Baghavan Sri Ramana Maharshi - Who Am I

“Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen,try as you may , Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain . The best course therefore is to remain silent”.

                                                                                                                         Ramana Maharshi

In a small town of Thiruchuli , 55 Kms from Madurai, South India. The annual festival of Lord Siva at Bhoominatha temple is being celebrated with great pomp and as the festivities were coming to an end, the idol of Siva was being carried back to the temple late at night around 01:00 Am on December 30th 1879, a clear small cry was heard of a boy just outside the temple walls.

Venkitarama Iyer , Later to be acclaimed by the world as Baghavan Sri Ramana Maharshi was born.

Venkitaraman the second in four children of Azhakammal and Sundhararama Iyer , A successful lawyer and well known for his generosity. Azhakammal a hardworking, gracious and orthodox homemaker. Venkataraman’s twelve years of boyhood passed away happily and in 1891 he was send for higher schooling. However in 1892 his father passed away and the family was scattered. Venkitaraman Was send to his uncles house in Madurai and joined Scott’s middle school, everyone counted that Venkataraman would never be a scholar as he preferred games and athletics than studies. 

At this time he heard about Arunachalam from a relative and the name resonated in him, When he read the sacred book Periyapuranam he felt astonished in the tales of renunciation and the union with the divine. This made a big change in Venkataraman and it took his brain by storm., He had a near death experience and this bought about a lot of questions in his mind as what is death , Myself and I etc. 

After this incident Venkataraman no longer enjoyed playing as he was before. He was now fully into the divine experiences and all alone. While he was in his house studying Venkataraman all of a sudden sat in a posture and started meditating which he had never done before and this was the start of his great spiritual journey. 

With the five rupees his brother gave him to pay the fees , he kept back two rupees in the cupboard with a small note saying “ Iam going in search of the supreme and never to spend money in searching me “. The first place that came into his mind was Arunachalam and he started his journey, in a very wrong train. 

Here a Muslim Scholar showed him the right way to Arunachalam and with so little money he somehow , after leaving his home three days ago reached Arunachalam on September 1st 1896. 

“Quest achieved and the journey ended “

He threw whatever he possessed into a pond which included three and a half rupees which he acquired on selling his gold earrings. 

This was the last time Venkataraman ever touched money in his life, changed the dress to a mere loin cloth, shaved his head and as soon as he was going to enter the big temple, it started raining  as if to clean Venkataraman before the initiation. 

He stayed at the thousand pillared hall for days and nights for weeks in ecstasy and speechless. A saint named Sheahadri Swamy was the one looking after Venkataraman now. Brahmana Swamy by which Venkataraman now called was irritated by children of his same age and he moved to an unused dark room which had all kinds of  creepy , crawlies which even fed on flesh from the thigh of Venkataraman, which he never felt or knew and it left a big scar which remained till his death. 

This continued for nearly six months and Brahmana Swamy began to attract pilgrims and devotees. 

On February 1897 Swamy left Arunachalam to a nearby temple Gurumurtam and fully settled in bliss , speechless for six months with only a cup of food as meal and certain occasions even skipped that with matted hair all forgotten. 

He now had a full time attendant, who looked after Swamy’s affairs and was with Swamy for twenty one years. One day Swamy’s  Mother came to see and she was heartbroken to see her son with a wasted body and matted dreadlocks. The boy never looked at her and went away without a word spoken. Till 1916 Swamy lived in a cave called Virupaksha cave which was used by a saint of the very same name in the thirteenth century. 

The hall mark of the young sage was his silence that lifted everyone in need and the power of God was radiating from him in tremendous force. 

In the year 1902 a government servant named Sivaprakasam Pillai , who came to Arunachalam for some official duty came to know about the young saint and went to meet him. On meeting Sivaprakasam Pillai asked fourteen questions and as swamy was maintaining vow of silence , both questions and answers where written down , later on this was compiled into a book “ Who Am I”  and this remains the essence of all instructions given till date and for the many millennia’s to come. 

