Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 06

Hare Krishna Dear Friends,

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Sri Ramana stayed in Arunachaleshwara temple for few months, but He did not like people often crowding around to see Him; preferring to be alone, He moved to Gurumurtham temple, which was fairly far away from the town, and for about one and a half years He remained there in Samadhi. Locally he was known as Brahmana-Svami.

In the meanwhile, the note which He left in Madurai had been found, whereupon His elder brother Nagaswami, his mother (Azhahammal), uncle and other relatives and friends had begun to search for Him in many places, but had so far been disappointed. At last they came to know of His whereabouts through one Annamalai Tambiran, who had been serving Sri Ramana in Gurumurtham temple. Since Subbaiyar the uncle with whom Sri Ramana had been living in Madurai, had recently passed away, Nellaiyappaiayar, Subbaiyar’s younger brother, started at once for Thiruvannamalai. He came to Gurumurtham, but no matter how much he entreated Him to come back to Madurai, Sri Ramana remained silent. Having failed in his attempt, Nellaiyappaiyar returned home empty-handed.

Seeing his fruitless effort, Azhahammal herself came to Thiruvannamalai accompanied by Nagaswami as soon as she could. At that time (December 1898) Sri Ramana was staying on Pavazhakundru, an eastern spur of Arunachalam. When His mother saw the pitiable condition of His body, she burst into tears and prayed:

“My dear child, come back to Madurai. How can I possibly bear to live comfortably in a home when you are lying here on stones and thorns? Don’t be stubborn my boy, please don’t show such dispassion! Your mother’s heart is torn apart. Come home, my child!” She wept bitterly and implored Him in ever so many ways. Nagaswami also repeatedly pleaded and repented: “Alas! I didn’t really mean it when I spoke in that way; I never imagined that it would bring about such a calamity!” Though they stayed and appealed for ten days, not even the slightest sign either of consent or of refusal appeared on the face of Sri Ramana. He remained as silent as ever. Some of the onlookers, being unable to bear with this pitiful sight, gave Sri Ramana a piece of paper and a pencil, and begged Him, “Svami, your mother is sobbing and her heart is bleeding; graciously give your reply, at least in writing; you need not break your silence!”.

He wrote:-

“According to the Prarabdha (i.e. destiny) of each one, He, its Ordainer, being in every place will make it play its role. That which is not to happen will never happen, however hard one tries. That which is to happen will not stop, in spite of any amount of obstruction. This is certain! Hence, to remain silent is the best.”

What a steadfastness born of Self-knowledge! What steadfastness free not only of affection, but also of aversion! What could the devotees and His mother do? She returned home afflicted.

Do not many among us wonder why Sri Ramana behaved in such a fashion towards His mother, since is it not a well-known fact that not only all human beings, but also birds and beasts enjoyed His gracious benevolence?

So long as Azhahammal was filled with motherly affection and showed the motherly ignorance of attachment: “You are my child. I am your mother, your protector! Come home with me’, was it not the task of Sri Ramana to remove the ignorant outlook and thus save her? Therefore, by the sword of such silence He was cutting at the knot of attachment in her. His idea was not to abandon her, but to take her finally as His own; it was only the first step to make her renounce everything and to come to the feet of Bhagavan, the embodiment of Jnana. Moreover, on another occasion, in 1914, when His mother came to see Him and happened to suffer from a high fever, Sri Ramana composed four verses, whereupon the fever subsided. She then returned to Madurai.

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We will continue with the account the next day. Have a nice weekend.

Regards,
Neelakantan

Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 05

Hare Krishna Friends,

Wish you all a very Happy Sri Rama Navami. Let us continue with the account of Bhagavan Sri Ramana.

