Devotion to the Guru

In the previous post I talked about a personal experience with Swami Satchidananda, a great saint with strong ties to Arunachala. In the below narrative Swami writes very beautifully about the power of devotion to the Guru. 

My Masters and Yogiji 

“Coming to Anandashram in January 1949 was like returning home, my real home. From the next day of my arrival at the Ashram, I kept myself busy serving the Masters Swami Ramdas (Beloved Papa) and Mother Krishnabai (Pujya Mataji) in every possible way. In a very short time I became one with the Ashram. They taught me that Sadhana was not merely sitting still in meditation with closed eyes, but also living a normal life with constant God-remembrance and doing all acts dedicating them to Him, thus making every movement of the Sadhaka an act or worship. Gradually I understood that, they being everything and beyond, serving them meant serving everybody else also. I found in Beloved Papa and Mataji my divine parents and in all the Ashramites and visitors my brothers and sisters. I found real peace and joy in life, the like of which I had never enjoyed till then. 

I came to them absolutely raw and shapeless like a lump of clay. I surrendered to them. They graciously took me in hand, pressed, crushed and moulded me to give shape to make me their instrument to serve all. Beloved Papa also gave me a lot of opportunities to move with his spiritual children who came to him as serious seekers and later became Mahatmas like Yogi Ramsuratkumarji Maharaj. How from an apparently possessive and obstinate nature, the Yogiji who took initiation from Beloved Papa, rose to the height of the Divine child of Arunachala is something for all the ardent Sadhakas to emulate. Not caring for even the basic requirements of the body, he threw himself totally at the feet of his Master whom he always addresses as 'my father'. lt is rare to see such intense vairagya. 

For nearly four decades, while he continued to deny himself of any of the normal needs, he became a source of solace and protection for innumerable devotees, more so in Tamil Nadu. His surrender to his Guru was total. He always used to say, "My father alone exists. Nothing else, Nobody else'. Even after dropping his body, the Yogiji continues to inspire many in the path of devotion. I still remember the touching reference he made at the time of our meeting at the guest-house of Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai after a long gap of four decades. Answering somebody whether he was waiting for a few hours, he said not hours but for forty years. 

To meet saints is a blessing. To be with them is a greater blessing. To be given a chance to serve them is a great privilege.” 

[Swami Satchidananda]

Swami Satchidananda and the Question

Throughout my life I have been a tennis aficionado; in my youth I used to play the game regularly but now that I am older and more sedate, I have become an “armchair” enthusiast. So when Wimbledon, the pre-eminent Tennis Tournament, comes along, I enjoy keeping up-to-date with what’s happening. And it is also during the time of each years' Wimbledon that I am reminded of a delightful experience that happened in 1985. 

In that year I was fortunate enough to be able to spend two months at Anandashram, Kanhangad, Kerala. Many devotees of Arunachala know of this beautiful ashram and of its long, loving links with the Hill. During my stay there I spent time with Mother Krishnabai and Swami Satchidananda and thereafter over the years occasionally wrote to Swamiji with spiritual questions. Even though he was probably inundated with duties, he always found the time to write lovingly and at length in response to my questions. Because of Yogi Ramsuratkumar’s link with his Guru; Swami Ramdas and Anandashram, Swami Satchidananda was invited as revered guest to inaugurate the opening of Yogi Ramsuratkumar’s ashram at Tiruvannamalai. Sadly on October 12th, 2008, Swami Satchidananda cast of his physical body in which he had served humanity for over sixty years. 

Swami Satchidananda

As to that delightful experience that occurred in July, 1985 it goes something like this:- 

As Anandashram was quiet and with very few visitors, I was able to spend most of the day and evenings with Mother Krishnabai in her room. When there was darshan, a procession of devotees would come briefly to Mother (who was sitting on her cot), to speak privately and ask for her blessings. At other times a small number of pilgrims would sit at Mother’s feet while she sat on her cot and we would all chant mantras with her. Less frequently I would have the opportunity to sit in Mother’s room, silent and for all intent and purpose quite invisible. 

One evening very late, was such an occasion. Mother Krishnabai was sitting on her cot and only she and I, were in the room. It was a beautiful evening, cool and silent with just a faint noise of crickets coming from the lush gardens outside. The door opened and Swami Satchidananda entered. He moved to Mother’s cot and started talking with her in Malayalam. As they talked their eyes sparkled with intelligence and merriment and their faces shone liked burnished gold. As I sat there, like the proverbial “fly on the wall,” I was taken up by the other worldly beauty of the moment. The room seemed to be expanding and contracting, and the bodies of the two saints appeared to be shimmering in golden effulgence. Their conversation went on for a long time and I just sat there revelling in the experience of watching these two great Masters interacting on Mount Olympus. It was an extraordinary moment. Afterwards I wondered to myself, “What could they have been talking about?” How could it have been anything but the most profound. Maybe they were discussing some great spiritual conundrum that night. My mind was busy with possibilities!

The next day, when meeting Swami Satchidananda, I enquired, “Swamiji, please don’t misunderstand my reason for asking, but last night when you visited Mother Krishnabai in her room, you probably didn’t notice me but I was there and it seemed to me that some extraordinary conversation was occurring between the two of you. Will you please tell me what it was you were you talking about?” 

