MIRACLES - Katya Osborne - Mountain Path, Deepam 2003

[Subramanian.R]

Once upon a time and long, long ago, there lived a great Sage and teacher. In those days, esoteric knowledge was not openly
available to all, instead one had to find a teacher who was willing and able to impart his knowledge and apprentice oneself to him.

Such a man was the sage of this story and he would take only three pupils at a time, for ten year periods. The lucky three came to
him with offerings of fruit and flowers and then their instructions would begin.

Ten years passed and the students were told that their  education was completed and they would leave. They came in turn to
receive his blessing, and after again offering fruit and flowers the first acolyte asked for the master's approval and permission
to out in the world and take up the work he had learned.

'And what have you learned?' the master asked.

'Revered One,' answered the student, 'I have learned to conjure gold and precious jewels out of the air. I have learned to make
myself invisible. I have learned to transport my body to any place, that my mind can imagine.'

'Are you content ?' asked the sage.

'Oh yes, great one' answered the student.

'Then go with my blessing.'

The next student came along with his gifts. The question put to him by the sage was the same and the answer was nearly the
same, except that he had also learned to transform his appearance so that he could resemble any deity.

'And are you content?' asked the sage.

'Oh more than content, great one.'

'Then go with my blessing.'

The third student presented himself and he too had learned all the knowledge that the other two had acquired.

'Are you content?' asked the sage.

The student stood with his head bowed but did not reply.

'What troubles you? asked the sage.

'I have learned all these tricks,' answered the student, 'but what has that to do with spiritual wisdom?'

The sage said smiled at him. 'Come with me,' he said. 'You, I  will teach.'

This story was told to me many years ago, and growing up in and around Bhagavan, I felt that it reflected the flavor of His attitude
towards life and miracles. Everything was so low key that one could never be sure if He had interfered or not. He was never dramatic
or flamboyant. A nod or smile was the most one could hope for. And yet, ..... we all .... including the children, knew without question that He could do anything at all, anything He wanted. And even at that very young age, we knew that He never wanted. And yet people
came and beseeched Him for favors and boons. I suspect that many times people got their wish but in such a personal and private way
that no one else was aware of it. Perhaps even they were unsure whether Bhagavan helped them or not.  But most peoples' faith
in Bhagavan remained unshaken in spite of His personal trade mark which was.... everything was low key and quiet. Nothing
ostentatious. Ever.

continued.....

Arunachala Siva.               
     

[Subramanian.R]

continues........

A bullock cart driver came one day when I was sitting in the Hall. It was monsoon time and it poured. This had been going on
for days and it was expected to continue.  His problem was that his wife had died and he had to complete her cremation
ceremony by that afternoon. He was a very poor man and could not afford a cremation under cover. He explained all this
to Sri Bhagavan who looked out of the window and said in the manner of any one of us:

'It may clear up later on."

That was enough for the man. He went off and made all the arrangements and of course, sure enough, it did clear up that afternoon
long enough for the cremation to take place and then it poured again!

This was so typical of the way Sri Bhagavan did things. One could never be really sure that He had done anything at all.

The most spectacular thing I ever heard of during all the years, even taking into account the way that some stories grow in
content and how exaggerated many of the tales become over the years, happened at the bhiksha given on year at Jayanti.
All the food was prepared  for a thousand people but someone had forgotten to order fruit and there was none. Flushed and
worried, the man in charge came to Sri Bhagavan and explained his dilemma and that he was in deep trouble over his negligence.
Bhagavan did not say a world, but He listened.  The man got back and reported to the Sarvadhikari in the office and he was
just in time to hear a phone call from the railway station master of Tiruvannamalai saying that they had a large consignment
of ornges on the station platform. The sender's name was lost, in fact the paper work was lost altogether but it was assumed that they
were for the Asramam so would someone please come and get them. As I recollect, there was no ooing and ahing.  In fact, no one
was duly surprised. Someone had asked Bhagavan for help and received it.... in His inimitable style.  Low key and on one could
actually point a finger and say, wow, a miracle!  It was just a parcel without an address!  These things happen!

Everyone who lived in or around the Asramam back then had a story, but infected as we were by the spirit of Bhagavan, most of us
kept stories very private. Life was always ostensibly undramatic for all of us.

continued.....

Arunachala Siva.
           

[Subramanian.R]

continues.....

