THE MAHARSHI 9-10/2000

January 7, 2005

THE MAHARSHI

September/October 2000Vol. 10 - No. 5

Produced & Edited byDennis HartelDr. Anil K. Sharma

Sri Arunachala Ramana MandiramTwenty-Fifth Anniversary 1975 - 2000

It was the first year of classes in the newly-built, one-room school house, picturesquely located in the quiet rural community of Clarence in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. The year was 1879.

At the same time, far across the globe in another quiet, remote place, a village in South India, on the night of December 30, a son was born to Alagamma and Sundaram Iyer. Who could have ever imaged that this rural school house and that new born boy, then linked in time, would once again be linked in spirit ninety-five years later?

Soon after the 130 acre Nova Scotia Arunachala Ashrama, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Center was founded in 1972, Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawat began his regular visits from New York City. Immediately, he was attracted to the property on the Ashrama's lower field, just off the Clarence Road, about 50 yards from the Ashrama house. It was the 100 by 75 foot corner lot donated to the local school board in 1879 by the then owner of the Ashrama farm. The Ashrama did not own this lot. Someone had bought it from the school board three years earlier.

Bhagawat would almost daily visit this small plot, always commenting on its "tortoise shape," with lower ground on all four sides. On this lot the Clarence West School stood up to 1969. It was then bought, loaded onto a flatbed truck and moved one mile down the road. The granite slabs that served as its foundation and an old hand-powered water pump was all that remained. Bhakta Bhagawat would daily stroll the grounds, reciting the "Sri Lalita Sahasranam Stotram," praying to the Divine Mother to bless her children by building a Temple on this land for devotees to gather in and immerse themselves in the direct teachings of Self-enquiry. After two years, in 1974, his dream began to materialise.

Mr. B. K. Raju, a very prominent, but humble and devoted businessman of Nova Scotia, began to take an active interest in the prospect of buying the lot and the old school house, reuniting them once again for yet another type of schooling, the training of the spirit. He started a trust for borrowing funds, arranged for the purchase of the school, engaged an architect, all of which injected the necessary impetus in the hearts of Joan and Matthew Greenblatt and Dennis Hartel, who then lived in the Ashrama, and Darlene Delisi, who lived nearby. They felt charged with energy and genuine inspiration, watching their lofty ideals of head and heart now taking shape in the form of a Temple.

The logistics of returning the school house back to the Ashrama, lifting the thirty-ton structure five feet high and then sliding it onto its new, raised foundation were certainly mind boggling for the young devotees. But every obstacle was calmly met with a growing faith that, by the Temple's completion, established itself in their hearts so firmly that it has been serenely carrying them safely through life's trouble waters ever since.

More than the physical obstacles were the financial hurdles. Mr. Raju's trust fund proved unproductive and was terminated. Daily wages had to be met, supplies bought, contractors paid. The young aspirants of the Ashrama were not fund raisers, nor were they financially savvy. Their only wealth was the devotion and faith that filled their hearts. They solely depended on this to meet their needs. Their faith and devotion were at times severely tested, but proved ultimately triumphant. The Maharshi repeatedly assured them of his all-pervasive presence in many seen and unseen ways. Faith remained steady and help came, especially from the courageously noble hearts of the late Alexander Hixon and Dr. Mohender Goomar, both of which generously expressed themselves, relieving the debts and insuring that Sri Arunachala Ramana Mandiram would stand as a lasting tribute to the Silent Sage of the Holy Hill of the Beacon Light, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.

The Term Hridaya

Sri T. K. Sundaresa Iyer was one among the few who had the privilege of not being addressed by Bhagavan in honorific terms: He fondly addressed him as 'Sundaresa' or 'Sundaram'. However, he was known popularly only as TKS in the Ashram. His erudition in Vedantic literature was deep; he was proficient in Sanskrit, Tamil and English. So, he aptly fitted in to act as an interpreter to Sri Bhagavan, though most of his time he spent in the Ashram office attending to correspondence. Of course, in this also he was blessed because he had to show letters to Bhagavan and get hints from Him while answering certain letters...

"A staunch devotee living in England, Harry Dickman,* was soaked in Sri Bhagavan's teachings, though he could not have His darshan. He wrote asking for an explanation as to the term 'Hridayam' and its significance. I got from Bhagavan hints on how the reply should be formed. The following is the gist of the reply, which was approved by Bhagavan and sent to Harry Dickman:" -TKS

JUST AS THERE IS a cosmic centre from which the whole universe arises and has its being and functions with the power or the directing energy emanating therefrom, so also is there a centre within the frame of the physical body wherein we have our being. This centre in the human body is in no way different from the cosmic centre. It is this centre in us that is called the Hridaya, the seat of Pure Consciousness, realized as Existence, Knowledge and Bliss. This is really what we call the seat of God in us.

It is this Hridaya that is said to be different from the physical heart, regulating the blood circulation. The Hridaya has its being on the right side and is not commonly known or felt. The primary thought in us arising as 'I,' when traced to its source, ends somewhere in us and this place, where all thoughts die, where the ego has vanished, is the Hridaya. From this centre is felt and enjoyed the Pure Consciousness.

Hridaya described as 'the literal, actual, physical seat of the intuition of the Self' has the meaning explained above. Perhaps the words 'physical seat' may create some confusion. What it really means is that there is a centre of Pure Consciousness in the physical body. It is related to the physical, but is not itself physical.

The word Hridaya is a composite of hrid and ayam - "centre, this". It is the centre on the right which we reach as a result of meditation. From the Hridaya, consciousness arises to the sahasrara through the sushumna and from there spreads out to all the parts of the body through the several 'nadis'. Then alone we become conscious of the objects around us. Man, due to the illusion that these have real existence, experiences suffering, as he strays far away from his Self. The seat from where all these arise and manifest is the Hridaya.

Whether in sleep, joy, sorrow, fear or satisfaction, we return to this heart and that is why we feel lost to all consciousness of things around. If by meditation or Vichara we attain to our centre, the Hridaya, and thus are our real Self, we enjoy unalloyed bliss.

In the course of tracing ourselves back to our source, when all thoughts have vanished, there arises a throb from the Hridaya on the right, manifesting as 'Aham' 'Aham'. This is the sign that Pure Consciousness is beginning to reveal itself. But that is not the end in itself. Watch wherefrom this sphurana (throbbing) arises and wait attentively and continually for the revelation of the Self. Then comes the awareness, oneness of existence.

When we steady our breath we feel the steadying of our thoughts. Then the thoughts turn inward and melt away at a point. Watching this point, where the thoughts vanish, will also help us to merge ourselves in the Hridaya.

- From Moments Remembered

_______________________* Dr. Harry Dickman later moved to New York City and befriended Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawat.

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