Our Bhagavan-Stories

[Subramanian.R]

Bhagavan Ramana never spoke about in any detail, about sex, since the Self has no sex and Bhagavan saw
everyone as Himself, the Self.  No woman and man differences.  But He took people as they were and
graced them to improve.  David Godman mentions about one such question by a devotee and Bhagavan
Ramana said:  "You can sleep with your voluptuous neighbor, provided you have no sense of doership!"
This answers all the questions.

Once Chinnaswamy drove away a coolie because he was making advances to another voluptuous lady-coolie.
Bhagavan Ramana did not say anything at all about this incident.  Next day, while coming down from the Hill,
He saw a dog vigorously copulating with a bitch.  He asked a devote who was standing beside Him:
"Who is going to drive away these dogs?"

Un kaNNil neer vazhinthal kannamma, en kaNNil udhiram kottuthadee..... Poet Subrahmanya Bharati.
If tears flow down from your eyes, blood flows down from my eyes!  Bhagavan Ramana treated even the
most sinful as worth for improvement and not for punishing.  He has also said:  "I have come here to grace
the people and not to punish them.  If I start punishing erring beings, not even a crow can fly over the Asramam!"


Arunachala Siva.

[Subramanian.R]

Akhilandamma Reminiscences:

In Bhagavan's last days, while I was staying in Desur, I was frequently thinking and worrying about
Sri Bhagavan's health.  I decided that I had to come and see Him because my desire for darshan and
the grief I was feeling on account of His suffering were both great.  When I reached the gates of the
Asrmam, a brahmin, who was not known to me, prevented me from entering. He ordered me to stay
outside.  I was immediately struck with an unbearable grief because at that time my yearning to see
Bhagavan was very great.  Fortunately, by Bhagavan's grace, an inmate of the Asramam who knew me
came to that place and he permitted me inside and also informed Bhagavan that I had arrived.  I
was given permission to have darshan.  I tried to suppress my emotions as I went into Bhagavan's
room, but the feeling that I would soon be losing my one and only God completely destroyed my
self restraint.

I cried out to Him, 'Bhagavan!  Bhagavan had decided to give up the body. What I can I do?'

Is not the boundless Grace of Bhagavan to permit me inside, when thousands were waiting outside?
I bowed to my Lord and came out in a perplexed state of mind.  After I had left the room, Bhagavan
sent me the following message through a devotee:

'Why do you feel sorry, for this mortal body?'

It occurred to me that Bhagavan was consoling me by saying,'Don't feel sorry for this body, I am always
your savior!'

When Bhagavan finally attained Mahasamadhi my mind sank into an unfathomable ocean of grief.
Later, I discovered that Bhagavan's grace and benign presence were still permeating my heart, the
grief I felt on account of His physical disappearance abated.  Now, on my visits, I worship at the Lingam
that has been installed on Bhagavan's Samadhi and attain the same peace.

Arunachala Siva.     

[Subramanian.R]

Suri Nagamma's Reminiscences:-

Around the same time, in 1946, a young lady from Andhra Pradesh came and stayed here for a while.  She
could speak Hindi fluently, had a fine voice, and could sing melodiously. As several people were singing
songs about Bhagavan, she also felt greatly moved and began singing devotional Telugu songs composed
by reputed Andhra elders and pandits.  Whenever the name of Rama was used in those songs she substituted
the name of Ramana. As the songs were all pregnant with meaning, and she was an accomplished singer,
everyone felt happy.  Bhagavan however did not fail to notice that the word Ramana was being substituted
for Rama. I too noticed it. But she was singing with great devotion and I kept quiet.

When asked she said that she herself had written songs and devotees asked her to write down the songs
for translation into English.  She showed the songs to Bhagavan and requested Him to get them translated.
Bhagavan did not say anything, but merely gave them to Munagala Venkataramaiah who happened to
be there at that time. He agreed to complete the task.

As Venkataramaiah had been in Tamizh Nadu for a long time, his knowledge of Telugu was  limited.
He was therefore asking Bhagavan for the meaning of some words, when one of the attendants suggested
to him to take the help of Nagamma.  Accordingly Venkataramaiah asked me, if I could clarify meanings of
some of the words.  I agreed but asked him whether he was sure they were written about Bhagavan.

