VIRUPAKSHA DEVA

Virupaksha Deva was a great Jnani. When his death was imminent the disciples were discussing amongst 

themselves what should be done in regard to burial, as the custom was not to bury anyone on the Hill. 

Virupaksha Deva himself said :Let us wait for one more day. The next day when the disciples came to the 

cave they found a mound of vibhuthi in the shape of Vriupaksha Deva in a seated position. The disciples 

made the vibhuthi into a lump and left it there. It was only when Bhagawan came that he himself constructed 

a platform and the vibhuthi was made into a shape of Lingam and installed on the on the top.

 

VIRUPAKSHA DEVA ADHISTANAM 

 

OUTSIDE VIRUPAKSHA CAVE 

A Devotee's Reminiscences

Hneri Hartung (1921-1988), a Swiss, ran a Ramana Centre in Swiss for many years. His French translation of Ulladu Narpadu went into several editions. Influenced by Frech philosopher Rene Guenon, he authored analogies of interim between Guenon and Ramana Maharishi.

" I came to Bhagawan in 1947. the long path to the Ashram became for me the royal road to the discovery of oneself. I had learnt of  Bhagawan as an authentic representative of the traditional wisdom. 

In Bombay I met a Brahmin who told me without astonishment as if it were an item of everydayness and even before greeting me  --" I was waiting for you , I have to escort you to Maharishi". Two days and two nights of train travel followed, while adoring the Indian landscape and especially the noisy and colourful scenes, which occurred during the stops. I tried to asses myself. Finally I found some ten questions that remained essential for me, the meaning of my presence on earth ,what happens after death, why? how? etc. I reached the Ashram. During the next ten days I shared the ritual life of the ashram, sitting for hours in front of Sri Ramana in the meditation hall. On the day of departure pre-sue answers to all my questions were given to me, without my asking them. Sometimes through few words written y Himself, sometimes through sheer domestic chores, especially in the kitchen, most b  silence. All this being rally subtle transmission as an exceptional spiritual reality Till his last day, the Maharishi will make it possible for his visitors from the next town or from remote place on foot and penniless or in luxurious cars , to see him, even talk to them.they come to bow in front of the living incarnation of the divine reality in human form. He was those amongst us , without ever showing any sort of ambition or particle of pride.

A smile of love and peace and the look which I feel while writing these lines can never be described in words. Thirty years after the first meeting  I am once again at Thiruvannamalai with my wife. A pilgrimage , which goes to the depths of my soul as it did 30 years ago. The Maharishi life seems as a concrete reference to our personal growth. He was the last link of chain of wise and holy men whose origin is beyond time and whose influence gives a meaning to our life, a harmony to our behaviour and peace to our hearts

SRI RAMANAYA NAMAHA

Mind and Spiritual progress

BHAGAWAN :

Mind binds man, and the same mind liberates him. Mind is constituted of sankalpa and vikalpa -desire and disposition. Desire shapes and governs disposition. Desire is of two kinds -the noble and the base. The base desires are lust and greed. Noble desires direct us towards enlightenment and emancipation. Base desires contaminate and cloud the understanding. Sadhana is easy for the aspirant who is endowed with noble desires. Calmness is the basis of spiritual progress. Plunge the purified mind into the Heart. Thenthe work is over. This is the essence of all spiritual discipline!

God's Grace and More Conversations.

Once a devotee sought Bhagavans' blessings on the ground that all his efforts to abide at the source of the mind had proved futile.

When Bhagavan asked, "What is the obstruction?".

He answered " It is my deep-rooted tendencies. I need your grace"

Bhagawan replied "Your repeated effort is bound to erase them. All sadhana is meant for this purpose only." He further observed, "Keep up your practice. There is no need to remind God about his business which is to keep an eye always on our welfare. The mistake one is prone to make is to abandon effort under the mistaken impression that God's grace is absent. But one should not slacken, for God's grace is bound to operate at the ripe time".

