New Autorickshaw

Everyone who has visited India, is familiar with the autorickshaws plying in all the major towns and cities. Where would we be without them? Indispensable part of ordinary life. Tiruvannamalai is small but too big to move about entirely by walking. Nowadays the autos are getting bigger and fancier. This is one of the new models that are manufactured in Pune. Lots of legroom!

Whenever one buys something in this country, particularly if it is going to be used for business or transporation, its traditional to perform a puja at one's favourite Temple. This autorickshaw went through the 'puja' formalities yesterday and is now ready for the open road.

Its never going to look this good again!

Sparsa Progress

Decided to check out progress on construction of the new 3-star hotel (which I last gave February 20th) being built just off the Girivalam Road. The Hotel, Sparsa Tiruvannamalai, is an affiliate of the Days Inn Group and is expected, when completed, to be one of the premier Hotels in the area. That maybe so, but the building process is being done in traditional ways; i.e. bullock grunt power!

The end building will be the diningroom and conference centre.

I thought this a good photograph to illustrate the thatching process of which the framework is the first step.

The insides of all shops and rooms are rough hewn granite mined locally at AdiAnnamalai.

The below photograph is the line of shops in the heritage styled Hotel compound. The shops will include a Kashmiri Gift Shop, Internet facility, Library, Flower shop, Pottery Shop, Ayurveda Centre with treatments and a Cafe.

The below is of some of the accommodation cottages. Each cottage has two rooms on each floor, all with views facing Arunachala.

I made sure to get the contact information of the local man contracted to do all the thatched roofs in the Hotel compound. Lovely job and each roof should last up to 7 years before needing a rethatch.

Progress on the swimming pool is going well. The shape is perfect for doing those daily 'laps'.

Will keep you posted as to the Hotel's progress.

Earth day, April 22

Earth Day
April 22, 2007

"May there only be peaceful and cheerful Earth Days to come for our beautiful Spaceship Earth as it continues to spin and circle in frigid space with its warm and fragile cargo of animate life."

[United Nations Secretary-General U Thant, 1971

The equinoctial Earth Day is celebrated on the vernal equinox to mark the precise moment that spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. On equinox, night and day are in equal length anywhere on Earth. Therefore, a perfectly vertical pole standing on the equator at noon during equinox will not cast a shadow. At the South Pole, the sun sets and ends a six-month-long day while at the North Pole, the sun rises and hence ending six months of continuous darkness.

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"EARTH DAY uses one of humanity's great discoveries, the discovery of anniversaries by which, throughout time, human beings have kept their sorrows and their joys, their victories, their revelations and their obligations alive, for re-celebration and re-dedication another year, another decade, another century, another eon. EARTH DAY reminds the people of the world of the need for continuing care which is vital to Earth’s safety.

EARTH DAY draws on astronomical phenomena in a new way; using the vernal equinox, the time when the Sun crosses the equator making night and day of equal length in all parts of theEarth. To this point in the annual calendar, EARTH DAY attaches no local or divisive set of symbols, no statement of the truth or superiority of one way of life over another. But the selection of the March equinox makes planetary observance of a shared event possible.

"The vernal equinox calls on all mankind to recognize and respect Earth's beautiful systems of balance, between the presence of animals on land, the fish in the sea, birds in the air, mankind, water, air, and land. Most importantly there must always be awareness of the actions by people that can disturb this precious balance."

[Margaret Mead, [Anthropologist]

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Earth Awareness

Earth day, is also observed to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment and is nowadays observed by national governments in over 175 countries. Grassroots groups seek to make Earth Day into a day of action which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes. For more information visit:
http://www.earthsite.org/

Hoist the Sails

Four billion years ago
Our lonely Earth
Set sail on cosmic seas
Guided by an unseen hand
Of nature, God or chance.

As life evolved
Through endles eco-cycles
Man was born, destined
To destroy or enrich
the Precious Ship.

And now his hand
Has seized the tiller
But his ear has not
Yet caught the Captain's
Quiet command.

The sails are down, the ship becalmed,
Its fragile life at stake.
No longer do we ride the gentle swells of
Silent seas and breathe
The fragrant air.

Broken are the rhythms
Of our cyclic plants
And other living things.

But now the Captain speaks again
Our quiet thoughts at last reveal his voice.

"Hoist the sails, Earth Man.
Set them for celestial winds.
Hold the tiler firm,
The course ahead is clear."