Sri Ramana Maharshi approved several paths but always recommended on self realisation as the greatest to be accompanied by pure devotion. 

It was Frank Murphy a westerner in 1922, first wrote articles about Swamy and published in foreign journals. From 1922 till the samadhi, Swamy lived in Ramanasramam that developed around his Mothers tomb. 

November 1948 , a tiny lump was found on Ramana Maharshi’s arm which was removed in February 1949, soon another growth appeared and a couple of operations was done on him which made Swamy very weak. 

He refused an amputation of the arm prescribed by the Doctors as it could save his life. Swamy was getting weaker and weaker day by day. 

On 14th April 1950 at 08:47 Pm Swamy passed away and he became one with the Agnilingam of Arunachaleswaran. Before his samadhi He asked his devotees “ why are you all so attached to this body ? Let it go”and “where will I go ? I am here  with everyone for ever”. 

Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa- The Greatest Master

The incarnations come to the material world with a special message, beyond contamination, moved by the sight of sorrow and miseries. Sree Ramakrishna represented the traditional India, where its the Vedas and Upanishads that runs through It’s veins. 

February 18th 1836, Wednesday, A village of Bengal called Kamarpukur witnessed the birth of a child to poor Brahmin parents, who were considered as living sages by the villagers. 

The child was named Gadadhar and lived in the simplicity of a village, cows, fields and rural life. 

From the very young age Gadadhar would go into a trance on hearing about God, songs and spiritual talks. On his fathers death the family had a bad time and Gadadhar went to Calcutta with his elder brother Ramkumar who had opened a school there. 

It was here that Gadadhar came  into acquaintance with the modern ideas. 

His brother wanted him to have an education as every other boy , but Gadadhar who had already understood that his birth was for a definite purpose and always asked whether he should spent studying material facts or acquire the wisdom that will illumine his heart by which one is satisfied for ever. 

It was at this time a very pious lady of immense wealth and influence, Smt Rani Rasamani was on the lookout for a priest to her Kali temple at Dakshineshwar on the east bank  of Ganga. 

Sree Ramakrishna, the name by which Gadadhar became famous the world over moved with his brother Ramkumar who got appointed as the priest. The proximity of the Ganges, the tranquil atmosphere of the temple and the presence of the Kali , the Divine Mother of the Universe triggered an urge in Ramakrishna for the realization of God. 

His thirst for realization was so immense, his sincerity, utter renunciation of worldly matters and devotion cannot be said in words. He had no guidance, no knowledge in scriptures but was pure at heart for the love of divine Mother and became the one passion for Ramakrishna. 

Time moved on Ramakrishna yet not realized and the agony of longing for Mother Kali was increasing and he would cry aloud “Days are going in vain for I have not see you Mother “. Doubtful he would ask “is it real or is it not, if you exist why can’t I see you” and he would put more effort into the process of realizing. 

As the pain of not realizing became unbearable, Ramakrishna thought of putting an end to his worthless worldly life without the vision of God and seized a sword. 

All of a sudden illuminating everything with the splendor the Divine Mother revealed herself and Ramakrishna fell unconscious, after this he became fully intoxicated with God and he was not happy as it was not everlasting and gradually his sense of separation from the Divine Mother vanished and he became her child. Ramakrishna by now completely lost the conscience of the worldly affairs.

At this time he was called back to Kamarpukur as he was suffering from many ailments from the austerities and penance that he had been through and was asked by his Mother to marry and get settled in life. He readily agreed to it as seeing it as the will of the Divine Mother and took Saradhamani as his wife.

During this time he was in extreme sadhana and it was first found out by a renunciated nun and Ramakrishna became her disciple in practicing tantrik rituals. He had so many guides during this period and it was Totapuri a sanyasi of highest vedantic realization came to Dakshineswar and taught Ramakrishna the Advaitha Philosophy.

Under hid guidance Ramakrishna attained the highest nirvikalpa samadhi , a state from which no normal human would return and Ramakrishna was in that state for nearly six months. Totapuri imparted his all knowledge and even being a wandering monk stayed at Dakshineswar for eleven months.

