Full Moon Pradakshina

. . . It is not an ordinary hill. It is spirituality Itself. It has a powerful, magnetic pull to the Self. Seekers who come to this place with the intention of realizing the Self will have untold benefits to do pradakshina on a full moon.

In the proximity of this holy hill the presence of the Self is more powerful and more self-evident than anywhere else. Indian mythology speaks of a wish-fulfilling tree. If you find this tree and tell it what you want, your wish will be granted. Arunachala also has this reputation. This is why so many people come here on a full moon night and walk around it. But very few people come here and ask for their complete freedom, for undisturbed peace.

Arunachala is a light. It shines whether or not you believe in it. It is the light of the Self, and the light of the Self will continue to shine on you whether you believe it or not.

Arunachala is greater than all other religious places. There are other holy, powerful places in the world, but none have the power of Arunachala . . . There is a huge amount of shakti, or spiritual energy, here.

[Annamalai Swami]

What is Arunachala?

"Can you possibly understand how someone can love this Mountain? It is Shiva Himself embodied here. This is a holy spot – not all the town and its people and temples – but Arunachala itself. I am bound to the mountain. I don't think you understand how potent this energy is. I don't think you understand that my faith is not in a guru or a teacher or a path, but in Arunachala Himself. It is He my heart communes with, it is He who takes all my burdens. He is alive and all powerful; His Presence imbues the whole earth and air of this place. You can hold it in your hand like honey. He breathes you in and breathes Himself back into you. It is tangible, concrete, solid. I tell you, forget philosophy – He lifts my heart and bestows such peace and beauty, my soul is imprinted with His grace. This is not a mountain of mere, inanimate rock. You would have to come and taste for yourself. But who could describe this, you have to feel for yourself.

Transformation occurs, but it is hidden. It is a mystery. You wake up one day, and that which tormented you your whole life has softened, that which obsessed you your whole life is a whisper, a shadow. The mind can't touch it, and there is not even any interest in calculating, comparing, labelling. It is like camphor, you can see wisps of smoke and smell the wonderful odour, but you cannot grab it and put it into a box. Grace is free and flows as a mystery. I know nothing. I know nothing about any 'process'. All I know is what rises up from the depth of my being – and that no words or thought can define……...

Such a mystery this Silence of the Hill, such a mystery."

[An American lady]

The Frog Prince

For the first hundred years at the bottom of the well, the frog prince rehearsed his memoir. It went like this: He was born into a sweet life of silks and pastries. The one day this humpbacked hag of a peasant came to plead her case before the king. What did she want? Something trivial. When the hag didn't get what she wanted, she cursed the king's eldest son. Him. The hero of the story. The poor prince had done nothing to deserve this wretched fate, cast down into the lowest, dampest, darkest place in the kingdom, with the kiss from a princess his only hope of becoming human again.

Waiting for the princess to transform him, he had plenty of time to think. And just to be. His days went back like this. Breathe in. Breathe out. Day after year after decade, no princess came to the well.

In time he ceased to repeat his story and only sat with his eyes at the waterline. Breathe in. Breathe out. It was enough to be a frog, to eat what crawled at the bottom of the well. To breathe in. To breathe out. To think of youth, and old age and suffering.

But when the golden ball splashed into the water in front of him and the princess began to weep at the lip of the well, her sobbing touched his heart. He knew that returning her treasure would be a small gesture. She would lose many more things in life, and seldom any as easy to recover as a golden ball. He knew, too, that even if she did kiss him, he would be only a prince. When he emerged from the well, she would be repulsed by him at first, then adore him, and perhaps be repulsed by him again years from now. And he by her, perhaps.

Breathe in. Breathe out. He was content, and he might have remained a frog forever. But the story is still told to this day because he took the golden ball in his mouth and climbed toward the light and the weeping.

[Bruce Rogers]

Planetary Acupuncture

When you reach the immediate area of your pilgrimage place make the conscious effort to approach with the focussed intention that you are going to plug an electrical appliance into a wall socket. This metaphor is very helpful to embody; it actually predisposes you to a more intense connection with the sacred site. Be there with a free and open mind. Maybe you will wander around first and then meditate or maybe it will be the other way around. Maybe you will take a nap or pray or play. There are no rules. Simply let the spirit of the place and your own being come into come into relationship and then let go to however that flows.

The energy transference at the power place goes both ways; earth to human and human to earth. The wondrously magical living earth gives us tiny human beings subtle infusions of high octane soul food and as pilgrims we give the earth a sort of planetary acupuncture in return. True, the power places were mostly discovered in old times but they are still vital today, still charged and emanating a potent field of transformational energy. Open yourself to this power. Let it touch you and teach you while the planet is in turn graced by your own love.

[By Martin Gray - Sacred Sites]

Self is what you are

Self is what you are.
You are That Fathomlessness
in which experience and concepts appear.
Self is the Moment that has no coming or going.
It is the Heart, Atman, Emptiness.
It shines to Itself, by Itself, in Itself.

Self is what gives breath to Life.
You need not search for It, It is Here.
You are That through which you would search.
You are what you are looking for!
And That is All it is.


