37. THE PRESENCE

RAMANA'S message had spread all over the world.

      Seekers from all lands would flock to have a darshan
of Bhagavan and to spend some time in his presence.
Even after Ramana shed his body, the flow of visitors did
not diminish. What could be the attraction of his presence?

The reason for some people's visit was their karma ^[?]
and the bond of attachment of some earlier birth. Once,
a devotee lamented, "We do not know where we would
be in the next birth or whether we would be able to reach
your sannidhi (presence) again." Bhagavan consoled him,
"Did we get together now without any connection in
some earlier birth, similarly won't the present association
help retain it in future births?" The first manifestation of
Bhagavan's grace is to attract the seeker here. Did not
Bhagavan attract Harry Dickman living in a far off place?

To be attracted to Bhagavan's presence is itself the
result of merit earned in several births and should not
the present service result in something much better?
"No one who comes here goes in vain. According to
their samskara they will reach the next higher step,"
said Bhagavan.

      Some devotees revealed that Bhagavan himself
inspired them to visit the Ashram.

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      In 1933, a school teacher of Maharashtra visited the
Ashram. His experience was as follows: "Why don't you
visit me?" said the Swami to him in a dream.

"I don't know who you are," was the reply in the
dream.

"I am Ramana," said Bhagavan.
"I have never heard of you. I also do not know where
you stay."

"You come to Madras and make enquiries."
"I am too poor to undertake the journey. Where am
I to get the money from?"

"Go and ask (such-and-such) Seth," Bhagavan named
the Seth. After this conversation, the teacher woke up
from the dream.

      He had no acquaintance with the Seth named. But
the matter did not stop with words. On his way to the
school the next morning, the teacher noticed a jeweller's
shop in which the particular Seth was seated all alone.
The teacher went in and told him about the dream. The
Seth was familiar with Ramana's name but did not know
where the Mahatma lived. Without uttering a single word
he gave the required amount to the teacher who made the
journey to Arunachala. This was something like God
himself appearing and forcing a boon.

      Some, tormented by worldly affairs reached the
presence for consolation and peace.

      An American lady asked Bhagavan, "Is it alright to kill
oneself?" Bhagavan replied, "If you have the sakti, alright.
Yet how can you kill the Self? You maybe able to kill the
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body but the Self cannot be killed. Is it not indestructible?
Yet what is the use of killing the body, you may acquire a
tortured body. It is only that one with the body experiences
heaven and hell. There is another point. The sastras ^[?] say the
next birth would be according to what one thinks of at the
moment of death. What if you think of a demon at the last
moment? You could be reborn a demon. Isn't a human
birth better than that of a demon? So, even if you give up
the physical body, the suffering associated with the body
cannot be avoided. The best thing to do is to kill the thought
which identifies ahamkara (ego) with the Self."

      For some, a visit to Ramanasramam became a matter
of satisfaction and for some others, an event to brag about.
Lately, Maharajas have been frequenting the Ashram. As a
result, a visit to the Ashram has become a status symbol
among the rich and elite circles.

      Some visited the Ashram as a place of pilgrimage.

      Recently an American lady came all the way from America,
spent a few hours at the Ashram and went back the same
evening. Bhagavan commented: "Have you noticed her
devotion? She felt a mere darshan was more than enough!"

Some visit the Ashram to establish the superiority of
their religion. One such was a Muslim who began arguing
with Bhagavan. Yet Bhagavan undertook to answer his
questions patiently. The visitor asked Bhagavan, "Has
God a form?"

Bhagavan: Who said that God has a form?
Visitor:

If so, is it proper to give Him a form and
worship His images?

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Bhagavan: Leave God alone. Do you have a form?
Visitor:

Sure enough and you see it. But I am not
God.

      Bhagavan: So you say that you are this body made of
flesh, bones and blood.

      Visitor:

It seems so.

      Bhagavan: You say so because you see it now. But
during deep sleep you don't see it. So,
who
are you?

Visitor:

Even then I am only this. After all, we
see
it before going to sleep and after
the sleep.

      Bhagavan: What happens at death?
Visitor:

Then I am dead and buried.

      Bhagavan: If you are buried will you accept it? Why
does not the body get up and protest
against being buried?

Visitor:

If so, I am not the body. I am the life in the
body.

