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181

The teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi / Sri Bhagavan's Aradhana -16.4. 2015

« on: April 16, 2015, 07:08:28 AM »

Today is Sri Bhagavan's 65th Aradhana, as per tithi (moon digit), Chaitra Krishna Paksha Tryodhasi.  As per English calendar
it was on 14th April 2015. He shed His mortal coil on 14th April 1950 at  8.47 pm.

He is Brahma Vastu.  Brahma Vastu is eternal and is every where.  He said:

You all say, 'I am going.  Where can I go. I am here.'

Let us all pray for His grace and blessings today.     

He is ever living Guru. At 8.47 pm on 14/4/1950, a meteor emitted from Nirvana Room and moved skywards, turned north
and perched on the Arunachala.  He and Arunachala are One.

Arunachala Siva.

182

General topics / punar vasu vaNNam & Sri Rama Navami -28.3.2015

« on: March 28, 2015, 06:09:34 AM »

Today is the punar vasu star day of the month of panguni (phalgun). punar vasu is the birth star of Sri Bhagavan.
It is also Sri Rama Navami, Sri Rama's birthday.

There will be special pujas today in the Asramam and this will be followed by special lunch. Sri Rama Navami is also
celebrated in the Asramam.

B.V.Narasimha Swami in his book Self Realization has compared Sri Rama and Sri Bhagavan.

Both were  tall  with broad shoulders and long limbs. Both were the epitome of Truth, compassionate and helpful
to those who have surrendered to them.

Arunachala Siva.

183

General Discussion / Ugadi - 20.03.2015

« on: March 20, 2015, 12:24:52 PM »

I wish all the Forum Members,a happy and prosperous Ugadi tomorrow.  Let this Ugadi bring all happiness and
further progress in spiritual pursuit.

Arunachala Siva.

184

General topics / Tevaram - Some select verses.

« on: March 10, 2015, 12:28:55 PM »

வேயுறு தோளிபங்கன் விடமுண்ட கண்டன்
மிகநல்ல வீணை தடவி
மாசறு திங்கள்கங்கை முடிமே லணிந்தென்
உளமே புகுந்த அதனால்
ஞாயிறு திங்கள்செவ்வாய் புதன்வியாழம் வெள்ளி
சனிபாம்பி ரண்டு முடனே
ஆசறு நல்லநல்ல அவைநல்ல நல்ல
அடியா ரவர்க்கு மிகவே.

This is from KOLaRu Pathigam of Saint Tiru Jnana Sambandhar:

He is the consort of the lady who has got bamboo like (slender) shoulders.  He has got neck with hala-hala poison held in it.
He plays Veena lucidly. He has got crescent moon without the dark spot, on His matted locks.He has entered my Heart.
The various planets and their movements - those of Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the two snakes
node and anti node called Rahu and Ketu-- all these shall do only good, only great good for His devotees.

contd.,

Arunachala Siva.   

185

General topics / Sundaram Iyer's Day - 10.03.2015

« on: March 10, 2015, 07:19:17 AM »

Today is Sri Sundaram Iyer's Day.  He who was a great karma yogi passed away on this day when young Venkataraman
was only about 12 years old. He worked as an uncertified pleader in Tiruchuzhi Court and was only taking up cases
of people who were aggrieved for genuine cases.  The whole little down had an impressive view of him.  He built a
house which had two portions, one portion was occupied by him and his family and another was kept for visitors and
pilgrims and government officials who visited Tiruchuzhi.  The guests were fed nicely by Smt Azhagammal. 

Iyer's passing away made an impression on young Venkataraman about death.  This feeling became manifest only he
came to Madurai.

Iyer's family was split into two - Venkataraman and Nagaswami living with one of paternal uncles in Madurai  and another uncle
in Manamadurai took care of Smt. Azhagammal and her other children.       

Whether Sundaram Iyer attained mukti?  It is a subtle point.  I go with what is told in Srimad Bhagavatam.  Prahlada
asks Narayana whether his ferocious father would attain mukti or Vaikunta padam.  Narayana said: Because of you
all members in three generations before you and after you will reach Me.

Sundaram Iyer would have therefore attained Mukti because of his great son, the Son of Siva and the Sun of  Jnana,
Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi.

Arunachala Siva.

186

General Discussion / Again a break!

« on: March 09, 2015, 12:41:51 PM »

I went for a wedding in Chennai along with my wife and returned to Bangalore only this noon. I am too tired to write any posts.
I shall re-start from tomorrow.