He said, "I am going into these only because I was told that they are written about Bhagavan.'  Then I told
him that those devotional songs in fact were written about Rama long ago by some elders and also by
Yedla Ramadoss and not by the lady.

He then went told Bhagavan. Bhagavan said,'Is that so?  When I noticed the language of the songs and
the great ideas behind them, I thought that they must have been composed by some ancient scholars.
What does it matter? Will you carry on the translation?' All kept quiet.

Arunachala Siva,.               

[Subramanian.R]

Kunju Swami Reminiscences:-

When Seshadri Swami fell ill and looked as though he was going to die, Veerappa Chettiar wanted to
build a Samadhi shrine for him.  He came and asked Sri Bhagavan about the rules to be followed in its
construction. Sri Bhagavan took out Tirumular's Tirumandiram and asked someone to copy out the relevant
verses and give them to Chettiar.  Using this account, Chettiar constructed the Samadhi on the land adjoining
Sri Ramansramam, completing it in 20 days. On the day after he completed it (14th January 1929), Sri Seshadri
Swami, who wanted to give up his body, attained Mahasamadhi. Sri Bhagavan was invited to attend the Samadhi
ceremony by Veerappa Chettiar and a few other devotees. He obliged them by attending and staying till it was over.
After participating in the Samadhi function of His mother in 1922, this was the only similar function that Sri
Bhagavan attended.

Arunachala Siva.     

[Subramanian.R]

Kunju Swami Reminiscences:-

An Andhra gentleman called Sankarananda, who was employed in the Postal Department, used to stand in water
and do Japa for hours at a time.  While doing this Japa he would often go into laya samadhi and be unable to
perform any work. He took some days off from his job and came for Sri Bhagava's darshan, but whenever he
sat in the Hall, he used to go into a state of laya.

Seeing this, Sri Bhagavan said, 'Laya, an unconscious mental stupor, vikshepa, diversity, and kashaya, latent
impurities are the three obstacles to Jnana.  The practices of sravana, manana, and nididhyasana and contemplation
have been created to prevent one from being caught in laya.  Do not allow him (Sankarananda) to remain sitting
in one place. Make him walk around to stop him falling into laya.  Engage him in conversation about self inquiry.
If you do all these things he will be cured of his problem.'

As a result of our following these instructions, Sankarananda's laya state changed and became a follower of the
path of self inquiry.             

Arunachala Siva.

[Subramanian.R]

Sri  Bhagavan Ramana showed thrift or even"miserliness" in a noble and instructive way.  He used to take out
the tooth-powder that is kept in paper pack and and used for the day.  Whenever, He found the tooth-
powder to be in excess, He used to keep it refolded into the packet and used it for the next day.

He used to take less than a spoon of oil before bath, rubbed it on His head and also throughout His body and
then go for bath. Kunju Swami wondered:  How can that little oil spread out to the head and whole body?

Once Bhagavan Ramana was seen in the kitchen store, picking up, every seed of mustard that had carelessly
been dropped on the floor, cleaned it with His towel and then placed them in the tin kept for that purpose!
He did the same thing with rice grains when supplies were downloaded from a lorry in gunny bags,
(I think during one of the Jayanti celebrations),  and a few rice grains had fallen from the holes in the
gunny bags. He told Viswantatha Swami, who was wondering at this strenuous act of picking rice grains: 
"Do not think I am miserly.  These are all Arunachala's property.  I am supposed to protect every bit of them!"

Arunachala Siva.

[Subramanian.R]

1. Initially some scheduled time should be allotted for self inquiry.  Preferably in the early morning or at night,
when the world around is quiet.  This scheduled time should be increased.

2. In due course, it becomes uninterrupted throughout the day, even during work and in work-stations in office.

There are many conversations in "Talks" and "Day By Day" and "Letters from Sri Ramanasramam" and
"The Maharshi's Gospel", covering these aspects.