'If you hear the call to Arunachala, you must go! It is the most silent place on the planet.'


Without Love, nothing will happen. If you can’t love your Self, you can’t love anyone else. The result of this will be suffering. Love they Self and you will have loved every being. Learn to know how to love your Self. Love your Self. Always love your Self and this Self will love you more and more. Take just one step toward the Self and the Self will take two steps toward you.

[H.W.L. Poonja]

Saka Dawa

The month of Saka Dawa (May 25-June 22, 2009) is the most sacred in the Tibetan calendar. It is said that it is said in the sutras, that all virtuous actions undertaken during this month are multiplied many millions of times. The full-moon day of this month is celebrated as the day of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and parinirvana.


A big celebration takes place in Tarboche, on the south-west plain adjacent to Mt Kailash. This is a very good time to go on pilgrimage to all holy places.

Buddha's Enlightenment

[Thanks to William Forbes]

The Bull 'Delightful'

Once upon a time, an Enlightened Being was born as a calf. Since he was well bred for strength, he was bought by a high class rich man. He became very fond of the gentle animal, and called him 'Delightful'. He took good care of him and fed him only the best.


When Delightful grew up into a big fine strong bull, he thought, "I was brought up by this generous man. He gave me such good food and constant care, even though sometimes there were difficulties. Now I am a big grown up bull and there is no other bull who can pull as heavy a load as I can. Therefore, I would like to use my strength to give something in return to my master." So he said to the man, "Sir, please find some wealthy merchant who is proud of having many strong bulls. Challenge him by saying that your bull can pull one hundred heavily loaded bullock carts." Following his advice, the high class rich man went to such a merchant and struck up a conversation. After a while, he brought up the idea of who had the strongest bull in the city.

The merchant said, "Many have bulls, but no one has any as strong as mine." The rich man said, "Sir, I have a bull who can pull one-hundred heavily loaded bullock carts." "No, friend, how can there be such a bull? That is unbelievable!" said the merchant. The other replied, "I do have such a bull, and I am willing to make a bet." The merchant said, "I will bet a thousand gold coins that your bull cannot pull a hundred loaded bullock carts." So the bet was made and they agreed on a date and time for the challenge. The merchant attached together one-hundred big bullock carts. He filled them with sand and gravel to make them very heavy.


The high class rich man fed the finest rice to the bull called Delightful. He bathed him and decorated him and hung a beautiful garland of flowers around his neck. Then he harnessed him to the first cart and climbed up onto it. Being so high class, he could not resist the urge to make himself seem very important. So he cracked a whip in the air, and yelled at the faithful bull, "Pull, you dumb animal! I command you to pull, you big dummy!" The bull called Delightful thought, "This challenge was my idea! I have never done anything bad to my master, and yet he insults me with such hard and harsh words!" So he remained in his place and refused to pull the carts. The merchant laughed and demanded his winnings from the bet. The high class rich man had to pay him the one-thousand gold coins. He returned home and sat down, saddened by his lost bet, and embarrassed by the blow to his pride.


The bull called Delightful grazed peacefully on his way home. When he arrived, he saw his master sadly lying on his side. He asked. "Sir, why are you lying there like that? Are you sleeping? You look sad." The man said, "I lost a thousand gold coins because of you. With such a loss, how could I sleep?" The bull replied, "Sir, you called me 'dummy'. You even cracked a whip in the air over my head. In all my life, did I ever break anything, step on anything, make a mess in the wrong place, or behave like a 'dummy' in any way?" He answered, "No, my pet." The bull called Delightful said, "Then sir, why did you call me 'dumb animal', and insult me even in the presence of others? The fault is yours. I have done nothing wrong. But since I feel sorry for you, go again to the merchant and make the same bet for two-thousand gold coins. And remember to use only the respectful words I deserve so well."


Then the high class rich man went back to the merchant and made the bet for two-thousand gold coins. The merchant thought it would be easy money. Again he set up the one-hundred heavily loaded bullock carts. Again the rich man fed and bathed the bull, and hung a garland of flowers around his neck. When all was ready, the rich man touched Delightful's forehead with a lotus blossom, having given up the whip. Thinking of him as fondly as if he were his own child, he said. "My son, please do me the honor of pulling these one-hundred bullock carts." Lo and behold, the wonderful bull pulled with all his might and dragged the heavy carts, until the last one stood in the place of the first.


The merchant, with his mouth hanging open in disbelief, had to pay the two-thousand gold coins. The onlookers were so impressed that they honored the bull called Delightful with gifts. But even more important to the high class rich man than his winnings, was his valuable lesson in humility and respect.


The moral is: Harsh words bring no reward. Respectful words bring honour to all.

Arunachala Water

"Arunachala is the place of the confluence of all holy waters of the world. The Devatas said that the phenomena of rain waters and all water currents on earth lose their identity by vanishing into the fiery elements – as per the cycles of creation and destruction are commensurate with what happens at the time of deluge when the water belt is engulfed by the fiery belt. The Devatas further submitted to Arunachaleswarar, that from the fiery part in him, water was produced as an element in the structure of the Universe. The same water endowed with wonderful qualities was responsible for the creation of matter and the world."