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The first place of Ramana's residence in Thiruvannamalai was the great temple of Arunachaleshwara himself. For a few weeks he remained in the 1000 pillared mantapam. But can the foolish world understand the greatness of Sages? Some wicked people and mischievous children pelted stones at him as he sat in meditation and started troubling him. Though indifferent to them, Sri Ramana shifted himself to obscure corners and even to an underground vault known as Patala-lingam where no one dared to go even in day-time as it was so dark. Undisturbed he spent several days in deep absorption. He was established in oneness with the Reality – the state transcending the knowledge of the world and body- how could there be hunger and thirst to such a body? On the damp ground where Sri Ramana was sitting were many ants, termites, mosquitoes, flies and centipedes. They began to eat away the lower side of His thighs and blood started oozing out. The oozing blood clotted, pus formed, and mixed with the mud, thus sealing the body to the ground. Yet He was not disturbed by this, for He knew nothing of it. Do we not read stories in the puranas about Rishis such as Valmiki who were immersed in tapas while ant-hills grew over their bodies and birds made nest and lived on their heads? By living thus before our eyes, Sri Ramana has proved in modern times that these stories were not false!

There was at the time in Thiruvannamalai a great soul by name Sri Seshadri Svami. Those who did not know him took him for a madman. Some good folk understood his exalted state and revered him. He was able to recognize the genuine greatness of the Jnana of Sri Ramana. One day, having just come of the Patala Lingam, Sri Seshadri Svami informed Venkatachala Mudaliar, a devotee of his, “There is a small Svami inside, go and see”; so saying he walked away. Though it was day time, Venkatachala Mudaliar took a lantern and along with some others entered the Patala Lingam. They called Sri Ramana loudly, but as there was no response they lifted His body. Alas, because the body was sealed to the earth and was now forcibly separated, blood rushed out through the fresh wounds! On seeing this they were awe-struck. Carefully and gently they brought the body out and kept it in the vicinity of Subrahmanya temple. Even then Sri Ramana did not regain body-consciousness, but remained in Samadhi.

From then on there was some one or other to take care of Ramana. The seat of residence had to be changed frequently. Gardens, groves, shrines - these were chosen to keep the Svami. Some devotees, prompted by their conviction that Sri Ramana was God in human form, engaged themselves with great fervor in His service. Once in many days, whenever He opened His eyes, they would feed Him with a little milk, crushed bananas, or liquid food. The outward activities of Sri Ramana such as taking food and answering to the calls of nature went on just like those of a sleeping child. On those occasions when His eyes did not open for some days, they would themselves open His mouth and try to pour in at least a small quantity of liquid mixture. The Svami himself never spoke. Not that he took any vow of silence; he had no inclination to talk. At times the texts like Vasistham and Kaivalyanavanitam used to be read out to him.

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Hari Om,
Neelakantan

Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 04

Hare Krishna Friends,

Thanks for your message Hariram. Hope by the Sadguru’s grace, each one of us will develop the firm conviction (Maneesha) as mentioned in your message soon. Let us continue further with Ramana’s divya charithram.

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There was a curse on Venkataraman's family. In truth, it was a blessing - one out of every generation should turn out to be a mendicant. This curse was administered by a wandering ascetic who, it is said, begged alms at the house of one of Venkataraman's forbears, and was refused. A paternal uncle of Sundaram Aiyar became a sanyasin; so did Sundaram Aiyar's elder brother. Now, it was the turn of Venkataraman, although no one could have foreseen that the curse would work out in this manner. Dispassion found lodgment in Venkataraman's heart, and he became a parivrajaka.

About noon, Venkataraman left his uncle’s house and walked to Madurai Railway Station. In those days, the three rupees which He had taken thinking it to be the approximate train fare was exactly the right amount to go from Madurai to Thiruvannamalai. But what was to happen? Not knowing that He could go all the way to Thiruvannamalai by train, He took a ticket for Tindivanam instead and got into the train. During the journey a Maulvi (Islamic priest) sat near Him and talked to Him of his own accord, informing Him that there was train-service to Thiruvannamalai and that one need not go to Tindivanam but could change trains at Viluppuram. This was a piece of useful information. By dusk, Venkataraman was hungry; he bought two country pears for half an anna; and strangely enough even with the first bite his hunger was appeased. About three o'clock in the morning the train arrived at Viluppuram. Venkataraman got off the train there with the intention of completing the rest, of the journey to Thiruvannamalai by walk.