Be He nature, God or chance
His voice is heard
And we shall heed
The Captain's quiet command.

[By John McConnell]

Peace Our Nature

"A man suffering from a headache will not rest quietly until he has taken the right medicine and got rid of the ailment. For health is our nature and not illness. Likewise peace is our nature. Indeed we are peace. But forgetting that, we seek peace from external sources. It is an impossible quest and causes all this trouble. The moment you withdraw your mind from external objects and turn inward you taste real peace and feel happy."

[Ramana Maharshi]

Unequalled

All rocks here are Lingams; this is the realm of Shiva.
The trees here are celestial plants.
Water here is the Ganges flowing from Shiva's matted hair.
All food here is nothing but ambrosia.
To walk one step here is to go around the whole world.
Any utterance here is the word of Veda.
Even slumber here is samadhi.
Can any other place equal Arunachala?

[Arunachala Puranam]

Tiruvannamalai Shops

I'm on my way into town (the Big City!) to take care of a few errands. My autorickshaw first stops at a local petrol station for a fillup and I'm surprised to see girls nowadays working at the petrol bunk. On a personal level I don't like to see girls/ladies working at such a place as it exposes them to a very rough sort of gent. But, I suspect the owner of the station probably finds it easier to control staff comprised of young girls then men and, on his part, its definitely 'cheaper' to hire ladies!

This is Big Street, one of the main arterial roads of Tiruvannamalai. In the case of most ancient Temple towns in India, the Temple is the heartline and hub around which the city develops. If you want to find out more about the development of this Temple town check out previous posting.

I'm at the corner of Big Street and Car Street, the two major thoroughfares of Tiruvannamalai. At the corner a family rests during their shopping excursion.

Below, a better view of the Big Street-Car Street junction. To city dwellers, this spot might seem innocuous but this is a hazardous spot for both drivers and pedestrians. No rules apply; its a case of just scuttling across as fast as possible. Even drivers experienced on the roadways of such major metropolitian areas as New York, Paris and London, find driving in India a hair-raising experience. To read a 'satirical' report of the 'Indian Rules of the Road', you can check out this earlier posting.

Here are kerosene one-top cookers which used to be the sort of cooker most commonly used even as recently as 5-8 years ago. Nowadays lots of households have switched over to cylinder gas and are using 2-top cookers. A lesser amount of families still cook with deadwood and dried thorny bushes on outside fires.

The below photograph is of a nice, bustling sidestreet filled with interesting shops.

There are lots of food stalls at the side of the road. Here a lady is selling a ragi dish (a type of grain) which is very cooling on hot summer days. However the condiments of pepper and different spicey chutneys (also available at the stall) will probably heat things up nicely!

Finally made it to one of my intended ports of call; the watch repair shop to get a new battery put into my watch.

Next a local pharmaucetical shop to get prescription ointments for both myself and one of my dogs.

There are always plenty of shops available at Temple towns ready to nicely frame holy pictures (or family portraits) for displaying on the wall.

A sadhu taking a tea break. There are numerous sadhus throughout Tiruvannamalai but definitely Arunachaleswarar Temple is particularly favoured by many sannyasins and sadhus.

Because of rampant housing development going on throughout Tiruvannamalai, there is also the requisite drilling and installation of private water borewells at new homes. Although a Municipal water system exists in many areas (on alternate days), those that can afford the cost of approximately Rs.20,000/- (U.S.$450) to drill a private borewell at their land, will do so.

Previously, after the well had been drilled by independent contractors, heavyweight plastic lengths of pipe about 8 feet in length would be joined together and stuck into the well. Nowadays a lightweight pipe is used that comes in one length and can be easily pulled out of the well in case of repair. These huge black pipes outside the store in the below photograph are the new one-length, lightweight plastic piping for borewells.

The next photograph is of a portable shop selling all kinds of metal pieces. Recently there has been talk about conglomerates such as 'K-Mart' coming into India. Nowadays, in Inda, most stores are privately owned, so the entry of such a giant conglomerate will definitely radically affect the shopping landscape of this country. Probabaly 'portable' stores (like this metal one) will be the first to get 'squeezed out' by big conglomerates.

The below photograph is interesting because it shows how shops encroach onto the pavement and roadway. Not that anybody cares too much, but every so often the Municipality gets the idea of putting in new drains or widening roads and suddenly bulldozers appear and knock down anything 'encroaching' onto pavements and roadways. In such cases, shops and stores quickly take their wares off pavements and wait until the Municipality has completed its schemes. Once everything quietens down, the shops put all their products back in their original spots.