      Bhagavan: But till now you thought you were the
body and that you had a form. The dispute whether God
has a form or not lasts only so long as this ajnana ^[?]
(ignorance) persists. Until you are able to experience the
formless `I' you cannot worship a formless God.

      On another occasion, a Catholic missionary began
lecturing to Bhagavan on his religion. Bhagavan simply
kept quiet. Meanwhile, Chadwick began refuting the
missionary's comments on the Bible in his stentorian voice.
With that the visitor stopped his mission.

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      Those who go about on this mission are merely
satisfied with the molasses but they cannot taste the
sweetness of the cane. The really cultivated must savour
the overflowing peace in the atmosphere of the hall and
let their emotional upheavals subside. The power and force
of that current of peace as experienced by several devotees
like Humphreys and Paul Brunton has already been alluded
to. In fact, that usually was the initial experience of
Bhagavan's grace.

      With the subsiding of emotion and the
establishment of tranquillity, a peculiar thing occurred
in the presence. Seekers had several doubts on spiritual
matters but all those doubts simply vanished as it were.
Some even did not have to express their doubts. A
lawyer from Nellore visited Bhagavan with a written
list of his doubts. But in the presence he could not
utter even a single word. Bhagavan himself out of
abundant grace towards him said, "You may ask."

      Another peculiar thing happened once. A well
educated Nepali feudal lord visited the Ashram. He was
accompanied by his servant, a Gurkha. The feudal lord
sat in front of the office and was rehearsing the questions
he had to ask Bhagavan. Meanwhile the servant ran to
Bhagavan and narrated those questions in his own
language. Bhagavan merely looked at him silently. The
servant ran back to his master and repeated the answers
given by Bhagavan saying "This is what Bhagavan said."
The master was astonished and asked him, "Does Bhagavan
know our language?" and without leaving it at that, himself
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went to Bhagavan and asked him whether Bhagavan was
familiar with their language. Those present in the hall
burst out into loud laughter. One of the devotees present
told the Nepali that Bhagavan was silent all the time and
that his silence itself gave the replies and that this was one
of Bhagavan's ways of teaching. This mouna-upadesa could
be similar to what Dakshinamurti imparted to his disciples.

      In earlier years, there was no practice of reciting the
Vedas in Bhagavan's presence. But for some reason it was
started and thus a new phase came up. Those who savoured
the earlier phase of mouna ^[?] must have noticed the difference
between the two phases. Evenings, especially the period
of dusk, was one where silence reigned once. It could also
be described as the meeting point of the jeeva and Brahman ^[?]!

The mouna ^[?] was also interrupted either wittingly or
otherwise by some who kept on raising minor points with
Bhagavan repeatedly. The reason for this was rather unclear
— either they wished to show off that they belonged to the
inner circle of Bhagavan or wanted to know answers
straight from Bhagavan for the sake of authenticity. Some
of these points related to Bhagavan's life story as already
recorded in books or to their own mundane life. Yet,
some others attempted to show off their erudition. Some
others exhibited their musical talents in Bhagavan's
presence perhaps under the impression that it was all seva.

      About the significance and power of the presence
Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni used to tell his disciplies,
"Arunachala itself is a kshetra ^[?] (place) of fire. The water
here itself causes heat in the body. This land is dry, elevated
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and hot. Bhagavan is the personification of agni. To be in
his presence is itself to be in the midst of fire. Those who
perform japa in the presence of Bhagavan will feel
unbearable burning sensation within. The results of any
act performed in a sacred place will be pronounced.
Similarly for acts performed in Bhagavan's presence. Be
cautious in your japa."

      Transformation of the individual in Bhagavan's
presence would always be intense and fast. Those with
good tendencies got attracted and their transformation
also would be speedy. This also was a manifestation of
Bhagavan's grace.

      It is not possible to describe the grace of Bhagavan
when he was silent. By looking at his eyes one could
notice how indifferent he was to the world around him.
It was at such moments that the waves of peace emanating
from him could be experienced. Also, devotees had various
other experiences — like visions, hearing sounds and even
an experience of that nameless and formless state -- all
these due to the power of the presence. In any case, as all
these were purely personal experiences, nothing more can
be said of them. Some, like Paul Brunton, have recorded
those experiences.

