Songs and Thieves

[Guest guest]

Three downloadable songs composed by Ramana Maharshi

Thank you for this. I have listened to the first song on the page,

which I loved, and I have "collected" the homepage in my "favorites"

folder. I also wandered around the site a little, looking at pictures

of Ramana (I always love to look at his face and especially his shiny

eyes), and reading excerpts from some of the books about him or that

he wrote or that have compilations of dialogs.

Now, I am confused. I must confess, except for my brief, through the

mail and over the phone interation with the AHAM folks (Association

for the Happiness of All Mankind), I have not known much about

advaita and non-duality, except as the seeds of that system and

experience are part of the mother lode of eastern spirituality and

writings. I have read what people have written, and I am especially

greatful to vicki, as others have mentioned, for posting Ramana's

actual words to the list. But listening to the song, and reading the

words...hmmm...it was a hymn in praise of Ganapati, and I noticed

another in praise of Shiva...and I distinctly remember someone being

dissed here for bringing up dieties. Then in reading about the life

of the ashram at Arunchula I discovered many charitable activities

they are doing, one of which is providing a school for young boys who

are poor and would otherwise not have a decent life or an education. I

was especially nonplussed when reading the dialogs though because

Ramana's own words espouse vegetarianism, meditation, having a guru,

etc. Of course, when pressed, he would say that the Self is the guru

and so on and that once the Self is realized, nothing else is needed.

However, he also had much to say about the importance of

vegetarianism, the value of meditation, and the reason for having a

guru. In reading about his actions toward the animals at Arunchala

and how they came to him, almost like Saint Francis, I can see

(besides seeing it in his face, of course) that, for Ramana, this

Self is not a dry absence but a rich and ripe fullness. I have seen

that here, more in what people say when they are simply interacting

than when they are talking about non-duality...interesting.

I guess what I am getting at is that there is great benefit to be had

by visiting Ramana. I am wondering about some of the conversations

that have seemed like arguments or where people have sniped at one

another. I am wondering about suggesting someone should leave the

list. I was very moved by the story of Ramana and the two thieves.

This is at the site, so anyone can go and read it, but to make it

short, the thieves came; there was little to steal, and so they were

mad. A devotee wanted Ramana to do something about it and he wouldn't

because he said they were behaving in their dharma and he (Ramana) or

we (the ashramites) were/are behaving in ours. One of the thieves hit

Ramana on the leg, and Ramana invited him to hit the other one. After

the thieves left, Ramana remarked to the astonished devotee that he

had just had some puja (which the teller of the tale remarks was a

humourous pun due to the linquistic relation, in the word puja, to

both worship and hitting.

Again, I wonder at removing something (even Ramana) from the cultural

context. Even after realization, it seems those lucky people who have

it, find more of a reason to sing, chant, drum, dance, sit, worship,

etc. Anyway...hmmm...and yummm...and thanks again, for the gift of

this site, which has introduced me a little more to Ramana. Shanti ~

Linda