My own unforgettable memory happened when I was still about ten years old. a lady from Delhi came to the Asramam. In those
days, all foreigners were sent to our house as my parents spoke several languages, and could understand a number of travelers.
Also in those days, whether a person came from New York, New Zealand, or New Delhi , they were foreigners. This particular lady
told us her story which I thought was unutterably tragic. She had married against her parents' wishes, but she married for love
and the first days of her marriage were blissfully happy. They went to the seaside for their honeymoon and she sat on he sand
while her husband went for a swim. She actually saw him being caught by a shark and killed in front of her. Since then she was
a nervous wreck. She then started a trek around all the Asramams and the holy men of India. Why? She wanted to know. How had
they harmed anyone and why should they be visited by such a terrible punishment? The point came when she could not listen to
any more ambiguous anodyne answers, so she had written  her questions down and her list went with her whenever she came to a
new holy man. No man was going to fob her off anymore. If there was an explanation she wanted to hear it, and if not why not.
What I recollect most about this lady was that she was so tense and nervous that it was a strain to be in her company. I was not an
especially sensitive child, but sitting in the same room as her was excruciatingly uncomfortable. I started to escape but my mother got me.

"Take her to the Hall', she instructed to me. I had things to do I told her, but my mother said, 'Go'.

I went.

When we got to the Asramam I pointed to the Hall where Sri Bhagavan was sitting and then took myself off, to read my book in a
mango tree.   

I heard the bell for lunch and dragging my feet I went to fetch the lady home for food,  Never in my life, neither, before nor in all
the years, have I noticed such a change in anyone, and in such a short time. The lady was relaxed and at peace.

contd.,

Arunachala Siva.               

[Subramanian.R]

continues.....

I trailed behind her on the way back, too shy to ask her what Sri Bhagavan had said but aching to know. What oh why hadn't
I stayed in the Hall with her.  Whatever words were that Bhagavan had spoken, they must surely be the most important in the
world. I wanted to know them for posterity.  The rest of my life could be transformed by the words I had not heard. However
I knew that my mother would ask her so I stuck around like glue in order to hear the magic formula.

My mother of course noticed the difference immediately. One could not miss it. She asked the all important question. What had
Sri Bhagavan told her?

'Nothing', the lady replied. She had sat there all prepared, with her list at the ready, then Sri Bhagavan looked at her.  He just
looked at her, full of understanding and compassion, and she suddenly lost interest in her crusade. It did not matter any more.
She had found the peace she craved.

Nothing could be more miraculous than what happened to that lady, and nothing more typical of Sri Bhagavan. He did not say
a word. 

Sri Bhagavan's touch was always exquisitely light but sure. He would hint but never be obvious, whether He was performing a
'miracle' or letting a person know what was best for them to do. And yet a hint from Him should never be ignored,.  If He takes the
trouble to make us aware, well then, we disregard it at our peril.

contd.,

Arunachala Siva. 
               

[Subramanian.R]

continues......

When I was about 9 years old I fought with my mother on a daily basis on the business of brushing my hair. She wanted to.
I didn't.  The whole business became a major battle which reached crisis point. Left to its own devices, my hair resembled a haystack.
One had to look at my feet which I was facing!  One day my mother ran me down near the cowshed where Sri Bhagavan was sitting
and talking to Lakshmi, the Cow. She semi jokingly complained to Sri Bhagavan about my recalcitrant attitude and so I ran away
again. Later, in the dining hall, Sri Bhagavan looked at me and made a comic face as He put up both hands to show a huge map
of hair. It was funny and I laughed with everyone else. It seemed as though making a serious fuss about one's hair was not really
worthwhile, there were more important things to deal with in life.

I did not comb my hair however.

When I came home from school for holidays that year, the issue of hair had evaporated, but the picture of Sri Bhagavan
teasing me in the dining hall remained.  I always knew that nothing of Sri Bhagavan did was without significance and it was brought
home to me that in His gesture there was a message.

Bhagavan is watching over us, and He may make suggestions however obliquely, even possibly as a comedy, but He is doing it for
a purpose and perhaps one gets older His subtle guidance becomes increasingly important.

contd.,

Arunachala Siva.   

[Subramanian.R]

continues......

It probably does not hurt as much to learn one's lessons when they are relatively trivial, one is young and they are only
as painful as dragging a comb through a tangled hair, whereas making a dram over something essentially unimportant
can be destructive...even self destructive. Also it is often only a disguise for the glorification of the ego. There is a definite
feeling that  Sri Bhagavan's infinite compassion spills over onto us all our lives and He can admonish us out of pure love.
Sometimes the lessons are painful, but only He knows how much more excruciatingly agonizing our lives could be  if we
proceeded without the benefit of His help, or if we ignored it out of ignorance or hubris.