At daybreak He went into the town, and was looking out for the sign-post to Thiruvannamalai. He saw a sign-board reading 'Mambalappattu' but did not know then that Mambalappattu was a place en route to Thiruvannamalai. Before making further efforts to find out which road he was to take, he wanted to refresh himself as he was tired and hungry. He went up to a hotel and asked for food. He had to wait till noon for the food to be ready. After eating his meal, He proffered two annas in payment. The hotel proprietor asked him how much money He had. When told by Venkataraman that He had only two and a half annas, he declined to accept payment. It was from him that Venkataraman came to know that Mambalappattu was a place on the way to Tiruvannamalai. Venkataraman went back to Viluppuram station and bought a ticket to Mambalappattu for which the money he had was just enough.

It was sometime in the afternoon when Venkataraman arrived at Mambalappattu by train. There He got down and walked 10 miles in the direction of Arunachalam. Late in the evening, He reached Araiyaninallur temple which is built on a rock. He waited for the temple doors to be opened, entered and sat down in the pillared hall. He had a vision there - a vision of brilliant light enveloping the entire place. It was no physical light. It shone for some time and then disappeared. Venkataraman continued sitting in a mood of deep meditation, till he was roused by the temple priest who wanted to lock the doors and go to Viratteshwara temple three quarters of a mile away at Kizhur for service. Venkataraman walked down with the priest to Viratteshwara temple. After the puja was over, Sri Ramana who was tired and hungry asked the priest for some prasadam (the food consecrated by being offered to God). The priest refused, but the temple piper (Nadaswaram vidwan) whose heart was moved on seeing this rude behavior of the priest pleaded with him “Sir, kindly give him at least my portion of the prasadam.” On account of the request of that virtuous man, a little food was placed on the hands of Sri Ramana. When Venkataraman asked for some drinking water, he was directed to a Sastri's house which was at some distance. While in that house he fainted and fell down. A few minutes later he rallied round and saw a small crowd looking at him curiously. He drank the water, ate some food, and lay down and slept.

Next morning He woke up. It was the 31st of August, 1896, the day of Sri Krishna Jayanthi. Venkataraman resumed his journey and walked for quite a while and He happened to come to the house of Muthukrishna Bhagavathar. He asked the Bhagavatar for food and was directed to the housewife. The good lady was pleased to receive the young Sadhu and feed him on the auspicious day of Sri Krisna's birth. After the meal, Venkataraman went to the Bhagavatar again and told him that he wanted to pledge his gold ear-rings for four rupees in order that he may complete his pilgrimage. The Bhagavatar examined the ear-rings, gave Venkataraman the money he had asked for, took down the youth's address, wrote out his own on a piece of paper for him, and told him that he could redeem the rings at any time. The pious lady gave him a packet of sweets that she had prepared for Janmashtami. Venkataraman took leave of the couple, tore up the address the Bhagavatar had given him - for he had no intention of redeeming the ear-rings and went to the railway station. As there was no train till the next morning, he spent the night there. On the morning of the 1st of September, 1896, he boarded the train to Thiruvannamalai. The travel took only a short time. Alighting from the train, He hastened to the great temple of Arunachaleshwara which had occupied His heart from childhood and which had now robbed off His mind and drawn Him near.

All the gates stood open - even the doors of the inner shrine (sanctum-sanctorum). The temple was then empty of all people - even the priests. He went directly to the inner shrine of temple and surrendered Himself completely. The intense heat that was in his body at once subsided. The journey of the Soul, the river, had ended once for all at its destination, the ocean of bliss. Sri Ramana came out of the inner shrine, perfectly contended with treasure-the fullness of Jnana. Since all freedom of mind, speech and body had been surrendered to Arunachaleshwara, Sri Ramana became effortlessly silent.