Sometimes stores even make permanent (unauthorised) extensions to their shops. In such cases bulldozers come out in force. A couple of years ago the Municipality decided to widen the streets on some arterial roads; after the bulldozers had finished knocking down all illegal encroachments, the town of Tiruvannamalai looked like a war zone. The place was a shambles. It took a long time to get back to normal. Nice to see shops are stretching out again!

Down below a shop selling all kinds of metal utensils and cheap metal doors. Alot of the items you can see are actually hand-welded or hand beaten; there are still plenty of small cottage industries in Tiruvannamalai.







The flowers on sale are jasmine and kankambaram. Most purchasers will make garlands for use either in puja or to decorate ladies' hair. The umbrellas are a protection against the sun, not rain!

In the last photograph I am on Thiruvoodal Street at the flower and vegetable market, making some last minute purchases before I head back home. As always there is the constant reminder of Arunachala in the background.

Monsoon Rains

According to the Research Institue for Climate and Society (IRI), there is likely to be a change in the rainfall pattern in India this monsoon season. The South-West Monsoon season usually begins in June and forecasts by global agencies show that in the first half of the season, heavy rains will occur on the west coast, parts of South India, western Uttar Pradesh and N.E. Madhya Pradesh. Later in the season the southern peninsula, western and central India would receive heavy rains.

The shift in the rainfall pattern is a matter of concern. It has been recorded that in the last two years, there has been heavy rainfall in drought-prone areas while flood-prone areas were left dry.

Long term residents of Tiruvannamalai remarked that over the last two years; tirthams, tanks and reservoirs throughout the area were fuller than at anytime they recall in the previous 30 years. Last rainy season areas near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, suffered severe banana crop loss due to excessive rains.

I suppose just like everywhere else in this fast shifting world, we will just have to wait and see what the upcoming monsoon season has in store for us here at Tiruvannamalai.

Sri Tinnai Swami

While visiting Yogi Ramsuratkumar ashram I had to pass Sadhu Om colony, a small Brahmin compound on the southside of Arunachala. At this compound there are two samadhis, the first, Sadhu Om and the second, Tinnai Swami. I took the opportunity of being near the compound to visit the house where Tinnai Swami lived during the later part of his life. A little known jnani, who had chosen to live a self-effacing and almost invisible life here at Tiruvannamalai.

Photograph of Sri Tinnai Swami
reclining on his masonry bench

Swami attained samadhi on 7th December, 2003 (at the age of 91 years) on the morning of Deepam Day culminating a period of 54 years spent in the supreme state of atma-jnana. In 1948 Tinnai Swami had approached Bhagavan for permission to leave and take up a new position at Pondicherry, whereupon Ramana replied, 'Iru'. 'Iru' is a Tamil word that means 'Be', but in such a context would normally be taken to mean 'Stay' or 'Wait'. From that moment Tinnai Swami never left Tiruvannamalai and also remained fixed in the state of Self-abidance.

Eventually a house was built by a family of devotees of the late C.P. Nathan, and Tinnai Swami, lived on and seldom moved away from the tinnai (masonry bench) on the verandah of that house.

This is the masonry (concrete) platform
that he lived during his later years.

While he was alive, although his presence was shielded from the barest minimum of public attention, some of us were fortunately able to sit in the silence of his being and I personally experienced great help and inspiration by spending some short time with him.


The writer Michael James has said of the life of Tinnai Swami:

"In the eyes of the world, which attaches importance only to doing, overlooking the true importance of mere being, there may appear to be little greatness in the extraordinary life of Sri Tinnai Swami. He did not speak, write or teach anything, nor did he perform any other "useful" function. But whether we are able to recognise it or not, his mere being was a great blessing bestowed upon the whole world by Sri Bhagavan, the effect of which cannot be known or measured by our finite intellects."

The life of Sri Tinnai Swami is recorded in more detail at this link.

The Teacher

The Teacher will not be recognized
by the diamonds on his head
or by the number of students he has.
Know the Teacher to be the One
whose presence gives you Peace
and removes all craving, attachment and desire.

The Teacher is one who knows the Truth
and can transmit this Truth to a humble one
by look, by touch, by thought,
or, as Arunachala does, by Silence.
This Silence is the Light that does not move.

