Gathered Blooms

This poem highlights the nature of the moving mind constantly looking forward for the pleasures of the future. Belief in astrology and planetary transitions are most sought after ways to know the future. Its a prayer to   the sacred Arunachala Hill worshipped as Arunachala Siva, the immovable Self to grant its immobility drawing the ever restless mind to merge in it in surrender to go beyond time. Year after year, when the (planet) transit happens, The Guru (planet) swaps positions, Spelling fortune to a few For others, distaste anew Joy eludes for some, While others refereshingly hum. The mind enjoys the rejuvenating change, Or sinks in sorrow sudden and strange! The changing Guru may cast the way of life, Interchanging upheaval of pleasure and strife, But can one rely for bliss eternal, When the mind lost in the ethereal? The true Sadguru full of Grace, The seamless unchanging reality, Leads the mind out of the dual maze, Spreading bliss unperturbed for etern...

“Better to understand for a single day the fleeting nature of things than to live for a hundred years without such understanding” - Buddha Transience is the very nature of life. Change is the only constant thing says Buddhism, and also a matter of common sense within the experience of all. We cling to aspects of life - relationships, health, career, status etc etc. Little do we realise the aspect of change inherent in all the aforesaid aspects while we indulge in them. Realisation dawns only when a cherished relationship turns sour, when disease dispels sound heath, when there is a sudden change in career etc. Change also happens for the good, but in good days one is steeped in indulgence. Change speaks better in unhappiness.  It’s when the nature of transience is understood better. The positive way of looking at change is to not to look at it as a disaster, but to consider it as simply a change. However, it seems beyond the human grasp. A simple understandin...

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya! The womb of miracles is Grace, which is none other than the Self. Miracles here, may be defined as not the glaring ones as in Physic powers, Clairvoyance or materialising objects etc that bears the stamp of doership. They are simply divine interference in day to day life that are too very natural, and could often escape from even an alert eye. Such were those which took place in the presence of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. Any ardent seeker's life is peppered with miracles or divine interference. There are two common outlooks towards miracles. While most intellectual seekers on the path of Self realization often have a self imposed indifferent attitude towards miracles, seekers on the path of bakti or devotion often get lost in miraculous happenings. In my humble opinion, I guess focusing on Grace, the underlying factor of miracles than focusing on miraculous happenings themselves, or being aware of miracles rather than b...

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya Ramana had His own way of eradicating the ego, whenever it showed up in his disciples. Muruganar, one of the greatest devotees of Bhagavan Ramana, a remarkable poet, had an urge to pen something akin to Siva Puranam (a great work on Lord Siva by the great saint Manickavasagar) about Ramana. Devotion took the shape of words as it poured down on paper. Muruganar was however doubtful if he should call it ‘Siva Puranam’ owing to his firm belief that Ramana was none other than Shiva, or ‘Ramana Puram’. Unable to discern the same he left it for Bhagavan to decide. Bhagavan graciously wrote ‘Ramana Puranam’ in each page and also Himself being a poet par excellence, added a few more verses. The work was completed and was presented to Bhagavan for proof reading, Bhagavan found at the beginning of the verses that He had penned, “Written by Bhagavan” added by Muruganar. Picture shows indian mystic Ramana Maharshi, 1879-1950. It was taken by G....

                                                                          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...

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya Self-Reliant-Are We Really?                            Self-reliance  would normally mean being reliant on work, wealth, intelligence, social strength, relationships etc. Are we really Self-reliant in the truest sense while basing our reliance on these? When one is reliant on the aforesaid aspects, one is indirectly reliant on the mind. They are based on intelligence and emotions which are thought forms which constitute the mind.  In all of these impermanence is engrained. Such reliance is simply attachment which causes pain when their life elapses, or when they fail, while monotony and discontent are unavoidable outcomes of a successful life at some point. The mind hunts for something new. We are reliant on them owing to the belief somewhere; deep down, that they are going to exist for ever. It is only on...

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya “Grace is both the beginning and the end. Introversion is due to Grace; Perseverance is Grace; and Realisation is Grace” says Ramana Maharshi-Talks 319 It would be the experience of every Ramana devotee, who has dedicated himself to the practice of Self enquiry, to experience the Grace of the Guru enveloping him, taking control of his life. This results in diminishing of the sense of ego-the ‘I’ sense which is identifying oneself with the body and the mind. The showers of Grace in every minute detail of life are inexplicable and beyond one’s imagination; the sudden manifestation of it, yet very subtly and naturally, placing things in order leaves one dumbstruck. Will basking in the ‘thought of Grace’ (in different situations) threaten one’s practice in subduing the ego and rather enriching it? In my humble opinion it depends on the mind-set of the people. When Grace has begun to manifest in one’s material life, it is sure to guide one to t...