Ramanasramam

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends ,

I have now arrived back in London after nearly a month away

..The first half was visiting some of my family in Tasmania and

the second half at Arunachala .I did make contact with the small

but vital satsang community in Hobart , as Isaac Shapiro kindly

gave me the name of the lady who arranges his meetings

,Samahdi , a Yoga teacher fromBelfast .Tasmania is idyllic , an

environment "as good as it gets'".There is great pictorial beauty ,

mountains,lakes, beaches , unpolluted and,touristique .They

invited me to their party which was a concert of extraordinarily

fine Bhajans , with six musicians , harmoniums and guitars

..They rehearse together and with many sing solos . They are

almost professional in standard and this is how they keep

together .The concert was proceeded by a Puja and followed by

a supper .It was in an Indian residents house .Many of the

Bhajans come from the Satyananda Yoga Centre which has a

fine centre in Hobart .There is a Yoga explosion there .I gave an

introductory talk on Ramana's life and teachings on my last

Friday evening and then two sessions on the week end on Self

Enquiry and Surrender .Attendence was 40-35 with spirited

question and answer exchanges .I told them about this web site

to follow up their interest in Ramana's Teachings .They had

nobody visit then since Isaac and that was two years ago .He

may go again next year .I met John David , an Australian teacher

from Sydney at Tiru and elsewhere who may visit eventually .

 

When i arrived at Tiru via Singapore {which was spooky as

everyone looked like zombies wearing anti-sars masks} the

temperature was 110 F. 0r 43 C .They called it the Agni Summer

and the Hill radiated the heat down to the Ashram .You could fire

walk on the paths.There were very few westerners there but it

was full of Indian Families , and the atmosphere was redolent

with devotion .I could not venture much out of the Ashram by foot

but visited some temple sites by car or rickshaw .

 

At Ramana's Samahdhi I felt this to be the most sacred and

holiest spot on the planet and the spiritual centre of the world

..This feeling was palpapable .I also felt something similar

opposite the Samahdi of the Mother and in the the Meditaion

Halls .Sundaram gives readings in the afternoon from Talks .It

was like a Satsang with Ramana .There were Tamil Bhajans in

the evening.

 

I had interesting talks with David Godman ,Swami Ramananda ,

Natarajan ,who was there from Bangalore ,Jayraman and many

others .

 

Sri Ganesan is out of Mouna .I visited him at his house .He looks

very well , has grown a beard and his hair is whitening .He

does Raja Yoga under the direction from a teacher in Madras

and Pranayama has led to a recovery in health .He plans to

come to England in 2004 -give Satsang and meet and sit with

members in different homes over a fortnight before going to the

USA.

 

Jacqueline is well .She has rented a house -and is a Lady

Bountiful arranging to feed many Sadhus in her district .She is

very happy there and hopes to retire there soon .I had lunch with

her .and she plans to make contact with Ganesan now he is out

of Mouna .

 

Ganesan took me by car to visit the Temple by the Mango Grove

where Ramana lived with the Muni as a young man .Very

special.It is being restored .

 

I could not post form there .The internet connection was

overloaded . From the internet shop the connection kept on

failing and each operation took five minutes .In the last day or

two the owner got a new connection which worked .

 

There was so much to absorb .My mind has gone quiet and I am

so grateful to Bhagavan for leading me to the most sacred place

on Earth full of his Presence and Guidance .I will now wait to see

what happens .And hope to resume posting in due course . We

have Satsang in London today.

 

My love to you all ,In His Grace , Alan