[From: Aurora of Arunachala]

Blueprints for Awakening

The recently published book ‘Blueprints for Awakening,’ compiled by Premananda comprises dialogues with Indian Masters on the Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

The Masters are: Ajja, Ramesh Balsekar, Brahmam, Sw. Dayananda, Ganesan, D.B. Gangolli, Kiran, Sri Nannagaru, Sw. Pramananda, Radha Ma, Samdarshi, Sw. Satchidananda, Ma Souris, Swami Suddhananda, Thuli Baba

The questions relate to the major topics which one meets on the spiritual journey: Awakening, Self-enquiry, the nature of the mind and the world, guru and devotion. For details about purchasing this book, go to this link here.

Excerpt from the book part of interview with Radha Ma:


Question: It has been suggested that the mind must be destroyed for liberation to occur. Do you have a mind?

Radha Ma: No, no. The mind is illusion. The mind does not exist anymore. I don't know what mind is.

Question: You say that you don't have mind; if you got in a car then you could drive the car, right? When you worked as a tax officer you could work with computers and with figures and calculations, right? So for doing those kinds of things you need a mind.

Radha Ma: Sure, also I have a point of view to answer all these questions and I should have a dictionary in my mind to speak all these words, right? But it comes spontaneously from consciousness, from my inner being. It's not through the mind. Mind always manipulates, judges; nothing of this happens here. Before I answer a question I don't have to think whether I am right or wrong, nothing like that. That is the problem with the mind. The mind always calculates and manipulates, but when something comes from spontaneity - the mind never existed here. I don't know whether I am right or wrong from your point of view, I don't care about it either. There is no judgement, nothing. It just happens.

Question: When you say you don't have a mind, do you mean that you don't have the memories, experiences, worries, conditionings and knowledge that society and teachers gave you? Are you saying that you have a mind in the sense you can do things when you need to, to operate your body?

Radha Ma: Yes, that has been taken care of, but there have also been so many days that I have lived without food. I am beyond the physical and beyond the mental, the mind cannot be here now. All these emotions and attachments are transcended. I don't want to say that I am different; the moment I say that I don't have mind I feel I am different from you. It feels ugly to say it, but it is true.

Question: Could you say, 'I am not attached to my mind'?

Radha Ma: No, there is no mind at all to be attached to! Attachment is a different thing. I don't have a mind at all, it does not exist, it's an illusion. And once you cut off that illusion, where does it come from? There is no mind at all. It is just an illusion.

Question: Are you telling me that since you were very young you never really had a mind? You never really lived in your thoughts?

Radha Ma: No. No thoughts. I don't know how to explain it more than that. I didn't have words to explain those stages. I was what I was. Maybe what I was when I was a child and what I am today are the same. There is no difference in me, I am the same. So what you say about the mind is relative. I don't find that the world or mind exist for me, but as the body is in the world, you think I am in the world. And because I talk, you think that I have mind too. Apparently it looks like that, but it is not.

Question: When you worked in the tax office it looked like you had a mind to do these complicated calculations.

Radha Ma: Nothing of the sort. It is being taken care of. In fact I didn't study much about these things. I didn't even study computers. The moment I wanted to learn about computers I went to a hardware training institute. My lecturers objected. They told me, 'You are a tax consultant and don't have any electronics background so we can't teach you. You need some electronics background.'

But after a few days it was as if I knew the subject best in the class. I was even correcting the master; I told him that he was wrong in so many things. He was really shocked and he thought that I had learned it somewhere else and that I was there teasing him. (both laugh) This really happened, I am not joking! Actually they thought that I had learned it somewhere else and was coming to class to annoy these people, but I was not. The moment I had made the decision to learn it, the knowledge came to me.

Then I found that there is no need for me to learn anything. Whether in this world or another world there is no need to learn. Everything is already available. When you use a computer you use a server. I am a client, so I receive whatever record is being sent by the server - that's what happens. The ultimate takes care of that. I don't have anything of my own, just a monitor is enough. So whatever the server sends, the client receives it, that's it! I need not have a CPU (central processing unit) of my own.

Question: When Western people come with their minds, their sufferings, their worries, tensions and fears, can you understand immediately that this is an illusion, that this is not true? What do you say to them?

Radha Ma: Whether a person is Western or Indian, all suffering and pain are illusions. You are dreaming and you believe that you are having a nightmare; you dream that a tiger is chasing you, but it is an illusionary tiger and illusionary fear too. Any suffering, whether it is Western or Indian or whatever, is like that; all suffering is illusion. You imagine you suffer, that's it. There is no suffering really. Everything is perfect in you.

Everything is exactly as it should be! Yes, it is perfect. I can say that you are dreaming. I can say it one hundred and one times but still you dream and still you are frightened of the tiger; you can't help it, because it is perfect and it should be like that.

You yourself will wake up from the dream one day and see that all those times you were chased and frightened by an imaginary tiger! But everything is perfect. It is perfect for you to be afraid now. It is perfect for you to have the nightmare now. We can't say that it is wrong, it is perfect.

Question: Are you saying that you accept whatever comes, whether it be happy or unhappy, sad, angry or blissful?