It was at this time people in the village started spreading stories that Ramakrishna had gone mad. Saradhamani went to live with him from the village and found out that Ramakrishna is so loving and her anxiety of the rumors was removed from her mind.

Saradhamani stayed with him to become the first disciple as she was herself a noble soul and they both together traversed the spiritual path. They both looked at each other as God and Guru and later days Sree Ramakrishna used to say , "If Saradhadevi had not been pure and self controlled he would not have achieved the supreme:" And the rest is history, He found a new monastic order firmly established in the consciousness of God , later to become Sri Ramakrishna Mission with the effort of his first few disciples which included Swamy Vivekananda.

During this time Sree Ramakrishna practiced Islam,Christianity and he had the vision of the ultimate at the end of every path and he proclaimed that the end is same but the paths are different.

In the beginning of 1885 Sree Ramakrishna suffered from clergyman's throat which developed into malignant cancer. He was looked after by Saradhadevi and his disciples, With strict advice to maintain silence which he would not listen and spoke with his followers.

It is said that Sree Ramakrishna imparted his knowledge and powers to Swamy Vivekananda and asked him to look after the welfare of the other disciples. Sree Ramakrishna's condition worsened and he annihilated himself into the Divine Mother in the early morning hours of 16th August 1886.

"The boy became a devotee,

The devotee became an ascetic,

The ascetic became the saint,

The saint became the realized,

The realized became the prophet,

The prophet himself became God"

All this happened in a mere twelve years , Thus the humble and loving village boy Gadadhar Chadopadhay came to be known as the Greatest master of the 19th century India has seen, the son of Kali the Divine Mother "SREE RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA" .

Shirdi Sai Baba - The name of God

He was said to be an incarnation of “Dattatreya” the all three Brahma,Vishnu and Maheswara as a single entity. 

Said to be born in the year 1838 which is still under a debate and went into samadhi on 15th October 1918 aged 80 years. The samadhi off Shirdi Baba is situated in Shirdi , Maharashtra. Taking account of his life Baba preached the importance of realisation of the self and disliked the love for material things. The most important teaching was the complete surrender of oneself to the Guru. 

He always condemned distinction based on religion and caste. It is unclear if he was a Muslim or an Hindu. The teachings had the elements of Hinduism and Islam. The name given to the Mosque he lived was “Dwarakamyi” and the famous epigrams were “Allah Malik” , “Sabka Malik Ek”. 

The birth date and birth place still remains unknown and to an extent most definitive Information regarding Baba is from a book called “Sri Sai Satcharitha” written by Hemandpant in 1922. This itself is a collection on accounts by his disciples and Hemanpant‘s findings. 

The real name is unknown and “Sai” was given to him by Malasapathi a priest and later to become a devotee , when he first arrived in Shirdi , a place in Maharashtra, Western India. Sai means a religious person as well as God and Baba refers to Father, Sir and so on. 

 Baba’s origins are unknown but some say he was born not far away from Shirdi. Baba too has not given any satisfactory and genuine answer to this. 

Baba was said to be bought up and trained by a Fakir and also by Vunkusha the Hindu Guru. 

Baba said to have arrived at Shirdi when he was around sixteen years old, he had stayed there for three years , disappeared for a year and came back by around 1858 and stayed there till his samadhi. 

Around this time he adopted his famous style of dressing , a knee length Kafni and a cloth cap, a typical Sufi clothing. In a predominantly Hindu village this kind of dressing made some indifferences. 

For four years Baba lives under a neem tree and wandered in the forest, withdrawn and unspeaking as he underwent long periods of meditation. Eventually Baba took up residence in a partly ruined Mashid, lived a solitary life on begging for alms from visitors. 

The fire known a dhuni which he always maintained and from which he gave the sacred ash to guests and devotees and is believed to have supernatural healing powers. He delivered spiritual teachings , recommended Ramayana and Bhagavath Gita for Hindus and Quran for Muslims. Baba maintained a garden called “Lendi Baug “ which is still visited by many. 