There were many difficulties in journey (tyre puncture) and also in Chennai (heat, crowd in the wedding, etc.,)

MY PRESENCE SHALL BE WITH YOU FOR EVER, BOTH IN TIMES OF HAPPINESS AND SUFFERING:

This might be a Biblical statement.  But when I read this on the back of a car going in front, I remembered only Sri Bhagavan.

Arunachala Siva.   

187

General topics / Annamalai Swami - Final Talks - Some Excerpts

« on: March 03, 2015, 09:49:00 AM »

Q:  This behavior, these things that Jada Swami did, they are not the sort of thing that one would expect from a Sadhu living
on Arunachala.

Annamalai Swami:  Guhai Namasivaya, who lived on the Hill several centuries ago, was also well known for his bad temper. In
one famous incident, he cursed a group of weavers who had been causing him trouble.  Within a short time, all their business
failed. The curse was apparently a long lasting one, for in the years that followed, all attempts to start weaving business in
Tiruvannamalai failed.

Q: So would you say that Bhagavan was very tolerant of people who treated Him badly?

A.S. Yes. He never responded in a negative way to criticism.  Sometimes He would even laugh when people said bad
things about Him. He was indifferent to praise and blame.  They did not touch Him.

When Perumal Swami printed  his insulting book about Bhagavan, He simply said, 'Keep the book in front of the Asramam
so that people can read it there.  The good people won't believe it, but when the bad people read it, they will stay away
and leave me in peace.'

contd.,

Arunachala Siva.   

188

General topics / His Transforming Presence -- Joan Greenblatt.

« on: March 03, 2015, 07:39:43 AM »

I was first drawn to Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi over 25 years ago, through a remarkable photograph of His.  At that time,
I experienced a feeling of coming home to something that was always a part of me. Initially, I devoured every book on His life
and teaching, being both fascinated and charmed.  For almost a year I read the small booklet Who am I? on a daily basis,
letting the words sink in. I don't think I truly intellectually understood the import of the words but my heart began to open
in a deep and profound way.  In times of silence and attentiveness, the recognition of Who am I? became more and more
of an intuitive experience, beyond the realm of thought.

During this period, Bhagavan the person, held me in His grip through His profound  humanity, compassion, soft doe like eyes,
and great wisdom which provides each individual with what is most needed at that moment.  The events of His life were
fascinating, spontaneous realization, austere life in caves upon the  Hill,and immense compassion - ultimately manifesting
in the form of an Asramam that grew around Him.  His was a life of true perfection and grace, both inwardly and outwardly.

Arunachala  Siva.           

189

General topics / What the Maharshi means to me - An article by J. Jayaraman in the Centenary of

« on: March 02, 2015, 12:47:17 PM »

If God be the one that does things and lets everyone else take credit, then I cannot imagine a better example of God
playing the role of man playing God than Sri Ramana. Here was an entity incarnated, in mortal coil moving as one among
us, concerned intimately with each of our concerns and yet simultaneously above it all, much like the mountain remaining
at once earth-and-heaven bound.

From the Centenary of the Advent Souvenir, 1996.


Arunachala Siva.       

190

General Discussion / Back!

« on: March 02, 2015, 12:24:04 PM »

Dear All.

This time it took more than 1 week,due to my shifting of house in Bangalore.  I hope to write some posts everyday.


Arunachala Sivas.

191

General topics / Sivaratri - 17.02. 2015.

« on: February 17, 2015, 10:56:37 AM »

Today is Sivaratri. In Karnataka and Tamizh Nadu in all Siva temples there will be celebrations.  In Karnataka which is
having a good population of Veera Saivas, the government has declared today as a holiday.

What can be more appropriate than to think of Siva through the following verse of Tiru Janana Sambandhar,who composed
this verse when he was just three years old?



தோடுடைய செவியன் விடை ஏறியோர் தூவெண் மதி சூடிக்
காடுடைய சுடலைப் பொடி பூசி என் உள்ளம் கவர் கள்வன்
ஏடுடைய மலரான் முனை நாள் பணிந்து ஏத்த அருள் செய்த
பீடுடைய பிரமாபுரம் மேவிய பெம்மான் இவன் அன்றே.(1.1.1.)

Arunachala Siva.
 

192

General topics / Going Back the Way We came:

« on: February 11, 2015, 09:48:16 AM »

This is an article by Sriram Ananthanaryanan in the Mountain Path, October -December 2014.