Radha Ma: Mind is illusion, so why are you bothered if mind is angry or not, or whether it is jealous or suspicious? The mind itself is illusory, so why should you be bothered by this negative quality of the mind? Everything is perfect. Mind is like this. Mind can be angry or peaceful, mind can be happy or unhappy. But it is illusion. How to say something is good or something is bad in the illusion? This illusion is illusion, it is still illusion, and it is perfect whatever comes.

Question: What do you say to somebody that comes to you? You tell them that it is an illusion, but still they are suffering and they come every day to see you with this pain. The pain is there from something which they believe so strongly that they can't just throw it away. What do you say to them?

Radha Ma: I say the same thing to them: it is all perfect! You suffered, it's perfect. You trusted, it's perfect. So many people seek in the world and then come back. They say, 'We have meditated for ten years and we didn't get it,' and they are frustrated. And this frustration is perfect. I can say that your seeking is a waste, but this is not real for you. My knowledge and my Truth is not real for you, it is not your Truth; you have to find out your own Truth.

So I say this, 'What you are seeking is stupidity, there is no enlightenment,' but still your mind can't accept that. You meditate for one week and there is no enlightenment, so the mind says 'Why should I meditate?' So you stop meditating and then next week the mind comes back and says, 'What you are doing is rubbish. You have to sit and meditate.'

That's what the mind says, so you follow the mind. It is that which is going to give you the happiness, not me! My Truth is mine and your Truth is yours and until you find out the Truth for yourself you have to walk on the path.

Suppose you start off from home and I say that this is your home and that you need not travel anywhere; you can't accept this, you have to travel, you have to get fed up and be frustrated and come back to the same place and realise that this is the home from where you actually started. It's perfect. You have to find out for yourself. It is the mind, that is what the mind is.

Visiting the Vegetable Market

Until a couple of weeks ago when I hopped on a local bus on its way into Ramana Nagaru, I hadn't travelled on a bus for a long time. What an adventure! Unfortunately as the bus was packed, and I was halfway down the aisle standing with my arms tightly wedged by my side, wasn't able to reach my camera to take snaps of the fun and merriment of all the great things happening inside the bus.


As the adventure was still fresh in my mind, I took the below photographs of buses plying in Ramana Nagar (a couple of hundred yards from Ramana Ashram). The amount of traffic on the road is the usual amount, but its not the traffic that is the main feature - its the NOISE.

Travelling on Indian Roads is an almost hallucinatory potion of sound, spectacle and experience. It is frequently heart-rending, sometimes hilarious, mostly exhilarating, always unforgettable and, when you are on the roads, extremely dangerous.


These 12 rules of the Indian road are published for the first time in English AND PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A SATIRE NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!: To read the rules, go to this link here.

I was on my way to the Vegetable Market off Thiruvoodal Street - which is a great place for haggling over excellent, fresh vegetables.

In the background, barely visible over the roof tops is Arunachala. Very nice too.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

A simple man, Nisargadatta Maharaj, was a householder and petty shopkeeper in Bombay where he lived, and died in 1981 at the age of 84. Hundreds of diverse seekers traveled the globe and sought him out in his unpretentious home to hear him. To all of them he gave hope that "beyond the real experience is not the mind, but the self, the light in which everything appears...the awareness in which everything happens."

"Nisargadatta Maharaj is my greatest teacher. His words guide my writing, speaking, and all of my relationships. The singular pursuit of the awakened person is to find that part of himself or herself that cannot be destroyed by death. I know of no one who can aid you more on that journey than Nisargadatta Maharaj.

[Dr. Wayne Dyer]

Excerpt from a fascinating interview with David Godman with the sage entitled, Remembering Nisargadatta Maharaj. To read the full interview, go to this link here.


Question: What was Maharaj's attitude to Ramana Maharshi and his teachings? Did you ever discuss Bhagavan's teachings with him?

Answer: He had enormous respect for both his attainment and his teachings. He once told me that one of the few regrets of his life was that he never met him in person. He did come to the ashram in the early 1960s with a group of his Marathi devotees. They were all on a South Indian pilgrimage tour and Ramanasramam was one of the places he visited.

With regard to the teachings he once told me, 'I agree with everything that Ramana Maharshi said, with the exception of this business of the heart-centre being on the right side of the chest. I have never had that experience myself.'

I have to mention Ganesan's visit here. V. Ganesan is the grandnephew of Ramana Maharshi and in the 1970s he was the de facto manager of Ramanasramam. Nowadays, his elder brother Sundaram is in charge. Ganesan came to visit Maharaj for the first time in the late 1970s. As soon as he arrived Maharaj stood up and began to collect cushions. He made a big pile of them and made Ganesan sit on top of the heap. Then, much to everyone's amazement, Maharaj cleared a space on the floor and did a full-length prostration to him.

When he stood up, he told Ganesan, 'I never had a chance to prostrate to your great-uncle Ramana Maharshi, so I am prostrating to you instead. This is my prostration to him.'

Give Yourself Up To The Mountain

The below narrative by John Button entitled, ‘Give yourself up to the Mountain,’ is a short, fascinating history of the origins of the current reforestation programme at Arunachala and its surrounds.