By the year 1910 Baba’s name and fame began to spread all over and across oceans, devotees grew larger as they regarded him as a Saint with supernatural powers and that he could perform miracles and it grew larger day by day.  

August 18 , Sai Baba told Some if his close devotees that he would be leaving the mortal body and by September his condition deteriorated and on 15th October 1918 , on the day of Vijayadashami he breathed his last as a mortal human on earth. 

His final resting place known today as Shirdi Sai Baba Temple. 

Today an average of 25000 devotees visits the temple every day and during festivities it can reach up to a staggering one lakh.Thursday’s are considered very auspicious and the temple offers free food to all , irrespective of cast, creed and religion as this was one of the ideal principles of Sai Baba. 

It is not possible for us to tell everything about Mystics and Sai Baba has not left any spiritual heir as none is competent and can take the place of the incarnation. Devotees claims that he performed many miracles as lighting lamps with water, mind reading , exorcisms, bilocation to mention a few. 

It is said that Baba appears in the dreams of the followers and gives them advise even to this day and let us quote what Baba himself told before his samadhi. “You take a step to me with devotion and I will take six steps to you”. 

After all who are we, the mere minuscules on earth to look into the life of Great Mystics and analyse. 

Power of Thought

Let us understand the concept "A healthy mind and a healthy body"

Pranayama the training practice for a superconcious mind,this physically includes three parts and deals entirely with breath, It consists of drawing in holding and releasing the breath.The breath must be drawn in with one nostril closed while you count four , hold whilst you count sixteen and release with count eight.Make four of this in the morning and evening. Never to be taken this very lightly as this is the ultimate knowledge. Lord Krishna has advised Arjuna to practise the very same concept before the Kurukshethra war for the ultimate win.

What is the faculty that we employ in our dreams and thought ? Have any of you really imagined this. It is the Imagination itself that we use and this is the same means by which we arrive at the ultimate truth better known as realization.

As the imagination gets stronger the objects becomes visualized, Therefore by using this very same powerful imagination we can bring our body to any state of health or disease.
It is very amusing to understand that as we see a thing , the particles in our brain fall into certain positions like that in a kaleidoscope. Hence afterwards the memory functions by getting this particles into the very same positions later , in the brain.The stronger the will the greater the success in releasing these particles in the brain.

There is only one power to cure the body and that unknowingly rests in every man, medicine only rouses this power.

Disease is only the manifested struggle of that power to throw off the poison which has entered the body. As the power to override the poison can be had by drugs, It may be temporary and the permanent relief can only be achieved by the power of thoughts.

So everyone at this situation of the virus attack, Ill health needs to concentrate and focus the  thoughts and imagination towards better health and this in turn rousing the memory of ideal health and let the brain rearrange in the position into which they fall when healthy. The body has a tendency to follow the brain and the result now will be a healthy body.This is a very personal kind of training and practice.

Now consider working on some other persons mind...Here the word or what we speak or convey to them is the most important thing. Everyone should understand the fact that the word or speech is the form of Aakasha as in the Panchaboothas. The only thing that can break the blood brain barrier and enter into the nervous system is the words. Here the words take the form of aakasha and are at nano level , a realm where no modern medicine has any achievement till date,except Ayurveda , which is everlasting and non destructible from time immemorial. Good words can work magic than medicines.As you might have heard from the older generation that while giving medicine to someone you should give it with prayers and good thoughts as this increases the potency of the drug. It is the word that matters and the words are the direct by product of our thoughts.

Let us all put our imagination and thoughts on the Cosmic dancer Lord Nataraja , Who is the Aakasha Lingam itself and be in tune with the Celestial Rhythm.

