti who is there as Achala in Chidambaram. Here in Arunachala, that Sakti is merged in You and you have become Arunachalam. Ardhanari.Siva-Saki Ikyam rupam. (Bhagavan Ramana in Sri Arunachala Nava Mani Malai. Verse 1)

Read More

It is the mind which creates duality

It is the mind which creates duality. There may be two different Jnanis, one who has never read anything or one who has read many things. At the end of the day, both had attained Jnana. It is the mind which binds and not the reading per se.

Bhagavan Ramana did not read anything worth but He had to read many things after Self realization, for the sake of others.So He clearly said in Who am I? -There is no use in reading measure-lessly.One has to unlearn or forget, at some point of time,all that one has learnt.He made this 'concession' since He was sure that everyone would not be like Him.It is the mind which creates 'bondage' that has to be controlled on ideas, concepts, philosophies etc.,

There was a washer-man.He had three donkeys.Once while driving them, He had urgent nature call to clear.He looked up for ropes to tie the donkeys and go for some time. But he had only ropes that were adequate for only two donkeys.He was thinking. He saw a Jnani sitting near the tree.He asked him.The Jnani said: Tie the two donkeys. And for the third one,you just go behind its hind-legs and make a scene that you are tying it.I shall take care of all the three.The washer-man did that and went away and came after some time.He had thought that Jnani had chanted some mantras to keep the third one safe.He started untying the donkeys.The first two were untied and and they started moving.The third one,though never untied did not move! He looked at the Jnani.He thought that the Jnani had bound that donkey with some mantras.He told him to do something.The Jnani said: I did not do anything.You do one thing.You go behind its hind-legs and make a scene that you are untying the donkey. He did that.And the donkey moved!

The first two are world and god.You can either ignore them or cling to them. They will act as your wish.The third one is your mind, the Jiva.This jiva-donkey is mano-bhava.It is all thoughts.There is no tying at all.But still it acts as if it is tied.You need not either cling to the mind too much nor ignore it too much.You just allow it to play its game but do some scene of controlling it.This "acting" is moderation.

Thanks to my Spiritual Friend Subramanian R garu for sharing this.

Readers interested are requested to read below article as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/04/ramana-maharshi-answers-though-our-real.html

Read More

If this life itself is a dream then does Ramana Maharshi exist only in that dream?

Question:

Ramana says “Waking is long and a dream short; other than this there is no difference. Just as waking happenings seem real while awake, so do those in a dream while dreaming."

If this life itself is a dream then

1) Does even Ramana or for that matter whoever is replying to this question exist only in my dream?

2) Does it mean I'm (self) all alone and everything else including all people and things is fictitious?

3) So the teachings provided by Ramana and other gurus are happening in my dream only?

Answer:

There is an elephant in the forest.The elephant is scared about the Lion in the forest.The Lion has not appeared before the elephant in recent times. It was once sighted and the elephant became totally afraid of lion. One night, the elephant dreamt of the Lion, it got scared even its dream about the Lion. It woke up with a huge cry.There was not Lion. Only it was there. The elephant got self realized.

All are dreams. But unlike the elephant's dream, our dream about Bhagavan Ramana is a pleasant dream. But this dream should also end one day, when you would really wake up.That waking is the realization.

...After an ‘I’ rises, everything rises… -- Ulladu Narpadu verse 23

Bhagavan Ramana says in Who am I?: There is no difference between dream and waking up, excepting the former is short and the latter is long.

We are living in a long dream.Lion was sighted once.That is,we came from the Brahman, as the game started.It is however,a pleasant dream. When we wake up we are Brahman again.

This waking up need not be only when one leaves the body.For most of the enquirers it is afer leaving the body.But people like Sankara, Saint Manikkavachagar and Bhagavan
Ramana, the waking up took place while in dream itself! However,they continued in the dream life for some years in full waking state.This is Sahaja Samadhi.Waking up after the body is discarded is Nirvikalpa Samadhi.Waking up, again getting into dream and again waking up, this game is Savikalpa Samadhi.

Bhagavan Ramana used to tell one story:

Once two persons were sleeping in a hall.Both were poor.During the sleep, one man was dreaming.He dreamt that he is a very rich person and he has stacked all the gold and currency in a cupboard.And a thief comes and takes away all the gold and currency, and runs away.The dreaming man shouts in shock: "O! the thief is running away with all my wealth.

Please catch him, please catch him...."

The other man woke up. He was not dreaming anything, neither the thief, nor the gold and currency. What shall he do? Will he run out to the front yard to catch the thief? Will he rush to the police station to complain? He will simply wake that wailing man from sleep and dream.

The Guru is like the man who wakes us, the dreaming men, up.The only difference is that the Guru is within your Heart.

The state where "I-thought" is not there, even in a trice,is Swarupam. This is called as Silence. I am Swarupam.The world is Swarupam. Isvara is Swarupam. All are Siva-Swarupam."

When we are not with Self, then we are with dreams. so, to contact us, It is something like Ramana comes to our dream by taking a form of a human body and says to us please come out of dreams...

Source: http://www.arunachala-ramana.org/forum/index.php?topic=3713.msg0#new

Readers interested are requested to read below articles as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/10/sri-ramakrishna-says-guru-will-let-you.html

Read More

Ramana Maharshi explains regarding Prarabdha for a Jnani

On 2.8.1939, Sri Annamalai Swami himself asked Bhagavan Ramana:

"Bhagavan! You have said that once a person abides in Jnana, he has no three karmas, Prarabdha,Agami and Sanchita.But Kaivalya Navaneetam says that even a Jnani has to undergo the effects of Prarabhda. How is it?"

Bhagavan Ramana replied:

"Since Prarabdha has been declared to a person even before his attaining Jnana, the onlookers say that a Jnani should also undergo the effects of Prarabdha. There are several examples given in scriptures.

1.Like an arrow that had left the bow upon a direction.The arrow will hit even a cow in place of a tiger, even though the cow was not at all to be injured.

2.Like an electric fan, which revolves a few rotations, even after electric connection is switched off.

3.The burnt rope also looks like a good rope, but is not useful.

4.Even the trunk of the tree which remains after being cut off,looks green but will not grow.

5.The roasted seeds look like any other seeds, but will not grow when planted on the soil.

"The Jnani's Prarabhda is also like these five examples. In Jnani's look, there is no prarabdha for him, but onlookers observe that he is experiencing prarabdha."

Source: Sri Ramana Ninaivugal,Sri Annamalai Swami.Sri Annamlai Swami Asramam, Palakottu, Tiruvannamalai.

Readers interested are requested to read below articles as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/04/ramana-maharshi-says-aspirant-should.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-about-free-will-and.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/12/bhagavan-ramana-on-surrender-free-will.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/ramana-maharshi-about-sanyasam-and.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/09/ramana-maharshi-says-ones-course-of.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/10/ramana-maharshi-says-success-and.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/09/ramana-maharshi-answers-to-how-did.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/ramana-maharshi-says-root-of-prakruti.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/09/important-couplets-from-tripura-rahasya.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/devikalottara-translated-by-t-k.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/06/nan-yar-who-am-i-from-original-tamil.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/few-important-points-from-ramana.html

http://plaintruthsfromprasad.blogspot.com/2009/06/illustration-of-i-mine-past-and-future.html

http://plaintruthsfromprasad.blogspot.com/2009/06/truth-about-action-change-event.html

Read More

Ramana Mahashi's Advice To a Vaishnavite

One Sri Vaishnavite asked him, what should he do to realize Narayana.

Maharshi : You pray to him and meditate on him.

Devotee: After that, what will happen?

Maharshi : You will go to Narayana and be in his august company with other such devotees, singing his glory.

Devotee: After that, what will happen?

Maharshi : If Narayana is quite pleased with you, he will call you one day, very close to him and tell you: Please enquire Who am ?

Devotee: I can do that even here!

Maharshi : And that is what I want you to do here and now!

Readers Interested are requested to read below article as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/04/ramana-maharshis-clarifies-about-dvaita.html

Read More

Ramana Maharshi's disciple says root of Prakruti is Purusha, the Self or the Brahman

All the five elements viz., earth, water, fire, air and Space are the aspects of Prakruti, Maya, Mother Unnamulai. Mind,Intellect and Ego are also her making. She gives all these and plays with the living beings.The root of Prakruti, is the
Purusha, the Self or the Brahman. The Brahman and Maya are concorporate. But the Brahman can live without Maya and not vice versa. All the Maya swarupam contains misery, dhukkam. But this is conferred by her only to enable the living being to attain the Brahman.

Once there was some discussions in the Old Hall.The devotees were debating about He and She (Annamalai and Unnamulai).Some One said that there is no He without She.In fact He (the word) is within She (the word). Ramaswami Pillai said: Yes.No doubt. But He can live without She.She cannot live without He.All word play only.But it contains all meanings.Bhagavan ramana enjoyed the discussion of their devotees and it him cry at the end unable to bear the laugh.