When someone approached him and asked, “Swami, will you have your head shaved?” Sri Ramana nodded affirmatively being convinced that it was the will of Sri Arunachaleshwara. He was conducted to the Ayyankulam tank where the barber shaved his head. His long, fine and wavy hair which was like a beautiful black creeper was in no time removed and a clean head remained. Then He stood on the steps of the tank and threw away his sacred thread, the sign of His caste. From his dhoti he tore off a piece for a loin cloth and discarded the rest together with the remaining money which was tied in a corner. The packet of sweets given by the loving lady in the Bhagavatar’s house was discarded to the tank as well. He did not even take bath after being shaved. But on his way back to the temple, there was an unexpected downpour. Perhaps this shower from the sky was a ceremonial bath (Avabritha-snanam) given by Sri Arunachaleshwara to His divine son on completion of the greatest tapas! Sri Ramana reached the temple and sat absorbed in Samadhi in the 1000 pillared mantapam.

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Regards,
Neelakantan

Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 03

Hare Krishna Friends,

Belated Ugadi greetings to all of you. In the previous posting we had seen how Venkataraman had decided to leave Madurai and go to Arunachalam. We will tread further today.

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As Venkataraman got up and started to walk out, Nagaswami asked Him to get five rupees from their aunt and pay his college fees. Probably Arunachaleshwara himself had provided the required money for Venkataraman to travel to Thiruvannamalai.

Sri Ramana consulted an old map of Madras Presidency, which unfortunately did not show the branch line from Villupuram to Katpadi, midway along which lies Thiruvannamalai (Arunachalam). He therefore thought that Dindivanam was the closest railway station to Thiruvannamalai. Out of the five rupees given by his aunt, He took with him only three. He hastily wrote a note and leaving it along with the two rupees He left the house. The note said:

In search of my father I by His order am leaving this place. This is undertaking only a good cause. Therefore no one need grieve over this action. To see this there is no need even to spend money.

[Your fees have not
[Yet been paid. Thus
[Here within ……………………………………

Instead of a signature only a straight line was drawn at the bottom of the note. The information of the sentences holds a deep meaning. “I”, in the first sentence changed into “This” in the next, and even “This” had vanished by the end of the note which is concluded by the absence of a signature.

Yes, the human body which was considered to be “I” so long as the sense of “I” (ahankaram) and the sense of mine (mamakaram) lasted became to him “This”, an insentient and alien object, as soon as the “I” and “mine” had been surrendered to God! When the union (that is oneness) with the Supreme finally takes place, what else can remain as a separate entity. It is this state of oneness which is shown by the absence of a signature. How clear, the state of perfect Jnana even at the age of 16!! The insertion just after the word “I” of the phrase “in search of my father” clearly points out that so long as the sense of “I” is retained, one should depend upon God as ones sole refuge. No would be “Non-dualistic” (Advaitin) can rightly deny God and a dual love towards Him so long as the sense of individuality survives.

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Regards,
Neelakantan

Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 02

Hare Krishna Friends,

In the last posting we had seen how in a short duration in the room upstairs, Venkataraman had become a fully realized person. Let see what happened next.

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Thus, without an outer Guru and without any inner age-long strenuous sadhana, Venkataraman attained on the very first attempt the natural sate of Self-Knowledge (sahaja-atma-jnana-sthiti), which is declared by the Upanishads and all other Vedantic scriptures to be the unsurpassed state and the supreme benefit of human birth!

This experience, Self-attainment, brought forth indescribable vast changes even in the outward life of Venkataraman. Since it was now His clear experience that he was the eternal, perfect Reality, which is other than the body, from that day onwards His life was transformed into a new and wondrous one which could in no way be compatible with that of ordinary people, a life which they could not even understand, let alone imitate, no matter how hard they might try.

