Arthur Osborne - Sri Ramana Maharshi [6]

[Guest guest]

 

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It is obvious that this supreme definition of the Guru

can apply only in a very limited way to one whose legitimacy

depends on human appointment; in its fullness it can apply

only to Bhagavan, to the Jivan-Mukta (emancipated while

yet in the physical body). Bhagavan is indeed the universal

divine Guru.

 

In another sense also he is universal. One who has attained

the supreme state is above all the forms of religion. They are

the paths leading up to the peak, but he is the peak itself, and

everything else. A guru normally guides his followers along the

path which he himself trod, and Bhagavan’s approach to

Realization was through an act of self-enquiry unconnected with

the forms of the Hindu or any other religion. This also was

what he taught. He came as an answer to the needs of our age,

proclaiming a path which, with his grace and support can be

followed by aspirants in any religion, and indeed whether they

observed any formal religion or not.

 

It might be thought to follow from this that Bhagavan’s

initiation would be freely and openly given; on the contrary, it

was concealed. Had it been open, the constant stream of visitors

from India and abroad would have demanded it, putting

Bhagavan under the necessity of accepting one and rejecting

another; for ordinarily many seek initiation without pledging

themselves to the quest, merely as a sort of spiritual tonic. As it

was, the aspirants’ own understanding or lack of it performed

the selection which in a secret order would be performed by the

guru. Preparedness for initiation was the first hurdle, those who

were not prepared never knowing that they had missed

anything, and therefore not being subjected to jealousy,

resentment or despondency, as they might otherwise have been.

 

If asked, Bhagavan would never deny that he gave

initiation, but he would also not openly affirm it. The only

time I have heard him do so was with Hartz. Sometimes he

would answer that the Guru-disciple relationship is a reality

from the point of view of the disciple and is necessary to him,

although the Guru cannot affirm it, since for him there are no

others and therefore there can be no relationship. It will be

noted that Hartz’s question was phrased in a form which made

it possible to give an affirmative answer without any statement

of relationship. This, of course, applies only to the perfect Guru

who abides at all times in the state of Supreme Identity.

 

Nor was the initiation and guidance for Bhagavan’s lifetime

only. If it had been, it would have brought only a very temporary

solution to the problem of modern world conditions. When

asked: “Does the contact continue even after the dissolution of

the physical body of the Guru or only so long as he is in the flesh

and blood?” he answered: “The Guru is not the physical form; so

contact will remain even after his physical form vanishes.”

 

When his body’s death seemed imminent and some

devotees asked how they could pursue their sadhana without his

continued guidance, he replied with the cryptic rebuke: “You

attach too much importance to the body.”

 

Indeed, one who has understood what is meant by the

Jivan-Mukta, in constant, unwavering, conscious identity with

the Self, does not need assurance; he understands that the

presence or absence of a body can make no difference. “There

are no stages in Self-realization. There are no degrees of

liberation. So there cannot be one stage of liberation with the

body and another when the body has been shed. The realized

man knows that he is the Self and that nothing, neither his

body nor anything else, exists but for the Self. To such a one

what difference could the presence or absence of a body make?”

 

And in practise his devotees have found it so. Not only

that, but new devotees continue to be drawn to him and

experience his guidance as before. Many of those who come

to Tiruvannamalai never saw him in his lifetime; many also

follow his guidance from a distance, being unable to come.

There are not the crowds that there were before, but many of

these were sightseers who craved some limited blessing; the

proportion of true devotees is higher now. The support and

guidance is no less.

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taken from Arthur Osborne's My Life & Quest