It is hard to accept that  pain and grief and sickness are possibly a great kindness when viewed overall.

My brother, who played at Sri Bhagavan's feet as a baby, who spoke to Him daily as a child, and who loved Him as a figure of wonder,
suffered many years later from Organic Brain Syndrome. Towards the end of his life, he could neither walk nor talk nor understand,
and yet when he died there was an amazing feeling of peace and fulfillment.  He had completed his tasks and endured all the
vicissitudes that had accrued to him, and he had it in a compacted record time. It was hard for him to live through, but in His
compassionate way Sri Bhagavan arranged things so that Adam hardly knew what was going on. Now it is over. I believe that
he never needs to come back to attend to unfinished business.

contd.,

Arunachala Siva.       

[Subramanian.R]

continues.....

When Adam's condition started to deteriorate badly, we found it very hard to move him from place to place. He was a big man,
6.3" tall and well built. I sat in the Hall one day, in front of Sri Bhagavan's picture and explained this to Him. I told Him that we
really needed some help please. A young lad came to ask for work. He said he wold like to help after my brother. Suresh, is just 5'1".
His hobby is weight lifting and he could lift the big, heavy man as though he were a baby!

This happened only a few years ago, but it really does not matter whether  one speaks to Sri Bhagavan today or many years ago
when He had a body we could see and relate to. No ego means no fizz and flash. No handle to attach to an event so that it can shineout and glitter.  SRI BHAGAVAN WAS / IS, MORE THAN A GREAT GURU. He is a Jnani and He hears us all the time whether we want Him  to or whether we do not. He Himself has said that if we take one step towards our goal then  the guru will take the other nine.
Learning to put our whole faith and trust in Him, is a possible step. Believing that He does not abandon us, but stays with us to teach
us what we need to learn, albeit sometimes in a painful way, is hard but rewarding. At this point trust is difficult but necessary in order
to understand what it is that we need to be taught. Everyone has their own inner dialogue with Sri Bhagavan and their own personal
route map of where they are going.

Coming to Him at all is the first place in our step.

concluded.

Arunachala Siva.               

[swayam]

Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

Thanks much sir for sharing.Pretty moving reminiscences.

It is hard to accept that  pain and grief and sickness are possibly a great kindness when viewed overall.

So true

SRI BHAGAVAN WAS / IS, MORE THAN A GREAT GURU. He is a Jnani and He hears us all the time whether we want Him  to or whether we do not. He Himself has said that if we take one step towards our goal then  the guru will take the other nine.
Learning to put our whole faith and trust in Him, is a possible step. Believing that He does not abandon us, but stays with us to teach
us what we need to learn, albeit sometimes in a painful way, is hard but rewarding. At this point trust is difficult but necessary in order
to understand what it is that we need to be taught. Everyone has their own inner dialogue with Sri Bhagavan and their own personal
route map of where they are going.

Coming to Him at all is the first place in our step.

Om Namo Bhagvate Sri Ramanaya

[Parthasarathi]

Namaste from a new member, and many thanks for sharing this!

Somehow, just now looking at devotees' accounts of their experiences with Maharshi, I found several references to Katya Osborne & her brother, Adam.  Adam Osborne is, I think not nearly as well known in India as his sister.  I wanted to share this link to Adam Osborne's obituary from the New York Times, March 26, 2003, which gives some details of his quite remarkable career, and also mentions his growing up in the ashram:
http://the-wanderling.com/osborne.html

PS:  Just after posting this, I found this more detailed account of his career & life after the ashram days:
http://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/science/rpn/biblio/ddj/Website/articles/DDJ/2003/0307/0307h/0307h.htm

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Partha,

Thanks.  In spite of the parent couple being with Sri Bhagavan so closely for several years, their son Adam could not avoid
motor-neuron disease.  It is clear that Prarabdha has to be borne with unless you are a Brahma Jnani.  It was Arthur's
prarabdha to survive the concentration camp and come to India safe. Of course, Sri Bhagavan's Grace was also there.
In the case of Adam though Sri Bhagavan would have wished to cure him, but could not do so, because he had to bear
with the prarabdha.  If he had been cured by Sri Bhagavan, then he would have to bear with the prarabdha effects in his
next birth.  Perhaps Sri Bhagavan thought: Let him bear it in this birth itself and free from continuation of this disease or
some other disease in his next birth.'

Arunachala Siva.

[Parthasarathi]

Thank you again sir