3.  He has told Annamalai Swami (vide Sri Ramana Ninaivugal - Tamizh by Annamalai Swami) once:
 "Opening the eyes and doing self inquiry or meditation is better in the beginning.  Closing the
eyes would create rush of unwanted thoughts in larger measure. It is like throwing a ball at a wall, standing
very close to that wall. The ball will rebound with higher speed to hit you.  If you throw a ball at a wall from a
distance, the rebounding ball will not come speedily."

Arunachala Siva.

[Subramanian.R]

Kunju Swami's Reminiscences:-

A visit to the Asramam by Satchidananda Yogeeswara of Cudapa, a man who 'went into' and 'out of'
samadhi, gave us an opportunity to explain the real nature of Sahaja Samadhi.  The swami, a famous
hatha yogi, was touring the whole of India, staying in all the important ashrams for three days and giving
discourses.  During his tour he also came to Tiruvannamalai.  He visited the Asramam, conversed with
Sri Bhagavan for some time, and then returned to where he was staying in the town.  Since those who
had accompanied him invited us to come and listen to his discourse, I and a devotee called Palanimalai
Swami, who was a knowledgeable  man, went to attend the meeting with Sri Bhagavan's permission.

When we arrived we were told by one of his followers, 'Swami is in samadhi. He will come out of it at a
specific time and only after that will the discourse start.'

Then he asked us, 'At what times is your Bhagavan in samadhi?'

Hearing this, Palanimalai Swami could not suppress a burst of laughter, though he tried unsuccessfully
to change it into an 'Is that so?' The disciple of the yogi asked us for the reason for his laughter.

I replied, 'There is no schedule for Jnanis.. They do not go into samadhi or come out of it at specific times.
Because he knows this he had to laugh when he heard of you speak about entering and leaving samadhi.'

Then,  to make my meaning more clear, I added, 'Sri Bhagavan is always in sahaja nishta.'

After staying there for sometime and listening to his discourse, we returned to the Asramam.  As usual,
Sri Bhagavan inquired about what had taken place at the meeting.                       

When I told Him what had happened, He said with a smile, 'People are under the impression, that the state
of samadhi is something limited by times and places. They think that sitting still in one place for hours
together,without any movement and with the eyes closed, alone is samadhi.  What to do?'

There is a verse in Jnana Vasishtham about samadhi:

Those who do not have perfect peace will not get established in samadhi, even if they sit in padmasana
with their hands in special positions.  Only Self Knowledge, which is a fire for straws of desires, is superb
samadhi.

Sri Bhagavan has Himself said the same thing, in Verse 31 of Ulladu Narpadu (Anubandham),

Arunachala Siva.       

[Subramanian.R]

Suri Nagamma's Reminiscences:-

After the incident of that Andhra devotee, who copied some old songs of an ancient Telugu scholar, and
sang before Sri Bhagavan substituting the word 'Rama' to 'Ramana', one day Sri Bhagavan told the devotees
in the Hall, 'Perumal Swami did nearly the same thing some time back.  When I came down the Hill to reside
here, he used to bring something to eat from the town early in the afternoons.  One day,he wrote a verse on
a piece of paper and brought it to me. When I asked him if he himself had written it he said, 'Yes'.  On reading
it I found it really good.  At that time, Muruganar used to look after all the writing work and so I asked him
to copy the verse in the notebook.  He too liked the verse. Four days later, Perumal Swami brought another
verse. When everyone praised it he was overjoyed and so began bringing one fresh verse every four days.
If he delayed it I used to ask him, 'Have you not written again?'  He would say 'No' and then bring another
verse after a few days.  We received nine verses like that.  When he brought the tenth verse I felt that I
had seen such verses somewhere else and so asked Muruganar to bring a copy of Tiruvarutpa of Ramalinga
Swami.  I opened and saw the verses in Rama Padigam except that wherever the word 'Rama' occurred,
'Ramana' was substituted and a few changes were made here and there.  I showed the whole thing to Muruganar.  He thereupon stopped copying and mentioned it to all the people in the Hall, who laughed. Poor chap! Perumal Swami
sat in a corner humiliated. What else he could do? When people come here they feel like writing or singing
something. Poets write something of their own; others just copy the writings of someone else and substitute
Ramana for Rama. What is wrong in it?  The words Rama and Ramana are one and the same.'