John Button, an Australian, has been working with Permaculture for over twenty five years, first in Australia, and for the last fifteen years in India, South East Asia, continental Europe and the Canary Islands.

He has worked in the role of designer, implementer, teacher, consultant and project co-ordinator, in climates zones including dry tropics, rainforest sub-tropics, Mediterranean, temperate and alpine. He has broad, practical experience, having built several houses, planted many gardens and orchards, and many thousands of trees. He is an active campaigner for environmental and social justice.

To check out John Buttons current work and view remarkable ‘before’ and ‘after’ photographs of his projects, click on to his website at this link here.

John Button




“Give yourself up to the mountain!”

“That was the last bit of advice I needed, having just arrived (1989) in Tiruvannamalai to help initiate a project to reforest the sacred mountain Arunachala. I was, after all, there to do something very specific. Planting trees to make a forest on a little mountain that was little more than rocks and stubbles of grass. A tall order to be sure, and lots of work. I wasn’t there to sit around contemplating my navel, or to indulge in philosophy, much less esoteric ramblings.

Still, from the moment I arrived, it was hard to ignore another piece of wisdom offered by a woman with long experience in project work around the world. She had advised me to write myself a letter about what I thought I would do on this project, the inspirations and perspectives that I would put into practise.

“When you have written your list of intentions”, she suggested, “Put it in an envelope and seal it up. Then, don’t open it for at least three months after you arrive!”

I had complied, written and sealed my letter, and from the moment I saw the distinct profile of Arunachala emerging in the distance through the bus window, I was strongly aware of the list and the brilliance of her advise. Preconceptions and expectations are always fraught with potential for disappointment and delusion.

The project had been initiated by Apeetha Arunagiri, a fellow Australian who had lived in Tiruvannamalai for many years. Apeetha is a wonderful artist, but with little experience of green work beyond the potted plants on her terrace apartment near the Ashram. However she passionately believed that Siva-Arunachala was in desperate need of being clothed in green, and to be protected from the brutality of the annual burning which reduced almost the entire mountain to rock and ash. With this in mind, she had written a letter to a small organisation of radical rainforest activists in Lismore, Australia; the Rainforest Information Centre.

In her very poetic letter, Apeetha had explained that while she realised that RIC was involved with saving rainforests and that the barren landscape of Arunachala was very far from being rainforest, surely if such a region was not furnished with trees, then the chances of saving any rainforests still existing in India or elsewhere, would be remote indeed. With this in mind, she had formed a tiny organisation, the Annamalai Reforestation Society (ARS).

While at first her project seemed too far outside the limited ambit of RIC to consider, the poesy of her words and verity of their wisdom took root. It was in the context of a Deep Ecology workshop conducted on my land by one of the founders of RIC, John Seed, that my own involvement began. The weekend was almost unbelievably wet, with more than 60cms of rain falling in two days. Still the region is home to vast sub-tropical rainforests, so rain was hardly a rarity.

I had first met John during demonstrations to save those forests from the chainsaws of the logging industry. I had planted many thousands of trees in regenerating our degraded cattle farm, and had a profound love for Indiaforged in the course of various visits there. More significantly, my best friend, fellow planter and co-owner of the land, Rob Ritchie, who I had first met in India, had introduced me to his long-dead guru through a book which had touched my cynical soul to the core. The book was A Search in Secret India (Paul Brunton) and his guru was Ramana Maharishi. I had been strongly affected by Brunton’s tale and the credibility of his direct experience of a divine perfection, which I had always sceptically dismissed and denied.

The invitation to take part in a project to reforest the mountain so closely associated with Sri Ramana cracked my cynicism about divine providence, and I ran at full tilt through the torrential rain to break the news to Rob. In the end, Rob declined the invitation to go as a team, preferring to stay and maintain the project we had begun on our land.

I had been working with Permaculture for nearly 10 years in Australia, had a passionate relationship with India, but none of this adequately prepared me for the reality of the task. I was a total novice to project work, and my relationship with Indiahad been as a free wanderer totally unconstrained by any specific focus other than spontaneous experience. My list echoed loudly: the pilgrims planting the mountain in great gestures of common enthusiasm for the reforestation; huge nurseries with thousands of vigorous seedlings, a local population excited to work for the common goal. The list contained a host of other follies.

Apart from the tiny band of people Apeetha had managed to rope into her core of enthusiasm, the general impression was of total scepticism. Incredulity that anybody could be so foolish as to contemplate greening the barren Arunachala: all photos from the earliest period of Ramana’s residence on the mountain showed not the slightest existence of forest so who could believe it was possible? And even hostility: lemongrass was harvested each year by a handful of grasscutters who then fired the Fire Mountain to encourage the grasses and incinerate any other competing species; others deliberately lit the mountain with the belief that Siva in the form of Light would manifest their desires or needs (enlightenment, delivery of a boy-child, relief from debt) if they set it on fire. A plantation effort by the Forestry Department years had born little encouragement for success, and one possessed Swami-tree planter, Nerikutiswami, had been reduced to bitter cynicism by the constant vandalising of all is efforts to green the mountain.

