The Grace of Ramana...

[Guest guest]

These short stories of Devotees are from a website listed below...They

are impressive not for the words he spoke or concepts he explained,but

for the kindness, compassion and grace with which he exuded...

Love,

Joyce

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Ramana Maharshi - In The Words of DevoteesAny factual account of the

Maharshi's life is bound to be dry and lifeless compared to the first

hand descriptions of those fortunate devotees who were drawn to his

presence. Therefore let their words paint a true picture of the

Ramana Maharshi they knew and loved.How He Received PeopleNobody

could guess about the way Bhagavan would meet people. The high and

mighty of the land would not get even a blank look, while some

insignificant looking wanderer would become the object of his

concentrated attention for hours and days. On the other hand eminent

people would sometimes be taken up by him and given the immense

blessing of being the center of his interest. Once Pranavananda Swami

came to the Ashrama. He was utterly exhausted. He sat on the steps of

the temple and could not move any further. Bhagavan was told about

it. He came out at once, sat at the feet of Pranavananda Swami and

started rubbing his legs, saying: "You had a long way to walk,

Grandpa. Your legs must be paining you very much." The old swami

protested in vain; Bhagavan had his way and massaged the swami's

feet.Sri Ramana Leela by Krishna Bhikshu,His Look Sent Us Into

SamadhiBhagavan's look was real magic. You could not do anything but

just look into his eyes, which would transform you into Samadhi.

Everyone in the hall used to feel Bhagavan was looking at them alone.

This was the true experience of each one of us. In his inimitable way

he was giving the glance of grace to each and everyone seated in the

hall. Bhagavan's look used to take us deep into Samadhi. Just by

looking into his eyes, we came to know what meditation is. This was,

and is, the common experience of all devotees. You ask anyone and you

will get the same reply.Once he gave me such a look and for a very

long time I was absorbed in Samadhi. Bhagavan was reading the

newspaper, letters were being brought in, normal activity was going

on, but I was oblivious of the happenings outside of me. In fact, I

was unaware of my body.Ramani Ammal

Between two thoughts there is an interval of no thought. That interval

is the Self, the Atman. It is pure Awareness only.Jnana

VasishthaJust Being With Him, My Mind Would StopWhen I was able to

sit for long hours in Bhagavan's presence my mind would just stop

thinking and I would not notice the time passing. I was not taught to

meditate and surely did not know how to stop the mind from thinking.

It would happen quite by itself, by his grace. I would sit, immersed

in a strange state in which the mind would not have a single thought

and yet which would be completely clear. Those were days of deep and

calm happiness. My devotion to Bhagavan took firm roots and never

left me. Sampurnamma

I believe the most unique characteristic of Bhagavan was the power of

his presence. In Bhagavan we found a being that was surcharged with

the Reality to such an extent that coming into his presence would

effect a dramatic change in us. This Divine Power of his presence was

something remarkable, entirely outstanding in this century. But why

just this century? It must be so for many centuries.N. Balaram Reddy,

My ReminiscencesThe Memory is Ever Present in My HeartBhagavan was one

day reading and explaining Tirupuhazh in Tamil to Alamelammal of

Madura. I did not know Tamil and I could only look on. I saw a change

in Bhagavan. A light was shining from within him. His face was

radiant, his smile was beaming, his eyes were full of compassion. His

words reverberated in the mind and were instantly and deeply

understood. All my being was carried upwards on a current of strange

vibrations. The memory of this experience is ever present in my

heart. A great joy has remained with me that I was privileged to sit

at the feet of the Divine Being.Varanasi SubbalakshmiHis Body

Radiated Spiritual PowerBhagavan's attendants had told me that his

body was like a furnace. Only then, when he sat so close to me, did I

understand what they meant. I felt spiritual power emanating from his

body like an electric dynamo. I was thrilled to the core of my being.

N. Balaram Reddy, My ReminiscencesIn His Presence, Doubts Were

Automatically ClearedApart from the greatness of Bhagavan's Presence

and the tremendous power of His silence, I noticed the strange way

the doubts in one's mind got answered through someone else present in

the Hall. The doubt you had, somebody in the Hall would express to

Bhagavan and Bhagavan would not only give the answer but look at you

with a smile, as if to say, 'Has your doubt been cleared?'From

Moments Remembered, by M.G. Shanmugam

Teachings of Ramana MaharshiGod, Who is immanent, in His Grace takes

pity on the loving devotee and manifests Himself according to the

devotee’s development. The devotee thinks that he is a man and

expects a relationship as between two physical bodies. But the Guru,

who is God or the Self incarnate, works from within, helps the man to

see his mistakes and guides him in the right path until he realizes

the Self within. Only The Maharshi Asked for NothingI went to

Arunachala for the first time with Sri Rami Reddi. We had our food in

the town and then went to the Ashrama. In those days there was very

little there-a hut for Bhagavan and another over his mother's samadhi

(place of burial). Bhagavan had just finished his food and was washing

his hands. He looked at us intently. "Did you have your food ?" He

asked. "Yes, we had it in town.You could have had it here," he

replied. I stayed with him for three days. He made a great impression

on me. I considered him to be a real Mahatma, although his ways were

very simple. Most of the cooking was done by him in those days. The

Ashrama lived from hand to mouth and usually only rice and vegetable

soup were prepared. When I was about to leave, I asked Bhagavan:

"Bhagavan, kindly show me a good path.What are you doing now?" he

asked. "When I am in the right mood, I sing the songs of Thyagaraja

and I recite the holy Gayatri. I was also doing some pranayama but

these breathing exercises have upset my health.You had better stop

them. But never give up the Advaita Dristhi (non dual vision)." At

that time I could not understand his words. I went to Benares for a

month, returned to Pondicherry and spent five months there. Wherever

I would go people would find some fault or other with me: "You are

too weak, not fit for yoga, you do not know how to concentrate, you

cannot hold your breath, you are unable to fast, you need too much

sleep, you cannot keep vigils, you must surrender all your

property..." Only Bhagavan asked for nothing, found fault with

nothing. As a matter of truth, there was nothing in me that entitled

me to his grace. But it did not matter with Bhagavan. He wanted me,

not my goodness. It was enough to tell him "I am yours," and for him

to do the rest. In that way he was unsurpassed.Krishna Bhikshu

Teachings of Ramana MaharshiOur real nature is mukti (the liberated

state). But we are imagining that we are bound and are making various

strenuous attempts to become free, while we are all the time free.- -

- - - - -Our wanting mukti is a very funny thing. It is like a man

who is in the shade voluntarily leaving the shade, going into the

sun, feeling the severity of the heat there, making great efforts to

get back into the shade and then rejoicing 'How sweet is the shade. I

have after all reached the shade!' The Blissful Atmosphere of RamanaMy

first darshan of Bhagavan Sri Ramana was in January, 1921 at

Skandashrama, which is on the eastern slope of Arunachala and looks

like the very heart of the majestic hill. It is a beautiful quiet

spot with a few coconut and other trees and a perennial crystal-clear

spring. Bhagavan was there as the very core of such natural beauty.