The same will hold good with Destiny and Free Will.They are like Egg and Hen example of Gaudapada. Do not discuss, whether Destiny is first or Free Will is first.Gaudapada and Sankara (later in his commentary of Karika) say: Do not worry about the egg and the hen.Break the egg and throw it on the field.Crush the neck of the hen and throw it on the field.See the field, the Prakruti, Earth. And then see the root of this earth and all the other elements, mind, ego and intellect.Stay with the Self, the Brahman.

Once a devotee came and asked Bhagavan Ramana: "When I meditate, there are mosquitoes biting me. What should I do? Should I kill them or leave them?"

Bhagavan Ramana smiled and asked him: "What do you meditate?"

The devotee said: "I am meditating that I am not the body!"

Bhagavan Ramana said: "Then, it is the same thing that mosquitoes are also telling you. They are biting you to remind you that you are not the body, you are not the body!"

Source: Arunachala's Volume IV Book pg: 240

Read More

Bhagavan Ramana's Avatara Rahasyam

Just as Bhagavan Ramana never specifically mentioned about His guru, He was also silent about whether He was a avatara or reincarnation of any specific God. Viswanatha Swami in his 109 Holy names of Bhagavan Ramana says:

He is equivalent to Sri Dakshinamoorthy.

He always sits facing south as Sri Dakshinamoorthy.

He is Kumara, means only a son or more specifically Skanda.

He is owner of armies. Here again Skanda is called Senani,the owner of gods' armies, Deva Sanathipathi.

But all these names have many interpretations.

Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni was quite specific in Sri Ramana Gita, saying that Ramana is an avatara of Skanda.He is not in Swamimalai or Tiruttani or in Tirupati, but He is ever in Tiruvannamalai. He also says,He was Kumarila Bhatta, (representing Karma marga), then Tiru Jnana Sambandha,(representing Bhakti marga), and finally as Ramana, extolling Jnana marga. Many devotees had vision of Subrahmanya, particularly Pazhani Muruga, with codpiece and stick.Some had vision as Sri Dakshinamoorthy and a few as Siva Lingam.Mother Azhagamma had a vision of Him, as Sri Dakshinamoorthy, but with serpents all over His body!

Once a devotee named Amritananda Yogi, ( a Malayalee,with well found Vedantic knowledge), asked in the form of a Malayalam poem as what He was:

Whether, He was Hari or Sivaguru (Skanda) or Yativara (Siva) or Vararuchi, the great Sanskrit philosopher.

The Yogi left this paper containing Malayalam verse with Bhagavan Ramana and went away for sometime.Bhagavan Ramana on return from His stroll, saw the paper and wrote on the back of it a reply in Malayalam verse!

In the recesses of the lotus-shaped hearts of all, beginning with Vishnu, there shines as pure intellect (Absolute Consciousness) the Paramatman, who is the same as Arunachala Ramana. When the mind melts with love of Him, and reaches the innermost recess of the Heart wherein He dwells as the Beloved; the subtle eye of Pure Intellect, opens and He reveals Himself as Pure Consciousness.


- Trans. Arthur Osborne.

Read More

Ramana Maharshi tells to give advice only when we are aware of it

Once an old lady working in the village came to see Bhagavan Ramana in the Hill. She was in great distress, all sorts of family problems. Bhagavan Ramana went near her and asked about her difficulties. The old lady tearfully explained everything.

Bhagavan Ramana paused for a while and asked her: "Do you get these problems, when you are deep asleep?" The lady said: "No, Swami!" Bhagavan Ramana then said: "It is because your mind is quelled during your sleep and no problems appear there. Why not you try to be in that state of quiscent mind,without worrying about anything?"
Whether the lady understood or not, she left Bhagavan Ramana,thanking Him.

Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni came to Bhagavan Ramana and said: "Bhagavan Ramana! Why do you say all this to her? What can she understand? If you had directed her to me, at least I should have told her to chant Panchakshari mantra!"

Bhagavan Ramana said: "Nayana! I can tell her only what I know? How can I say what I do not know? Each one should say only what he knows!"

Read More

Incident Related To Ramana Maharshi's Mother Azhagamma Stopped Observing Madi Purity)

Once Bhagavan Ramana was staying in the Skandasramam.Mother Azhagamma had joined Bhagavan at that time.There were also Kunju Swami and Ramanatha Brahmachari with Him.

It so happened one day, several labourers who were picking twigs for fire, became tired due to hot sun and came to Skandasramam. They all told Bhagavan Ramana: "Swami, give us some water. Give us some food also if you can!"

Bhagavan Ramana told Kunju Swami to bring the available food from inside. Kunju Swami hesitated and said: "Bhagavan! Amma has not yet taken food....." Bhagavan Ramana said: Oh.... Amma will see the sesham (impurity due to non brahmins eating before-hand), is it so?

Mother Azhagamma was standing behind. Bhagavan Ramana then said: "Whom do you think, these labourers are? They are all Arunachala Swarupam. Everyone is Arunachala. And they have come here!" This is how the Guru, (Desika) teaches the
Truth to disciples!

Amma immediately shed tears profusely. She brought all the food,cooked. Every labourer was given a portion of the food and cool water to drink! Amma stopped observing this madi (purity) business from that day.

Bhagavan Ramana says in Upadesa Undiyar (Upadesa Saram),Verse 5:

ennuru yavum irai uruvam ena
enni vazhipadal undipara,
Isa nar poosanai undipara!

Ether, fire, air, water, earth,
Sun, moon and living beings
Worship of these
Regarded as form of His
Is perfect worship of the Lord.

(Tr. Arthur Osborne)

Read More

Reason Why Ramana Maharshi Devotees Did Not Allow Their Guru To Touch Seeds

In Palakottu, through which Bhagavan Ramana used to stroll for a while everyday, it was quite hot during summer. There were no trees. The devotees had made out some pits, and they wanted to plant the seeds for growing trees. On the appointed day, the seeds were taken on a plate, and the devotees requested Bhagavan Ramana to pick up a seed and plant it first. Bhagavan Ramana smiled at them and was about to pick a seed. Radhakrishnan,cousin of T.R. Kanakkamal, rushed from behind and told Bhagavan:
"Bhagavan! Do not touch the seeds. If you touch, they will not sprout!" Bhagavan
Ramana thought for a while, and then with a smile, refrained from touching the seeds.

The devotees grew angry and looked at Radhakrishnan.He then said: "Once Kunju Swami and I wanted to plant onions in the garden behind the kitchen.Bhagavan Ramana touched some of those onion seeds, before planting.The seeds touched by Him never germinated at all.Will not these seeds obtain liberation immediately? How can they germinate and grow as plants?

The devotees who heard Radhakrishnan were thrilled and did not press Bhagavan further. Bhagavan Ramana looked at intently and then moved away with a smile.

Why only plants? Even the few months old children, obtained liberation, on Bhagavan Ramana's golden touch. It happened to Mahalakshmi Amma's two young children.Bhagavan Ramana fed milk from a spoon to one and applied Vibhuti to another. Both died within a few months and abided in God's feet!

Source: Reminiscences of T.R. Kanakammal, from Arunachala's Ramana, Boundless Ocean of Grace, Volume 6.)

Read More

Ramana Maharshi Views About Disturbances During Meditation

On 10th May 1946, Krishna Jivrajani said to Bhagavan:

During Sadhana I feel that something is going up. Is that right or should it go down?

Bhagavan: Never mind, whether something goes up or down.Does it exist without you? Never forget that. Whatever experience may come, remember who has the experience and thus cling to "I" or the Self.

Jivarajani: Suppose there is some disturbance during meditation,such as mosquito bites, should one persist in meditation and try to bar the bites and ignore the interruption or drive the mosquitoes away and then continue the meditation?

Bhagavan:You must do as you find most convenient. You will not attain mukti simply because you refrain from driving the mosquitoes away. Nor being denied mukti simply because you drive them away. The thing is to attain is one pointedness and then attain mano nasa. Whether you do this by putting up with the mosquito bites or driving the mosquitoes away is left to you.If you are completely absorbed in your meditation, you will not know that the mosquitoes are biting you.Till you attain that stage why should you not drive away them away?

(Recall Bhagavan Ramana staying inside the Patalalingam shrine for many days and when He was lifted and brought out, the devotees found His thighs oozing blood with insect and scorpion bites and there was puss formation too!)

Source: Arunachala's Ramana, Boundless Ocean of Grace,Volume 5. Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai)

Read More

Few Devotees Who Came to Jnana Marga With Help of Ramana Maharshi

Bhagavan Ramana is the complete Brahma Jnana Guru.Different people from different walks of life, having practised different sadhsas come to Him and He did suitable midcourse corrections to bring them around to the self enquiry. Sri Krishna Bhikshu lists out such devotees in his Sri Ramana Leela.