After this experience, the slight interest in school lessons which was there before left Him completely. He still went to school, but simply to please others. Even the taste for games, which once appealed to Him so much, disappeared entirely from His mind. The love and attachments towards friends and relatives also faded away, as did the interest in food and mundane activities. He, who in the past had always fought for the right, now became indifferent and no longer reacted in any way towards any kind of wrong or right. His previous nature of responding with severe blows if anyone scolded Him changed, and now a sweet smile of forgiveness and indifference would appear on His face as a reply!

What a wonderful change! The Self-experience transformed Him into a perfect Sadhu. Love, non-violence, patience, compassion, forgiveness, control over the senses, humility, fearlessness – all such divine qualities settled in Him naturally and in full, not due to practice but as a result of Self-experience. To Him a life of worldly activities was now meaningless, dry and unreal, just as a dream is useless, empty and unreal to him who has woken up from it. He was often seen to be sitting in solitude, absorbed and reveling in Self. In truth, the former Venkataraman was no longer there, and Bhagavan Ramana alone did shine!
Since Venkataraman had lost all interest in His studies, His school-teacher started to punish Him. Even Nagaswami, His elder brother, grew angry noticing the vast change in Him. Whenever he saw Him sitting in Self-absorption, he would jeer at Him: “What a great Sage, a yogishvara!” But Venkataraman, who had the clear knowledge of the reality and was thereby unshakable, did not mind all this. One day His teacher gave Him an imposition to write three times an English grammar lesson which he had failed to learn.

Next day, it was a Saturday, the 29th of August 1896 ; Sri Ramana had written the imposition twice when He felt a dejection towards this useless work. Throwing away the pencil and notebook, He sat up and closed His eyes in Self-absorption (nishtha). Nagaswami, who was sitting nearby, was saddened at seeing this. With the intention of correcting his brother, he exclaimed with pity and anger, “Yes, why all these for one like this?” To Him who would usually have been indifferent towards such a remark, the words seemed meaningful on that particular occasion. He thought, “Yes, what he says is true. What do I now have to do here and with these things? Nothing!” He immediately resolved to leave the house. All at once the remembrance of Arunachalam flashed spontaneously through His mind. He decided, “Yes, Arunachalam is the only place for me to go to!”

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Regards,
Neelakantan

Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana (1879 - 1950) - 01

Hare Krishna Friends,

Today, we will start with the Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana. There might be many other seekers in the forum who know more about Bhagavan and his teachings and I may not be the one competent enough to write about the glorious Maharshi. But still, surrendering completely to the holy feet of Sri Ramana, I will make an effort to present the following to the best of my abilities. You are all welcome to add more wherever required. For the Life sketch part, I am drawing material from the books “The Path of Sri Ramana” by Sri Sadhu Om, “A Sadhu’s Reminiscence of Ramana Maharshi” by Sadhu Arunachala and “Bhagavan Ramana” by the renowned professor T. M. P. Mahadevan.

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Bhagavan Sri Ramana was born on the 30th of December 1879 as the second son of Sundaram Iyer and Azhahammal in Tiruchuzhi, a Siva-kshetra thirty miles south-east of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. His parents named Him Venkataraman. His elder brother was Nagaswami, His younger brother was Nagasundaram, and Alarmelu was his sister.

