Fwd: THE GREAT TRANSITION 2

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THE GREAT TRANSITION

 

 

 

 

PART TWO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the night of vigil a decision had to be taken as to the

burial. It had been thought that the body might be interred in the

new hall, but many devotees opposed the idea. They felt that the

hall was, in a sense, an adjunct to the temple and would make the

shrine of Sri Bhagavan seem subordinate to that of the Mother,

reversing the true order of things.

 

Next day, by general agreement, a pit was dug and the body interred

with divine honours in the space between the old hall and the

temple.

 

The crowd, packed tight, looked on in silent grief. No more the

beloved face, no more the sound of his voice; henceforth the lingam

of polished black stone, the symbol of Siva, over the tomb was the

outer sign, and inwardly his footprints in the heart.

 

 

 

 

CONTINUED PRESENCE

 

 

The crowds dispersed and the Ashram seemed an abandoned place, like

a grate with the fire gone out.

 

And yet there was not the wild grief and despair that has so often

followed the departure of a Spiritual Master from earth. The

normality that had been so pronounced still continued.

 

It began to be apparent with what care and compassion Sri Bhagavan

had prepared his devotees for this.

 

Nevertheless, during those first days and weeks of bereavement few

cared to remain at Tiruvannamalai, and some who would have cared to

could not.

 

 

 

Many years previously a will had been drawn up stating how the

Ashram was to be run when the Master was no longer bodily present. A

group of devotees took this to Sri Bhagavan and he read it through

very carefully and showed approval, after which they all signed as

witnesses. Briefly, it stated that puja (ritualistic worship) should

be performed at his tomb and that of the mother, that the family of

Niranjanananda Swami's son should be supported, and that the

spiritual centre of Tiruvannamalai should be kept alive.

 

 

 

Everywhere his Presence is felt, and yet there are differences of

atmosphere. Morning and evening there is parayanam (chanting of the

Vedas) before the tomb, as there used to be before his bodily

presence, and at the same hours.

 

As the devotees sit there in meditation it is the same as when they

sat before him in the hall, the same power, the same subtlety of

guidance.

 

 

 

During parayanam, puja is performed at the tomb and the 108 names of

Bhagavan are recited. But in the old hall is a softer, mellower

atmosphere breathing the intimacy of his long abidance.

 

 

 

Some months after the Mahasamadhi (leaving the body) this hall was

damaged by a fire that broke out, but was fortunately not destroyed.

 

 

 

There is also the little room where the last days and hours were

spent.

 

A large portrait which hangs there seems to live and respond to

devotion. Here are the various objects that Sri Bhagavan used or

touched - his staff and water vessel, a peacock fan, the revolving

bookcase, many little objects. And the couch now forever empty.

There is something infinitely poignant,

 

inexpressibly gracious about the room.

 

 

 

In the new hall a statue of Sri Bhagavan has been installed. It was

one of the terms of the will that a statue should be set up, but no

sculptor has yet been found to make one adequate. He would have to

feel the mystery of Sri Bhagavan, to be inspired by him, for it is

not a question of rendering human features but the divine power and

beauty that shone through them.

 

 

 

Not only the Ashram premises are hallowed but all the neighbourhood

around.

 

The peace that abides there encompasses and permeates: no passive

peace but a vibrant exhilaration.

 

The very air is redolent with his Presence.

 

 

 

True, his Presence is not confined to Tiruvannamalai. It never was.

The devotees, wherever they may be, find his Grace and support, his

inner Presence, not merely as potent but even more potent now than

before.

 

And yet, now as before, the solace of a visit to Tiruvannamalai

sinks into the soul and residence there has a beauty hard to

describe.

 

 

NO RETURN

 

 

There have been Saints who have promised to return to earth for the

renewed guidance of their devotees in life after life, but Sri

Bhagavan was the complete Jnani in whom there is not even that

vestige of an ego that may indicate rebirth, and the devotees

understood this.

 

His promise was different.

 

 

 

" I am not going away. Where could I go? I am here. "

 

 

 

Not even " I shall be here " but " I am here " , for to the Gnani there

is no change, no time, no difference of past and future, no going

away, only the eternal `Now' in which the whole of the time is

poised, the universal, spaceless `Here'.

 

What he affirmed was his continued, uninterrupted Presence, his

continued guidance.

 

Long ago he had told Sivaprakasam Pillai, " He who has won the Grace

of the Guru shall undoubtedly be saved and never forsaken, " and when

devotees spoke during the last sickness as though he was forsaking

them and pleaded their weakness and continued need of him he

retorted, as already mentioned

 

 

 

" You attach too much importance to the body. "

 

 

 

 

 

They quickly discovered how true this was. More than ever he has

become the Inner Guru. Those who depended on him feel his guidance

more actively, more potently now. Their thoughts are riveted on him

more constantly.The vichara, leading to the Inner Guru, has grown

easier and more accessible. Meditation brings a more immediate flow

of Grace.

 

 

 

 

End of Part Two

To be continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MOUNTAIN PATH

(Quarterly)

 

Editor: Arthur Osborne

 

L1 JANUARY

1964 No 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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