1. Pazhani Swami was the first one. He was an innocent bhakta,totally devoted to Bhagavan Ramana. He did not do much of reading and Bhagavan Ramana had to read the books and explain for his sake. He even tried to quell his mind in the Heart, at the time of death but because of his vasanas, the Jiva rushed out of his eyes.Bhagavan Ramana said that he would have attained a higher birth to complete his self enquiry.

2. Lakshmi Ammal, the famous Echammal, who got out of the torment of samsara, due to Bhagavan Ramana's grace.

3. Manavasi Ramaswamy Iyer was beset with illness and Bhagavan cured his illness to pusue his sadhana.

4. Natananada simply had the samskara of the East and he had to be cleaned up.

5. Sivaprakasam Pillai who has done his philosophy post graduation had the samskara of the West and he had to be cleaned up.

6. Seshayya was balanced and it did not require much work for Bhagavan to set him right on his path of Jnana.

7. Lakshmi Ammal had practised Ashtanga Yoga and she had to be brought into the path of Jnana.

8. Mahalakshmi Ammal had the ocean of sorrows but her mind got quelled by Bhagavan Ramana.

9. Humphreys belonged to the Siddha school but Bhagavan Ramana suitably corrected him to pursue Jnana through his own Christian religion.

10. Kavyakanta Ganapati Sastri had the expertise of mantra sastra and he had to be told about the quiscence of mind, the source of all mantras.

11. Devaraja Mudaliar came around easily but he had his own vacillations about the anubhuti, the experience. Bhagavan Ramana told him to surrender and leave the job to Him.

12. Sri Sadhu Om was with Mata Janakiamma with devotional technqiues and he moved into self enquiry easily.

Read More

Ramana Maharshi Devotee M. V. Krishnan Shares Few Incidents

ON August 29, 1896, Venkataraman (later Sri Bhagavan) left Madurai for Tiruvannamalai. One week later,Munagala S. Venkataramiah, later known as Ramanananda Saraswati, went home from Madurai to Sholavandan and told his mother that a brahmin boy who was studying in Madurai at an adjoining school had run away from home. At that time he little realised that he was to meet this runaway boy later in 1918 at Skandasramam and that he was to become his disciple, live in close proximity of Sri Bhagavan from 1933 to 1950, and be the compiler of Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi.

S.V. Ramanathan and M. V. Krishnan, sons of Munagala S. Venkataramiah came to the Ashram with their parents in the summer of 1930. They were just thirteen and ten years of age.One morning they were standing near the old dining hall (where now Sri Bhagavan’s samadhi stands) when Ramu, the elder brother,remarked that for the last few days no onion sambar had been tasted by them. At that precise moment Sri Bhagavan was passing by the boys, as he was returning from the kitchen. He smiled and asked Ramu: “So, you want vengaaya (onion) sambar!” The boys blushed and kept quiet. Next morning, the boys were served with vengaaya sambar. Everybody thought it was onion sambar.Sri Bhagavan later in the day asked Ramu how he relished the sambar to which he replied: “Very well.”

Ramu, however, was surprised to know the truth only a few days later when his mother told him that what he ate was not onion but garlic sambar! There was no onion at that time in the Ashram and yet Sri Bhagavan wanted to fulfil the boy’s wish. Through his expert culinary knowledge, he brought the smell and taste of onion to garlic itself!


IN THE 1930s, Dr. T. N. Krishnaswamy wanted to visit the Ashram and be with Sri Bhagavan during the weekend. He asked a friend to accompany him. This friend at that time did not even put on his shirt. He was in his dhoti and upper cloth and had two
or three rupees in his purse. He readily agreed to go then and there. Both travelled up to Katpadi by train, took a bus to Vellore and changed onto another bus for Tiruvannamalai. In Vellore the friend wanted to take something to Sri Bhagavan. On the roadside he saw a woman selling kovai kai. He bought the lot for a few annas. It was about one viss, or 1½ kg in weight. Since he had no bag to carry the vegetable, he bundled them at one end of his upper cloth. Both of them reached Tiruvannamalai in the evening. The vegetable bundle was put in front of Sri Bhagavan when both the devotees paid their respects. On an enquiry from Sri Bhagavan, the bundle was opened. Sri Bhagavan saw the contents and said that if kovai kai was cooked with brinjals it
would be tasty. The next morning a devotee arriving from Madras through Villupuram brought brinjals! The curry was cooked in the morning and all of them relished it.

IN 1937, AN elderly American came along with a group to visit Sri Bhagavan. The trend of the discussion was that the five senses were to be put under check. Since the old American was deaf he could not follow the discussions. Sri Bhagavan remarked that the American needed to control only four senses as the fifth (hearing) was already under check. Someone in the Hall explained this to the American and he beamed with joy.

MUNAGALA V. KRISHNAN went to Delhi in December,1940, in search of a job. He could not secure a job up to the end of February, 1941. So he wrote to his father Sri Venkataramiah saying that he had to return to the south as no job was available. This letter was shown to Sri Bhagavan who went through it and said: “Let him stay on in Delhi.” In March he got a job. From then V. Krishnan prospered very well.

AFTER SRI BHAGAVAN moved down and settled near the Mother’s samadhi there was only a thatched roof over the samadhi and an adjoining hut. Some devotees decided to build
a more solid hall. So bricks and building material were gathered.The bricks were carried to the site by the devotees. Sri Bhagavan also wanted to work but the devotees would not permit him.One moonlit night, when all were asleep, a devotee woke up and found that Sri Bhagavan was missing. He woke up the others and they all began to search for him. They found Sri Bhagavan taking part in bringing bricks to the site from a kiln opposite the Ashram.

IN THE EARLY 1920s there was a big mango tree near Palitirtham. Chinna Swami was also in the Ashram, although he had not yet taken charge of the management. Dandapani Swami, a huge figure, was another Ashram inmate. Chinna Swami and Dandapani Swami did not like each other. One night Dandapani Swami wanted to settle scores with Chinna Swami, so he seized Chinna Swami to crush him. Bhagavan appeared on the scene and slapped the back of Dandapani Swami, who immediately put Chinna Swami down. No words were spoken and each retired to his place of rest. Later Dandapani Swami described the slap as ‘terrific’.

Sources:

1) SURPASSING LOVE AND GRACE By His Devotees Book
2) Arunachala's Ramana Boundless Ocean Of Grace Volume III Book

Read More

Atma Vichara and Vaisaradhi Buddhi

One who has destroyed the darkness born of ignorance of the Self, who is bubbling with the joy of self experience and who has totally withdrawn from all inquisitiveness etc., is spoken as a Jivan Mukta.

Nine releases are told in the Sastras:

1. Jihasa Nivritti - nothing to discard.
2. Jijnasa Nivritti - nothing to know.
3. Prepsa Nivritti - nothing to attain.
4. Chikeersha Nivritti - nothing to do.
5. Bhaya Nivritti - freedom from fear.
6. Aasha Nivritti - freedom from desire.
7. Shoka Nivritti - freedom from sorrow.
8. Vikalpa Nivritti - freedom from all imaginary problems.
9. Sarva dvaita Nivritti - freedom from all dualities.

Source: From Brahmasri Nochur Venkataraman's Sanskrit work Vichara Mala.

Read More

Ramana Maharshi answer to group of people who wants to Eradicate Atheism

The ghost of atheism once started dancing wildly even in Tiruvannamalai, where Bhagavan resided.

A group of Vedic scholars who were interested in protecting the eternal religion (Sanatana Dharma) approached Bhagavan. One of the foremost Vedic scholars was their leader.

They bowed to Him, saying , "The Vedic religion has been firmly rooted in this land of Bharata (India) since time immemorial. It has been nurtured by Maharshis themselves since ancient times.This is the reason why each one of the sub-groups of the Vedic religion has a Maharshi as the initiator of that line. This ancient
Vedic tree is now being shaken by the hurricane of atheism. It must be firmly re-established by all possible means. You, who belong to the clan of the ancient rishis should offer your support to this endeavour."

Bhagavan replied: "Certainly! By all means do this, but do not involve me in it."

He thus freed Himself from their hold. However, taking Bhagavan's reply as His blessings for their endeavour, the group left satisfied.

Source: Sri Ramana Darsanam, Sadhu Natananada. Tr. into English with commentaries by David Godman, Sri Ramanasramam,Tiruvannamalai.

Read More

Ramana Maharshi Devotee Maragathavalli "Andavan Pichhai"

Her name "Andavan Pichhai", which she assumed in later life, means ‘mad for God’.

