The Cult of the Hill

The below narrative is an abridged extract from “The Cult of the Hill,” by Kenneth Grant. To read more about Kenneth Grant's mystic writings on Arunachala go to this link here.

“Of the outer symbol of Sri Arunachala on earth, Lord Siva says, "Meditate on the fact that in the heart of the Hill surges the spiritual glory, within which the whole world is contained." 

Yet for those who are unable to live within sight of the earthly Arunachala, there need be no regrets, for the Hill itself is but a thought-construction same as any other. If we would grasp the inner significance veiled by the ‘dull’, outer form of its simple contours, we must search within the heart, and establish contact with that regionless bliss, void of all conceptions which the mind is capable of formulating. For Arunachala is the symbol of the void nature of the Self manifesting in so simple a shape as the ‘Hill of the Holy Beacon’. 

And so it is with the ‘Hill of the Holy Beacon’; go near to it in spirit and it is without shape, without colour, without attributes of any kind. It is only distance which lends it the illusory qualities it seems to possess. Really, we impress the void -- It essentially is with the attributes we seem ourselves to possess and then we imagine seeing what is not truly there. Thus it is our attributes we have to slough if we would come close to the sacred symbol and know its real significance, and our everyday life can help us insofar as we regard all things that occur to us in a new light. 

For instance, instead of viewing circumstances and conditions as isolated phenomena occurring to us for no reason at all, we should strive to regard each event as a stone upon the slopes of Arunachala; each trivial repetition of which event constitutes at last that sacred ‘mount of the spirit’ which is our true nature. 

For when Arunachala has been thus truly built into the fabric of our hearts, we shall need to view each separate part no longer as a separate stone of the divine edifice, but as the structure entire in its sublimely simple shape of the ‘holy Hill’. And then, entering into the heart thereof with understanding, we shall know the whole as the embodiment of that spirit of grace and compassion which eternally enlightens our hearts. 

In this way it is possible for the less advanced of us to perform a spiritual discipline while living in the world even though far removed from the outer symbol of divine grace in Tiruvannamalai. 

It is only when we realise that it is we who clothe the formless Arunachala with form, because we view it with the eyes of the body, that we shall begin to search within our hearts for the formless Reality which that form veils.

The underlying Reality shines forth as the pure and perfect void, conceptless and ever blissful. 

As an aid to the realisation of this, it may help the devotee -- if he be remote from the physical sight of the Hill – to create a mental picture thereof and endeavour through such a mandala to pervade the Hill and become one with it. Certain physical supports, such as a mound of actual stones taken from the Hill itself, may further the project and intensify the concentration, and also link the devotee in some subtle manner with the focus of spiritual peace abiding in Tiruvannamalai. 

Yet all this is of no avail if it be not always borne in mind that these accessories are but props for exalting the consciousness to the pitch necessary for contacting the subtle emanations of grace, which spring from the spaceless Arunachala Siva, whose eternal abode is the Heart. For, all takes place in, and is supported by, the void, of which the Hill itself is the perfect and singular symbol.” 

Hidden Secrets of Arunachala

In connection with my previous posting on Kenneth Grant and his metaphysical interpretations of the Hill, in which appeared several quotes by Sri Ramana Maharshi. Below follows an extract taken from ‘Letters of Sri Ramanasramam’ by Suri Nagamma, which gives more information about the Hidden Secrets of Arunachala as revealed by the Maharshi..

“ . . . One of the devotees addressed Bhagavan: “You told us once that you had seen on this Hill temples, gardens and such like. Was that all during the period you were on the Hill?”

Bhagavan: “Yes. That was perhaps when I was in the Virupaksha Cave. I closed my eyes. I felt I was walking on the Hill itself towards the north-east. I saw at one place a nice flower garden, a big temple, a fine compound wall and a big Nandi (a bull, sacred to Siva, carved in stone). There was a strange light. It was extremely pleasant. As I was looking at all these, it was time for Puja (worship). The bell was rung and immediately after that I opened by eyes.”

Devotee: “Bhagavan told us some time back that there was a big cave also.”

Bhagavan: “Yes, yes. That also happened when I was living on the Hill. I was wandering about aimlessly, when I found at one place a big cave. When I entered the cave, I saw a number of waterfalls, beautiful gardens, tanks within those gardens, well-laid paths, fine lighting, everything there was most pleasing.

As I went farther and farther I saw a Siddha Purusha (Realised Sage) seated like Dakshinamurti under a tree on the banks of tank. Around him, a number of Munis (sages) were seated. They were asking something, and he was replying to them. That place appeared to me very familiar. That is all. I opened by eyes.

Subsequently, after some time, when I saw Arunachala Purana in Sanskrit, I found . . . slokas (which described) that cave and that Siddha Purusha, and so I was surprised that what had appeared to me in a trance was to be found in that book. So I wrote their translation in Tamil . . . Its meaning is ‘Though you are in the form of fire, you have kept away the fire and have taken the shape of a Hill, mainly to shower your blessings on people. You are always living here in the form of a Siddha. The cave that appeared to me is in you with all the luxuries of the world.’

