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#1476 - Saturday, June 28, 2003 - Editor: Jerry
Mt. Arunachala
R. K. Shankar
I Am list
Recent verses translated from
Atma Bodham Gracefully
Granted by Bhagawan Sri Ramana - A Tamil Rendition of Bhagawan
Adi Shankara's Sanskrit Text
http://nonduality.com/shankr10.htm
Verse 57:
Edhazhivil lAdha dhedaiyandRen RandRendRE
vEdha mudivu viLakkidum - yAdhond
RakaNdavin bAgi yamarumadhu thAnE
thigazhum biraman theLi.
Transliteration
" 1) That(!) which not having destruction,
2) that which the Vedic conclusion explains only as 'not this,
not
this',
3) that which one abides becoming the vast bliss,
4) that is the self-shining Brahman."
know thus.
---
Verse 58:
akaNda sukhamaya vAnmAvi laRpa
sugaththai yaduththE surarAyth - thigazhum
pirmAdhi yEnOr piRanguvarin butRuth
tharAthara mAgath
thari.
Transliteration
" 1) In the unbroken Self full of bliss,
2) adjoining 'short-lived mortal' joy,
3) those 'others beginning from Brahma'
abiding as celestials,
4) will shine attaining joy as a
clan,"
thus hold within."
Excerpt
from Bhagavan Ramana
by T. M. P. MAHADEVAN,
M. A., Ph.D.
http://nonduality.com/ramana2.htm
Ramana's first Western devotee
was F. H. Humphrys. He came to
India in 1911 to take up a post in the Police service at
Vellore. Given to the practice of occultism, he was in search
of a Mahatma. He was introduced to Ganapati Sastri by his
Telugu tutor; and Sastri took him to Ramana. The Englishman
was greatly impressed. Writing about his first visit to the
sage in the International Psychic Gazette, he said : 'On
reaching the cave we sat before him, at his feet, and said
nothing. We sat thus for a long time and I felt lifted out of
myself. For half an hour I looked into the Maharshi's eyes,
which never changed their expression of deep contemplation....
The Maharshi is a man beyond description in his expression of
dignity, gentleness, self-control and calm strength of
conviction.' Humphry's ideas of spirituality changed for the
better as a result of the contact with Ramana. He repeated his
visits to the sage. He recorded his impressions in his letters
to a friend in England which were published in the Gazette
mentioned above. In one of them he wrote, 'You can imagine
nothing more beautiful than his smile.' And again, 'It is
strange what a change it makes in one to have been in his
Presence!'
It was not all good people that
went to the Asrama. Sometimes
bad ones turned up also - even bad sadhus. Twice in the year
1924 thieves broke into the Asrama in quest of loot. On the
second of these occasions they even beat the Maharshi, finding
that there was very little for them to take. When one of the
devotees sought the sage's permission to punish the thieves,
the sage forbade him, saying : "They have their dharma, we
have ours. It is for us to bear and forbear. Let us not
interfere with them." When one of the thieves gave him a
blow
on the left thigh, he told him : "If you are not satisfied
you
can strike the other leg also." After the thieves had left,
a
devotee enquired about the beating. The sage remarked, "I
also
have received some puja," punning on the word which means
'worship' but is also used to mean 'blows'.
The spirit of harmlessness that
permeated the sage and his
environs made even animals and birds make friends with him. He
showed them the same consideration that he did to the humans
that went to him. When he referred to any of them, he used the
form 'he' or 'she' and not 'it'. Birds and squirrels built
their nests around him. Cows, dogs and monkeys found asylum in
the Asrama. All of them behaved intelligently - especially the
cow Laksmi. He knew their ways quite intimately. He would see
to it that they were fed properly and well. And, when any of
them died, the body would be buried with due ceremony. The
life in the Asrama flowed on smoothly. With the passage of
time more and more of visitors came - some of them for a short
stay and others for longer periods. The dimensions of the
Asrama increased, and new features and departments were added
- a home for the cattle, a school for the study of the Vedas,
a department for publication, and the Mother's temple with
regular worship, etc. Ramana sat most of the time in the hall
that had been constructed for the purpose as the witness to
all that happened around him. It was not that he was not
active. He used to stitch leaf-plates, dress vegetables, read
proofs received from the press, look into newspapers and
books, suggest lines of reply to letters received, etc. yet it
was quite evident that he was apart from everything. There
were numerous invitations for him to undertake tours. But he
never moved out of Tiruvannamalai, and in the later years out
of the Asrama. Most of the time, every day, people sat before
him. They sat mostly in silence. Sometimes some of them asked
questions; and sometimes he answered them. It was a great
experience to sit before him and to look at his beaming eyes.
Many did experience time coming to a stop and a stillness and
peace beyond description.
from The Power of
Arunachala
(First published in The
Mountain Path, 1982, pp. 75-84.)
By Michael James
http://www.davidgodman.org/asaints/powerofa2.shtml
All that Sri Bhagavan has said
about the power of Arunachala
tallies exactly with what he has said about the power of the
Guru. In verse 268 of Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of
Guru's Sayings) he says that the Guru is he who possesses the
supreme power to make any soul who comes to him merge into
Self, the knowledge beyond all speech. The Guru works in many
ways to make the disciple merge into Self. 'He gives a push
from ''without'' and exerts a pull from ''within'', so that
you may be fixed in the Centre,' says Sri Bhagavan in
Maharshi's Gospel, p. 36. From 'without' the Guru gives verbal
instructions to turn the disciple's mind towards Self, and he
also enables the disciple to have association (satsang) with
his form, and thereby to gain the necessary strength and love
to turn within and attend to Self. To give verbal instructions
it is necessary for the Guru to be in human form, but to give
satsang and subtle inner guidance he may be in any form.
Sri Bhagavan has come as the
Guru in human form to give us all
the necessary verbal instructions, and he has revealed that
Arunachala is the Guru in the form of a hill with which we can
always have satsang. Like any human body, the human form of
the Guru will inevitably pass away one day, whereas the form
of Arunachala will always remain. Thus, though Sri Bhagavan
has left his human form, he has provided us with all the
requisite outward help: he has left us with a permanent record
of his verbal teachings, and he has shown us a form with which
we can always have satsang. Therefore, for the devotees of Sri
Bhagavan there will never be any need to search for another
outer Guru, because all the necessary help and guidance is
ever available for us in the form of the teachings of Sri
Bhagavan and the satsang of Arunachala.