The true Teacher has no students,
all Being and only Silence speaks.
The perfect Teacher has no teachings
because he knows that you are Free already.
So the true Teacher's non-teaching
is that there is no Teacher, no student, no teaching,
and that Nothing ever existed.

This Teaching must be without words
and must land in your Heart.
If you try to understand, it will only land in your head.
The Teaching can only be given by the Eternal
and received by the Eternal.

The Eternal has nothing to give the Eternal,
so there is no disciple and no teacher.
You are already THAT,
not the physical, emotional or mental.
Leave beside these forms and find out what is left,
and what it needs.

[Excerpt from 'This'
Sri H.W.L. Poonja]

Ramana Ashram Schedule

At Sri Ramanasramam, visitors follow their sadhana in their own way however there is a regular schedule of functions at the ashram:

6.30 a.m. Chanting and Milk offering to Sri Bhagavan shrine in samadhi hall

8.00 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. Chanting of Vedas in front of Ramana's Shrine

8.30 a.m. to 9.15 a.m. Puja at shrine of Sri Bhagavan followed by puja at shrine of Ramana's mother.

4.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. Reading in Tamil and English in the Samadhi Hall

5.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Chanting of the vedas in front of Sri Ramana shrine (the same Vedas were chanted in the same way in front of Ramana during his life).

5.30 p.m. to 6.15 p.m. Puja at shrine of Bhagavan and after at Ramana's mother shrine.

6.45 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. Tamil Parayana chanted on Monday through Saturday.

Sri Chakra Puja in the Mathrubhuteswar Shrine is performed between 5 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. every Friday, full moon day, and the first day of each Tamil month.

Universal Guru

The Arunachala Hill is the origin of the Universe. According to Ramana it is the Guru of the Universe. Ramana never moved from Arunachala because it is the basis of the Universe and the Self. The great Self attracts many ripened souls because Arunachala is the God and Guru. The Hill is the heart of Lord Arunachala and from the Hill the power of the Self is transmitted throughout the world to all deities and creatures.

[V.V. Brahmam]

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY TAMIL

NEW YEAR,

14TH APRIL, 2007.

"JUST AS LORD SHIVA TOOK 'ALAHALA' POISON AND CHANGED IT INTO 'AMBROSIA', THE LORD WILL CHANGE DIFFICULT SITUATIONS INTO GREAT BLESSINGS, FOR THOSE WHO WORK FOR HIM."

[Yogi Ramsuratkumar]

Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram

Today for the first time in a long while, I visited Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram at Ramana Nagar. Yogi a great saint of Southern India lived from December 1, 1918 to February 20, 2001.

When he first moved to Tiruvannamalai, he lived at the Big Temple in town and later on at a house in the same area. But when Yogi's fame began to spread, large crowds started to gather at the house waiting for his darshan. The influx of devotees grew steadily in size eventually creating the need for an ashram. In 1993 Swamiji acceded to the acquisition of land, enabled by contributions, of a site of 3½ acres close to Sri Seshadri Swamigal and Ramana Ashrams.

In the below picture are some of the ashram cows just relaxing on a hot day under cooling trees.

Nearby the gardens and cows is the Veda Patsala, where young Brahmin boys are taught the correct chanting of vedas. Most of the boys will grow up to be priests performing pujas and functions either at Temples or at private functions. Near the Patsala, is a sign with the views of Yogi Ramsuratkumar on the inestimable value of chanting the Vedas.

Below is part of the Veda Patsala complex. Yogi Ramsuratkumar said that the Patsala would be the 'heart of the Ashram', and was intended to be a place where visiting pandits and scholars could stay and conduct Vedic research.

All around the ashram there are signs with the sayings of Yogi Ramasuratkumar. I read most of the signs but particularly enjoyed the below message from Yogi. It reminds me of Sri Sathya Sai Baba saying that criticism is like pointing a finger; when you point the index finger three fingers point back at you! Ramana Maharshi also would encourage positive thinking and speaking and in this respect it has often been mentioned in books and stories about Ramana that he always had good things to say about people.

The ashram has created a 'mini' girivalam (giripradakshina) pathway around the Ashram, and by following the signs in blue you will be guided on your way. I also took this particular photograph because of the very cute 'animal' trashcans; just didn't expect to see them in an ashram! But they're great. Reminds me also of the big love Yogi always had for animals.