Arunachala Siva.   

[Subramanian.R]

Lucy Cornelssen, a German devotee came to Bhagavan Ramana sometime in 1940s.  She became the
permanent resident of the Asramam, right up to her leaving the body a few decades later. Her illustrious
daughter is with the Asramam now.  When I met the daughter once in the Asramam, I and my wife met her in
the dining hall one evening after Parayanam. We could not get her name properly.

Lucy Cornelssen or affectionately called as Lucy Ma merged with Bhagavan Ramana after a few decades of her
stay in the Presence. She is the author of a slim book titled "Hunting the 'I' which was first published in 1979,
duly assisted by Prof. K. Swaminathan and Viswanatha Swami.  Her Liberation Day falls on 31st December 2009.

*

We have to use our control of that biologically acting mechanism - the brain.  We do it more or less automatically
during the waking state.  .... Somebody might tell you something.  You not only hear it but you are listening
attentively to grasp that meaning.  If you are not interested, you register the news to your memory...or not...
and go on with your task.  You have perceived the event, but it has not made an impression on you, has not
altered your quiet state of consciousness.  You cut it short after the second stage.

This attitude of aloofness, of detachment has to be kept and practiced as often as possible throughout the
day. Because the moment you are perceiving something and re-acting on it, being interested or emotionally
involved, positively or negatively, you have covered up the silent, neutral, pure, witnessing "I" by the reactive
aggressive, personal 'I'.

Accordingly the sadhana of hunting the "I" includes the practice of attention to our own perceiving, with the
purpose of cutting it short, just before the stage of reacting sets in.  In practising this kind of detachment the
seeker will soon get to a state of Pure Awareness, which is no longer 'perceiving'.

To 'perceiving' in the customary meaning of the term belongs 'grasping' i.e reacting. It has an object and is an
act within time and space.  Pure Awareness has no object and is beyond time and space.  It is the highest
wakefulness without all the other characteristics of the waking state.

This one means to carry over the absolute Silence of deep sleep into the absolute, the Pure Awareness of the
waking state.  Sri Ramana Maharshi named it the sleepless sleep, the wakeful sleep or sleep-waking.   

(From Hunting the I - Lucy Cornelssen, Sri Ramanasramam.)

Arunachala Siva.

[Subramanian.R]

On 17th February 1937, Mrs. Jinarasadasa asked Bhagavan Ramana:

Mrs. J:  But how did the ego arise?

Bhagavan:  Ego is non-existent, otherwise you would be two instead of one -  you the ego and you the Self.
You are a single, indivisible, whole.  Inquire into yourself and the apparent ego and ignorance will disappear.

Mrs. J:  Why then do we need to concentrate?

Bhagavan: Concentration, meditation and all spiritual practices are not performed with the object of realizing
the Self, because the Self is ever-present, but of realizing the non-existence of ignorance.  Every man admits
his own existence and does not need a mirror to prove it to him.  Existence is Awareness, which is the negation
of ignorance.  Then why does a man suffer?  Because he imagines himself to be other than what he is in reality is,
 e.g., the body, this, that and the other -- "I am Gopal, son of Parashuram, father of Natesan," etc., In reality he
is the intelligent "I-am" alone, stripped of qualities and super-impositions, of names and forms.  Does he see his body
and all these qualities, shapes and colours in dreamless deep sleep?  Yet he does not deny that he is then himself
existing even wtihout a body.  He must hold on to that existence, that lone being - Kaivalya - even when he is
in the waking state. The man of wisdom simply is.  "I-am-That-I-am" sums up the whole Truth.  The method is
summed up by "Be still and know that I am God."  What does stillness mean?  Cessation of thinking, which is the
universe of forms, colors, qualities, time, space, all concepts and precepts whatever.

****

A visitor asked:

"If the ego or "I" be an illusion who then casts off the illusion?

Bhagavan:  The "I" casts off the illusion of "I" and yet remains as "I".  This appears to be a paradox to you.  It is
not so to the Jnani.  Take the case of the bhakta (devotee).  His "I" prays to the Lord to unite it with Him, which is
its surrender.  What remains as residuum after the surrender, is the eternal "I", which is God the Absolute,
Paramatman Himself.  What has happened to the "I" which originally prayed?  Being unreal it simply vanished!