Bill Mollison, co-founder of Permaculture, had advised me that “if you have no volunteers, then you don’t have a project.” Meaning that if there are no locals who believe enough in the project to give their time and energy, the project simply won’t work. Well, there was a handful of volunteers, including me, but the resistance was clear. Not entirely unreasonably, given that even in our small nursery in Ramananagar, we were drawing water lavishly from the well to water our tiny plants, while women were queuing up for hours at the public tap to fill a pot for their essential household needs.

My own parents declared me to be quite crazy when they realised I was actually paying for the privilege of reforesting a sacred mountain in south I responded that I was convinced that I would receive infinitely more than I could ever give.

The first two plantings on the mountain seemed to confirm the pessimism of the majority. Almost 100%, burnt to char by the fires, or devoured by the goats, or plucked out to be used as kindling. Determination – pig-headed stubbonness if you like – finally succeeded though, as all who know Arunachala would now agree. Watchmen were posted to guard every seedling. Somebody initiated creating stone cages around every planting, a strategy which I resisted as absurd energy loss better used in the form of more watchmen. In hindsight though, the symbolic significance of demonstrating that we would stop at nothing to ensure the mountain was forested probably convinced many people of our credibility.

A huge step forward came with the approach to the Temple authorities to create our main nursery in the great Temple itself, since the Templeis sited on a number of abundant natural springs. In the process of growing our seedlings, we would regenerate the gardens which had once shaded the temple, including recreating the sacred plantings that had traditionally been associated with worship. We also undertook to provide coconuts and flowers used in daily ritual. It was accepted, and we took a great leap to rebind the ancient association of nature and the Divine being inseparable. We also raised up to 300,000 seedlings each year, and the largest temple garden in the country.

One day, a fire broke out on the mountain. Without anybody cajoling them into it, villagers closest to the ARS planting rushed up and beat out the fires. It was the most significant public gesture I could have hoped for; that the local people clearly perceived more benefit to themselves in a mountain covered with trees than with rocks and grass. At last we had our volunteers, en masse. These days, one sign of smoke on the mountain inspires a rash of phone-calls and a small army of workers and student volunteers invade the slopes with water and fire-beaters to extinguish the blaze.

Gradually the exposed path up to Skandashram has become covered in a shady canopy of trees as the barren rockscape is transformed to forest. High on the mountain, the vast bamboo glades which one dominated some areas, are naturally regrowing, having lain dormant for literally generations. Vestiges of huge old trees long ago felled are respouting, responding to the simple presence of time to grow, without fire or blade or teeth to hinder them.

Of course a big blaze can still seriously damage all the good work, but now there is a host of independent groups all working in their own right to regreen Arunachala. They will succeed. The need to directly plant has now been overtaken by the necessity of protecting natural regrowth from fire, grazing and stripping. Left to her own devices, Nature will swiftly cover the once-naked Siva

As for my retort to my parents, I have indeed received infinitely more than I ever ‘gave’. Constantly confronted with my own limits and expectations of success or failure, I was forced to observe my reactions and response more profoundly than ever before. The teachings of Arunachala are relentless, irresistible. I received two exquisite daughters too, delectable fruits of a relationship born in the shadow of the mountain. And the success of my professional work has come as a direct result of association with the blessed Arunachala. Giving myself up to the mountain.

John Button
Via Progno 25A
28843 Montescheno
ITALIA

email: johnnaturedesigns@yahoo.com
www.johnbutton-permaculture.net

New Videos

Check out the bottom of the left border of this page to find a Video Pod with 5 new (short) videos as listed below.

How God tells you it's time for a change
Advice from Wayne Dyer – “infinite patience produces immediate results . . . the immediate result of your infinite patience is peace. You retreat in peace and let the Universe handle the details.”

Astrology and Sun Worship - Part 2
Only for the open-minded. Second part of the series exploring the relationship between astrology, sun worship and modern religion.

Shiva Sahasranama Strotam
A video comprised of beautiful pictures of the holy mountain Kailash. Enjoy the divine chanting of Shiva Sahasranama from the Rudra Yamala Tantra.

Quantum Physics and Consciousness
Deepak Chopra discusses the connection of quantum mechanics and consciousness.

Arunachala Pilgrim
Montage of pilgrims and pilgrimage to Arunachala accompanied by words of Enya’s song, ‘Pilgrim'.

"Pilgrim, how you journey
on the road you chose
to find out why the winds die
and where the stories go.

All days come from one day
that much you must know,
you cannot change what's over
but only where you go.

One way leads to gold,
another leads you only
to everything you're told.
In your heart you wonder
which of these is true;
the road that leads to nowhere,
the road that leads to you.

Will you find the answer
in all you say and do?
Will you find the answer
In you?

Each heart is a pilgrim,
each one wants to know
the reason why the winds die
and where the stories go.

Pilgrim, in your journey
you may travel far,
for pilgrim it's a long way
to find out who you are...

Pilgrim, it's a long way
to find out who you are...
Pilgrim, it's a long way
to find out who you are..."

