Guru’s Gift: I

The search and practice of a committed student of spirituality is called Sadhana in Sanskrit. During the many decades of my life I have been inspired by numerous teachers, who have shared wisdom that has affected me deeply. Insights about these persons are widely available in books and online, and I do not intend to repeat what may be found elsewhere. My hope is to capture an essence of their knowing that has become part of my own Sadhana.

Shri Ramana Maharshi

Saint of Arunachula

When I first learned about Shri Ramana Maharshi I was balancing the life of a spiritual seeker with my responsibilities as a householder, raising a family and providing care for a wider family of patients. All too little time, it seemed, could be invested in daily practice and spiritual retreat. I was drawn to Ramana’s life as a boy and then man, whose whole attention was devoted to God realization, and then who invited others to awaken as he had. This is perhaps the first lesson from Ramana—the life itself and the one-pointed focus on Self-Realization.

The second lesson is not one that my mind knows what to do with. I watch the videos of him walking on his mountain (for Ramana Arunachula was a living incarnation of Shiva) and I am transfixed. It isn’t about thoughts or concepts or verbal teachings. Some part of his profound transcendence comes through to me each time I watch. I have a picture book of black-and-white photos that absorbs me deeply. When I visited Arunachula in India several years ago, walking on the stony trails and meditating in the caves he called home during his awakening journey, I sensed that the essence of Ramana was there with me.

Bruce, meditating near one of Ramana’s caves on Mount Arunachula.

Wrapped in Silence…

When at the end of his life he told his devotees that he would soon leave the body, there was great consternation. They were distressed that he would leave them because they had built their spiritual lives around him. His response? “I am not going anywhere. Where would I go?”

To me the directness of his teaching has hit home. He taught his students to experience “I-I.” We ask the simple question, “Who Am I?” and Ramana encourages us to notice two things. First there is an identity of self as a person, perhaps with hopes of fulfillment or spiritual awakening. Second there is our deeper identity, the Being we are who is already awake. As this Being we are aware of and observing the person with his desires and aspirations. This witnessing “Self,” awake and aware, is who we really are, beyond categories, desires, thoughts and experiences of the self as a manifest person. Sometimes we are deep in our meditation, and we become aware of simply Being. For a time the meditation is simply being awake to awakeness, aware of awareness. We are no longer the thoughts, feelings and actions that we would in usual consciousness call the self. Who we are is awareness—that’s all. Deep within, we simply are.

Until, inexorably, the deep quiet shakes loose impurities in our nature, resulting in sensations and thoughts, and I find I am “outside” once again, identified with thoughts, feelings, and sensations. This inward and outward cycle of meditation is natural. Learning to simply noticing the thoughts and sensations without judgement, gently returning to the vehicle of the meditation (for example, a Mantra) is one of the keys to effective practice.

I don’t find books to be the best way to learn about Shri Ramana Maharshi. Visiting Arunachula may be the most powerful lesson. It was for me. Short of that, I encourage you to spend time with old photos and video of the man. Here is a link from the Arunachala Ashram in New York. https://youtu.be/wkcYAFGjkVU