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He
was but a young man in his early twenties, yet
Sri Ramana Maharshi had already the serene countenance
and radiant eyes of a Sage. He lived in a cave
on the sacred mountain, Arunachala, beside the
town of Tiruvannamalai in Madras State. He sought
solitude and maintained silence to discourage
visitors. Nevertheless, disciples gathered round.
He was already known as ‘Maharshi’,
the ‘Great Sage’; devotees addressed
him in the third person as ‘Bhagavan’
(Lord). |
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After
some years the cave became too small and
the Maharshi and his followers moved to
Skandasramam, a little higher up the mountainside.
This also was a cave but was enlarged and
built out to give more accommodation. His
mother renounced the world and came to join
him there. She began to cook for the little
group, whereas previously they ate only
what was given in charity by the pious when
some of them daily begged for food in the
town.
The Mother died in 1922, attaining Liberation
at the moment of death, through persistent
effort fortified by the concentrated grace
of her son. As tradition demands in the
case of a Liberated Being, the body of Mother
was not cremated but |
buried. As no burial is allowed on the sacred
mountain, she was buried at its foot, at
the southern-most point where a cemetery
already existed. |
It was less
than half an hour’s walk from Skandasramam
and the Maharshi would go there daily. Then, one
day, he stayed. It was here that Ramanasramam
sprang up.
Sri Ramana Maharshi was already over forty at
the time and had spent twenty-six years at Tiruvannamalai
as a Self-realized sage; and yet he was not widely
known outside of South India. He had avoided publicity
and had done nothing spectacular to attract people,
such as cures or miracles. There was no Ashram
office, no correspondence, no facility for visitors,
no publicity.
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An
Ashram did not spring up immediately. At
first there was only a shed with bamboo
uprights and a roof of palm leaves. The
Maharshi himself maintained the same aloof
attitude, and he continued to live in utmost
simplicity. He asked nobody to come and
told no one to go; |
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if
any wanted to come they could, if any wanted
to settle down there they could, but each
had to make his own arrangements. Ashram
organization was not his concern. If rules
were made he would be the first to abide
by them, but he himself did not make any.
His work was purely spiritual: silently
guiding the ever-growing family of devotees
that gathered around him and radiating his
Grace upon them. To all appearance, he was
aloof, but his love was all embracing and
utterly overpowering. Everyone felt the
subtle, ever-watchful power and grace of
his guidance. |
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It
was his younger brother, Sri Niranjanananda
Swami, who oversaw the construction of buildings
and the growth of the Ashram. He became
its sarvadhikari or manager. As the Maharshi
became more widely known, donations flowed
in and a whole complex of buildings arose.
Particularly dear to the sarvadhikari’s
heart was a temple that he built over the
Mother’s shrine and a large new meditation
hall, known as the New Hall, adjoining it. |
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The
focus of all attention was, of course, the
meditation hall where devotees sat with
the Maharshi. There was a couch there where
he sat in the daytime and slept at night.
Devotees would sit before him on the floor,
men on one side of the hall, women at the
other. During the early years the doors
were never closed, and even at night people
could come and lay their troubles at his
feet. In later years, because of age and
failing health, the Ashram management decided
that hours of privacy would be necessary
for him. |
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Concerned
that he should be accessible to all comers at
all hours, Sri Bhagavan never left the Ashram
except for his daily walk on the mountain and
palakothu, morning and evening, and in the early
years, an occasional walk on the nine-mile road
around the mountain. This is said to be particularly
meritorious and should ideally be done barefoot,
as a pilgrimage. The Maharshi always encouraged
it.
People would sit in meditation while the Maharshi
watched over them, guiding them wordlessly. However
there was no rigidity about it, no rule that every
one must meditate at a given time or in a certain
manner. Accommodation was sometimes difficult
to find. It was never a residential Ashram in
the usual sense; nevertheless, a large dormitory
was put up where men could spread their bedding
on the floor. There were also a few private rooms
for guests. However, all this proved insufficient,
and was of no help to women, who were not allowed
to stay overnight in the Ashram premises. A number
of devotees built their own houses round about,
and thus a housing estate grew up. Sadhus made
a colony near the Ashram and lived in caves and
huts. A Maharaja donated a guesthouse. In spite
of all this, difficulties in finding accommodation
persisted. |
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All
of this suddenly changed in 1950. After
a long and wasting illness the Maharshi
attained Maha Samadhi. The crowds of devotees
dispersed and it seemed for a while that
the Ashram might come to an end or survive
only as a relic. However, contrary to what
had been feared, there was no feeling of
void. Indeed, never had
the atmosphere |
more vibrant with the Maharshi’s effulgent
Presence and Grace. The power of his presence
seemed not to have been withdrawn but, on
the contrary, to be stronger and more potent
than ever. Such grace was there that those
who stayed on could not even feel sad. There
was nothing to grieve about, no sense of
loss or privation. More and more, people
came to feel the Maharshi’s continued
presence at Sri Ramanasramam. Devotees who
had left returned. The flow of visitors
resumed. It was recalled that the Maharshi
himself had given many indications of his
continued presence. In approving a Will
that was drawn up he had stated that this
Ashram was to continue as a spiritual center.
Shortly before his death he had said: “They
say that I am going away, but where could
I go? I am here.” On the one hand,
this was a purely metaphysical statement.
For the Sage who has realized his identity
with the universal Self there is no coming
or going, no change or becoming, no here
or there, only the changeless Here and Now.
And yet, his words had physical implications
as well. They applied to his Ashram at Tiruvannamalai.
During his lifetime, the Maharshi had often
said that only the body travels; the Self
remains unmoving. This was one aspect of
the truth which would be a consolation to
those not destined to go to Tiruvannamalai.
But the other aspect was no less true: that
it was and is a great blessing to be able
to go to Sri Ramanasramam at the foot of
the sacred Arunachala Mountain, and that
powerful spiritual help will be found there
for those who come. While Sri Ramana is
universal and ever present in the hearts
of those devotees who dedicate their lives
to him, there is, at the same time, no denying
that his power and guidance are concentrated
at his Ashram at Tiruvannamalai. |
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There
were other confirmations of Sri Bhagavan’s
continued Presence. When some devotees complained
before his death that he was leaving them he answered
cryptically: “You attach too much importance
to the body.” The implication was obvious.
The body was leaving them; he was not. He would
remain the Guru as before.
There is no spiritual head of the Ashram, no lineage
successor to Bhagavan in human form. The Presence
of the Maharshi is so intensely powerful and all-pervasive
that it is clear to all his devotees that the
Mighty Impersonality that Ramana was is the eternal
Guru and presiding deity here. The spiritual instructions
that he has left behind are complete in every
way and spiritual support comes directly from
him; all that is needed is practice.
The sarvadhikari died in January, 1953 and his
son, T. N. Venkataraman, took over the management
of the Ashram as President. In 1994, T. N. Venkataraman
retired and, as enjoined by Bhagavan’s will,
entrusted his eldest son, V. S. Ramanan, to serve
as the Ashram President. |
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