Rob: satvic mind

[Guest guest]

Dear Rob:

You are a font of Sri Ramana stories and his teachings. Either you

have an eidetic memory like Sri Ramana or you have a great filing

system.

 

This last one may convince my wife that these stories are not the

imagination of Sri Ramana's devotees. Every time I relate something

that blows my mind or opens my heart my wife say that the devotees of

Guru's make up many of these stories. I say that is generally true

but not with Ramana..

 

Thank much,

 

Loving Sri Ramana more and more each day.

 

 

RamanaMaharshi, "Rob Sacks" <editor@r...> wrote:

> Somebody asked me in a private message to send a

> longer quotation about food from "Power of the

> Presence Part 3." Since it is now typed for that

> purpose it might as well be posted here too:

>

> ................................

>

> From "Power of the Presence Part 3" by David Godman.

> The narrator of this section is Krishna Bhikshu:

>

> On a new-moon day a group of very orthodox brahmins

> came to the ashram from town. They wanted to pay their

> respects to Bhagavan first and then have a bath and

> return to the town for tarpanam, a new-moon ceremony in

> which one worships one's ancestors. As the ashram was

> situated between several burial grounds, the place was

> considered polluting. After leaving it a bath was

> mandatory. Also, because of restrictions due to the new

> moon, the tarpanam ceremony and the proximity of burial

> grounds, they would not be able to eat food in the

> ashram. Bhagavan greeted them all and invited them to

> have breakfast with him. How could they refuse? They

> went to the dining hall, sat down and were served

> uppuma, a wheat dish cooked with spices and fried

> vegetables, and coffee. After the breakfast Bhagavan

> was explaining the nutritional and dietetic virtues of

> onion. Somebody remarked that onions carry their odour

> with them into every food.

>

> 'Not at all,' said Bhagavan. 'If you fry them in castor

> oil they lose their odour completely. Could you smell

> the onions in the uppuma? Have I not succeeded in

> making them odourless?'

>

> The poor brahmins, who never touched onions and garlic,

> were shocked. What saved them from serious trouble with

> their caste was the fact that what they did or ate was

> at Bhagavan's bidding!

>

> An even more extreme example springs to mind. A

> devotee once brought some expensive halva for Bhagavan.

> The sweets were arranged on a large tray and put before

> Bhagavan on the ground. A dog came in and touched the

> sweets with hisnose. One of the inmates got furious

> and tried to drive the dog away.

>

> Bhagavan got up and shouted at the devotee, 'Get out!

> What right have you to drive this dog away? On what

> grounds do you stop a dog from eating? Does this halva

> belong to you?'

>

> He cut the halva into pieces, ate some himself and

> distributed the rest with his own hands. All the people

> present had to eat it as his prasad whether they wanted

> to or not.

>

> Bhagavan was not always so insistent. My younger

> brother once came to the ashram. He was not in the

> habit of drinking tea or coffee and generally refused

> when he was offered some. When the afternoon cup of

> coffee was distributed, he asked to be excused. He was

> told that he must drink it, for all food given in the

> ashram, he was informed, was Bhagavan's prasad and

> cannot be refused.

>

> My brother went straight to Bhagavan and said, 'They

> say that coffee is your prasad. I am not accustomed to

> coffee and I do not like it.'

>

> Bhagavan answered, 'I never ask for coffee. Whether I

> like it or not, people make me drink coffee, say that

> coffee is my prasad, and then drink coffee to their

> heart's content. They also induce others to drink it,

> saying that if they refuse, they refuse my prasad.'

> (From pages 74-75.)

>

> Some of his positions on orthodoxy seemed at first

> sight to be a little perplexing. Onions and garlic

> were used in the ashram kitchen when it was known that

> many orthodox brahmins would not eat food that had been

> prepared with them. Major Chadwick once asked Bhagavan

> if eating onions was an impediment to spiritual

> progress, and Bhagavan agreed that it was. Chadwick,

> though he was not a Hindu and was not therefore subject

> to sastraic injunctions, immediately gave them up, but

> many of the ashram's brahmins continued to eat them in

> the dining room.

>

> How could such a situation come about? I think the

> answer lies in the freedom Bhagavan gave to his

> devotees to choose their own path. It is true that he

> allowed a good deal of liberty to his followers in the

> matter of the food they ate, but that does not

> necessarily mean that he approved of what they were

> doing. Bhagavan's way was to influence rather than

> command. The true command, according to Bhagavan,

> should come from within, leading to voluntary and not

> enforced right action. Bhagavan never ordered Devaraja

> Mudaliar, for example, to become a vegetarian, but when

> the latter was wondering whether he should take this

> step, he asked Bhagavan's advice. He was not sure

> whether a vegetarian diet would contain adequate

> nourishment for him. This was after he had been a

> devotee for many years. Bhagavan assured him

> categorically that he would not suffer if he gave up

> non-vegetarian food.

>

> There was a still more extraordinary case in the early

> years of the ashram. Some of the sadhaks used to take

> bhang [cannabis] and they would offer it to Bhagavan

> first to justify themselves. Bhagavan would accept it

> when offered. It had no effect on him, since he had no

> mind to be disturbed. (From pages 92-93.)