UNIQUE MESSIAH SPEAKING
THROUGH SILENCE

By S. Ramakrishna

A trepidation overpowers one while attempting to weave a
tiny garland of homage to the immortal sage of Arunachala,
Maharshi Sri Ramana, on the occasion of his birth Centenary.

The remarks Sri Ramana proffered to his devoted disciples
when they planned to celebrate his birthday for the first time
in 1912, come back to the mind as a strident warning and
severe chastisement:

At least on one's birthday one may mourn his entry into
this world (samsara). To glory in it and celebrate it, on the
other hand, is like delighting in decorating a corpse. To
seek one's Self and merge in the Self -- that is wisdom.

Ye, that wish to celebrate the birthday seek first whence
was your birth. That indeed is one's birthday, when he enters
that which transcends birth and death, the Eternal being.

Yet, with due deference to the feelings of his devotees, he
did not prevent them from celebrating his jayanti year after
year. But, as for himself, this celebration was like an
inconsequential ripple in the ocean of serenity and silence
that he ever was.

In a situation like this, Sri Ramana must have considered
two aspects that were involved in the celebrations. Which was
his real birthday? Was it not the day when he was well and
truly established in the Brahma Stithi -- the state of equanimity
so eloquently expounded in the second chapter of the Bhagavad
Gita? Such a one is immune from all delusions. But there were
the fervent pleadings of the disciples who yearned to utilise his
advent for reinforcing in themselves all that they had learnt at
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his feet and gave them anchorage in life. They also wished to
widen the pathway to the blessings of a purposeful life divine
to their brethren all over India and the world.

Sri Ramana could easily fathom the sincerity of the intent,
and the selflessness of the effort. His attitude was verily that
of the jnani ^[?] of the Bhagavad Gita who participates in the
affairs of the world wisely but with total abandon and
disinterestedness.

This brings us to the question of the ultimate goal that Sri
Ramana always taught -- the goal of Self-knowledge, of Self-
identity, which he had actually experienced and achieved. To
him, there was the non-dual Brahman ^[?] and nothing else. This
transcendental experience of the non-dual Brahman ^[?] could be
got only through a constant and searching inquiry into oneself
-- "Who am I??" Self-enquiry, therefore, is the means he taught
to reach this goal.

The numerous anecdotes, accounts of various encounters,
and the questions and answers that punctuate the life of Sri
Ramana reveal beyond doubt his persevering reiteration of
the need for Self-enquiry. Sometimes questions seemingly
unconnected with the subject elicited from him instructions
regarding Self-knowledge.

This search for the true nature of human personality, the
meaning and significance of human life on earth, the source
of the "Intimations of Immortality" that gifted men receive
now and again, has been going on from time immemorial.

Perhaps, in the earlier stages, this search was directed
outwards but very soon man turned his gaze inwards and
looked for an answer not in the depths and distances of Nature
but in the innermost recesses of his heart. We have in the
Upanishads ^[?], the young seeker Nachiketas turning boldly his
eyes inwards and seeking from the God of death an answer
to the eternal question, "Who am I?" The quintessence of the
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life and message of Sri Ramana is also the same -- relentless
quest for "Self knowledge."

Sri Ramana never consciously did anything to make an
impact and to carve out a niche for himself in the annals of
history. He shunned all publicity and image building. He never
gave discourses, much less went out on lecture-tours. When
people went to him and put questions, he answered them in
his own simple way, devoid of pontifical solemnity. True, he
did some writing, in response to the entreaties of seekers, but
they are very few though very precious. Asleep or awake, he
was so fully immersed in the bliss of the immortal Self, that
he gave no attention to his mortal, transient self. He was totally
unassuming and had successfully effaced himself.

Sri Ramana did not found a new cult or a new religion. He
did not insist on compliance with any marga, ritual or line of
conduct. Neither did he give any new direction or effect any
reform within an existing one. But he showed a new path to
adherents of all religions -- the direct path of erasing the ego
ad discovering the Self, by Self-enquiry.

The timeless snows on the Himalayas have been enriching
the plains below with nourishing waters for many millennia
and will continue to do so for many more. Similarly, in
perpetual confirmation of the standing proclamation of the
Lord in the Gita, age after age, whenever the waters of
spirituality seemed to be ebbing away, rishis and munis have
descended on this punyabhumi of ours and made the tide of
spirituality rise higher and bathe the low-lying areas of human
existence, again and again. Sri Ramana undoubtedly belongs
to this parampara of immortal Godmen.

Strange are the ways in which sages and saints keep the
stream of spirituality constantly flowing. Some lead a life of
incessant activity, while others withdraw into the quietness
and the silence of some hallowed place. There, like a dynamo,
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they generate the power that transforms people from lead to
gold. To the superficial eye, pomp and pageantry might appeal,
but behind them all there is a vast storehouse -- akshayapatra
-- of inexhaustible power, luminous and strong, serene and
silent.

The Vedas themselves point out that the most potent form
of sound is inaudible. It is only wen it gets modified into lower
forms that it becomes audible speech. So it was with Sri
Ramana. This is his uniqueness. Beneath the small quantum
of his utterances lies the depth of wisdom beyond one's gaze
and hearing.

Maharshi Sri Ramana is a symbol of serenity and
compassion. He will remain for generations to come as a living
embodiment of Advaita Vedanta, the ideal of a perfect
jivanmukta.

A few days before he cast off his body, the Maharshi
proclaimed, "They say that I am dying, but I shall be more
alive than before".

There is no doubt that the message that this Messiah teaches
through silence will become more and more eloquent and
reverberate with greater power as the eternal wheel of time
-- kalachakra -- turns on and on.

The highest tribute to such greatness is silence.

Silence is golden.

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