Forty Verses on Reality - Continued

[Guest guest]

Ramani Ammal (from the Ramana Maharshi Newsletters):

 

I once remember a Harijan lady who for the past twenty-five years was

gathering

honey to send to Sri Bhagavan. On every occasion she was unable to

bring the

honey herself and had to send it with someone. After waiting for

twenty-five years,

she finally found the opportunity to come. The poor lady was in

tattered clothes,

standing before Bhagavan. Her eyesight was poor and I still vividly

recall the

unusual way she looked at Sri Bhagavan, calling out "Oh Darling, where

are you ? I

want to see you." Bhagavan in all his graciousness said, "Granny, look

this way. I

am here." Looking at the honey she had brought with her, he said to me,

"They are

Brahmins, they won't eat this. We will share it, and eat it."

 

It is often said, Bhagavan did not give direct Upadesa, but what else

is all this ?

Although Bhagavan repeatedly pointed out human frailty, people were not

prepared

to rectify themselves.

 

As if talking to himself, he looked at this poor old woman in ragged

clothes and

said, "Poor lady, she must be hungry. And where will she go for clothes

? Who will

offer her food and clothes ?" Upon hearing this, Ondu Reddiyar got up

and said,

"We will give her food and also see that some clothes are purchased."

Then

Reddiyar took the woman to the Dining Hall and fed her sumptuously. He

also sent

someone to town to buy her a sari. As the old woman had no money, she

had

walked a great distance to come here. Bhagavan knowing this, said in an

impersonal

way, "Would anyone be interested in getting her a bus ticket ?"

Reddiyar again

came forward and said, "We will provide her with a bus ticket and see

her off."

When this lady returned from the Dining Hall she was touching the

ground, and

then touching her eyes. That is a way of prostration and thanksgiving.

It is

noteworthy that whenever the poor or untouchables came, Bhagavan took a

very

personal interest in them, which was a moving sight to see.

 

Now we continue with verses 31-34. In these "Forty verses of Reality" we

see the Sage of Arunachala speaking clearly and without compromise on

the nature of Self.

 

 

31. For Him who is immersed in the bliss of the Self, arising from the

extinction of the ego, what

remains to be accomplished? He is not aware of anything (as) other than

the Self. Who can

apprehend his State?

 

32. Although the scriptures proclaim 'Thou art That', it is only a sign

of weakness of mind to

meditate 'I am That, not this', because you are eternally That. What

has to be done is to investigate

what one really is and remain That.

 

33. It is ridiculous to say either 'I have not realized the Self' or 'I

have realized the Self'; are there

two selves, for one to be the object of the other's realization? It is

a truth within the experience of

everyone that there is only one Self.

 

34. It is due to illusion born of ignorance that men fail to recognise

That which is always and for

everybody the inherent Reality dwelling in its natural Heart-centre and

to abide in it, and that

instead they argue that it exists or does not exist, that it has form

or has not form, or is non-dual or

dual.