(Source:  Guru Ramana, S.S. Cohen.)

Arunachala Siva.

[Subramanian.R]

Suri Nagamma Reminiscences:-

In January 1947, there was a review of Tiruchuzhi Puranam in a journal called Thyagi.  Towards the end there
were three verses with commentary.  I wanted to read them and understand the meaning. So I begged Bhagavan
to write them in Telugu as venbas.  In answer to my request He wrote Ekatma Panchakam.  At first, He had
expressed His unwillingness saying, 'Your people would say there were mistakes which must be corrected. So
why should I write?' I assured Him that I would not permit any corrections saying that the words of a Rishi
should not be altered.  After a good deal of persuasion, Bhagavan completed the verses in February that year.

When I showed them to some Telugu friends here, they said some alterations would have to be made to conform
to the rules of versification but I did not agree. Instead, I sent them to Velury Sivarama Sastri who is a highly
reputed poet telling him about the objections of my friends.  In his reply, he said categorically, 'The words
of a Rishi are the Vedas themselves.  They should not be altered or corrected. The chandas which regulate
versification should be altered or a new meter should be framed.  It cannot be the other way round.  There
is no questions of mistakes or corrections. Not only that, the verses have been written in accordance with Tamizh
rules of versification and not Telugu. It is better to request Bhagavan to write out the rules governing the chandas
in Telugu while not altering what He has already written.'  Although I showed the letter to my friends they
were still not satisfied. Instead, they approached Bhagavan saying, 'An alteration is required here; the word had
better be changed. This is not conventional' and the like. Bhagavan merely said, 'Yes. Do as you like.' When
I went in the evening, Bhagavan told me 'Look, you asked me to write in Telugu and now your people say it
should be corrected.  That is why I decline to write anything.'  I was very upset.  Feeling it was no use to
argue anymore with my friends, I approached Bhagavan and asked Him when there were only a few people
around and asked Him what to do under the circumstances.  As if to test me, Bhagavan said, 'What does it
matter to you if the corrections are made?' 'I cannot agree to it', I replied, 'I have no one to support me and
so Bhagavan Himself must favor me by seeing to it that there are no corrections.'  Bhagavan remained silent.
They sent the corrected verses to the press for printing. When the proofs were received, Chinta Dikshitulu,
G.V. Subbaramayya, and other Andhras who were themselves reputed authors of books, happened to visit
the Asramam. I do not remember why but that day I happened to remain at home.  Bhagavan passed on the
proofs to those present and said, 'They felt corrections were necessary and so sent them to the press duly
corrected. Nagamma says they should not be corrected.  The proofs have now been received. It is for you
to decide as you please.' They unanimously decided that what Bhagavan had written should not be altered,
saw the original written by Him, restored His version in the proofs and returned them to the press. At last
in accordance with my desire, and with Bhagavan's blessings, the printing was done without any alterations.

Arunachala Siva.

[Subramanian.R]

Kunju Swami Reminiscences:-

In 1932, after spending about twelve years in personal attendance on Sri Bhagavan, I began to feel an urge
to devote myself entirely to Sadhana. I wanted to spend all my time alone. However, I could not easily
reconcile myself to the idea of giving up my personal services to Sri Bhagavan.  I had been debating the
matter for some days, when the answer came in a strange way.  As I entered the Hall one day, I heard Sri
Bhagavan explain to others who were there that real service to Him did not mean attending to His physical
needs, it meant following the essence of His teachings. That is, concentrating on realizing the Self.  Needless
to say, that automatically cleared my doubts.

I had heard Sri Bhagavan speak like this before.  Once I had heard Him say, 'It is no use saying to oneself,
'I am doing personal service to Sri Bhagavan; I am dusting His bed; I have served Him for so many years.'
In addition to serving the Guru physically, it is also important to follow the path shown by the Guru.  The
best service to Guru is engaging in Vichara, Dhyana and other practices with a purity of body, speech and mind.'

