His attendee came and started to manicure his toe nails.
I looked at them and thought excitedly.
Sri Nannagaru's toe nails! The place from where the entire Cosmos springs! I am blessed by the darshan of the Supreme!
I took three two nails of his and held them in the tips o my fingers and pressed them hard against the pulps.
The stinging feeling I got then I correlated with the Heart Centre. These are Sri Nannagaru's toe nails, the direct representations of the Self. Let me concentrate on this feeling and meditate on this. This will help in subsiding my mind.
Thinking thus I deepened my meditation and soon was lost in a current of thought.
I was Sri Nannagaru looking at a Cosmos filled with Sri Nannagaru in the pose of Lord Ramachandra as he had given me yesterday. My meditation was becoming subsequently deep whence suddenly I felt a jolt to my shoulder I opened my eyes.
Guru's Child was shaking me and telling me that Sri Nannagaru was talking to me. I felt a electric current in my mind die as I looked at Sri Nannagaru
'Has Professor Laxmi Narain come' asked Sri Nannagaru.
I pointed out the Professor to Sri Nannagaru.
Sri Nannagaru now scolded me saying that ' Why didn’t you inform me of his coming?' I had asked Sri Nannagaru permission that previous night that Professor Laxmi Narain garu wanted to come and meet him.
'He is Bhagwan's devotee isnt it?' asked Nanna
I replied yes. He had asked him to be brought the next day morning.
Now as Sri Nannagaru rebuked me I felt hurt that I displeased him. On deeper introspection I realized that Sri Nannagaru had shown me his Guru Bhakthi!
A devotee of Bhagawan had come and he was not acknowledged. This had hurt Sri Nannagaru. I marveled at the Love of my Guru for Bhagwan and asked his pardon mentally.
Sri Nannagaru now went into Silence for sometime. Then he said ' Buddha taught all equally. He gave the teaching to faithful and faithless. When someone asked him the use of such an endeavor he said that seeds will germinate when the soil is fertile. His words will produce effect even in the unfaithful when the time was ripe. He did his duty.'
Sri Nannagaru then stopped his satsang and asked myself and the professor to accompany him to the room.
Once inside the room he asked the Professor about his native place and interests.
As the Professor did not understand Telugu I acted as the translator.
Sri Nannagaru asked me whether I was his neighbor. I said yes.
'The Bible defines a neighbor as one who is close to one's heart even though he may be far away.'
I nodded.
Sri Nannagaru asked whether the Professor loved Bhagawan. I replied yes, he has room full of his photos.
The Guru nodded and asked the Professor ' Do you meditate?'
The Prof said 'I have a room but I don’t have meditation. Please give me meditation.'
Sri Nannagaru smiled and said to me ' When japa become internal, meditation comes. There are two states. “Being” and “Meditation”. Being is effortless and Meditation requires effort. Who is that meditates? It is the mind. Remove the mind or seek the source and Be. This is effortless meditation.'
He looked at the Prof and said ' I will give you effortless meditation. You will get all that you need.'
The Professor bowed low to Sri Nannagaru in gratitude.
'How long have you been in Ramana's fold?' asked Sri Nannagaru
The Prof said ' 15 years. But now I am in your fold.'
Sri Nannagaru smiled.
He looked at me and smiled again and said ' The personal problems that you are having are because it is your training period. Bhagwan is testing you. Do not worry.'
I saluted him and came out.
The next day I reached SR Nagar in the early morning and even though devotees were already seated there I ended up sitting just in front of Sri Nannagaru's chair. I was feeling a little odd that I was being special. Sri Nannagaru came and sat and went into Silence. Soon he said something about Buddha.
Before he could proceed someone in the devotees asked Sri Nannagaru how to achieve mind control.
Sri Nannagaru said ' Food intake should be regulated. Buddha said one who has his meal thrice daily is a rogi, twice is a bhogi and once daily is a yogi. One need not limit oneself to once a food daily. What one eats in a single meal one can have it as parts in two meals. But where is the Mind to actually control it? This is Bhagawan's path. To control something there should be something to control. When there is no such thing as Mind where is the necessity to control it? As long as you feel you have a mind it is necessary for you to control it.' Sri Nannagaru smiled.
One of the devotees asked ' Buddha did not believe in God.'
Sri Nannagaru said ' Buddha did not say such a thing. What he described is Peace. When there is Peace where is God? As long as you feel there is a you there is a God. For example Lord Ganesha. He likes your prostrations as long as there is a you. But when one is lost in Peace where is God?'
He looked at me and said ' Buddha was a great man. He never spoke harshly or loudly. His voice pitch was perfectly modulated.'