Swami Satchidananda paused recollecting the moment, and then burst out laughing. “Oh no! It was not like that, it was nothing earth shattering. Yesterday evening I visited Mother to tell her that I had been listening to the World Service radio coverage of Wimbledon tennis, and that a 17 year old German boy, Boris Becker, had just won the Men’s Championship.” 

Like Sri Sathya Sai Baba would often say, “Spiritual Life—no pressure, only pleasure.” Thank you Swami Satchidananda for a wonderful experience to always remember you by.

Spiritual Questions

Twelve questions were asked of sixteen different Indian spiritual teachers (the majority of whom are still alive) that cover the main issues that arise on a spiritual seeker’s journey to awakening. A sample of videos of the questions and answers of these teachers are available at this link here.

Many of the spiritual teachers come from the tradition of Vedanta, a metaphysical Indian philosophy derived from the Upanishads, and from Advaita Vedanta, a non-dual school of Vedanta philosophy, whose chief spokesman was Adi Shankara, teaching the Oneness of God, soul and the universe.

Most of the teachers are connected with Arunachala, either spending time here or in fact having Ashrams as this place; and the dialogues are based on the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

To sample one of these taped dialogues watch the now deceased Sri Satchiananda respond to the question:

“It has been suggested that the mind must be destroyed for liberation to occur. Do you have a mind? How to destroy the mind?” go to this link here.

In 1985 I was fortunate enough to be able to spend two months at Anandashram, Kanhangad, Kerala. Many devotees of Arunachala know of this beautiful ashram and of its long, loving links with the Hill. During my stay there I spent time with Mother Krishnabai and Swami Satchidananda and thereafter over the years occasionally wrote to Swamiji with spiritual questions. Even though he probably didn’t remember me, he always wrote lovingly and at length in response to my queries. Because of the link with Anandashram and Swami Ramdas, it was Swami Satchidananda who inaugurated the ashram of Yogi Ramsuratkumar at Tiruvannamalai.

To read an earlier posting about Swami Satchidananda go to my earlier posting at this link here.

The World

When Sri Ramana was asked, ‘When will the realisation of the Self be gained?’ he replied, ‘When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realisation of the Self, which is the seer.’ What is the true understanding of the world? How to remove the world?

To watch the video of Swami Satchidananda's reply click on this link here.

Swami Satchidananda

In 1985 I was fortunate enough to be able to spend two months at Anandashram, Kanhangad, Kerala. Many devotees of Arunachala know of this beautiful ashram and of its long, loving links with the Hill. During my stay there I spent time with Mother Krishnabai and Swami Satchidananda and thereafter over the years occasionally wrote to Swamiji with spiritual questions. Even though he probably didn’t remember me, he always wrote lovingly and at length in response to my queries. Because of the link with Anandashram and Swami Ramdas, it was Swami Satchidananda who inaugurated the ashram of Yogi Ramsuratkumar at Tiruvannamalai.

On October 12th, 2008, Swami Satchidananda cast of his physical body in which he had served humanity for over sixty years. The below narrative is by way of a commemoration of this great soul’s life of service.

My Masters and Yogiji

“Coming to Anandashram in January 1949 was like returning home, my real home. From the next day of my arrival at the Ashram, I kept myself busy serving the Masters Swami Ramdas (Beloved Papa) and Mother Krishnabai (Pujya Mataji) in every possible way. In a very short time I became one with the Ashram. They taught me that Sadhana was not merely sitting still in meditation with closed eyes, but also living a normal life with constant God-remembrance and doing all acts dedicating them to Him, thus making every movement of the Sadhaka an act or worship. Gradually I understood that, they being everything and beyond, serving them meant serving everybody else also. I found in Beloved Papa and Mataji my divine parents and in all the Ashramites and visitors my brothers and sisters. I found real peace and joy in life, the like of which I had never enjoyed till then.

I came to them absolutely raw and shapeless like a lump of clay. I surrendered to them. They graciously took me in hand, pressed, crushed and moulded me to give shape to make me their instrument to serve all. Beloved Papa also gave me a lot of opportunities to move with his spiritual children who came to him as serious seekers and later became Mahatmas like Yogi Ramsuratkumarji Maharaj. How from an apparently possessive and obstinate nature, the Yogiji who took initiation from Beloved Papa, rose to the height of the Divine child of Arunachala is something for all the ardent Sadhakas to emulate. Not caring for even the basic requirements of the body, he threw himself totally at the feet of his Master whom he always addresses as 'my father'. lt is rare to see such intense vairagya. For nearly tour decades, while he continued to deny himself of any of the normal needs, he became a source of solace and protection for innumerable devotees, more so in Tamil Nadu. His surrender to his Guru was total. He always used to say, "My father alone exists. Nothing else, Nobody else'. Even after dropping his body, the Yogiji continues to inspire many in the path of devotion. I still remember the touching reference he made at the time of our meeting at the guest-house of Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai after a long gap of four decades. Answering somebody whether he was waiting for a few hours, he said not hours but for forty years.

To meet saints is a blessing. To be with them is a greater blessing. To be given a chance to serve them is a great privilege.”

[Swami Satchidananda]