Andavan Picchai was born in Mylapore, Madras, on September 6th 1899. Her birth name was Maragathavalli, and she was the second child of T. Sankaranarayana Sastri and Sitalakshmi. About three years later her mother, Sitalakshmi died and her husband remarried shortly afterwards. However, it seems that he did not have much time either for his new wife or his children since he was perpetually engrossed in his studies and his spiritual practices. The children spent a lot of time with his brother, Venkatasubbiar, who developed a great love for his niece Maragathavalli.

Maragathamma hardly ever opened her mouth. A private tutor was engaged to teach her since in those days girls did not go to school, but she frequently managed to escape from her tuition. Her father gave her the nickname ‘Nirakshara Kukshi’ – ‘one who does not know a single syllable’.

When Maragathamma was a small child, Guruswamy, a relative on her mother’s side, gave a promise to her grandfather that he would marry her to his own son Narasimhan. Although Narasimhan was not happy about the proposed marriage, he agreed to it in order to honour his father’s promise. The marriage took place in April 1908 when the girl was barely nine years old. Narasimhan was about twenty at the time. Although child brides sometimes lived in their parents’ house until puberty, in this case Maragathamma was immediately dispatched to the husband’s house with jewellery and a dowry of two bungalows.

During the Navaratri celebrations of 1908 Maragathamma was taken back to her father’s house. Her grandmother had been a great devotee of Tiruttani Muruga and throughout her childhood Maragathamma had listed to tales of the greatness of Lord Muruga. During this visit she had a life-defining vision.

This is how her biographer describes it:

In the years that followed Maragathamma became fully immersed in family life. Her husband Narasimhan became a lawyer, and she gave birth to many children. Her first pregnancy ended with a still-born child. She was less than thirteen years old at the time. A few years later she gave birth to Guruswamy (born 1917), Shankar (1919), Kalpagam (1921) Ganapathi (19230 and Seshadri (1924).

Two days after the birth of Seshadri she had another vision of Muruga. She went into a kind of trance and ended up singing over 600 verses extolling Muruga in the form of ‘aandi’ a beggar. Her flow was stopped only when she heard the cry of her baby, begging for food. Apparently, Seshadri had been crying for food for quite some time before Maragathamma became aware of his needs. The nurse who was attending her scolded her for neglecting her baby while she was absorbed in her devotional singing. This precipitated a minor crisis in the family because the nurse told Maragathamma’s mother-in-law, Kaveriamma, about the event.

Apart from the issue of neglecting the baby, Kaveriamma complained that singing songs that praised God as a beggar would end up making the whole family beggars. She also said that since Maragathamma was in a state of ritual impurity, having just given birth to a baby, she should not be composing songs in praise of God. Kaveriamma collected all Maragathamma’s songs, hid them, and made her take an oath that she would not sing songs on Muruga again, or even talk about him.

Being a dutiful daughter-in-law, Maragathamma took the oath because she knew that she always had Muruga in her heart. She did not have to promise that she would not think about him or be aware of him internally.

More children followed. Venkataraman was born in 1926, but a couple of days after delivering him she developed septicemia because part of the placenta had stayed inside her and become infected. He doctor said that she needed an operation to remove it, but Maragathamma declined an anaesthetic and remained perfectly still, quiet and conscious while the doctor removed the infected material. She had apparently developed an ability to suspend body consciousness and be unaware of pain, or at least be completely unaffected by it.

More children followed: Kamakshi was born in 1928, Padma in 1929 and in 1936 Vasudevan. Padma became something of a child prodigy. She began composing songs when she was only three years old and became a devotee, even at that age, of the Sankaracharya of Kamakoti Peeta. She went blind, regained her sight after the Sankaracharya intervened and sent her to a doctor who restored her sight, but in 1936 she passed away at the age of eight while she was presenting a home-made garland to a Devi statue.

One son, Vasudevan, died of a serious illness; Shankar had some sort of accident that made him mentally retarded, and he died in 1940. The others grew up and were successful in their chosen fields.

None of these family dramas dented Maragathamma’s equanimity since the inner vision of Lord Muruga was always with her. Songs would come to her in the usual way, but she refused to sing them out loud even after her mother-in-law, Kaveriamma, passed away in 1930 after a long illness. Kaveriamma had made her take the oath of silence on Muruga, on her husband, and on her children. She feared that if she began to sing again, something bad might happen to her husband and children. She complained internally to Muruga about this situation, and soon after that she felt his presence within her disappear.

She implored him to return and give her darshan again. After a few days she heard a voice within her saying, ‘Why are you searching for me outside? Am I not inside you? Look within and you will see me.’

In March 1948 Maragathamma went on a trip to Srisailam for Sivaratri to please one of her relatives who had a desire to go there. On her return, she became slightly ill, a condition that persisted for several weeks. In May, as she was walking down the staircase in her house, carrying one of her grandchildren in her arms, she slipped, fell and fainted. She was put to bed and the doctor who was brought in to attend on her declared that she had had a heart attack. Two of Maragathamma’s sons who had become doctors returned home to help with her treatment. She was unconscious, her pulse was beating very slowly, and her general condition was deteriorating to the point where her relatives began to fear for her life.

When Maragathavalli came to Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi she was abruptly shaken from her stupor as if by an electric shock. The whole body started trembling and her heart was pounding hard. She prostrated before him and looked up. At that instant Bhagavan’s gaze fell on her. His eyes were shining brilliantly and showering compassion all around. From them a streak of light like that of lightning flashed out. He gave her an initiation, through the eyes, of the Shadakshari Mantra. This pierced her soul and once and for all the darkness of ignorance in her heart was completely removed. The great truth behind the mahavakya flashed in her and she realized the secret of ‘WHO AM I?’ This gave her an ecstatic experience of merging her individual soul with that of the supreme soul and in this unique state she felt the whole universe within her only.

And then pointing to the grapes brought by Amma, Ramana Maharshi said, ‘These grapes this body likes very much’. He took a grape and put it in his mouth and distributed the rest to all.

On 12th April 1950 Amma and others went to see Ramana Maharshi again as his physical condition was reported to be very serious. His left arm, which had been operated on, was under bandage. There was a stream of visitors to see him and so each visitor was allowed just a minute to tarry by his side. Amma’s turn came. She wanted to prostrate to the Maharshi but she held in her hand a copy of Ramana’s photo which she had bought earlier at a stall. Even as she was wondering where to place it, Ramana himself took it from her and held it in his right hand, enabling Amma to do proper pranam to him. Then he smiled, gave her back the photo copy and held his right hand in abhaya mudra. Amma felt sad at not being able to converse with him. Two days later the world heard the news that the Maharshi had attained Mahasamadhi.

Maragathamma did not remain in Madras for the rest of her life. She went back to Rishikesh and stayed there for many years. At the age of eighty-nine, when she became seriously ill, she returned to Madras and passed away there in her family home in November 1990. She was ninety years old at the time of her death.

Sources:

1) The Gift of God or Andavan Pichhai by Smt and Dr Krishna Rao published by the Divine Life Society, Sivanandanagar, Uttar Pradesh, in 1983.

2) http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2008/06/andavan-pichhai_09.html

Read More

Ramana Maharshi Answer To Can A Man Realize His Self In The Dream State?

Dr. Haribhai writes:

I went to Sri Ramanasramam, in 1946, for Bhagavan's darshan.

I put a question to Bhagavan: "If waking and dream states are not different, can a man realize his Self in the dream state?" To this Bhagavan graciously replied:

"First realize the Self in the waking state. And then raise the question!"

Source: Arunachala's Ramana, Boundless Ocean of Grace,Volume 6. Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai.)

Readers interested are requested to read below articles as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/05/michael-james-about-nature-of-mind.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/05/michael-james-about-self-enquiry-based.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-about-process-of-doing.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-answers-to-why-is-there.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-says-walking-and-dream.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-about-transition-stage.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/ramana-maharshi-says-jnanis-walking-and.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/10/sri-ramakrishna-says-according-to.html

Read More

Few Lessons From Bhagavan Ramana's Life

K.R.K. Murthy writes in Arunachala's Ramana, Boundless Ocean of Grace, Volume 6:

1. Once there was a discussion about the foodstuffs such as onions, drumsticks, carrots etc., which orthodox people avoid.Bhagavan Ramana remarked that they may do good to the body but not to the mind. They may purify the blood and benefit the body but they rouse passions and are not helpful for the purification of the mind, chiddasuddhi.

2.Giving up certain fruits, nuts or other foodstuff dear to one,during the pilgrimages to holy places like Kasi, is one of the practices prevalent among the religious people. One day Bhagavan noticed a devotee avoiding a mango on this ground and commented that a better form of 'tyaga' - renunciation would be to accept whatever one happens to get and not to crave for which that is not available.

3. Once Bhagavan Ramana also told that one may avoid things that do not agree with one's constitution and take necessary quantities of suitable ones that do him good. But maintenance of body and health should not occupy much attention as it is not our chief pursuit in life.