When Sri Bhagavan spoke like this, He would often point out verse 87 of Kaivalyam, Part I, in which the disciple
asks Guru how he can repay Him for grace he has received. The Guru is to remain fixed in the Self without
being caught by the thee kinds of obstacles that obstruct it. Hearing Sri Bhagavan speak like this made me
resolve to find a new attendant so that I could devote  myself full time meditation.

While I was in this frame of mind, I paid a visit to Palanimalai Swami, a devotee of Sri Bhagavan who had
started an Ashram in a village in Kerala. During my stay there, one man called Madhavan asked me to arrange
for his stay in Tiruvannamalai to serve Sri Bhagavan in the Asramam.  I asked Madhavan to come to Tiruvannamalai.

When Madhavan came, I spent an entire week telling him how to be Sri Bhagavan's personal attendant.
 
In the Asramam, when Sri Bhagavan was alone, I approached Him and asked for His permission to give up
the attendant's job and live in Palakottu in meditation and Vichara.

He said, with a smile, 'It is enough if the mind is kept one pointedly on Vichara, Dhyana and Japa without
seeking anything else.' I left with feeling that I had received full blessings of Sri Bhagavan.       

Arunachala Siva.                   

[Subramanian.R]

Mr. C. asks if the Jnani has dreams. (Date of this entry is not known).

Bhagavan:  Yes. He does dream.  But he knows it to be a dream, in the same way as he knows the waking
state to be a dream.  You may call them dream No. 1 and dream No. 2  The Jnani being ever established in
the 4th state - Turiya, the Supreme Reality - he witnesses with detachment, the three other states - waking,
dreaming and dreamless deep sleep -- as pictures superimposed on it.

Mr. C. then asks about desires. "Does a Jnani have sankalpas (desires)?"

Bhagavan:  The main qualities of the ordinary mind are tamas and rajas (sloth and excitement). Hence it is full
of egoistic desires and weaknesses.  But the Jnani's mind is Suddha-Sattva (pure harmony) and formless,
functioning in the subtle vijnananamayakosa, (the sheath of knowledge), through which he keeps contact with
the world.  His desires are therefore also sattvic.

(on the same day)

A visitor asks Sri Maharshi whether desire does not destroy Jnana.

Bhagavan:  The desires of a Jnani are external to him like other objects and cannot taint him.

Visitor:  The Puranas say that Jnanis warred against Jnanis.  How is it that?

Bhagavan:  Yes. Sri Krishna fought against Bhishma.  The Jnanis view all as Brahman, yet they fight!


Arunachala Siva.

[Subramanian.R]

On 15th July 1936. Mr. C. reads the Sad Darsanam of Bhagavan Ramana to himself in the Old Hall.
Verse 30 fascinates. (Ulladu Narpadu verse beginning, "nan yar ena manam un naadi uLa nannave....).
He reads it aloud and says:  "From this I understand that the Quest must start with the mind and not the
Heart, but Sri Bhagavan always speaks of the Heart, perhaps as the last stage in the practice."

Bhagavan:  Quite so.  It has to begin with the mind turned inward to oppose the rushing thoughts and
to understand the location of the "I".  When the mind eventually sinks in the Heart, undisturbed bliss is
overwhelmingly felt.  There is then feeling which is not divorced from pure awareness, i.e. head and heart
become one and the same.

Mr. C:  In Verse 266 of Vivekachoodamani, Sri Sankara says that Brahman can be realized by buddhi,
the intellect, the subtle intellect, which means that the intellect can be of great help, in fact, is indispensable
for Realization.

Bhagavan:  The word buddhi is rightly translated as the subtle intellect, but here it means the Cave
of the Heart.  Nevertheless the subtle intellect can also realize Brahman and is therefore of the
utmost importance.  (Bhagavan here reads aloud the Vers 266 of Vivekachoodamani).

"In the cave of the buddhi (subtle intellect) there is the Brahman, distinct from gross and subtle, the
Existence Absolute, Supreme, the One without a second.  For one who lives in this Cave as Brahman,
O Beloved, there is no more entrance into a woman's womb."

(Source:  Guru Ramana, S.S. Cohen.)

Arunachala Siva.