Law of Attraction

I remember how the Self Help New Age Guru, Dr.Wayne Dyer came into my life some 5-6 years ago. I was at Ramana Ashram library looking for something positive, upbeat, and helpful to read. Something that was practical, up-to-date and with which I would connect. On checking I found a Norman Vincent Peale book (with who I was familiar) and nearby, two Wayne Dyer books on the library shelf. So, I was led to check out – “You’ll see it when you believe it”. Ever since then Wayne Dyer's writings and videos have become an important part of my life. Nowadays I have most of his published books and many of them have been read, re-read and heavily inked and bookmarked.

Yesterday I was reading an interview on his website entitled “You Are God: An In-Depth Conversation with Dr. Wayne Dyer,” and am including here a short excerpt on the ‘law of attraction.’

‘. . . I think the law of attraction has been misstated. You do not attract what you want. You attract what you are. That's how the law of attraction works.

Twenty-five centuries ago in ancient China, Lao-tzu said there were four virtues. If you live them - if you live in a place of God-consciousness -- the Universe will give you God-consciousness. If you live in a place of ego-consciousness, though, the Universe will give you more of that.

One virtue is reverence for all of life. You revere all life. You never kill, you never harm, you never wish harm, and you never have thoughts of harm directed toward yourself or others.

Another virtue is natural sincerity, which is manifested as honesty. Just be honest with who you are. Don't pretend to be something you're not. Don't be a phony. Walk your talk. That's how God works, so doing it is emulating how Source works.

The third virtue is gentleness, which manifests as kindness toward all others.

The fourth virtue, which is relevant here, is supportiveness. If you say to the universe, "Gimme, gimme, gimme," which is what a lot of the work around the law of attraction says because of a misinterpretation, then the Universe gives you back what you offered out. You get more "gimme, gimme, gimme." "Gimme" means you don't have enough. You have a shortage. The Universe just keeps giving you more shortage because of what you're thinking and saying.

If, on the other hand, you say to the Universe again and again, "How may I serve? How may I serve? How may I serve?" and you live a life of constancy reflecting that principle, the Universe will respond back, "How may I serve you?"’

Quick Update

The below is a photograph of Parvati Hill (a spur on the West side of Arunachala). Nithyananda Ashram is located at this spot on the Girivalam Roadway. I stopped by this morning on my way home from Rajarajeshwari Temple, to check out what was going on.

Lots of posters and notification of programs. Below information about a Sannyas Training Programme.

While at the ashram, there was a medical camp underway, and a number of local folk were waiting for their turn with the doctor. Nearby there was a spiritual talk in Tamil in progress that was being conducted by a visiting pundit.

I'm too sure what the building programme is at this 3-acre ashram, however will post updates as they happen.

Periapuranam

According to Tamil literature, the famed Periapuranam was written during the thirteenth century and narrates the stories of 63 Nayanmars (Saivite saints) who achieved enlightenment through the path of devotion to Lord Shiva. The Nayanmars came from varied backgrounds ranging from kings and soldiers to untouchables – and in this way it shows that enlightenment depends not on caste or education but merely upon intensity and devotion to God. The reading of the Periapuranam is regarded as an inspirational aid to devotion and is famed throughout Tamil Nadu.


Sri Ramana Maharshi on Periapuranam

"I was not aware that experience of the Self was categorized and described variously. I was not familiar with philosophic terms like "Brahman" nor what an attributeless Truth meant. I was not aware that the individual Self and Easwara were one. I had an awareness of Easwara but not that it was the atma itself. One cannot say whether the thought process (mind) became extinct or was in abeyance. The Self was being experienced without any effort. In a sense it was abidance in the Self. It was the experience of the unbroken atma in the words of Sankara. In Jnana Vasishta it is described as "sattva pathi

Did not Sankara and other self-realised persons worship God with attributes?" One moment it was submergence in the atma at the next it was in God. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa also confirmed the last stages of saints and sages to be similar.

Other than Periapuranam I had not studied any other spiritual text by then. I had only heard of the Infinite Being with attributes as described therein. I had not heard of any attributeless Truth. Even while being conscious of the external world I was in the presence of Easwara — with no agony, or emotion." [Ramana Maharshi]

Occasionally I will relate stories from the Periapuranam, and to begin with below is the story of the Nayanmar, Ilayankudi Mara. [To read a previous story about the Nayanmar Poosalar go to this link here.]

Ilayankudi Mara Nayanar

Ilayankudi Mara Nayanar was a farmer and a great devotee of Lord Siva and His devotees and took great pleasure in serving them. Nayanar had been blessed with great wealth but considered it belonged to the Lord, to be utilized for the benefit of His devotees.

Lord Siva was highly pleased with the Nayanar’s devotion. He wanted to show to the world that His devotee would be undaunted by the worst calamity and would remain unshaken in his virtue. Nayanar’s wealth melted away. But although his wealth had left him, not only did he retain his great virtue, but it grew even more intense. Nayanar sold all his property in order to be able to serve the devotees of the Lord.