ശങ്കരൻ

എല്ലാം ഒന്നുമല്ലെന്നറിഞ്ഞു ശങ്കരൻ
കേവലമാം ചണ്ഡാളനിൽ നിന്നുപോൽ
അഹം വെടിഞ്ഞ ശേഷമേ ലഭിച്ചുള്ളൂ
സാക്ഷാൽ ശങ്കരനും ബ്രഹ്‌മത്തിൻ ദർശനം

കോട്ടം

കാഴ്ച്ചയില്ലാത്തവൻ കേഴുന്നു കാഴ്ച്ചയ്ക്കായ്
കിട്ടിയാലോ കഷ്ട്ടം കാണുന്നതെല്ലാമേ കാപട്യം
കഷ്ട്ടമല്ലോ ഈ നേട്ടം കാഴ്ച്ചയില്ലായ്മ തന്നല്ലോ സുന്ദരം

ഓർമ്മ

ഉറക്കമില്ലാതെ കിടന്ന ആ ഇരുണ്ട രാത്രിയിൽ
കാതോർത്തു ഞാൻ എൻ ഗദ്ഗദങ്ങളെ
അവയിലേറിയ പങ്കുമെൻ ചെയ്തികളുടെ പിറപ്പുകൾ
ഓർക്കുവാൻ ശ്രമിച്ചു എന്റെ ഭൂതകാലത്തെ
ഓർക്കാൻ ഒന്നുമില്ലെന്നതോ മറവിയോ കാരണം
രാവിന് കൂട്ടായ് എങ്ങും അന്തകാരം മഹാന്തകാരo
അറിയുവാൻ എത്ര ശ്രമിച്ചെന്നിരുന്നാലും

അകലുന്നു എന്നിൽ നിന്നെന്റെ ജീവിതം

Mother - The first Guru

There are so many things that we have learned from this world and we have been to so many Teachers too in our small life in this world.

But always remember that your Mother is your first Guru and your guiding star. From the moment you were born she had been your Guru and you should be thankful for that.

Your Mother is the one who had played so many roles in your life and the role of a Guru had been very special. Finding your Guru in your Mother is the best thing you can do, there might have been many challenges and obstacles in your life. Remember your Mother is the only one that stood like a rock with with you, whatever the situation might be.

Always remember and have the deepest gratitude to your Mother as she is your first and foremost Guru and the living God, when you are having trouble or burden , just think of your Mothers suffering and issues that she had been through in her life to make you to this level.

On this very auspicious day of Guru Purnima let us all thank our Mother and humbly respect the Motherhood.

Guru Purnima

The spiritual tradition in Hindu culture dedicated to Gurus , the evolved or enlightened humans, sharing wisdom and knowledge with no desires.
The 5th of July 2020 happens to be the Gurupurnima day and celebrated as the day to pay respect and tribute to teachers. Also known as Vyasa Purnima, the birthday of Vedavyasa.
The celebration includes spiritual activities and rituals in honour  of the Guru, Gu Ru derived from the Sanskrit word, wherein Gu means darkness or ignorance and Ru means the remover of darkness and and the guide to enlightenment.
As per yogic lore it is on this day that Lord Siva the first Guru, imparted the knowledge of wisdom to his disciples.
It is believed that around 12000 yers ago a super being appeared on the upper regions of the Great Himalayas. Nobody knew nothing about this super intense being, but everyone could feel the extraordinary vibrations that expelled from him and it was captivating. He exhibited no sign of life,but certain occasions tears of ecstasy could be seen rolling from his eyes. People gathered around him but he never opened his eyes or talked,the gathering withered away in time and only 7 people were left ,still with the intense feeling for knowing the reason for His ecstasy. Once the 7 people asked him the reason for his ecstasy but they were ignored again and on one occasion he just made them do some initial steps for knowing , closed his eyes and went into samadhi again.
Years passed, almost 84 years of extreme penance turned this disciples into great sages and on the very next full moon day the Adiyogi facing south and sat to impart the science of mechanics of life better known as yoga and the same 7 branches of yoga still exists. Thus the super being became the Adiguru and the  seven disciples came to be known as the celebrated Saptharishis.
This is the importance of Gurupurnima and irrespective of the religion, Indians and Indian academics celebrate this day by thanking their Teachers.
Let us uphold the valued traditions and keep The lamp burning which provides us with wisdom and knowledge.