A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

In Post 8887, Chandra wrote:

 

" PS: Violet in post 8877 presented a very interesting account of Swami Rama

Tirtha's meeting with the Muslims. He died in 1907. In 1910 his nephew was born

who later became famous as Shri Poonjaji (also known as Papaji to his disciples)

and he was one of the foremost disciples of Shri Ramana Maharshi. It was widely

believed that Shri Poonjaji was the incarnation of his uncle Swami Rama Tirtha.

Shri Ramana Maharshi, Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj and Shri Poonjaji are arguably

the three foremost masters of Advaita Vedanta in the 20th century. "

 

/message/8887

 

Chandra wrote that Shri Ramana Maharshi, Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj and Shri

Poonjaji [believed to be Swami Rama Tirtha come back] - to be the three foremost

masters of Advaita Vedanta in the 20th century.

 

These three " foremost masters " were masters, because they had Realised the Self!

i am interested in knowing what spiritual understandings and/or insights they

had. To that end, i have appended the Prologue of " A Sadhu's Reminiscences of

Ramana Maharshi " , with perhaps more to come, in future. We'll see?!

 

regards to all,

 

violet

 

 

A SADHU’S REMINISCENCES OF RAMANA MAHARSHI

By SADHU ARUNACHALA

 

PROLOGUE

 

Venkataraman, later to be known as Ramana Maharshi, was born at the end of 1879

and left his body in April 1950. He was very well-known in Tamil Nadu, his home,

and parts of India, while he had an extensive following in Europe and America.

He was a fully Realized Sage, that is to say he was always consciously one with

the nameless Supreme, though he functioned as a normal human being, his body

being no different from ours except perhaps more frail than that of a normal

person.

 

He was born in a small village some twenty miles from Madurai, where he lived

for the first years of his life, moving, after his father’s death, to his

uncle’s house in Madurai. He was a normal boy loving games but not much

interested in his lessons, though he had a good memory when he cared to study.

He was an abnormally heavy sleeper and once they had to break open the door of

the room in which he slept before they could wake him up. His friends took

advantage of this abnormality, they would pull him off his bed while still

asleep and take him with them, buffeting him and playing on him every trick

which they would not dare to try when he was awake. For he was a strong boy for

his age and quite capable of looking after himself. I think that this heavy

sleep of his must have been associated with his future attainment, the

tremendous power of his concentration being here illustrated.

 

He was not much interested in religion, though he would pay the usual visits to

the temple, customary for any normal Hindu boy. He was somewhat of a

disappointment to his family who were counting on him to do well and gain a

position of influence so as to help in their maintenance. But it was rather too

early to tell yet, he was still young, maybe he would realize his

responsibilities later, but all this planning for the future was suddenly upset.

At the age of sixteen, in the upstairs room of his uncle’s house, he had the

great experience which was going to change everything. Let us hear what he

himself said about it:

 

" It was about six weeks before I left Madurai for good that the great change in

my life took place. It was so sudden. One day I sat up alone on the first floor

of my uncle’s house. I was in my usual health. I seldom had any illness. I was a

heavy sleeper. When I was in Dindigul in 1891 a huge crowd had gathered close to

the room where I slept and tried to rouse me by shouting and knocking at the

door, all in vain, and it was only by their getting into my room and giving me a

violent shake that I was roused from my torpor. This heavy sleep was rather a

proof of good health. I was also subject to fits of half-awake sleep at night.

My wily playmates, afraid to trifle with me when I was awake, would go to me

when I was asleep, pull me to my feet, take me all round the playground, beat

me, cuff me, sport with me, and bring me back to my bed - and all the while I

would put up with everything with a meekness, humility, forgiveness and

passivity unknown in my waking state. When the morning broke I had no

remembrance of the night’s experience. But these fits did not render me weaker

or less fit for life, and were hardly to be considered a disease. So on that

day, as I sat alone, there was nothing wrong with my health. But a sudden and

unmistakable fear of death seized me. I felt I was going to die. Why I should

have so felt cannot be explained by anything felt in the body. Nor could I

explain it to myself then. I did not however trouble myself to discover if the

fear was well grounded. I felt 'I am going to die,' and at once set about

thinking out what I should do. I did not care to consult doctors or elders or

even friends. I felt I had to solve the problem myself then and there.

 

" The shock of death made me at once introspective, or 'introverted'. I said to

myself mentally, i.e., without uttering the words, 'Now, death has come. What

does it mean? What is it that is dying? This body dies.' I at once dramatised

the scene of death. I extended my limbs and held them rigid as though

rigor-mortis had set in. I imitated a corpse to lend an air of reality to my

further investigation. I held my breath and kept my mouth closed, pressing my

lips tightly together so that no sound might escape. Let not the word 'I' or any

other word be uttered! 'Well then,' said I to myself, 'this body is dead. It

will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burnt and reduced to

ashes. But with the death of the body, am " I " dead? Is this body " I " ? This body

is silent and inert. But I feel the full force of my personality and even the

sound " I " within myself, apart from the body. So " I " am a spirit, a thing

transcending the body. The material body dies, but the spirit transcending it

cannot be touched by death. I am therefore the deathless spirit " . All this was

not a mere intellectual process, but flashed before me vividly as living truth,

something which I perceived immediately, without any argument almost. 'I' was

something real, the only real thing in that state, and all the conscious

activity that was connected with my body was centred on that. Then 'I' or my

'self' was holding the focus of attention by a powerful fascination from that

time forwards. Fear of death had vanished once and for ever. Absorption in the

Self has continued from that moment right up to this time. Other thoughts may

come and go like the various notes of a musician, but the 'I' continues like the

basic or fundamental Sruti note (drone) which accompanies and blends with all

other notes. Whether the body was engaged in talking, reading or anything else,

I was still centred on 'I'. Previous to that crisis I had no clear perception of

myself and was not consciously attracted to it. I had felt no direct perceptible

interest in it, much less any permanent disposition to dwell upon it. The

consequences of this new habit were soon noticed in my life. " (Self-

Realization, Ch. 5. by B.V. Narasimhaswamy.)

 

http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/Allpub.html

 

A SADHU’S REMINISCENCES OF RAMANA MAHARSHI

By SADHU ARUNACHALA

(Major A. W. Chadwick)

SRI RAMANASRAMAM TIRUVANNAMALAI 2005

P.1-4