A devotee who was an advocate had a limited clientèle and wanted to shift his practice to another place in expectation of better luck. He sought Bhagavans's opinion about it.

Bhagawan replied softly " Is that so? why don't you consult an astrologer about it?".

Another devotee complained " I am unable to have peace of mind. I am planning to go to the Himalayas in search of it".

Bhagawan said " You travelled 250 miles from Madhurai and come here. how much mental quietness have you got? Multiply it by the distance from here to the Himalayas to measure the happiness you would get by going there".

TEACHINGS OF BHAGAWAN

In the centre of the Hear-Cave there shines alone the one Brahman as the 'I-I', the Atman. Reach the Heart by diving deep in quest of the Self, or by controlling the mind with the breath, and stay established in Atman.
                                                          v.8 Reality in Forty Verses, Supplement

Though Bhagawan taught for the most part through silence, he did instruct through speech also and that too with clarity, directness and simplicity, without in the least baffling the minds of the listeners.

The teachings of Bhagawan are intensely practical. He expounded theory only in answer to the specific needs and questions of devotees and as a necessary basis for practise. He would often refuse to gratify curiosity, turning the questioner's attention to himself, to enquire into the reality of his own existence.

The direct path of Atma Vichara (Self Enquiry) eliminates the preconditions usually equated with the traditional Jnana Marga ( path of knowledge), since it goes straight in to the root of all problems, the mind.

Only after the rise of the mind, everything else rises; enquiring into its nature, that is, enquiring from where the mind emerges, the mind dissolves into the Self.It is thus a new and integral path that Bhagawan has opened to those who turn to him.Adapted to the conditions of our age, the path of enquiry can be followed in city or household no less than in forest or Ashram.

SELF ENQUIRY

Self Enquiry is really possible only through intense introversion of the mind. What is finally realised, as a result of such enquiry into the source of Aham vritti ( 'I'- thought) is verily the Heart as the undifferentiated light of Pure Consciousness into which the reflected light of the mind is completely absorbed.

As each thought arises one must be watchful and ask: to whom is the thought occurring? the answer will be To me .If you enquire Who am  I? the mind will return to the source from whence it issued. The thought which arose will also submerge.

PRACTICE 

Abhyasa consists in withdrawal within Self every time you are disturbed by thought. It is not concentration or destruction of mind by withdrawal into the Self.

You can never find mind through the mind.Pass beyond it in order to find that it is non-existent.

GRACE 

The Guru is both within and without. So he creates conditions to drive you inward and prepares the interior to drag you to the centre. Thus he gives a push from outside and exerts pull from within sot hat you may be fixed at the centre. This is the Grace of the Guru.

Grace is both beginning and the end. Introversion is due to Grace. Perseverance is Grace, Realisation is Grace.

SURRENDER 

What Bhaktha calls surrender , the man who does vichara calls Jnana. Both are trying to take the ego back to the Source from which it spring and make it merge there.

We will know in due course that our glory lies where we cease to exist. In order to gain that state, one should surrender oneself saying LORD! Thou art my Refuge!

NAMO BHAGAWATHE SRI RAMANAYA 

God's Grace

These are verses from Sivaprakasam Pillai's poetry

" You have taught me that though we may plan corers of things , nothing fructifies without God's Grace and that therefore the best devotee is he who does not plan anything.And yet I have not taken your teaching firmly to heart or controlled my mind"

"I do not follow the supreme path which you, my rare Guru, have taught. I do not give up my attachments to the world. You have made me mentally aware of the truth that I am not this perishable body.But you have not vouchsafed me practical realisation of the truth. A kind master should control and save his slave and not abandon him in disgust as an incorrigible brute."

"If you continue thus, leaving poor me to go my ways, how am I  to be saved? Weakling that I am , I will not correct myself, and you , my Lord and master will not correct me. Have I any help except you in this life or the next? Tell me, what exactly do you intend to do with me? Is this right of you, my Guru?"

These stanzas suit all devotees of Bhagavan and only thing we  can do is complete surrender to Bhagavan's Feet.