Venkataraman completed His primary education in Tiruchuzhi and Dindukkul. When He was twelve years old, owing to the fact that His father passed away, He and His elder brother moved to their parental uncle’s house in Madurai to continue their higher education in the American Mission High School. Though He had a clear and sharp intellect and a keen power of memory, it seems that He did not use them in His school work. He was merely an average student in His class, but having a healthy body. He was foremost in wrestling, football, staff-fighting, swimming and so on. Before He stood for the tenth standard examination, the great divine change in His life took place all of a sudden. To bring about this great change He did not read any scripture nor did He have a Guru in physical form. Though by chance He had read the ‘Periyapuranam’, the lives of the sixty-three Tamil Saints, even that was not the actual cause for His Self-realization. Then what could have been the cause? Let us hear what he had himself said about it:

“It was about six weeks before I left Madurai for good that the great change in my life took place. It was so sudden. One day I sat up alone on the first floor of my uncle’s house. I was in my usual health. I seldom had any illness. I was a heavy sleeper. When I was in Dindigul in 1891 a huge crowd had gathered close to the room where I slept and tried to rouse me by shouting and knocking at the door, all in vain, and it was only by their getting into my room and giving me a violent shake that I was roused from my torpor. This heavy sleep was rather a proof of good health. I was also subject to fits of half-awake sleep at night. My wily playmates, afraid to trifle with me when I was awake, would go to me when I was asleep, pull me to my feet, take me all round the playground, beat me, cuff me, sport with me, and bring me back to my bed - and all the while I would put up with everything with a meekness, humility, forgiveness and passivity unknown in my waking state. When the morning broke I had no remembrance of the night’s experience. But these fits did not render me weaker or less fit for life, and were hardly to be considered a disease. So on that day, as I sat alone, there was nothing wrong with my health. But a sudden and unmistakable fear of death seized me. I felt I was going to die. Why I should have so felt cannot be explained by anything felt in the body. Nor could I explain it to myself then. I did not however trouble myself to discover if the fear was well grounded. I felt ‘I am going to die,’ and at once set about thinking out what I should do. I did not care to consult doctors or elders or even friends. I felt I had to solve the problem myself then and there.”

“The shock of death made me at once introspective, or ‘introverted’. I said to myself mentally, i.e., without uttering the words, ‘Now, death has come. What does it mean? What is it that is dying? This body dies.’ I at once dramatized the scene of death. I extended my limbs and held them rigid as though rigor-mortis had set in. I imitated a corpse to lend an air of reality to my further investigation. I held my breath and kept my mouth closed, pressing my lips tightly together so that no sound might escape. Let not the word ‘I’ or any other word be uttered! ‘Well then,’ said I to myself, ‘this body is dead. It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of the body, am “I” dead? Is this body “I”? This body is silent and inert. But I feel the full force of my personality and even the sound “I” within myself, apart from the body. So “I” am a spirit, a thing transcending the body. The material body dies, but the spirit transcending it cannot be touched by death. I am therefore the deathless spirit’. All this was not a mere intellectual process, but flashed before me vividly as living truth, something which I perceived immediately, without any argument almost. ‘I’ was something real, the only real thing in that state, and all the conscious activity that was connected with my body was centered on that. Then ‘I’ or my ‘Self’ was holding the focus of attention by a powerful fascination from that time forwards. Fear of death had vanished once and for ever. Absorption in the Self has continued from that moment right up to this time. Other thoughts may come and go like the various notes of a musician, but the ‘I’ continues like the basic or fundamental Sruti note (drone) which accompanies and blends with all other notes. Whether the body was engaged in talking, reading or anything else, I was still centered on ‘I’. Previous to that crisis I had no clear perception of myself and was not consciously attracted to it. I had felt no direct perceptible interest in it, much less any permanent disposition to dwell upon it. The consequences of this new habit were soon noticed in my life.”

This true knowledge of Self (atma-jnana) shone forth clear in Him as a direct experience, and the fear of death which had risen in Him vanished once and for ever. From that time onwards, this state of Self-experience continued to shine permanently in Him as His natural state unbound by time and space and without increase or decrease. Although afterwards many people believed that in His early years in Tiruvannamalai Sri Bhagavan was performing deliberate austerities (tapas) or doing some spiritual practices (sadhanas), on a number of occasions in His later years He clearly refuted such ideas. He once said, “The sun that shone in Madurai was found to remain the same is Tiruvannamalai. Nothing was newly added to or removed from my experience”.

