Skip to main content

From Him unto Him-The true definition of Charity


                                                                         
Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya





On 9th December, I happened to visit the Ramana Maharshi shrine to attend the Poornima puja. In Bhagavan’s physical presence with swarming fellow devotees, how could one describe the bliss and glory? The puja came to an end with devotees going around the shrine chanting ‘Aksharamanamalai’ We then stood engaged in a little Satsang in a small group listening to Ms. Sarada Natarajan (President of Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning) about Bhagavan and Arunachala and the Karthigai Deepam festival, when the others had taken leave.

A person from the group handed some money as a donation for the centre’s activities to Ms Sarada Natarajan requesting her to use it for the Poornima celebrations or for any other related activity.  The person humbly added, when I am HIS, what could remain as ‘mine’ to donate?

Ms. Sarada Natarajan narrated an incident in response to the donor’s words. Shri Nochur Venkatramanji’s child of five or six, standing near the Ganges, cupped his little hands to fill it with water and then emptied it into the river again saying, “This is true worship!”  A lesson from a little child indeed!

Ms Sarada Natarajan looked at the donor and said, “Your words remind me of that little child who could impart a great teaching in the course of his little play of worship"

While charity in the normal sense can be an exercise to purify the mind, the true definition of charity is something greater.

With the dissolution of identity, as Bhagavan always says, “There is no 'other,” (where there is no giver and the taker, but the SELF) true charity is that which is given even without the slightest notion of giving, where everything is the‘SELF’ Here there is no expectation from the taker in return and exploitation of the taker by the giver.

In the mighty ocean of Ramana, when the waves are of its (His) very nature-water, is there anything apart from Him?

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya!

Comments

THEY ALSO READ

Peace In His Presence

Peace percolates in the otherwise stormy mind by a glance of Grace from the sage, Ramana Maharshi.

Just Be!-What is it to be?

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya To just be is an effortless state of existence or being. It is a state of pure surrender . It is basically shifting of one’s attention from the mistaken conception of one’s identity with the body mind complex to the self, or the ‘I-ness’ throbbing in one. It is the state of dropping the mind, a deep let go of things . Bhagavan Ramana’s teaching is ‘Just be’. Self enquiry was suggested by Bhagavan as it is difficult to detach oneself from thoughts and to realise the true nature of one’s being at one go. It is the pure state of awareness. It is a state of acceptance . Non-acceptance causes rebellion or conflict in the mind. When one is in the state of just b-e-i-n-g, total acceptance has happened whatever be the external situations, with no trace of conflict in the mind. It is pure b-e-i-n-g or existing. It is not a negative state of simply existing, but a vibrant, throbbing existence full of life - a state of consciousness. It is the g...

The Path Back Home.....

The poem, "The Path Back Home," is a reflection of a peaceful stroll, alone in nature. The path leads and dissolves into the horizon, with me....  Tiny pink and yellow flowers,  made occasional patches over the ground. The breeze in the meadow brushed past, The sun shied, behind the clouds, A Kingfisher flapped its way towards me, unaware; and swiftly turned away with an alert chirp. The three-legged dog hopped and barked; intrigued and agile, A squirrel leaped from the roof of the cowshed, onto the branch of a nearby tree. I paced the path aimlessly that stretched in front, A flock of birds took to flight, to the left from the right. A peacock started off from a branch of a tree, and flew far beyond, surprising me. A glimpse of the "Wordless One" having revealed itself, from the depths of which thoughts emerged and sunk. Thoughts of chaos showed up and slid, back into the depths of peace--a seeming paradox so long hid! A prayer arose and me...

My Trip Alone To Ramanashram-Tiruvannamalai

My Trip Alone To Ramanashram -Tiruvannamalai Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya A miracle of miracle, A miracle that can be called the greatest, Of all miracles that takes place in His presence, Is the miracle of His presence in one’s life! This write up is a letter to my friends who always accompanied me on trips to seek Arunachala, where we basked in His Grace. They were great times that are etched out in memory. Though we are scattered geographically, but in each possible conversation, Arunachala makes Himself present. So I couldn’t help but put down in words this trip alone to rush to His Feet. It is just a simple sharing of the beauty of the ordinary, in the midst of the grandeur of the extraordinary, ‘Arunachala’ I boarded the bus to Pondicherry enroute to Thiruvannamalai at 8.30 AM on 6/10/2011 and reached Ramanashram at 1.45 PM. Since the meal timings had elapsed, I walked up to Shri Sheshadri Swamy asharm for food that the canteen provided. I did a quick...