S.S. Cohen on Sri Ramana

[Guest guest]

The Maharshi Newsletters

May/June 1991

Vol. 1 - No. 3

AS I SAW HIM - 2

 

by S. S. Cohen

 

On one occasion, Bhagavan recited from memory a poem of a Vaishnava

saint in which occurred the words, "Fold me in Thy embrace, O Lord,"

when the arms of Bhagavan joined in a circle around the vacant air

before him and his eyes shone with devotional ardour, while his voice

shook with stifled sobs which did not escape our notice. It was

fascinating to see him acting the parts he related and be in such

exhilarated moods as these.

 

Some disciples and his attendants used to sleep on the floor of the

Hall at night. Bhagavan's sleep was very light. He woke every now and

then and almost always he found an attendant nearby fully awake to say

a few words to, and then sleep again. Once or twice he would go out

for a few minutes and, by 5:00 a.m, when the Veda chanters came from

the township, they found him fully awake and chatting in a soft,

subdued voice. Now the parayanam would get started and go on for

little less than an hour, during which everybody abstained from

talking and Bhagavan often sat cross-legged and completely indrawn.

Then he went out on the hill and returned at about 7:30, when visitors

and devotees began trickling in - men, women and children, till they

filled the Hall by about 9:00 a.m. This morning hour of the parayanam

was the best time of the day for meditation. The congregation was

small, women and children absent, the weather cool, and the mind had

not yet completely emerged to run its usual riot. Over and above this,

Bhagavan then shone in the stillness of his samadhi, which permeated

the hall and the meditation of his disciples.

 

Bhagavan went out at his usual hours. These were : 9:45, for a few

minutes; 11 o'clock, for luncheon, followed by the midday stroll in

Palakottu; evening, 4:45 on the hill, preceding the evening Veda

parayanam; and 7 o'clock for dinner.

 

The constant influx of visitors was of some help in that it afforded

the much-needed relaxation to an otherwise tense life. Secondly, the

peculiar problems which visitors brought with them were a useful

study. Watching the masterly ways Bhagavan tackled these problems was

a sadhana in itself.

 

Rationality was the very essence of his arguments, while the ultimate

answer to all the questions was always the same, namely, "Find out who

you are." He first met every questioner on his own ground, and then

slowly steered him round to the source of all problems - the Self -

the realisation of which he held to be the universal panacea. When the

audience shrank, he at times became humorously autobiographical about

his early school and home life or about his many experiences on the

hill with sadhus, devotees, etc. As time passed and the Master's state

of mind and ideas took firm root in me, I ceased to ask questions, or

to intercept him in his walks outside the Ashram grounds, as I used to

do in the first six months. The final conclusion to which I came in

the end of these six months I reported one day to Bhagavan. He showed

his gracious approval by a gesture of finality with his hand and said:

"So much lies in your power, the rest must be left entirely to the

Guru, who is the ocean of grace and mercy seated in the heart as the

seeker's own Self."