He continued' Mithin you are in the Middle Path. Your success is sure. You will have Realization. It is a slow but sure path.'
Sri Nannagaru continued to speak more like that for some time and then rose to go back to his room.
That day I called Dr Usha and told her I was getting embarrassed that I was coming late and crossing seated devotees and sitting in the front of Sri Nannagaru. She assured me and said that as you come only once in a day it does not matter.
The next day was Buddha Purnima and I again came late to the satsang.
I waited outside the crowded flat barely able to hear Sri Nannagaru's words.
The devotees noticed me and said ' Make haste and come and sit in front of Sri Nannagaru! He has been asking about you for the last five minutes!'
I happily came and sat in front of him even though he was seated with his eyes closed.
Soon he opened his eyes and saw me and smiled heavenly.
'Buddha was a great man. He never lost his poise.' Sri Nannagaru went on to talk about the greatness of Buddha. I really do not remember his teachings that day. I was lost in seeing him and it looked as if I was just drinking in all that he said and assimilating it.
Sri Nannagaru paused and said ' Buddha was so great that he even went asked alms from his own palace. Can you ask alms from Apollo Hospital Mithin?' he smiled.
I kept looking at him.
Sri Nannagaru went on talking more about the greatness of Buddha.
'Undergo hardship at the cost of comfort for others. It is good. Never be a burden to others.'
Someone brought a cake to be cut on which it was written Happy Birthday to Buddha.
Sri Nannagaru smiled and said ' How can one who is perpetually happy like Buddha lack anything? So we cannot wish him happiness for he already has that. Infinite Happiness.'
Sri Nannagaru then started to accept offerings from various devotees.
Whatever was offered to him he touched and gave it back to that person or to some other person.
He took a fruit basket and gave it to me and said ' Take this to your father. Tell him that we celebrated Buddha Poornima today and this was given to him.'
I nodded and took it. Once Sri Nanna finished meeting the devotees he went inside his room followed by many devotees. Before going in he looked mysteriously at a bunch of mangoes and said cryptically ' Keep these aside. Some VIPs will be coming today evening.'
I went outside and called my dad and told him that Sri Nanna had given him prasad and it was high time he met him. My dad agreed and said that he would come in the evening on the way back from college.
I then called my dad's elder brother who was a genius in many fields. Though he was 83 years old he was a Film director, poet, prose writer, and was the main priest of the powerful Yadagiri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Yadagirigutta.
Recently his third younger brother and my father's 4th elder brother had passed away. This had left him in serious depression about the futility of existence.
In that scenario I had told him that I would take him to meet Sri Nannagaru and he was extremely pleased and hopeful to know that a man like Sri Nannagaru was there take refuge in.
I had informed Sri Nannagaru about my uncle a few days back and knew that he would not mind to meet him.
So that evening unannounced I took my uncle and dad to meet Sri Nannagaru.
He was giving a discourse to the devotees and I was at wits end as to how to make the meting happen for my uncle had to return at 6 o clock to do a pooja to Lord Venkateshwara in a temple in Hyderabad.
Worried that it was nearly an hour since we came and we would be leaving in a second or two without meeting Sri Nannagaru I looked at the hall in which Sri Nannagaru was giving the discourse. We were invisible to him and he had no idea that we had come.
No sooner did I worry that time was up than suddenly Sri Nannagaru said to the devotees ' I haven’t met Mithin's Dad yet.'
It was then that some devotees told him that we were waiting outside.
He got up and asked us to come in.
Once inside he made enquiries into my family's history from my uncle and dad.
On knowing of my family's achievements and talents he said ' It seems in your family everyone is a superbrain.'
We smiled.
Sri Nannagaru asked my uncle as to why Lord Narasimha was worshipped in the Serpent form in Yadagiri Hill.
My uncle explained and told him the various avataras of Lord Narasimha.
Then my uncle sang some songs about Lord Venkateshwara to Sri Nannagaru.
I looked on mesmerized!
My uncle had achieved everything in life! The deity for whom he had written all these songs was basking in his devotions through the holy being of Sri Nannagaru!
His life was blessed.
As my uncle continued to sing the glories of Lord Venkateshwara, Sri Nannagaru lifted both his hands in the mudra of blessing.
My uncle will attain Him, in this life...or even at the time of his physical passing away...of this I became sure.
Then Sri Nannagaru took the mangoes he had kept aside in the morning meant for the 'VIPs' and gave them to my uncle and dad.
They saluted the best amongst men Sri Nannagaru and took his leave.
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.
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