Sunday 22 April 2018

UNDERSTANDING THE GURU

When a devotee from Thiruvannamalai who came down for the Pornami Puja at Kallar Ashram, showed Tavayogi a rudraksha and asked if he could wear it around his neck, Tavayogi gave him the green light but cautioned him about the do's and don'ts about wearing one. When the devotee left the spot, Tavayogi turned round to me and told me, "We do not need it son." I wasn't wearing any but he made me drop the idea even before it surfaced.

When he saw me wear a navaratnam ring or ring embedded with nine precious stones he enquired about it and again he said, "We do not need it son." I stopped wearing it after a stone fell, even before I hit the shores of Malaysia.

When a musician played his music to Bhagavan and the rests of the devotees at Ramana Ashram, Bhagavan praised him and spoke highly about music. When another seeker came along and asked if he should make music his career Bhagavan rejected the suggestion asking him to go do something worthy. 

Similarly when devotees stood before him and asked for ways to reach Erai, he would enquire what they were doing currently and ask them to continue. But when Harilal was basking in joy having seen Krishna and reporting back to Bhagavan, Bhagavan checks him asking why he was so concerned about gods appearing and that all rituals and practices were good up to a certain extent. He was told to learn to let go even these most pursued desires to see the divine externally and instead learn to look within for the light that was shining in his own deepest self.

Similarly when Agathiyar speaks in the Nadi what is said is for the individual only unless stated otherwise. 

The masters advise is for the individual only. It might seem like the master contradicts his own words but in reality it applies from case to case and each individual differently. 

The student too shall understand the masters words in a different light. The spoken words of the master and in the Nadi could have another meaning some years later, as the understanding of the student deepens.