Silence

The energy of the whole has taken possession of you. You are possessed, you are no more, the whole is.

This moment, as the silence penetrates in you, you can understand the significance of it, because it is the same silence that Gautam Buddha experienced. It is the same silence that Chuang Tzu or Bodhidharma or Nansen.... The taste of the silence is the same.

Time changes, the world goes on changing, but the experience of silence, the joy of it, remains the same. That is the only thing you can rely upon, the only thing that never dies. It is the only thing that you can call your very being.

Picture Commentary :

The silent, mirrorlike receptiveness of a star-filled night with a full moon is reflected in the misty lake below. The face in the sky is deep in meditation, a goddess of the night who brings depth, peace and understanding.

Now is a very precious time. It will be easy for you to rest inside, to plumb the depths of your own inner silence to the point where it meets the silence of the universe. There's nothing to do, nowhere to go, and the quality of your inner silence permeates everything you do.

It might make some people uncomfortable, accustomed as they are to all the noise and activity of the world. Never mind; seek out those who can resonate with your silence - or enjoy your aloneness. Now is the time to come home to yourself. The understanding and insights that come to you in these moments will be manifested later on, in a more outgoing phase of your life.

The contact with these [inner holy feet] alone can give you true redemption.

Joining the eye of reflected conciousness [chidabhasa], which is your sense of individuality, to these holy feet, which are the real conciousness, is the union of the feet and the head which is the real significance of the word asi [the verb in tat tvam asi, “that thou art”] .

As these inner holy feet can be held naturally and unceasingly, hereafter, with an inward-turned mind, cling to that inner awareness which is your own real nature. This alone is the proper way for the removal of bondage and the attaining of the supreme truth”



“The benefit of performing namaskaram [prostrating] to the Guru is only the removal of the ego. That is not attained except by total surrender. Within the Heart of each devotee the gracious Guru is giving darshan in form of conciousness.

To surrender is to offer fully, in silence, the subsided ego, which is a name-and-form thought, to the aham sphurana [the effulgence of the “I” ], the real holy feet of the gracious Guru.

Since this is so, Self-realisation cannot be attained by bowing of the body, but only by a bowing of the ego”.

`Final Talks` by Annamalai Swami, edited by D. Godman,
S. 27 f.

1906-1995

Annamalai Swami was born in 1906 in a small village in Tamil Nadu, southern India. He was named Sella Perumal, and from an early age showed a keen interest in spirituality.

In 1928, when he was 22 years old, he traveled to Tiruvannamalai to meet Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi who lived near the city along the base of the slope of the holy mountain Arunachala. Following in the footsteps of Sri Seshadri Swamigal, who saved the young Ramana from the ravages of insects and vermin in the underground vault he first inhabited, and Palaniswami, who stayed with Ramana in Virupaksha Cave and Skandasraman Cave, he became the Maharshi's personal attendant and given the name Annamalai Swami (Annamalai is another name for Arunachala). Swami Annamalai's duties, after being directed to do so by Sri Ramana, was to oversee all phases of the ongoing construction, continuing expansion, and positive growth of the Ramana Ashram, including the goshala (cow shed), dining hall, dispensary and other projects.

HOW THE ASHRAM LOOKED WHEN ANNAMALAI ARRIVED IN 1928

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HOW THE ASHRAM LOOKED WHEN ANNAMALAI LEFT IN THE MID 1940s
In 1938, ten years after his arrival in Tiruvannamalai, Swami Annamalai realized the Self, Awakening to the Absolute under the grace and light of Sri Ramana. Five or six years later, sometime in the mid-1940s, Bhagavan instructed him to leave the ashram and engage in intense Sadhana. Interestingly enough, the same year Annamalai's realization occurred, 1938, was the same year British playwright and author W. Somerset Maugham showed up gathering background material for his book The Razor's Edge. What is even more interesting is that the same year Annamalai arrived at the ashram in the first place, 1928, the central character in Maugham's story, Larry Darrell, arrived at the ashram as well. In that Darrell is based on a person in real life (see) most likely the two of them either met or knew each other. Two years after his arrival, according to the narrative of Maugham's story, Darrell exprienced Awakening under the grace and light of the Maharshi.

Following his departure from Sri Ramanasramam, Annanamalai took up a quiet, austere life in his own hut in Palakottu (Palakothu), an area that borders the western boundry adjacent to his master's home. He would occasionally meet the Maharshi on his walks, but never again in the fifty years that followed did he reenter Sri Ramanasramam nor engage in conversation with him. Even so, a few years later, acting on Bhagavan's instructions, he built the Sri Annamalai Swami Ashram. He lived there until his death on November 9, 1995.

About the importance of the Guru:



"The seeker of wisdom does not need any other help than a real master."
(Sankaracarya)


"By His grace the ocean of the cycle of births becomes a puddle."


"Obedient, with constantly loving devotion, respect and moderate speech one may meet the real master and start the journey to self-realization."




One single glance of the enlightened master makes the eyes look bright with joy immediately, the face shines forth and the heart beats faster in bliss. HE destroys the ignorance.