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We will continue with this in the next email.

Regards,
Neelakantan

An Interesting Story

Hare Krishna Friends,

I recently started reading the book "The Path of Sri Ramana - Part One" By Sri Sadhu Om. It is an excellent exposition on the path of Self-Enquiry. I couldn't resist sharing the following interesting story from the book.

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A dog went to a cremation ground. It picked up a sharp piece of bone from which the flesh had been completely burnt off and started munching it. The sharp edges of the bone pierced the dog's mouth in many places and there was bleeding. The dog dropped it, but seeing blood smeared al over it, it thought that the blood was coming from the bone because of its ravenous munching. It licked the blood and again started chewing the bone even more ravenously, with the result that there were more wounds in its mouth and more bleeding. The foolish dog went on repeating this process of dropping the bone, licking the blood and again chewing the bone. Little did that foolish dog realize that in fact the blood came from its own mouth and not from the bone!

"A foolish dog picked up a bone
Bereft of flesh because it was burnt,
Masticated many a round
Till its mouth was filled with wounds,
Licked and praised the blood, its own,
No thing on earth equals this bone',

'Guru Vachaka Kovai', verse 585

Similarly, when a man enjoys external objects, he only experiences a little of the happiness that is already within him. But, on account of ignorance, he thinks that the happiness comes from the external objects, and thus he behaves like the dog in the story. Exactly like the dog that munched the bone again and again, throughout his life man repeatedly searches for and accumulates external objects. What is the result of all this? Alas! Untold heaps of misery, with a few iota of pleasure in between - that is all! Indeed all this is ignorance, otherwise called Maya!

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Regards,
Neelakantan

Few pearls of wisdom

Hare Krishna Friends,

The following pearls of wisdom have been picked from the site www.jagadgurus.org.

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Ego: an impediment to Bhakti

The greatest impediment to Bhakti is the ego which repeatedly asserts itself and prevents self-surrender. Thus, a man can truly surrender himself to Ishwara only if he annihilates his ego. Repeatedly thinking of Ishwara and practicing spiritual discipline precisely in the manner indicated by the Guru go a long way in effacing the ego and engendering devotion.

Great Souls always shower grace

The light of a lamp falls on its surroundings. One may study the shastras in that light while another may, paying no attention to it, spend the time sleeping.
Similarly, great souls are always showering their grace. Each one can derive benefit depending on one's mentality. If one takes a big vessel to a pond, one can bring a large quantity of water. Just because a small vessel can hold only a small amount of water, it does not mean that the vessel itself is the limit of the pond.

No Analogue for a Guru

While a piece of iron is transformed by the sparsha gem into a piece of gold, if that piece of gold were to be brought into contact with a piece of iron, both the iron and the gold would remain as they are.

But a Guru not only transforms his disciple into a knower but also confers on the disciple the power to convert another into a knower. Thus, the sparsha gem hardly serves as an analogue. Actually, there is simply no analogue for the Guru

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With this email, we will conclude with the teachings of Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha Mahasvami. We can always take up and learn more again later. Most of the contents presented are from the following books:

1.
Book Name: Yoga, Enlightenment & Perfection of his Highness Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Mahaswamigal
Language: English
Author/Compiler: Sri R.M. Umesh
Should be Available at…Sankar Mutt, Bangalore

2.
Book Name: Exalting Elucidations
Language: English
Author/Compiler: Collection by various devotees
Should be Available at…Sankar Mutt, Bangalore


3.
Book Name: Jagadguru Abhinava Vidyateertha – na kandante
Language:Kannada
Author/Compiler: Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Shastry
Should be Available at…Sankar Mutt, Bangalore

There are many other books about Mahasvami in Tamil, English and other languages.

The following websites have some useful information.

http://www.sringerisharadapeetham.org
http://www.jagadgurus.org
http://www.srisharada.com

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Regards,
Neelakantan