4. Bhagavan never used to compromise with equality in serving meals.He never agreed to accept anything which is not equally shared by His fellow diners.He was satisfied only when He was served in the end, after everyone was served.Even under exceptional situations, He was not willing to take the food of superior quality unless it was distributed to all.

5. Bhagavan made people of different tongues in South India quite at home by speaking or writing in their respective languages.It requires a great effort to cross the narrow linguistic barriers and shed the unjustifable prejudices against other languages and appreciate good works in them. Only one who studies one or two languages in addition to his mother tongue and moves and lives with others has ample opportunities of broadening his outlook and also reaching others' hearts.The initial linguistic affinities do not last long and after all, people of the same mentality flock togetherm whatever their mother tonuge is.Bhagavan Ramana is particularly adored because He had taken a lot of pains to master several languages and write His works in the same for the benefit of devotees from various parts.His glorious example will continue to influence generations of devotees to put forth their best efforts in this direction and to come closer by understanding one another better.

Source: Arunachala's Ramana, Boundless Ocean of Grace, Volume 6

Readers are requested to read below articles also

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/personal-habits-of-ramana-maharshi.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/08/some-anecdotes-on-bhagavan-ramana.html

Read More

Final Part - Ramana Maharshi Devotee Sub-Registrar Narayana Iyer

There were occasions on which Sri Bhagavan took special notice of him, for instance, when a cinema picture was about to be shown in the dining hall at 5 p.m., Bhagavan declined to go there till Sri Narayana Iyer, who was expected at 7 p.m. arrived, consequently a large number of people who had gathered in the hall had to wait for a long time. There were other instances also. Though deeply involved in the affairs of the ashram and having different views, he continues to visit the ashram regularly and is well known to one and all.

One morning at about 5 a.m. I prostrated before Bhagavan and took leave of him. There had been some function like jayanti or mahapuja the previous day and all were tired and asleep.

Sri Bhagavan said ‘Wait’ and went into the kitchen. I followed. He searched and found nothing to give me. He then put his hand inside a pot and found some almonds. He immediately lit the fire, put a pan on it, fried the almonds in ghee and gave them to me. Though I protested, he gave me a big packet of them and asked me to eat them on my way and to give some to the children at home! Is this not divine love?

I once asked him: ‘Bhagavan, it is said that all roads lead to Rome. All religions lead to the same goal. How, can it be said that the quest “Who am I?” is the only way and the direct way?’

He replied: ‘Yes, all roads lead to Rome. But, on reaching Rome, you have to go to the citadel(A stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle) – the sanctum(A sacred place of pilgrimage). What I say is just that.’

The reactions of Sri Bhagavan to physical pain were always a mystery to me. I asked him if it was true that he once had (as I was told by a friend) boiling rice gruel (kanji) spilt over his posterior and that Sri Bhagavan knew about it only some time after.

He narrated the incident thus: ‘I was straining the kanji from a vessel in which rice was boiled. I was sitting on the floor. The boiling kanji was to be collected in a smaller vessel on the floor, but I was talking to some one and without my noticing the kanji fell on the floor, not in the vessel. As the floor sloped towards me, it got under my posterior. I knew about it only afterwards when it got cool!

‘Of course I got blistered and Zam Buck was later applied. No doubt there was pain after it was noticed, but who cares?’

The bliss of Self-realisation perhaps drowns any other experience!

One hot Sunday afternoon an old devotee placed before Sri Bhagavan some palmyra fruits [nongu].

Bhagavan severely remarked: ‘Why do you do this daily? You are a sannyasin. You must beg of others the wherewithal to procure these. You must say that they are for me. You know that I cannot eat them without others present sharing them and so you have to get some quantity, and this you do using my name, as though I desire it! Can’t you keep quiet and mind your business? You prostrate before me and think that you have won me over. Every prostration is like a blow on my head. All sorts of things are done outside these four walls with impunity, as though these walls hide and protect them. Who likes these prostrations?’

And on and on he went in a tirade against all and sundry who posed like pious men but were hiding a lot of impurity. It was not one individual that was attacked. The atmosphere in the hall was tense, and one by one, the devotees sneaked out. But such moods were only momentary, and he could switch on to his wonted geniality the next instant.

Source: http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2008/06/narayana-iyer.html

Readers interested are requested to read Part I also

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/ramana-maharshi-devotee-sub-registrar.html

Read More

Part I - Ramana Maharshi Devotee Sub-Registrar Narayana Iyer

Narayana Iyer was a devotee who came to scoff, but remained as a worshipper. Before he met Bhagavan he was an out and out sceptic with no religion in him. He considered sannyasins and sadhus to be impostors and parasites and felt that no one, however great, had the right to accept the homage of others. But a chance meeting with Bhagavan wrought a complete transformation in this doubting Thomas and turned him into a staunch devotee.

Dr Ramakrishna Iyer was his friend, philosopher and guide. Like Narayana Iyer, this doctor was also working in Chetpet. He was well acquainted with Bhagavan, being the son of Lakshmi Ammal of Tiruchuzhi, one of Bhagavan’s childhood playmates. He invited Narayana Iyer to go with him to Tiruvannamalai during the Deepam festival, and his invitation was accepted, even though Narayana Iyer disliked crowds and temple festivals had no attraction for him; he agreed on the condition that he would neither come inside the ashram nor prostrate to the swami if perchance he met him.

Circumstances forced him to accompany his friend into the ashram. As they were coming inside, a person clad only in a white loin cloth, a towel on his shoulder, a kamandalu [water pot] in one hand and a walking stick in the other stopped in his walk in the opposite direction when he saw them. He spoke kindly to the doctor and enquired about his mother and brother. Though Iyer guessed that this must be the Maharshi, he did not look up, thinking that, after all, he was a complete stranger to him. On being introduced as the Sub-registrar of Chetpet, out of courtesy he looked up. Let us hear him now in his own words:

‘What a wonderful face and what a welcoming smile! Bewitching, fascinating and a powerful look too! In a moment I was at his feet on the gravel ground…. He is not bogus…. looks genuine…. but has he solved the mystery of life, of the universe that we see around us? If not, I withdraw my homage and go my way…. I tried to find out if he had written any books. I got a copy of Ulladu Narpadu [Reality in Forty Verses] in Tamil. It had just been published.’

As he tried to read the first stanza he was confounded and filled with dismay at the repeated use of the word ulladu, which seemed too closely packed. The pure language, embodying the essence of absolute reality, would drive even pundits of Tamil prosody to despair. Someone nearby said that the Maharshi himself would explain the forty verses that night. In anxious and eager suspense Narayana Iyer waited for the night.

A solemn stillness pervaded the air. There was absolute silence. The Maharshi read the first stanza. The mere reading of it made the meaning as clear as clarity itself. Stanza by stanza he read and explained in a voice so sweet and melodious, it seemed to come from a transcendent being.

The climax came when he said, after explaining a verse, ‘God cannot be seen with our eyes and known by our senses. This is what is meant by saying, “To see God is to be God”.’

It flashed upon Narayana Iyer instantly that if He whom all religions acclaim as God were to appear before him in flesh and blood, here He is. Successive waves of bliss flooding from within shook his frame. He went out to compose himself.

He says, ‘I came, he saw, he conquered’.

The spell was thus cast. Henceforth Bhagavan was his God. Bhagavan was the way and the support on the way as well.

To Narayana Iyer the content of Ulladu Narpadu became a vedic truth and its verses veritable mantras. He took to chanting them as japa. From then on nothing could stop him from frequenting the ashram.

His job entailed frequent transfers; he was successively posted to Arani, Polur, and Shankagiri (Salem) for varying periods. However, there was no let up in his regular visits. Never a Sunday passed without Narayana Iyer arriving at the ashram. He always had some delectable snacks with him which were prepared by his wife Lalitha Iyer, who believed that she was cooking delicacies for God. These were savoured by everyone as Bhagavan would never accept anything unless there was enough for all. Very often Iyer would bring omappodi, [a snack made of gram flour and spices] which Bhagavan appears to have been quite fond of, and occasionally he would bring other items in quantities that would suffice for all in the hall.

Once when Shantammal enquired of Bhagavan whether she could prepare some snacks in the ashram, Bhagavan replied, ‘Tomorrow is Sunday. Narayana Iyer will be arriving and will surely be bringing something to eat.’

Such was the certainty of his arrival and of the snacks that came with him.