      Naturally, a question would arise as to why everyone
did not have these experiences. The short answer is that
they depended on the individual's latent tendencies.
Kavyakantha also is reported to have said that while in the
presence the devotee should not be seated directly opposite
Bhagavan lest all their family ties get snapped. Whether
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Kavyakantha really said so could not be confirmed but
several men who introduced themselves to Bhagavan lost
their wives. It was a common experience of some who
came to Bhagavan to lose their close relatives — leading to
their attachments getting snapped. This was also a
manifestation of Bhagavan's grace.

      Grace by eye contact was rare. Bhagavan's vision rested
on some devotee or other for a very brief moment during
his mouna ^[?]. It resulted in a tremendous power accruing to
the devotee. Sometimes Bhagavan would concentrate that
power on someone. Before answering questions raised by
devotees Bhagavan sometimes looked at the devotee
closely. At such moments it appeared to the devotee as if
Bhagavan was seeing with only one eye. Like a javelin, a
ray would emanate from his eye and pierce the devotee. It
meant that Bhagavan scrutinized the inner being and then
replied. The brilliance of the vision would be like an
electric light in utter darkness. By that grace all
impediments in our sadhana ^[?] would be removed enabling
us to continue the sadhana ^[?]. This could be described as his
greatest grace. This could also be described as his initiation
by look (kataksha diksha) which was more powerful than
diksha by touch or upadesa. This was what was known as
guru-diksha (initiation by the guru). A few persons, among
them Kulkarni of Maharashtra, claimed that they had
initiation by touch also.

      More than Bhagavan's upadesa through the spoken
word, devotees got greater benefit by his silent presence.
Yet, as Bhagavan himself said, mere presence did not
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bestow liberation. Once a devotee asked, "When it is said
that mere satsang is enough for liberation, why is any
effort on our part necessary?" Bhagavan remarked, "Is it
so? The walls and roof of this hall are still there — should
they not have got liberation by now?" What Bhagavan
meant was that effort of the seeker also was necessary to
attain moksha ^[?]. Bhagavan also said that the grace of the
guru operates only at the final stages of sadhana ^[?]. Though
the world is not beheld by the sadhaka in the last stages,
due to the persistence of vasanas ^[?] the Self is not experienced
and it is at this stage that the grace of the guru, which
really is the grace of the atma, works and bestows the
Ultimate. It is the same thing that is mentioned in the
Kathopanishad. Bhagavan said that only such a guru could
be described as a sadguru ^[?], unlike other types of gurus. He
would accomplish the job in a trice.

      From the above discussion it would be obvious that
Bhagavan's mere physical presence was the greatest grace
bestowed by him. The vibrations of peace and brilliance
emanating from that body conferred immense benefits on
humanity. There still remained a question whether those
vibrations emanated out of Bhagavan's volition or automatically.

      The results depended on the status of the prarabdha of
the devotee. Mere contact of the devotee's body with the
voluntary vibrations of Bhagavan gave good results in some
cases. This was one way in which grace showed itself.

      Bhagavan himself said that several celestial bodies
(devatas) surrounded siddha-purushas and that whatever
was to be accomplished was done by those devatas. Yet, in
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some extraordinary situations Bhagavan himself bestowed
grace by his own sankalpa ^[?].

      Sundaresa Iyer once wrote a lyric where he said "Grace
flows from Bhagavan." Bhagavan corrected it saying, "It
is not so. It should read ? "Grace is made to flow." But
who could guess what those extraordinary circumstances
were? It was a common experience of many that several
ailments got cured in Bhagavan's presence. All around
Bhagavan everything had to be according to his sakti,
there could be no contrariness or dissonance. Any such
contrariness got rectified and this applied to even physical
imbalances and thus ailments got cured (recall the case of
Ramaswami Iyer). A number of persons had vouched that
at Ramanasramam their health improved and their
digestive power also increased and that such a thing did
not happen at any other place. The influence of the
presence extended even to the land.

      All the foregoing discussion could be of interest to
seekers. But for the large number of children, squirrels,
peacocks, dogs and unlettered persons who were very free
with Bhagavan, the philosophic points were of little
concern. For them Bhagavan was an ocean of bliss in
which they could revel.

      How can anyone describe that bewitching smile or
the brilliance of those eyes — they had only to be
experienced, not written about.

      That presence was like Kailasa, the abode of Siva Sankara.