Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

Question: “Bhagavan teaches us always to know
ourselves. He should kindly teach us how to know ourselves,
and bless us.”
Bhagavan’s reply: “The kindness is always there. You
should ask for something that is not there, and not for
something that is there already. You should believe with
all your heart that the kindness is there. That is all.”
Another said: “In the Vedic recitations that are conducted
here daily, they say, ‘thasya sikhaya madhye paramatma
vyavasthithaha’. What is ‘sikhaya madhye’ (in the middle of the
summit)?”
Bhagavan’s reply: “‘Sikhaya madhye’ means, ‘in the middle
of the summit of the fire’ and not ‘in the tuft of the hair of the
Vedas’. It means that the Paramatma resides in the centre of
the fire of Knowledge that is generated by churning of the
Vedas.”
Question: “In what asana is Bhagavan usually seated?”
Bhagavan: “In what asana? In the asana of the heart.

Wherever it is pleasant, there is my asana. That is called
sukhasana, the asana of happiness. That asana of the heart is
peaceful, and gives happiness. There is no need for any other
asana, for those who are seated in that one.”
Another said: “The Gita says, ‘sarva dharman parithyajya
mamekam saranam vraja’ (discard all dharmas and seek refuge
in Me). What are the dharmas that are conveyed by the
expression ‘sarva dharman’?”
Bhagavan: “‘Sarva dharman’ means ‘all the dharmas of
life’. ‘Parithyajya’ means ‘having discarded those dharmas’.

‘Mamekam’ means ‘Me, the Ekaswarupa (the only one Self)’.

‘Saranam vraja’ means ‘take refuge’.”
Question: “The expression ‘hridaya granthi bhedanam’
occurs in Sri Ramana Gita. What is meant by it?”
Answer: “That is what I say, ‘going away’, ‘exit’, ‘extinction
of all vasanas’, ‘destruction of the ego’, ‘I’, ‘destruction of
jivathva’, ‘destruction of the mind’, and so many other names.

All mean the same thing — mano nasanam (destruction of the
mind) is hridaya granthi bhedanam. The word jnanam also
means the same thing — some technical word for the sake of
recognising.”
When the conversation started, an attendant switched
on the fan, finding it to be stuffy in the hall. Bhagavan got it
stopped, remarking ‘why this?’ and turning to those nearby
said, “Look here! Many people ask how anyone can continue
to engage in performing karma after he has become a Jnani.

In reply to that question, in the olden days, they used to
quote the potter’s wheel as a comparison. As the wheel turns
round and round, the pot emerges. Even after the pot is
finished and the turning of the wheel is stopped, the wheel
does not stop revolving for some time longer. In these days
we can cite the example of the electric fan. We switched it
off, but it did not stop revolving for some time after. Similarly,
even after one becomes a Jnani, he does not give up the
physical body so long as actions which he is destined to
perform with it remain unfinished.”
Suddenly a little baby of about eight months began to
prattle “Thatha, Thatha” behind my back. When Bhagavan
heard those sweet words, he lifted his head and asked who it
was. I said, “It is our little child Mangalam.” Bhagavan is very
fond of babies. He said, “Is it she? I thought it is some older
girl. Has she already begun to call out ‘Thatha, Thatha’?”
The child continued to say, “Thatha, Thatha.” Bhagavan said
to those nearby, “See this wonder! Children first begin to say
the word ‘Thatha’ which means ‘than than’. ‘Thanthan’ — ‘it is
its own self’ — is the same with our minds also. The word ‘I’
comes out first, automatically. Only thereafter the words
‘you’, ‘he’, etc. are uttered, just as all other words follow the
word ‘thatha’ in the case of little children. It is only after the
feeling ‘aham’ (ego) comes that the other feelings follow.”
It was nearly 9 o’clock and so Krishnaswamy turned on
the radio to verify the time. After the clock struck nine the
radio ended with the words ‘namaste to all’. Bhagavan smiled
and said, “The radio announcer says, ‘namaste to all’ as if he
and they were different. Is he not one of them? It amounts
to this, that he is saluting himself also. They do not realise
that. That is the strange thing.”