"The infinite darkness inside that even billions of fires, moons and suns cannot light up, the enlightened one banishes with a single look."
(Sankaracarya)








"Until now I have dreamt. In my dream I walked through forests of illusion, birth by birth overwhelmed by all kinds of sorrows and sufferings, subject to rebirth and death and decay. The tiger of selfishness unceasingly jumped at me.Now, by your infinite compassion, o Master, I awoke from my dream. You released me forever! Reverence to You, o great Master, You are one with Brahman. You are one with the shining light that throws a shadow called "world"."
(Shankaracharya)

"So long as you seek self realization the Guru is necessary. Guru is the Self. Take Guru to be the real Self and your self as the individual self. The disappearance of this sense of duality is the removal of ignorance. So long as duality persists in you the Guru is necessary. Because you identify yourself with the body you think that the Guru is also a body.You are not the body, nor is the Guru. You are the Self and so is the Guru. This knowledge is gained by what you call Self-realization." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 95)


GRACE IS ALWAYS PRESENT.
THE SADGURU IS INSIDE YOU.


"O Guru! You were always with me, watched over me during many lifes and determined my way until I was liberated." (Kaivalya)



"A spiritually-minded man thinks that God is all-pervading and takes God for his Guru. Later, God brings him in contact with a personal Guru and the man recognises him as all in all. Lastly the same man is made by the grace of the master to feel that his Self is the reality and nothing else. Thus he finds that the Self is the master." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 96)



"Peace, the one thing which is desired by everyone, cannot be attained in any way, by anyone, at any time or in any place, unless stillness of mind is obtained through the grace of the sadguru. Therefore always seek that grace with a one-pointed mind." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 97)



"The Self manifests externally as the Guru when the occasion arises, otherwise he is always within, doing what is necessary." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 95)


"Look upon him as your Guru with whom your mind gets attuned. The one in whom you have faith is your Guru." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 93)


"Guru is the Self. Sometimes in his life a man becomes dissatisfied and, not content with what he has, he seeks the satisfaction of his desires through prayer to God. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more to obtain his grace than to satisfy his worldly desires. Then, God's grace begins to manifest. God akes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee, teaches him the truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association. The devotee's mind gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified and it remains still without the least ripple. The calm expanse is the Self. The Guru is both external and internal. From the exterior he gives a push to the mind to turn it inwards. From the interior he pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quieting of the mind. That is the Guru's grace. There is no difference between God, Guru and the Self." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 91)



"God, who is immanent, in his grace takes pity on the loving devotee and manifests himself according to the devotee's development. The devotee thinks that he is a man and expects a relationship between two physical bodies. But the Guru who is God or the Self incarnate works from within, helps the man to see the error of his ways and guides him on the right path until he realizes the Self within." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 91)

"Liberation is not anywhere outside you. It is only within. If a man is anxious for deliverance, the internal Guru pulls him in and the external Guru pushes him into the Self. This is the grace of the Guru." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 93)



"The Guru is absolutely necessary. The Upanishads say that none but a Guru can take a man out of the jungle of intellect and sense-perceptions. So there must be a Guru." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 94)


"If you want to perceive the real nature or form of the Guru you must first learn to look upon the whole universe as Guru rupam [the form of the Guru]." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 93)



"Guru is only one. He is not physical. So long as there is weakness the support of strength is needed." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 94)


"For one who, due to rare, intense and abundant love, has complete faith in the glance of grace bestowed by the Guru, there will be no suffering and he will live in this world like Puruhuta [a name of Indra, the king of the gods]." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 97)


"As for grace, grace is within you. If it is external it is useless. Grace is the Self. You are never out of its operation. Grace is always there." (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 97)



"Without the Guru's grace neither dispassionateness nor realization of truth can be attained."


Where is the Guru? - Inside.


"O Master thou were inside me in all my past incarnations and thou eventually revealed thyself as human being to speak the language which I can understand and to guide me."



"God, grace and Guru mean the same thing that dwells in all and is eternal. If the devotee delivers himself to the Guru that means that he does not retain the least sign of individuality, so that there is no rason to feel miserably. The eternal being is nothing than bliss. This will become obvious then."

"This false has to disappear. Its destruction is the fruit of service to the Guru."


"Realization is eternal and is not evoked anew by the Guru. He just helps to remove ignorance, that's all."


"The Guru does not cause Self-realization. He just removes the obstacles. The Self is always realized."


"So long as you believe you are this person you believe in God. If you pray to Him, He will come to you as Guru. If you serve the Guru, He will manifest as the Self."


The externally visible Guru causes the mind to go inward.


It is said that the prey which has fallen into the jaws of a tiger is definitely lost. This remark relates to the meeting with the real Guru. Who comes within the ambit of the Guru's gracious look, cannot escape from this grace.


The essential help is the grace of the Guru.


God and the Guru will only show the way to release. They will not by themselves take the soul to the state of release. In truth, God and the Guru are not different.

The full moon in the month of Ashad (July/August) is the especially blessed holy Guru Purnima day.

This day of exceptional adoration of the Guru is a day of pure joy, when the loving devotee is paying reverential homage to his beloved Guru.

For it is the Guru who cuts the bonds and liberates the devotee from the chains of physical existence. The Guru is the only help for mankind to experience the consciousness of supreme reality.

All over the world the Guru is honoured on this day and the specific relationship between Guru and devotee is renewed and strengthened; on behalf of the devotee by showing his loyalty and devotion to the Guru through adoration and reverence.

With other words: Guru Purnima is also the day to reflect upon our spiritual opening and to realize the privilege we have to dedicate our life to a deeper and deeper awakening. It means becoming genuinely aware of the infinite grace of the Guru at whose Lotus-feet we are allowed to sit.

A day of deep gratitude, respect and joy, since worship of the Guru is the sincere worship of the Highest. We are truly becoming aware of the infinite grace of the Guru who bestows in his perfect love the peace of boundless consciousness.

Jaya Madhukarji ki jai!

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