At this peaceful ashram several regular ashram activities are conducted. Perhaps one of the most memorable is the daily sadhu feeding. The below photograph is the bamboo hut in which the sadhus firstly do 'bhajana and chanting' between 11.15 and 11.45 each day and thereafter take their lunch in the hut. I was told that between 40-50 sadhus and sannyasins congregate daily at the ashram for the chanting and lunch.

To the right is the mandiram of the Ashram, in which lies the samadhi of Yogi Ramsuratkumar and to the front a truly magnificent view of Arunachala. This almost direct southern aspect of the Hill is definitely one of the most memorable views of the Hill. If you want to find out more about the symbolism of different aspects of Arunachala, please check out this previous posting.

Below, nice, sunny faces of two of the ladies who work at the ashram. The atmosphere is very relaxed and pleasing and just about everybody seems to be happy and grateful to have been given the opportunity to work there. When Yogi Ramsuratkumar was alive he would always interact with ashram servants and be interested in their well being and keep up-to-date with family news.





Below is the inside of the Mandiram at the ashram. Yogi Ramsuratkumar was involved in every step of the large building programme which at one point involved the participation of up to 250-300 workers working long hours. The first Ashram structure to be completed was a small stone thatched-roof darshan mandir which could sit 200 people. It was located by the front gate of the developing Ashram and was the location of Yogi Ramsuratkumar’s regular darshans. But subsequently this huge Temple was built. The Temple 350 feet long and 150 wide was constructed to be big enough to accommodate 5,000 people. Due to photographic restricts I have only taken photographs of the northend of the hall.





Inside the huge mandiram at the southend is the temple and samadhi of Yogi Ramasuratkumar, (which you can't see). Whilst the mandiram was being built, Yogi spent much of his time in a bamboo hut supervising ongoing construction. For this reason he requested a representation of the hut remain inside the Mandiram.

Below is a statue representation of guruji, Yogi Ramsuratkumar. He always acknowledged with reverence his huge debt to sacred Arunachala and Arunachaleswarar Temple, saying:

'This hill and this temple, they have saved this beggar,' and with the utmost gratitude for the sanctity of Mount Arunachala, he would later say:

'This beggar wandering here and there, tired of wandering but having no home; Arunachalesvara, in the form of this hill, had mercy on this miserable sinner. So he gives thanks, a thousand thanks, to this holy hill, this holy temple. Oh, the magnanimity of the Lord! He has given me shelter for twenty long years. Whereas others who come are enabled to stay only days or weeks . . . For thousands of years the hill has given shelter to so many dirty sinners like me; and Arunachala will give us shelter for thousand of years to come.'

"Where is the Fire?

The Fire is there on the hill there.

But I don’t see it there.

You can see it if you are really bent upon seeing it.

Are you afraid of being engulfed by it?

Then you can’t see it

Have courage, no fear

You are sure to see it"

[Yogi Ramsuratkumar]

If you wish to read more about Yogi Ramsuratkumar Maharaj, please check out link for an excellent, short biography on the life of this saint.

Ramana on Pradakshina

" . . If you do pradakshina the mind will remain one pointed even though the limbs and the body are moving. Doing japa or meditation with a one-pointed mind, while moving about, without having any thought other than the japa, is known as sanchara samadhi (absorption while moving). That is why in the olden days pilgrimage on foot, without using any other conveyance, had so much importance.

Giripradakshina is unique. As there are many types of herbs on the hill, the breeze that blows over them is good for the body. Even today there are many siddhas and great souls on the hill. They too go around the hill, but we cannot see them. Because of this, when we do pradakshina we should keep to the left of the road. If we do this, we do pradakshina without causing any inconvenience to them. We also get the merit of walking round these great souls, thereby receiving their blessings. As we do pradakshina, the body becomes healthy and the mind attains the peace of the Self. Because of all these things, pradakshina is an extraordinary sadhana."

[Ramana Maharshi]

Grace Working

Once in relating a story about the workings of Grace to a visiting devotee, Ramana Maharshi asked the devotee whether Grace was measured in terms of the success of desires. He said:

'Do you mean to say that if everything goes according to your desires, only then it is possible to say that the grace of a saint has worked?'

Bhagavan then went on to explain the actual workings of Grace:

"The blessings of a saint perform the purficatory work of life. These blessings cannot increase impurity. One whose understanding is limited will ask for blessings so that he can fulfil certain desires, but if the desires are such that their fulfilment will make the seeker more impure rather than purer, the saint’s blessings will not enable him to fulfil the desires. In this way the seeker is saved from further impurities. In that case are not the saint’s blessings a fit of compassion?"