Thursday, January 27, 2011

Aham Brahmasmi - I am that

# “I” am self (Aatman). The thought of I is ego. “Aham Brahmasmi” implies “I am that” i.e., I am embodiment of Brahman. “I” that is referred here is not the limited “I” that you all experience. “I” here indicates the self.

# The Adi Guru (first Guru) Dakshinamurthy himself couldn’t explain the self (Aatman) in words and hence remained in silence. Dakshinamurthy = Dakshina (Right side) + Amurthy (Formless). It means right side of our body, positioned at heart, the one who resides without form is DakshinaMurthy and i.e., the self (Aatman).

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

You are Aatma (Self)

# Your nature is self (Aatma). Your nature is itself God. Your nature is itself the Kundalini Shakti and the kingdom of heaven as proclaimed by Christ. There is neither beauty nor truth higher than that of self. After you taste the bliss of self, even if your ishta daiva (favorite God) stands in front of you, you will not have a desire to look at him, such is the glory of the self.

# The self that is shining within your heart is the only truth. There is no God higher than the truth. There is no religion higher than the truth. There is no nation higher than the truth. The self (Aatman) has the power to enslave your senses, your mind and your destiny. But, are you wholeheartedly having a desire for self (Aatman)? Is it not true that only when you desire that, self (Aatman) reveals itself?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

"Divine Love" - (By Padmaja)

I just visited Arunachalam and followed it with a visit to Jinnuru to visit Nannagaru.I was visiting with my two daughters and my husband Venu from Cleveland, Ohio.Nannagaru sent us a car to the station to receive us, a thought crossed my mind which guru sends a car to pick up his disciples? I have only heard of gurus who require their disciples to go through a million rules!! But that has been my experience with Nannagaru, no rules!!



We stayed in a building opposite to his house and I was getting my kids ready to go see him when he sits outside. From previous experiences I know that the silence and presence you feel during those sessions can not be missed. But I took my time obsessing over the bathrooms, other silly concerns like what my kids would eat for breakfast etc., then I saw him at the entrance of the door of the house which we were staying. What kind of Guru walks over to meet his devotees? When I saw him at the door,I had no words,I was overwhelmed with his love, he asked me not to rush and sat in the Verandah. He inquired about my kids and how my job is, advised me not to put gold jewelry on the kids for safety.I was not surprised though, it was like a visit to my father's house, no rules, just plain love.



We had lunch at Nannagaru's house. Kannamma invited us kindly into her kitchen , we ate a very tasty lunch. I was surprised how my kids asked for seconds , thirds and ate whatever they were served, I felt he took care of my concern about what they would eat!! I was overwhelmed by Amma's love, I was visiting her after 12 years. After lunch we went to Ramanashram, Nannagru sat in silence for a while , chatted with the devotees, told me about this website and Greeshma. Ramana Jayanthi was the next day, every body was busy preparing for it. He spent the whole day with us. Which guru makes you feel like you are the only one? I had been to a spiritual retreat in London earlier to this with Nannagaru, but I was much more ignorant than now, but even then I could sense how special he made everybody feel.....you feel like you are the only one getting his attention and love.



I remember vividly the trip with Nannagaru to chinchinada in a car to a devotee's house. He was looking outside through the window.

He turns and looks at me and says , do you think this world is real?

I nodded yes and no in confusion, wondering of course why he is asking me .

He looks outside contemplating, and says, it is not real, but it is real as part of the "Brahman". Everything exists inside Brahman, there cannot be anything exclusive to it, do you understand?

I remember it because it was an Aha moment for me, I was amazed at the clarity in those words.