I saw in him something quite arresting which clearly distinguished him

from all others I had seen. He seemed to live apart from the physical

frame, quite detached from it. His look and smile had remarkable

spiritual charm. When he spoke, the words seemed to come out of an

abyss. One could see immaculate purity and non-attachment in him and

his movements. I sensed something very refined, lofty and sacred

about him. In his vicinity the mind's distractions were overpowered

by an austere and potent calmness and the unique bliss of peace was

directly experienced. This I would call Ramana lahari, 'the blissful

atmosphere of Ramana.' In this ecstasy of grace one loses one's sense

of separate individuality and there remains something grand and

all-pervading, all-devouring. This indeed is the spirit of Arunachala

which swallows up the whole universe by its gracious effulgence.Swami

ViswanathaThe Young Brahmin SaintI lost my husband when I was

sixteen. I went back to my mother's house and lived there as a widow

should, trying to pray to and meditate on God. My mother's mind too

was devoted to the spiritual quest and religion was the main thing in

her life. Once we went on a pilgrimage to Kaveri Pushkaram and on our

way back we stopped at Arunachala. There we were told that a young

Brahmin saint had been living on the hill for the past ten years. The

next morning we went up the hill along with others with whom we were

traveling. At Mulaipal Tirtha we cooked our food, ate and had some

rest. Then we went further and found the young Swami near Virupaksha

Cave. There was a brick platform at the entrance of the cave and he

was sitting on it. As soon as I saw him, I was at once convinced that

God Arunachala Himself had come in human form to give salvation to all

who approached Him. He was about thirty at the time, and wonderful to

look at; he was bright and shining like burnished gold, his eyes were

blooming and clear, like the petals of a lotus. He looked at us for a

long time. The peak of Arunachala was towering over our heads, the

huge towers of the temple were below and an immense silence

surrounded the Swami. Then the ladies started whispering. One wanted

to pray for a child for her daughter-in-law who was barren, but

another was saying that the Swami was too exalted for such worldly

matters. Finally the Swami was told of the young wife's sorrow. He

smiled and lifted his folded hands to the sky as if saying : "All

happens by the will of the Almighty."Varanasi Subbalakshmi

In the evening he would sit on a wooden cot near the well and gaze at

Arunachala in deep silence. His face would glow with an inner

radiance which would appear to increase with the deepening

darkness.Krishna Bhikshu A Pool of PeaceIn the morning I had darshan

of Sri Bhagavan in the old Hall. As our eyes met, there was a

miraculous effect upon my mind. I felt as if I had plunged into a

pool of peace, and with eyes shut, sat in a state of ecstasy for

nearly an hour. When I came to normal consciousness, I found some one

spraying the Hall to keep off insects, and Sri Bhagavan mildly

objecting with a silent shake of his head.G.V.Subbaramayya

"Peace can reign only when there is no disturbance by thought. When

the mind has been annihilated there will be perfect peace."His Love

for a 'Worthless' DevoteeHis great love for me, a worthless devotee,

bound me firmly to his feet. Again and again I wanted to leave the

Ashrama, but he held me for my good, more powerfully than I held on

to him. Whenever I was collecting courage to tell Bhagavan about my

desire to leave, he would seem to read my thoughts and forestall me

by giving me something special to do. I felt I had too much to do and

that my life was being wasted.One day Bhagavan was looking at me

intently and said: "It looks as if you are still hankering after

meditation." I replied: "What have I got except endless work in the

kitchen ?" Bhagavan said with deep feeling: "Your hands may do the

work but your mind can remain still. You are that which never moves.

Realize that and you will find that work is not a strain. But as long

as you think that you are the body and that the work is done by you,

you will feel your life to be an endless toil. In fact, it is the

mind that toils, not the body. Even if your body keeps quiet, will

your mind keep quiet too? Even in sleep the mind is busy with its

dreams."I replied: "Yes, Swami, it is as natural for you to know that

you are not your body as it is for us to think that we are the body. I

had a dream recently in which you were explaining this very point. I

was dreaming that I was working in the kitchen and you were having

your bath in your usual place behind the bamboo mat partition. You

asked: 'Who is it?' I replied: 'Who shall I say I am ?' You said:

'Exactly so, you are nothing of which something can be said.' Now,

just remember that was my dream and it was quite clear."Why can't I

remember always that I am not the body?""Because you haven't had

enough of it," he smiled.Varanasi Subbalakshmi Bhagavan Radiated

Tremendous PeaceBhagavan was a very beautiful person; he shone with a

visible light of aura. He had the most delicate hands I have ever seen

with which alone he could express himself, one might almost say talk.

His features were regular and the wonder of his eyes was famous. His

forehead was high and the dome of his head the highest I have ever

seen.Bhagavan always radiated tremendous peace, but on those

occasions when crowds were attracted to the Ashram such as Jayanthi,

Mahapooja, Deepam and such functions, this increased to an

extraordinary degree. The numbers seemed to call up some reserve of

hidden force, and it was a great experience to sit with him at such

times. His eyes took on a far-away look and he sat absolutely still

as if unconscious of his surroundings, except for an occasional smile

of recognition as some old devotee prostrated.A. W. Chadwick, A

Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi.S. S. Cohen, First Darshan

of Ramana MaharshiThe third of February 1936, early morning, saw my

horse-cart rolling on the uneven two-and-a-half-mile road from

Tiruvannamalai railway station to Ramanashram. I was led to a small

dining room, at the door of which I was asked to remove my shoes. As

I was trying to unlace them, my eyes fell on a pleasant looking

middle-aged man inside the room, wearing nothing but a kaupin, with

eyes as cool as moonbeams, sitting on the floor before a leaf-plate

nearly emptied, and beckoning me with the gentlest of nods and the

sweetest smile imaginable.I was alone in the Hall with him. Joy and

peace suffused my being - such a delightful feeling of purity and

well-being at the mere proximity of a man, I never had before. My

mind was already in deep contemplation of him - him not as flesh,

although that was exquisitely formed and featured, but as an

unsubstantial principle which could make itself so profoundly felt

despite the handicap of a heavy material vehicle.S.S. Cohen, Memoirs

and NotesThere is no floor! Where can I sit?The older German woman,

whose name is Ilse, then started to tell us that she visited the

Master in the mid 1940s and had been coming to the Ashramam since

then. Being of Jewish descent, she had fled Nazi Germany and was

teaching in India. After hearing of Bhagavan she traveled by train to

Tiruvannamalai and then took a bullock cart to the Ashramam. She said,

"I was wearing a frock, and was dirty from the long journey. I felt

that I should wash and change into more appropriate attire before

going to see the sage. I was standing at the door of the Old Hall

(that is the southern door that is now closed and leads into the

Samadhi Hall) when someone urged me to go to him right away. I walked

in and stood in front of the sofa, when He made the gentlest of

gestures, inviting me to sit down. That is when everything

disappeared. There was no sofa, no hall, no Maharshi, no me. The

thought came 'There is no floor. Where can I sit?' I don't know how

long I stood there, but eventually I did sit down."Geeta Bhatt

http://www.cosmicharmony.com/Sp/Ramana/Ramana.htm#Arunachala

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