*

An amusing incident took place a few years ago, during one of my visits to Sri Ramanasramam.  Late one evening,a  small frog
entered my cottage through the bathroom window. Inadvertently, I went rather close to him. It is difficult to say which one of
us was more surprised.  The little one expressed his surprise by leaping off the wall and onto the floor below.I made a rapid
exit out of the bathroom. A little later,the small frog found his way to the living room. I had to find a way to evict this visitor
from my room.By tapping a stick close to where he sat, I hoped to coax this unwelcome guest to make an exit through the
main door.  He moved a couple of feet, in the correct direction, but then he reversed course and jumped right back, barely
avoiding me!  I had to come up with a better strategy. There was plastic dustbin in my room. If I could succeed in placing
the dustbin over the little one,then I could drag the dustbin across the room and evict the visitor through the main entrance.
With dustbin in hand,I approached him. With one quick movement, I placed  the bin over the spot where he was seated, but
he was quicker with an agile jump that would envy of an Olympic athlete. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I had to abandon
this strategy as well. Somehow I managed to get him back into the bathroom, closed the door and retired for the night.

contd.,

Arunachala Siva.                         

193

General topics / My Spiritual Journey with Bhagavan

« on: February 07, 2015, 06:55:51 AM »

This is an article that appeared in Oct.-Dec.2014 issue of Mountain Path.This is by R.Ravindran.

Introduction:

Like many people I was not concerned about spiritual matters for many years  until I married my caring wife,Sri Kumari,
became father to my two fine sons,Suman and Sajan. I had reached my forties. As a scientist I was engaged in conducting
seminars  and classes in IT Quality Management in my office.  Over a period of time the number of training  days increased
so that I landed in a situation where I spent almost every night thinking about my next seminar or about office problems.
This resulted in sleepless nights which created health problems, I would become  giddy while conducting the courses  during
the day. Suddenly in the middle of a lecture,I would feel a jerk in my head, as I was about to fall down.Somehow with
great difficulty I would manage to continue the lecture by standing before a table,using it as back rest or holding on to it
for support.When I tried to force my mind to sleep, the number of thoughts increased and completely affected my ability
to rest.When my mind was creating unlimited problems for me I thought,'Oh God, Why have you created the human mind?
Have you not made a great  blunder by doing that? You should have left human beings without minds.'

contd.,

Arunachala Siva.       

194

General topics / Why I am Happy?

« on: February 03, 2015, 10:21:22 AM »

This article appeared in Mountain Path, October- December 2014 issue.The author is I.S. Madugula.

*

'...to be happy is natural; all else is unnatural...(Talks No. 633)

*

Happiness is my birthright and nobody is going to take it away from me.

I have no use for happiness engineers, happiness consultants, chief fun officers, or 'fungineering'  departments that
are becoming popular in big business.  You cannot mandate happiness or force someone to smile.

John Stuart Mill's "paradox of hedonism" says, 'Ask yourself if you are happy and you cease to be so.'  So I am not asking
myself if I am happy;  instead, I am analyzing why I am happy, as any rational person might be curious to do as he sees
so much unhappiness around the world.

The ability to be happy is inherent in all of us.  The Dalai Lama says,'The purpose of our lives is to be happy. Referring to
to the easy accessibility of happiness, Einstein says, 'A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else a man need
to be happy?' He means that, since happiness resides within us all the time, why look for it on the outside in all kinds
of possessions?  Even a basic setup is enough.

contd.,

Arunachala Siva.       

195

General topics / Thaip Poosam - 03.02.2015

« on: February 03, 2015, 08:29:39 AM »

Today is Thaip Poosam. The poosam or Pushya star day of the month of Thai, Makara Month.

This day is auspicious for two things.  One is today in all major Muruga temples in Tamizh Nadu,like Tirup param kundram,
Tiruchendur, Pahzani, Swami malai, Tiruttani and Pazham mudhir solai, there will be elaborate pujas including special
abhishekam (oblations) and alankaram (adornment) for Muruga. This will be done in Ratnagiri also in Walaja Taluk,
Tamizh Nadu.  The oblations include with Vibhuti, sandal paste, coconut water, milk, curds and honey.  There will
be adornment of silver dress for Muruga. Many hundreds of people from nearby places visit these temples and obtain
the grace of Muruga.

One another thing is today Ramalinga Swamigal, who was praying to Jyoti,got merged with the Absolute in a place
called Karunguzhi.  There will be puja for the Jyoti seen in a mirror for today. There will also be serving of food  for
all devotees.

Arunachala Siva.