Before my leaving we sat in silence again in the verandah with him. I felt like I have somehow failed him, since I was not doing or practicing anything related to the "subject", so I asked him if anybody would fall from grace? When I mustered enough courage to ask that question , he looked at me lovingly said there was no falling from grace, it would see you thru till the end.......again I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, wanted to weep but with joy, ego being washed away...
I tried to remember the details of the words that he spoke to blog here , but all I remember is his love and Amma's love. amma packed food for the train journey for us. We left Jinnuru with his love in abundance to see us thru the end like he said....Om Ramanaya Namaha




Thank you for sharing this lovely experience with us. Guru has a special, unique relationship with each of his disciples individually.And it doesn't matter if the Guru has many disciples; he still has time and grace for each one, even sometimes simultaneously appearing in different places at the same time! Your note conveyed the same.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Aatman is Sat Chit Ananda

# Your nature is self (Aatma). God and Aatma (self) are not different. Realized soul (Jnani) calls it as Aatma and devotee calls it as God. It is the self alone which is omnipresent and you are that. There is nothing different from you, then how can there exist anything that is superior to you or inferior to you?

# Aatman is knowledge, existence and bliss (Sat Chit Ananda)

# Aatman is embodiment of happiness, peace, light, truth, bliss and knowledge.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Guru is supreme self

# My dear soul mates! We can clear the debt of the mother, debt of the father and the debt of the teacher in our school. But we always owe to Guru who puts his all efforts to make you realize. Any God greater than Guru doesn’t exist, doesn’t exist and doesn’t exist.

# Our Vedas proclaim thus: “Guru is brahma, Guru is Vishnu, Guru is Maheswara and Guru is supreme self itself.”

# In the Gita the lord promised – “I will liberate you even if you remember me in your last moments”. But at the time of death all the hidden tendencies in heart rush out to the brain and man can remember only those things at that time for which he longed throughout his life. That last thought in his last moments leads a man to his rebirth. But if we are pure and have true surrender, Guru can help us out here. He can create a state of good tendencies in our last moments and thereby lead us to higher/good births. Is it not the greatest help that one can ever obtain in this world?

# It is difficult to worship God as Guru. Therefore God himself comes as Guru taking a human form. It is God’s grace only that has taken the form of Sri Ramana.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

"Nanna's Gracious Love" - (By NDas)

It was Guru poornima perphaps for the first time that I attended in Junnor.
As usual after the speech was delivered Nannagaru went to Chinchinada.
I knew no one in Chinchinada. Somehow one of the devotees promised me accomodation and so I accompanied him to Chinchinada. I silently spent 2 days there. And the time came for my departure. I was naturally sad about it.



Nannagaru blessed us as he usually does by moving his hands in the chinmudra of the Dakshinamurthy.We came out of the house and were waiting for the car.But still Nannagaru was visible to us and we were visible to Nannagaru.

Suddenly Nannagaru looked at us and raised one of his Hands.I was overwhelmed at that flow of Grace and did a pranam with one hand keeping it on my chest.


After a moment, He raised both the hands. He was still like a rock with both the hands raised.

This time I couldnt bear that Grace and had to make pranams with both the hands.

After such a delightful darshan I had to get into the car.I hardly ever cried for God. But this time I couldnot stop sobbing.




Thank you for sharing this with us. When it comes to his grace, tears roll down unknowingly.

"Nanna is everywhere" - (By NDas)