In those days [the early thirties] the area surrounding the ashram was very bare, with no trees or shrubs. The Mother’s Temple was yet to be constructed. Anyone approaching the precincts of the ashram could be easily seen from the old hall. Once, between two successive weekend visits by Narayana Iyer, the ashram administration, feeling that Bhagavan needed some rest in the afternoon after lunch, imposed a restriction that no one would be allowed to disturb him between 12 noon and 2 p.m. Neither Bhagavan nor Narayana Iyer was aware of this new decree. The following Sunday afternoon, as usual, Iyer arrived with omappodi in hand. As he approached the hall those strategically positioned to deflect the would-be visitors until 2 pm, the new receiving hour, apprised him of the rule. Iyer, though still at a great distance from Bhagavan, made his customary prostration from where he was, retraced his steps and waited until the appointed hour.

At 2 p.m. he came before Bhagavan. Bhagavan had spied him on his arrival and noted his subsequent disappearance.

As soon as he entered the hall Bhagavan asked him, ‘Didn’t you come at 1 o’clock? I saw you arriving through the window and was expecting you to come to the hall at any moment. But you didn’t come. Did you have to go elsewhere?’

Narayana Iyer, who had no idea that Bhagavan was not supposed to know of the new arrangement, replied in all innocence, ‘My train arrived late and I could come only at 1 o’clock. I was informed that Bhagavan nowadays rests in the afternoons and is not to be disturbed until 2 p.m. That’s why I have only come in now.’

Bhagavan listened without any comment, other than his customary, ‘Oh! Is that so?’

The next day after lunch, instead of going into the hall, Bhagavan sat outside the hall. The attendant very hesitantly suggested that he go inside, as it was becoming very hot.

Bhagavan said, ‘Nobody is allowed to enter until 2 p.m. Is there also a rule that I should not sit here until two?’

Then Bhagavan, the very embodiment of compassion added, ‘People come from far-away places by various means, suffering innumerable hardships in order to get here. How can they be sure of the exact time of their arrival? When they come after all that trouble, how fair is it to deny them ready access?’

Hearing this, the management immediately revoked the new rule.

In due course, owing to the profound grace of Bhagavan, Narayana Iyer was posted to Tiruvannamalai itself. He was the first in a long line of devotees to have had the rare privilege of establishing a residence near the ashram in order to be in the holy presence of Bhagavan on a regular basis. His entire sadhana comprised of simply remaining with Bhagavan whenever possible, in the hall or in the kitchen, cutting vegetables, grinding chutney and preparing breakfast in the wee hours of the morning. On any given morning the trio of G. V. Subbaramayya, Kalyana Sundaram Iyer of the bookstall and Narayana Iyer, would be found with Bhagavan.

One year, due to an unusual spell of drought, the ashram faced severe water scarcity on the eve of Jayanthi. The devotees, organising themselves into a long chain, passed vessels filled with water from hand to hand from the Agasthya Teertham in Palakothu to the kitchen. Narayana Iyer very enthusiastically participated in this collective endeavour.

An extensive area of twenty grounds [one acre] was the site of Narayana Iyer’s residence where he grew a variety of fruit trees and fodder for his cow. Whatever wild creatures found in that area were left to themselves. Occasionally, he had snakes caught and released in isolated spots on the mountain.

Prior to constructing the house, Iyer took the plans to Bhagavan to have them blessed. After careful perusal Bhagavan observed, ‘The plan is all right, but where is the well?’

Though Iyer had a location in mind, it was not marked on the blueprint. This turned out to be a benediction as Bhagavan selected the site and marked the exact location. Later, one could see what a blessing it was; not only was the water as sweet as tender coconut water, but the well never ran dry and was thus a source of succour for the entire neighbourhood in times of severe drought.

His wife was a truly sattvic woman, given to dharmic ways and scrupulously adhering to the sastraic injunctions pertaining to a housewife. She shared her husband’s ways and views completely. Though born in a rich family, she had no pretensions or airs about her. Simple, carefree and unattached, she ran the household with a contented mind and to the satisfaction of the entire family, making optimum use of the resources available to her. The children, like the mother, were an uncomplaining lot and were content in doing what they were told to do by their father.

Iyer’s one passion was to chant Ulladu Narpadu unceasingly. Neither conventional vedic duties nor extravagant ritualistic observances had any attraction for him. The constant chanting of Ulladu Narpadu was all the religious observance known to him. It would start right from the morning.

Dyed in brahminical custom, Narayana Iyer looked forward to his invigorating cup of morning coffee. The person who milked the cow used to turn up at 5.00 a.m., announcing his arrival by ringing his bicycle bell. Iyer, who would invariably be chanting Ulladu Narpadu loudly, would open the gate for him. The day would, therefore, begin with Ulladu Narpadu, a routine so predictable and punctual, the neighbour opposite him, an Andhra lady, remarked that she could safely set her clock by his recitation in the morning. His chanting continued throughout the day while he watered the plants or gave the cow a bath.

If ever he were to hear a voice raised in argument among the children, he would simply raise his voice and chant even louder. It was a wonder to see the children immediately quietened, as if the mesmerising spell of this powerful mantra made them aware of Bhagavan’s very presence.

Kanakammal stayed in Iyer’s compound, occupying a small cottage for nearly ten years. He looked upon me as his own daughter. He always made himself aware of my requirements when he procured groceries for his own household and would always meet my needs.

Narayana Iyer and Venkataratnam used to narrate to Kanakammal whatever transpired in the hall during the nights and on days when Kanakammal was unable to attend.

Subsequently Iyer was posted to Polur, but he did not move his residence from Tiruvannamalai. Instead, he cycled to the station, left his cycle there, took the train to Polur and again cycled to his office from there. His return in the evening was by the same route, but like an arrow he would speed his way directly to the ashram in order to be with Bhagavan. He was like a calf rushing to its mother. By then it would usually be 9:00 p.m.

One evening, as Iyer came from the station, Bhagavan enquired whether he had eaten his dinner.

‘Not yet Bhagavan.’

Bhagavan, compassion incarnate, was filled with concern and said, ‘It is already so late. Poor Lalitha will be waiting for you. Just think how late it will be for her to go to bed after serving you dinner, eating herself and then completing the domestic chores. From now on go home first, have your dinner and then come to the ashram.’

Thus ordered by Bhagavan, and also moved by his compassion, Iyer reached his house and exclaimed to his wife, ‘How fortunate you are to be so graciously remembered by Bhagavan, despite remaining within the house. From now on I will have my dinner straight away when I come home from the station. Please have it ready then.’

Sri Bhagavan had his head shaved once a month on the full moon day. Natesan was the barber who used to do this service. Bhagavan sat on a stool and Natesan would stand and shave him. Once Sri Bhagavan suggested to Natesan in all seriousness that it would be more comfortable for the barber to sit on the stool while he himself would sit on the floor!

It was past 8.30 one night when I came to the Ashram on one of my visits. Everyone had retired to rest after the night meal. I went to the office. Chinnaswamy was sitting in his place talking to some Ashramites. When he saw me enter he said, “Narayana Iyer, don’t go near Sri Bhagavan’s couch.He is resting on the veranda near the well. He had a fracture of his collar bone and a plaster has been put on it. He should not be disturbed. Prostrate at a distance and come away noiselessly.” I was shocked to hear the news. If any other reason had been given it could have restrained me, but the mention of a ‘fracture’ made me eager and anxious to see Sri Bhagavan.
I went on tiptoe and prostrated quietly. He evidently saw me and said, “Narayana Iyer, come, sit by my side on the couch.Only then can I see you and talk. Otherwise the bandage they have put might be disturbed and there might be pain.” Implicitly I obeyed when he said this, notwithstanding my fear of Chinnaswamy’s reaction if he should happen to see me there. He said, “I was going up the steps. A dog was chasing a squirrel. I barred its way by putting my walking stick in front of it. The stick slipped and I fell down and got hurt on the collar bone. They say it is a fracture and the native bone-setter of the village, an old devotee, was sent for. He has put this bandage with some green leaves and black gram paste and I am enjoined not to move lest it be disturbed.”

He narrated the incident as though it was someone else’s body that was injured and was suffering!

As Bhagavan’s mahanirvana approached, Narayana Iyer never moved away from the vicinity of Bhagavan. He was a witness to all that went on during those precious last days. At that time Bhagavan’s water pot [kamandalu] and walking stick were in his room as he could not use them anymore. Iyer sensed that several people had secret designs on them, wanting to take them away and preserve them as private, sacred relics. After the mahasamadhi of Bhagavan, abhishekam, alankaram and arathi were performed and the holy body was taken in procession in a small ratha around the Mother’s Temple. Iyer took this opportune moment, picked up the walking stick and kamandalu, and slowly walked ahead of the ratha up to the samadhi chamber where Bhagavan’s body would be enshrined. A small hand spun cloth bag encasing Bhagavan’s earthly frame was filled with vibhuti and camphor according to scriptural procedure. It was then reverently lowered into the samadhi chamber. Iyer himself descended into the chamber and placed Bhagavan’s walking stick and kamandalu on either side of the body. The samadhi pit was then slowly filled in. Anyone who nurtured hopes of acquiring Bhagavan’s meagre possessions as relics was disappointed.