“Recently (i.e. c.1949), when the temple in Adi Annamalai was renovated, it was reported that in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, a large tunnel was found, and when people tried to find out its extent they saw that it was extending to the very centre of the Hill. As they could not go in very far, they came back. I therefore thought that that which had occurred to me that which is in the Purana appear to be true, and that the tunnel was the way to the place I had seen.

It is reported that Siddha Purushas come from the cave inside to the temple through the tunnel night after night and go back after worshipping Ishwara. Why so far? Recently something like that was seen even here. I was going on to the Hill as usual when, as I was getting near the steps over there, a big city appeared before me. There were huge buildings of several varieties; well-laid thoroughfares; good lighting; and it appeared to be a great city. At one place, a meeting was being held; Chadwick was with me. He was even saying, ‘Bhagavan, all this is so self-evident. Who will believe if we say this is all a dream!” Everything appeared as if it was actually happening . . . “

Kenneth Grant on Arunachala

Over the last several hundreds of years there have been many fascinating narratives written about Arunachala by devotees of the Hill. But sometimes the most intuitive and compelling narratives are written by those who have never even visited Arunachala.

One such writer was Kenneth Grant. He was born in Ilford, Essex, England on May 23, 1924 and died this year on January 15, 2011. Grant volunteered for the army in 1942 as a young man of 18 years old in the hope that he would be posted to India, where he might find a guru. However a breakdown of his health, saw him discharged from the army within 18 months of his enlistment, and thereafter he was to spend his years and life in the U.K. Where he became a renowned occultist and writer propounding the philosophy of 'Thelema', which was a synthesis of Nietzschean and Buddhist ideas that sought to harness willpower for magical ends. Later Grant proceeded to immerse himself in mysticism and in particular in Advaita Vedanta and wrote essays on such luminaries as Sri Ramana Maharshi, Pagal Haranath, Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, Anandamayi Ma, and Swami Sivananda.

In his work ‘The Magical Revival’ Kenneth Grant writes of Arunachala as one of the global chakras.

“The supreme seat of energy - the Sahasrara Chakra - is not located within the physical body at all, but above the cranial suture, where, figuratively speaking, the Lotus of Infinite Light blooms and bathes with its perfume the subtle anatomy of man. The Sahasrara is the seat of the Atman, the True Self in Man which is known as the Brahman in the Cosmos. It is the Abode of Siva and is represented on earth by the Sacred Hill of Arunachala in South India. This is the cult-centre of the most profoundly spiritual Path now open to humanity, i.e. the Advaita-marg or Path of Non-duality.

Arunachala, the oldest hill in existence is said to date from the Lemurian phase of the earth's history. The Light of Pure Wisdom, Jnana, shines through the Sahasrara. It is broken into a thousand streams by its multitude of petals. The nectar drips perpetually over the subtle bodies and energizes the chakras beneath it, each chakra absorbing and transmuting a little of the Light in accordance with individual spiritual development.

The first two glands to be animated by it are the pineal and the pituitary. The former is located in the middle of the head of the physical body, and its function is to initiate the current of Light in the remaining centres, and to regulate its distribution from the corresponding chakras in the etheric body. The pineal gland is backed by the Ajna Chakra, which once constituted the Third Eye, or Eye of Siva. This is the channel of direct spiritual energy.”








In speaking of the inner light beam of Arunachala, Kenneth Grant states in his book 'Outer Gateways', that:

“Down this column, as down a pathway cut through space by the beams of the full moon, swarm the unearthly siddhas who, while upon earth, reside within the caverns of the hill.’

And that Arunachala, ‘constitutes the most powerful concentration of spiritual energy on this planet.’ ‘The hill represents and conceals some form of gateway to a state of consciousness outside terrestrial conditions.’ ‘Arunachala, therefore, is associated with such concepts as light-siddhas-caves-tunnels-visions (of amazing cities), flower-gardens-temples; and Dakshinamurti, the Guru who confers diksa by Silence. Dakshinamurti means, literally, the formless (amurti) dakshin (south/Set). This pervasive and formless light of Arunachala was congealed into a solid columnic mass or pillar, in aeons-old Lemuria.’

These are mysterious inner plane entities of vastly ancient provenance who can manifest in whatever way they choose. Maharshi said that ‘A number of siddha Purushas live on this mountain. It is perhaps with a desire to see me that they come and go assuming various shapes.’ Strange lights have been seen over Arunachala and have often given the impression of being under some kind of conscious control. When Maharshi died a bright light was seen moving slowly across the sky that then appeared to enter the hill. The Tripurarahasya has a tale of a hill containing an entire universe within it.

‘. . . Dakshinamurti (the Sage associated by tradition with Arunachala) initiates by silence. ‘Silence is the true nature of the Self for it transcends all vibrations and is the type of absolute stillness symbolised by Arunachala-Siva, consciousness unstained by thoughts, which are but subtle vibrations.’