It was the first time that I visited Kasi. I had a rare opportunity of being accompanied by my Guru(Nanna garu) and my parents.We stayed in a hotel which was 10 mts walk from the place where Sri Nanna stayed. We heard that Nanna will be going out but the place he would be visiting was kept as a top secret.However we had an information that Nanna would be visiting the sankata mochana temple. Hearing this a huge crowd of devotees already left to that place and kept waiting for Nanna. My Father was pressing us that we will go out for sightseeing. But as usual I was being dragged towards Nanna. However I didnt want to disappoint my Material father in the name of my Spiritual Father.So I gave up and said to the Lord Visveshwara 'Let thy will be done'. We hired an auto and were advised by the autodriver that we first visit the Kala Bhairava temple. I consented for this. However my Heart was at Sankatamochana temple. We did accordingly and as we turned back from the temple, to our greatest astonishment, we were facing Nanna in front of us.He had a very grave composure,glowing with serenity and approached us majestically.We were standing aside giving him the way to enter the temple premises.He stopped beside us and Blessed my Father by touching his cheeks and entered the temple very quietly. We felt Blessed at this unexpected darshan and Blessings from Nanna garu. But the saddest part for me was that as Nanna was entering the temple we had to leave the temple.Many devotees were rushing towards Kala Bhairava temple on coming to know that Nanna was visitng the same. Few of them enquired as to the whereabouts of Nanna and few of them were shouting at me that Nanna is in Kalabhairava temple. But I had no other choice but to accompany my parents. It was a kind of mixed feelings for me. I didnt understand whether to be happy with the unexpected darshan OR be sad for not accompanying Nanna into the temple. The Only thing I understood was nothing is in my hands,Whether it can be called as God's will OR as Destiny.Leaving behind Nanna we visited Sarnath,Bharath Mata temple, Sankatmochan temple etc.,Finally we went back to the hotel at about 6.30pm in the evening.I knew that it wld not serve the purpose even if I rush to Nanna. Somehow I felt being dragged from within and ran towards Nanna's place. By the time I reached there, Nanna was sitting in a very deep silence. I was able to see only the feet of Nannagaru as many devotees were in our midst.Suddenly a deep silence overcame me in His presence and I experienced a very deep ecstasy inexpressible in words.This experience has put aside all my regrets of missing Nanna garu and totally rejuvenated me. I felt I would not have experienced this if I had been with Nanna throughout the day. Nanna took leave from us very shortly.While returning back to my hotel room, one of the devotees told me that most of the devotees waited for Sri Nanna in the sankatmochan temple but had to return disappointed as Nanna never visited the temple.When she explained me how they chased and traced Nannagaru and about how they spent the time with Him, I again felt sad of missing out the day with Him losing all the Bliss and ecstasy experienced in His presence till now.



When I ponder back and rethink of the situation I feel I have been very foolish in my thinking. Had I not accompanied my parents and Had i not surrendered myself to the Lord's will, Perphaps I would have been in sankatmochan temple waiting for Nanna through out the day. Naturally we wouldnt have got the darshan at the Kala bhairava temple.And also the Bliss that I experienced was a result of the longing due to separation thru out the day.I wouldnt have had this if I were with Nanna through out the day. So the following were my lessons:

1)Nanna knows what is best for me.
2)Abidance by God's will leads to oneness perphaps much faster than devotion.Surrender is greater than Devotion.
3)True Devotion leads to True Suurender which in turn leads to Oneness.
4) Man is not where his body is; Man is where his Mind is.
5)Limiting Nanna to a Body is a CRIME.
6)Do never imitate others.
7)Everything happens in its own time.



I shared this experience with my sister who could not visit Kasi. She felt consoled. Hope this experience would console all the devotees who thrive for Nanna's presence but cant attain the same.

Perphaps I can take an Instance of Bhagwan here. Rangan,a very intimate devotee of Bhagwan in his deep longing to see Bhagwan gets down from a running train and gets hurt. On being asked by Bhagwan he narrates as to why and how he gets hurt.
Listening to the same Bhagwan says,'Rangan seeing me is not important. Longing to see me is important.'



To take one more Instance:

The Gopi's Love for Krishna is considered to be the Highest form of Love.
After Lord Krishna left Brindavan, He never came back to see the Gopis. The Brindavan was just few miles away from Mathura.Still He never came back.There was a strong reason for this.After Krishna left Brindavan, His entire life was involved with the Politics involving kings and kingdoms.The Gopis adored Krishna as Gopala which made up their pure Love for Him.And Krishna never wanted the Gopis to lose their Gopala.

Had Krishna come back to Brindavan, The Gopi's impression about Krishna would have changed. They would have viewed Him as a King maker, Political leader, warrior etc., etc., and all their pure Love for Krishna would have been lost.Krishna never came back only for the welfare of the Gopis.Whether the Gopis knew or not as to why Krishna didnot come back to them, they accepted this gracefully without questioning Him.True devotion leads to Surrender and True Surrender leads to Oneness.It was only because Krishna never came back the Gopi's Love became eternal Otherwise this would have turned into an attachment only.Therefore whatever the Lord does is always for our Good and accepting the same will make us eternal.