In the aftermath of Bhagavan’s mahanirvana Iyer did not give up his earlier routine of having Bhagavan’s darshan daily. He had darshan of Bhagavan at the samadhi shrine and continued to visit the old hall. The Iyers stayed on in Tiruvannamalai, as did Chadwick who, for a time, took up residence in the Iyer compound in a small thatched-roof cottage until he was invited by the ashram management to move back there again. Iyer and Chadwick were spiritual companions, their uniting bond being the love and devotion they both had for Bhagavan.

Later, when all their children had settled in Madras, the Iyers, who were beginning to feel their age, also moved there to be near their children and grandchildren.

Narayana Iyer and his wife were grihasta asrama [householders] and followed that dharma meticulously. Yet mentally both had donned ochre robes. Their lives, the way they lived, was a penance [tapas] that required no other spiritual practice. Wherever Iyer went, his continued recitation of Ulladu Narpadu made the air around him vibrant with the holy presence of Bhagavan, compelling an inner response from all.

Sources:

1) http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2008/07/remembering-sub-registrar-narayana-iyer.html
2) Surpassing Love and Grace Book

Readers interested are requested to read Final Part also

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/final-part-ramana-maharshi-devotee-sub.html

Read More

Ramana Maharshi Devotee Sadhu Trivenigiri Swami

WHEN I was in Tiruchendur in 1932 it came to my mind that I should regard all women as my mother or Valli if I was intent on leading a spiritual life. One evening, I went to the Shrine of Sri Subramanya and stood for half an hour before the Moolavar (main deity) and the following words flashed into my consciousness: "Here I am a God who does not talk. Go to Tiruvannamalai; Maharshi is a God who talks." This was how Maharshi's Grace manifested itself to me. I had not even seen Maharshi then.

In December 1932, I wrote to Ramanasramam and got the reply conveying Bhagavan's upadesa that the body is the result of prarabdha (accumulated karma) and the joys and sorrows relating to it are inevitable and they can be borne easily if we put the burden on God.

In 1933, one day, Vakil Sri Vaikuntam Venkatarama Iyer suddenly spoke to me about Maharshi and gave me a copy of Ramana Vijayam in Tamil. I read it and when I came to the part when his mother was crying before him to urge him to return home I was choked with tears.

Then my mother made the following inspired utterance."Malaiappan calls you; go to him. This path will result in the salvation of twenty-seven generations of your family. This is the upadesa (teaching) of Mother Truth. Go along this path. Any obstacle you meet, regard as maya (illusion). You will soon be liberated." So saying, I was given upadesa of Mahavakyam and Karana-Panchaksharam (Vedic truth of Brahman).

In February 1933, I wrote to the Ashram again and got a prompt reply. Bhagavan's upadesa given in it was as follows: "Sattvic food will keep the mind clear and help meditation. This is the experience of sadhakas. Eat to appease hunger and not to satisfy taste or craving; this will in due course lead to the control of the senses. Then continued and concentrated meditation will result in annihilation of desires." It is the Atman that activates the mind and breath. Watching the breath will result in kevala kumbakam (stopping of breath). Control of breath will lead to temporary control of the mind and vice versa. Intense and constant japa (repetition of a sacred syllable) will lead to ajapa (non-repetition). Sound being subtler than form, japa is preferable to murti (image or form) or worship. Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman ) is the best. To those who seek the source of the `I' no other mantra or upasana (meditation) is needed."

Within a month after the receipt of this, I proceeded to Ramanasramam to stay there permanently. One day I decided to spend the nights for one mandala (cycle of 48 days) in the presence of Bhagavan. On the 15th day I had a dream: The attendant Madhavan had an epileptic attack and suddenly grasped my hand. I cried for help to Bhagavan who pulled away Madhavan's hand, and gave me milk to drink. When I woke up I still had the taste of the milk in my mouth; I felt I had drunk the milk of wisdom. From then onward my mind turned inwards.

One morning while cutting vegetables, I wanted to do giri pradakshinam (circumambulation of the Hill) and asked Bhagavan's permission. Devotees nearby made signs pleading to Bhagavan not to let me go. Bhagavan said, "Is pradakshina a sankalpa (intention)? Let him go." I said, "No. I decided last night to go with somebody. That is all." Bhagavan, "Oh! You already made the sankalpa. Sankalpa leads to samsara. Fulfil the sankalpa . You need not cut vegetables." I took it as an upadesa (teaching) not to make sankalpas thereafter.

Another morning when I was cutting vegetables with Bhagavan, he said: "Sundaram! Take this hurricane light and pick up the mangoes that have fallen from the tree." I said "Yes", but continued cutting up the vegetables. Bhagavan said, "Sundaram! Attend to what `I' said first. It is from me that everything rises. Attend to it first." I took this as an adesh and upadesa (advice and instruction) to make the enquiry "Who am I?" My friends also felt so.

One day the attendant Madhavan was binding a book. A devotee wanted a book from the library. Bhagavan asked Madhavan to get it saying, "You do my work; I will do your work." And Bhagavan took the book and went on with the binding while Madhavan got the library book. A devotee interpreted this as follows: "My work means looking after the needs which arise in the minds of devotees for anything from Bhagavan. Your work is to get liberation which is not possible without Bhagavan's Grace and help." Bhagavan heard this comment and said "Hum Hum! That is what it is !"

Once when meditating in the presence of Bhagavan, the mind persisted in wandering. I couldn't control it. So I gave up meditation and opened my eyes. Bhagavan at once sat up and said, "Oh! You abandon it thinking it is the swabhava (nature) of the mind to wander. Whatever we practise becomes the swabhava. If control is practised persistently that will become the swabhava." Yet another upadesa for me.

Sources:

1) http://bhagavan-ramana.org/ramana_maharshi/books/slg/slg011.html
2) Arunachala's Ramana Volume III Book
3) http://arunachala.org.ashrama.org/newsletters/2010/mar-apr.pdf

Read More

Ramana Maharshi answers Why does he take milk, but not eggs?

4th February, 1935

Talk 24.

Mrs. Piggott: Why do you take milk, but not eggs?

Maharshi: The domesticated cows yield more milk than necessary for their calves and they find it a pleasure to be relieved of the milk.

Devotee: But the hen cannot contain the eggs?

M.: But there are potential lives in them.

D.: Why then the restrictions of food given for such?

M.: Your present experience is due to the influence of the atmosphere you are in. Can you have it outside this atmosphere? The experience is spasmodic. Until it becomes permanent practice is necessary.Restrictions of food are aids for such experience to be repeated. After one gets established in truth the restrictions drop away naturally. Moreover, food influences the mind and it must be kept pure.

Source: Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi Volume I Book

Readers interested are requested to read below article also

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/bhagavan-ramana-maharshis-simplicity-in.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/09/ramana-maharshi-supports-mixing.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/09/ramana-maharshi-does-not-offer-costly.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/09/ramana-maharshi-says-food-mixed-with.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/08/ramana-maharshi-suggests-to-eat-without.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/03/ramana-maharshi-suggests-eating-strict.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/04/ramana-maharshi-about-regulating.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/08/ramana-maharshi-suggets-to-have-any.html

Read More

Ramana Maharshi says The real Heart is not located anywhere

In describing the origin of the ‘I’-thought Bhagavan sometimes said that it rose to the brain through a channel which started from a centre in the right-hand side of the chest. He called this centre the Heart-centre and said that when the ‘I’-thought subsided into the Self it went back into the centre and disappeared. He also said that when the Self is consciously experienced, there is a tangible awareness that this centre is the source of both the mind and the world. However, these statements are not strictly true and Sri Ramana sometimes qualified them by saying that they were only schematic representations which were given to those people who persisted in identifying with their bodies. He said that the Heart is not really located in the body and that from the highest standpoint it is equally untrue to say that the ‘I’-thought arises and subsides into this centre on the right of the chest.

Because Sri Ramana often said ‘Find the place where the “I” arises’ or ‘Find the source of the mind’, many people interpreted these statements to mean that they should concentrate on this particular centre while doing self-enquiry. Sri Ramana rejected this interpretation many times by saying that the source of the mind or the ‘I’ could only be discovered through attention to the ‘I’-thought and not through concentration on a particular part of the body. He did sometimes say that putting attention on this centre is a good concentration practice, but he never associated it with self-enquiry. He also occasionally said that meditation on the Heart was an effective way of reaching the Self, but again, he never said that this should be done by concentrating on the Heart-centre. Instead he said that one should meditate on the Heart ‘as it is’. The Heart ‘as it is’ is not a location, it is the immanent Self and one can only be aware of its real nature by being it. It cannot be reached by concentration.