One day it was raining and Nayanar and his wife were starving. No one came forward to help them. Finally, he bolted the door and was about to fall asleep. Just then he heard a knock at the door, and, on opening it, found a Siva Bhakta standing in front of the house, drenched with rain. Nayanar at once took the guest inside, dried his body and gave him fresh clothes to wear. ‘Rest awhile, Swami, while we prepare some food for you to appease your hunger,’ said Nayanar and told his wife of his predicament: there was nothing to offer the devotee of the Lord. But, the devout wife suggested that Nayanar could go into the backyard and collect the grain-seeds that they had just sown that very day. Nayanar accepted the suggestion. On account of the heavy rain, the grains were floating and it was easy to collect them in a basket. As soon as he brought the grains, the wife fried and crushed them, and with the help of some greens that grew in their own backyard, cooked a nice dinner for the guest.

Nayanar was supremely happy. And, as he went to awaken the guest, he discovered that he had disappeared. And then Nayanar saw in the sky, Lord Siva who had come in the form of the devotee with Mother Parvati. Both were showering their blessing on him and his wife. The Lord said: ‘Oh noble souls, I am highly pleased with your devotion. You will soon attain My Abode and live there for ever.’

Tiruvannamalai Rally

Jayalalitha certainly addressed some thorny local issues during her recent Tiruvannamalai Rally. Most importantly she has declared herself on scrapping the iron-ore proposal in the hills of Tiruvannamalai, a roll back on SEZ’s on farm lands, and an increased support towards the agricultural community. All in all a very interesting speech, which is reproduced below from the Express News Service.


“AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday (May 6th) said that she would take all necessary measures to give a new lease of life for the sugarcane farmers, who have been leading a bitter life due to the policies adopted by the State and the Central Governments. She was addressing a mammoth rally at Tiruvannamalai in support of the PMK candidate J Guru.


Her package includes hiking the support price of Rs 2,000 per tonne, reviving cooperative sugar mills, ensuring uninterrupted power supply for farm activities, making available farm inputs at reduced cost, freezer facilities to store farm produce and rolling back of SEZs on farm lands.


The former chief minister said the iron-ore proposal that had come as a big threat to the locals would be totally scrapped. The girivalam path of the sacred hills of Tiruvannamalai would be provided basic amenities for the benefit of devotees. Besides, she assured rail link between Puducherry-Tiruvannamalai-Bangalore and Chennai.


Comparing her regime with the present, she questioned the audience whether they were leading a peaceful life without encountering law and order problems. She went on to ask, “Do you feel safe now? Are the prices of essential commodities within your reach? Can you think of building your own house?” to which the crowd answered in the negative. “During my rule, did you have power cut? Now your children are not able to study; you are not able to do your farming activity; and even you are not able to sleep well. Do you need this government? You have a golden opportunity to teach a good lesson to the DMK government and its ally Congress in Delhi by voting them out and free the state from their misrule.”

Elections

On my way home early afternoon, passed the Arts College on Chengam Road. On adjacent empty land, workers for the Jayalalitha political campaign are preparing for tomorrow’s rally at which former Chief Minister Jayalalitha will be giving a speech. Jayalalitha is currently leader of the opposition however elections are due mid May.

Being that Jayalalitha has shown herself to be a friend of Temple Elephants, in Tamil Nadu during her tenure as Chief Minister, she totally has my best wishes.

To read more about this fascinating ‘self-made’ woman and politician, go to this link here.

Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine

In an earlier posting I talked about my adventure searching for a statue of Shirdi Sai Baba, that I had heard was sitting in a crate off the girivalam road near Adi Annamalai. My search was met with success and I had a nice darshan of Shirdi Sai Baba, albeit from outside the crate in which he had been delivered and was awaiting installation.

Happy to report that today Maha Kumbabhisekham was performed at the Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine, which will be known as, ‘Akshaya Shirdi Sai Baba Mandir’. For those who wish to visit the Shrine, it is located at Kubera Mannupillai Garden, Kosalai Gramam, Girivalam Road, Adi Annamalai.

I hope to soon visit the Shrine myself and thereafter post photographs on Arunachala Grace.

For more information of the extraordinary saint, Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, please visit the official website at this link here.

Pearls of the Guru

"A real guru is like an ice cube. He cools your consciousness and then disappears without a trace." [Chitrabhanu-ji]

"Everyone has his own path, his mission, and even if you take your Master as a model, you must always develop in a way that suits your own nature."
[Aïvanhov]

"My Guru became my all-in-all, my home, mother and father, everything. All my senses left their places, and concentrated themselves in my eyes, and my sight was centred on him. Thus my guru was the sole object of my meditation and I was conscious of none else. While meditating on him my mind and intellect were silent and I had thus, to keep quiet and bow to him in silence."
[Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi]

"Everything in the world was my Guru. Don't you know that Dattatreya, when he was asked by the king which Guru had taught him the secret of bliss, replied that the earth, water, fire, animals, men, etc., all were his Gurus and went on explaining how some of these taught him to cling to what was good and others taught him what things he should avoid as bad."
[Ramana Maharshi]

"This beggar prays to his Father to bless you all who have come here. My Lord Rama blesses you, My Father blesses you. Arunachaleswara blesses you. It doesn't matter to me what name it is. All the blessings of my Father for all of you! Well, that is the end. That is all."
[Yogi Ramsuratkumar]