This experience consoles everybody who feel that they are far away from Nanna, and also to those who think they are unable to accompany him. Limiting Guru to a body is absolutely crime, and this revealed practically through your words. He exists everywhere and in our hearts!Thank you for sharing this consoling experience.

Friday, January 14, 2011

"I" and "mine" are Big Stones

# “I” and “mine” are two big stones that cannot be removed without Guru’s help. “I” implies ahamkara (ego) and “mine” implies mamakara (that belongs to me) As long as this ‘kara’ exists, man cannot become pure and cannot go beyond nature.

# The help that you receive from Guru internally is immeasurable. Guru’s grace works much more than your self-efforts. It is Guru alone who accompanies you throughout your births and protects you. You don’t know the address of your Guru, but Guru knows your address wherever you are and whatever may be your birth. Guru never leaves you until your goal (Self-realization) is reached.

# Though the outer Guru is false, but is still required. If God gets angry with us, it is only Guru who can protect us but if Guru Gets angry with us, even God cannot protect us. Only polite people can listen to the Guru. Is it not that only when we listen, we come to know what needs to be obtained?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Guru is the real Mahatma

# He, who takes you closer towards inner self, is the real Guru. Do not restrict Guru to a body. He is the only means who will protect us from the vicious circle of birth and death.

# By mere looking at whom your mind is introverted is the real Mahatma, he is the real Guru. The first task, the middle task and the last task that the Guru does for you is introverting your mind. One who leaves the self and talks other things is not a Guru but a demon (Rakshasa).

# Guru, out of grace can remove various past tendencies within a second, which you were unable to do since several births. There is nothing equal to Guru’s grace in this world. There might exist several Gurus in this world but if a self-realized soul (jnani) becomes your Guru, he will certainly lead you to your goal (Self-realization).

Saturday, January 8, 2011

"All is Nanna, Nanna is All" - (By Devotees)



“O my father, you are the saviour of so many devotees
Please do also accept us and be our saviour”







Neither am I the great saint sabari, to wait for you endlessly, nor Radha with eternal patience,

I am a commoner in this vicious cycle of samsara(The endless cycle of birth and death), be my saviour by relenting the devotion of Sabari and eternal love of Radha.
“O my Father”



Neither am I the “Tyagayya” to be able to praise your goodness nor “Meera” to sing & dance in sheer bliss for you with pure devotion.

Please do bless us with the devotional bliss of Tyagayya and Meera as we are trapped in world of desire and anger.
“O my Father”



Neither am I the most learned as “Jayadeva” nor “Vemana” whose ‘mind was quiescent’(Vairagyam).

Please do give us the joy of the divinity of the humble knowledge of Vemana and Jayadeva as we live in the ignorance of proudness of our ego.
“O my Father”




Neither am I the great devotee as “Ramadasu” to suffer karma as your blessings nor the blind poet “Surdas” to worship you.

O my father make us learn to surrender to you as Ramadasu and Surdas , as we are only filled with jealousy and hate.
“O my Father”



To just be in the divine presence of my grace, my master Sadguru Sri Nanna Bhagavan of Arunachala Ramana. All is Nanna, Nanna is all.
so humane and complete,
so kind and lender,
so generous and joyful,
so lovely and wonderful
so simple, silent and still,
so heartful and beautiful,
so virtuous and committed,
so kingly and graceful,
so benign and sagacious,
so on and on and on and on ...................


Guru Bramha Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwara Guru Sakshath Parabramha Tasmayeesri Gurave Namah .

All is Nanna, Nanna is All.

Every moment let all of us affirm to throw our little ( i ) self at the feet of my grace Sadguru Sri Nanna Bhagavan of Arunachala Ramana. Who is the ultimate and the Real - i.