Note: The real spiritual Heart is not a place in the limited body, but is only the timeless, placeless and unlimited Self,whose form is the pure consciousness ‘ I am’. Though this real Heart is said to exist both inside and outside, it is in truth that which exists devoid of all such distinctions as ‘inside’ or ‘outside’, because these distinctions exist only with reference to the body, which is itself unreal. The
following simile will illustrate this point.

Let us suppose that a pot made of ice is immersed deep in the water of a lake. Now where is the water? Is it not wrong to say that the water is either only inside the pot or only outside the pot? Is it not both inside and outside? In actual fact, the pot itself is truly nothing but water. Therefore,when water alone exists, where is the room for the notions ‘inside’ and ‘outside’? Likewise, when the Heart of Self alone exists, there is truly no room for the notions that it exists either inside or outside the body, for the body itself does not exist apart from Self.

Question: You have said that the Heart is the centre of the Self.

Bhagavan: Yes, it is the one supreme centre of the Self. You need have no doubt about it. The real Self is there in the Heart behind the jiva or ego-self.

Question: Now be pleased to tell me where it is in the body.

Bhagavan: You cannot know it with your mind. You cannot realise it by imagination when I tell you here is the centre [pointing to the right side of the chest]. The only direct way to realise it is to cease to fantasise and try to be yourself. When you realise, you automatically feel that the centre is there. This is the centre, the Heart, spoken of in the scriptures as hrit-guhaarul [grace], ullam [the Heart].

Question: In no book have I found it stated that it is there.

Bhagavan: Long after I came here I chanced upon a verse in the Malayalam version of Ashtangahridayam, the standard work on ayurveda [Hindu medicine], wherein the ojas sthana [source of bodily vitality or place of light] is mentioned as being located in the right side of the chest and called the seat of consciousness [samvit]. But I know of no other work which refers to it as being located there.

Question: Can I be sure that the ancients meant this centre by the term ‘Heart’?

Bhagavan: Yes, that is so. But you should try to have rather than to locate the experience. A man need not find out where his eyes are situated when he wants to see. The Heart is there ever open to you if you care to enter it, ever supporting all your movements even when you are unaware. It is perhaps more proper to say that the Self is the Heart itself than to say that it is in the Heart. Really, the Self is the centre itself. It is everywhere, aware of itself as ‘Heart’, the Self-awareness.

Question: In that case, how can it be localised in any part of the body? Fixing a place for the Heart would imply setting physiological limitations to that which is beyond space and time.

Bhagavan: That is right. But the person who puts the question about the position of the Heart considers himself as existing with or in the body. While putting the question now, would you say that your body alone is here but you are speaking from somewhere else? No, you accept your bodily existence. It is from this point of view that any reference to a physical body comes to be made. Truly speaking, pure consciousness is indivisible, it is without parts. It has no form and shape, no ‘within’ and ‘without’. There is no ‘right’ or ‘left’ for it. Pure consciousness, which is the Heart, includes all, and nothing is outside or apart from it. That is the ultimate truth. From this absolute standpoint, the Heart, Self or consciousness can have no particular place assigned to it in the physical body. What is the reason? The body is itself a mere projection of the mind, and the mind is but a poor reflection of the radiant Heart. How can that, in which everything is contained, be itself confined as a tiny part within the physical body which is but an infinitesimal, phenomenal manifestation of the one reality? But people do not understand this. They cannot help thinking in terms of the physical body and the world. For instance, you say, ‘I have come to this ashram all the way from my country beyond the Himalayas’. But that is not the truth. Where is ‘coming’ or ‘going’ or any movement whatever, for the one, all-pervading spirit which you really are? You are where you have always been. It is your body that moved or was conveyed from place to place till it reached this ashram. This is the simple truth, but to a person who considers himself a subject living in an objective world, it appears as something altogether visionary! It is by coming down to the level of ordinary understanding that a place is assigned to the Heart in the physical body.

Question: How then shall I understand Sri Bhagavan’s statement that the experience of the Heart-centre is at the particular place in the chest?

Bhagavan: Once you accept that from the true and absolute standpoint the Heart as pure consciousness is beyond space and time, it will be easy for you to understand the rest in its correct perspective.

Question: The Heart is said to be on the right, on the left, or in the centre. With such differences of opinion how are we to meditate on it?

Bhagavan: You are and it is a fact. Dhyana [meditation] is by you, of you, and in you. It must go on where you are. It cannot be outside you. So you are the centre of dhyana and that is the Heart. Doubts arise only when you identify it with something tangible and physical. Heart is no conception, no object for meditation. But it is the seat of meditation. The Self remains all alone. You see the body in the Heart, the world is also in it. There is nothing separate from it. So all kinds of effort are located there only.

Question: You say the ‘I’-thought rises from the Heart-centre. Should we seek its source there?

Bhagavan: I ask you to see where the ‘I’ arises in your body, but it is really not quite correct to say that the ‘I’ rises from and merges in the Heart in the right side of the chest. The Heart is another name for the reality and it is neither inside nor outside the body. There can be no in or out for it, since it alone is.

Question: Should I meditate on the right chest in order to meditate on the Heart?

Bhagavan: The Heart is not physical. Meditation should not be on the right or the left. Meditation should be on the Self. Everyone knows ‘I am’. Who is the ‘I’? It will be neither within nor without, neither on the right nor on the left. ‘I am’ - that is all. Leave alone the idea of right and left. They pertain to the body. The Heart is the Self. Realise it and then you will see for yourself. There is no need to know where and what the Heart is. It will do its work if you engage in the quest for the Self.

Question:Upadesa Saram where it is said, ‘Abiding in the Heart is the best karma, yoga, bhakti and jnana?’

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.

Question: How can we conceive of such a Heart?

Bhagavan: Why should you conceive of anything? You have only to see from where the ‘I’ springs. That from which all thoughts of embodied beings issue forth is called the Heart. All descriptions of it are only mental concepts.

Question: There are said to be six organs of different colours in the chest, of which the Heart is said to be two finger-breadths to the right of the middle line. But the Heart is also formless. Should we then imagine it to have a shape and meditate on it?

Bhagavan: No. Only the quest ‘Who am I?’ is necessary. What remains all through deep sleep and waking is the same. But in waking there is unhappiness and the effort to remove it. Asked who wakes up from sleep you say ‘I’. Now you are told to hold fast to this ‘I’. If it is done the eternal being will reveal itself. Investigation of ‘I’ is the point and not meditation on the Heart-centre. There is nothing like within or without. Both mean either the same thing or nothing. Of course there is also the practice of meditation on the Heart-centre. It is only a practice and not investigation. Only the one who meditates on the Heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains still, whereas those who meditate on other centres cannot be so aware but infer that the mind was still only after it becomes again active. In whatever place in the body one thinks Self to be residing, due to the power of that thinking it will appear to the one who thinks thus as if Self is residing in that place. However, the beloved Heart alone is the refuge for the rising and subsiding of that ‘I’. Know that though it is said that the Heart exists both inside and outside, in absolute truth it does not exist both inside and outside, because the body, which appears as the base of the differences ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, is an imagination of the thinking mind. Heart, the source, is the beginning, the middle and the end of all. Heart, the supreme space, is never a form. It is the light of truth.

The following incident, narrated by Annamalai Swami in Living by the Words of Bhagavan, also has Bhagavan giving out similar advice:

In the beginning, when I first came to Bhagavan, I had asked him for a mantra. In response he told me to repeat ‘Siva Siva’ continuously. Later, Bhagavan advised me to keep my attention in the Heart while I was working. I had read that Bhagavan had spoken of a place called ‘the Heart-centre’, which he located on the right side of the chest. I had assumed that Bhagavan wanted me to concentrate on this particular centre. However, when I started to practise in this way, Bhagavan stopped me and corrected me.

‘This right-side Heart-centre is not the true Heart,’ he said. ‘The real Heart is not located anywhere. It is all-pervasive.’

‘Stop meditating on the Heart-centre,’ he continued. ‘Find the source. That is the true Heart. Just as electricity comes not from the individual meter boxes in people’s houses but from a single source, so too the whole world has a single source, which is the Self or the Heart. Seek and enquire into this source of limitless energy. If the centre of the Self were really located in the body, the Self would die when the body dies.’

I understood from these remarks that just as one cannot experience the nature and source of electricity by staring at the meter box in one’s house, one cannot gain a direct experience of the current of the Self by concentrating on the Heart-centre. I gave up concentrating on this centre and tried to follow Bhagavan’s advice.

Sources:

1) http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2008/07/meditation-on-heart-centre.html
2) Sri Ramanopadesa Noonmalai Translation In English By Michael James

Readers interested are requested to read below article

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/ramana-maharshi-about-enquiry-and.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/some-teachings-of-bhagavan-ramana.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/12/ramana-maharshi-says-self-is-in-heart.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/12/ramana-maharshi-says-self-is-in-heart.html

Read More