The Parabhramhan, the Paramathman. who lives in our heart. That Place is the heavenly kingdom of god. Which is our real home, live there.

"Everything was Perfect" - (By Dr.Mithin)



I went to meet Sri Nannagaru today knowing that the great man was in my city. The moment I thought of meeting him today...everything was perfect.

My driver arrived on time, there was no power cut, and I got ready within minutes.

The view outside the car too seemed too perfect. I had to cover nearly 12 km of distance in morning traffic and I knew it would take me about half an hour or so. I decided to watch the scenes outside to while away the time.

Everything was perfect.

Schoolgirls with white ribbons and long plaits, the traffic constable with a rayban replica cooling glasses, the peasant carrying a bundle of coconut leaves, commuters waiting for the bus at the bus stop, a youth indulging in helmetless bike driving, two shy lovers hiding from all sitting under a tree shade in a small park...the boy talking excitedly and the girl listening shyly, the vendor with the mangoes for sale :), cars trying to overtake from the wrong side....everything...everything looked perfect.

Today was a day when everything was left uncared for...no analysis...only something that needed to be seen and loved...from sheer ugliness to enchanting beauty...everything was the same...

PERFECT.

Reaching the house where the saint was staying I bought some apples for him and took the lift up to the fifth floor.

There were already a hundred people trying to catch a glimpse of him and trying to get in the small flat that the saint usually stays in.

I was ushered in by his trusted lieutenant whose wife is a patient of mine and made to sit on a sofa as the saint ate his breakfast.



Finishing breakfast the saint looked at me and smiled. He introduced me to the crowd and asked me to come and sit next to him. I refused and tried to sit down. He vehemently opposed this and made me sit next to him.

He inquired about my professional life and family. I answered.

He looked at the fruits I bought for him.

"You have brought a lot of fruits" he said.

I nodded shyly.

"Do you read any other books apart from your subject books?" he asked.

I replied that I read Sri Ramakrishna's books a lot.

He nodded.

"Do you think there is a difference between Sri Ramakrishna's teachings and Bhagwan Ramana's teachings?" he asked.

I shook my head "No"

He smiled and said " Ramakrishna delved into all aspects of Advaita, Dvaita, and other forms of philosophy more than Ramana. Bhagwan was more Advaita oriented." He said.

I nodded again. It seemed to echo an inner feeling of mine.

I looked at him and said " Sri Ramakrishna and You are One. I consider you as God."

There was an instant ripple of joy across the crowd surrounding us.

The saint gave a slight pause as a divine smile played on his features and he looked like Grace Personified.

The Divine glow persisted for a few seconds and then it was gone.

He extended his palms and patted my cheeks.

In another meeting I had said to him

"I worship you as God. I know no other. You are my Sri Ramakrishna."

He had smiled and said

"Protect that feeling of yours and cherish it throughout life." He said. " That one thing is enough...that one thing is enough."

His hands raised in a mudra of blessing as I bowed low before him.





Dr.Mithin Aachi is an orthopaedic surgeon by profession. He is a star-gazer, painter, and writer. He is an amalgamation of all kinds of arts and activities. He is a happy go lucky person, who just sees love in everything. From the very tender age, he had an quest to know the truth. He admires and worships Rama Krishna and believes Nannagaru is an avatar of Rama Krishna and worships him in this form. He is a simple person who is an embodiment of love.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Guru,God and Self are ONE

# Guru, God and self are one and the same and not different. The self (which is your nature) takes a form as Guru and gradually lessens the force of your past tendencies and thereby turns your mind inwards (Antharmukam). The beauties of heart are revealed only to that mind that is introverted. If you love your Guru, it implies unknowingly you are loving yourself.

# God created this world and did not leave it abandoned. He also explained the manner of life that will lead to Jnana. Therefore God is our first Guru (Adi Guru).

# Only a self-realized man is eligible for the word Guru. A self-realized soul can only see Atman everywhere.