IN THOSE SILENT HOURS

மோனா ஞான முழுதும் அளித்து

சிற்பரிப் பூரண சிவத்தைக் காண

நற்சிவ நிட்கள நாட்டமுந் தந்து

குருவுஞ் சீடனுங் கூடிக் கலந்து

இருவரும் ஒரு தனியிடந் தனிற் சேர்ந்து

தானந்தமாகித் தற்பர வெளியில்

ஆனந்த போத அறிவைக் கலந்து

ஈசனிைணயடியிருத்தி

மனத்தே நீயே நானாய்

நானே நீயாய்க்

காயா புரியைக் கனவெனவுணா்ந்து

எல்லாமுன் செயலென்ேற உணர

நல்லா உன்னருள் நாட்டந் தருவாய்

காரண குருவே கற்பகத் களிேற

வாரணமுகத்து வள்ளலே போற்றி

Its transliteration,

mona gnana muluthum alitthu

sirparipoorana shivattai kaana

narshiva nitkala naattamum thanthu

guruvum seedanum koodi kalanthu

eruvarum oru tani edam thanil sernthu

thaananthamaagi tarpara veliyil

aanandha bhotha arivai kalanthu

esan enaiyadi erutthi manathay

neeye naanaai naane neeyaai

gaayaa puriyai kanavena unarnthu

yellaam un seyalendray unara

nallaa un arul naatham tharuvaai

kaarana guruve karpaga kalire

vaarana mugatthu vallale potri

The above verses from Saint Nakkirar's Thiruagaval is a yearning, for a quiet moment and a space with the Guru. Seeking Lord Ganapathy's grace and blessing to create the avenue for this special moment, sitting in silence with the Guru, merging in thought with him, even the thought of the guru as separate - drops, and he becomes identified with the Guru, one with the Guru. If just bringing this vision itself brings so much joy in us, imagine how it would be, in the actual presence of the Guru? Saint Nakkirar's prayer has become my prayer too.

Frank Alexander in his book "In the Hours of Meditation", Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1993, describes this sacred moment beautifully.

There are hours when one forgets the world. There are hours when one approaches that region of blessedness in which the soul is self contained and in the presence of the Highest. Then is silenced all clamoring of desire; all sound of sense is stilled. Only God is.

For this to take place, we need a purified mind.

Frank says, "There is no holier sanctuary than a purified mind, a mind concentrated upon God. There is no more sacred place than the region of peace into which the mind enters when it becomes fixed in the Lord. Purity, bliss, blessedness, peace. The spiritual consciousness dawns in these silent, sacred hours. The soul is close to its source.

For this to take place, prayers are needed. Prayers lead one to this exalted state of silence. Prayers are the means Frank says.

The helpers, the messengers of the most High shall come and thou shalt be free. From out of the depths of prayer all things come - love for God, spiritual vision, and spiritual realization. However dark thy heart, prayer shall bring light therein, for prayer is meditation. Prayer is communion with the Almighty.

Coming out of this sacred space and moving back into the sphere of daily life the Guru then tags along doing noble deeds through us.

Just as Frank felt a living presence within and about him in those hours, we too have come to realize it. The Guru brings us to drop all the noise and activity in us; stop all thoughts and pondering. This happens the moment we let the Guru in; when we begin to listen to him; and when we welcome him into the home, his abode, our body.

He then brings us to treasure the gift of life; appreciate the life given; the moments of joy that accompanies life; the many moments where we are given an opportunity to serve another and to be grateful for these moments. 

We are grateful to him too for bringing us out of darkness into the light; we being mere bystanders to where we stand today, and for showing us his infinite strength that resides within us. 

He followed us through the ages; through numerous births but we did not heed him. He spoke to us but our inner rattlings overshadowed his soft and gentle voice.

We make no plans nowadays, rather we follow his plans since we are assured, his works. We submit to him. I may object to a thing or two for certain reasons, but he does listen and drops that too.

Frank Alexander's book "In the Hours of Meditation", is a great book that brings many insights from the Voice for the Soul; that brings insights from the Guru. During these intimate and private hours of meditation, "when all was silence in the depths of meditation" the Guru appears with many messages, including this lovely phrase, "The love and insight of the Guru, having been once bestowed, have been bestowed for ever." Another is "It is the monastic spirit not the monastic garb that is of importance" and "The form is nothing; the life is everything."

Frank writes about the glory of the Guru, and the moments of merger.

Through his mercy, through his illumination thy most inmost soul has been resurrected. He has sought thee out and through him thou hast been made whole. The realization of the Guru descends in torrents upon the disciple. It is ceaseless; and nothing can resist it. His love for thee knows no bounds. To all lengths he shall go for thee. Never shall he desert thee. Even his curse is blessing in disguise. 

All he wants of us is to realize our divinity and he is on hand to help us realize it. He explains the Guru discipline principle lovely.

More and more does the personality of the disciple merge in the Guru nature while all the time the Guru's personality is seen to merge more and more into that of which even his body had been a manifestation. Then the sublimest oneness is attained. The waters of the dual personalities of Guru and disciple become the ocean of the infinite Brahman.

Surprisingly Supramania Swami too told me to do Tapas/Tavam, for only then shall his Tavam be complete, he reiterated.

As Ramalinga Adigal brought the divine into each and every cell in his body making it divine, Frank writes, "The nervous system must assimilate ideas. Then the very body itself becomes full of chaitanya. The very body is made spirit."

More inspiring words from Frank follows.

Frank asks us to bring Him into each moment of our lives, spiritualizing maya, spiritualizing the moment, making even the menial acts divine. Karma then never lifts its hood; never associating with the act. Lets learn to spiritualize all that comes into contact with us. As Frank asks, "Bring divinity into commonplace daily life" and see the difference.

Learn to be a witness, a watcher. Let us open our eyes to the beauty of nature all around us. Let us communicate with nature. Frank ask us "to see the invisible divinity in the visible universe about us." As Agathiyar says nature shall reveal its secrets, Frank too states, "Nature herself shall reveal her true beauty to thee. Thus to thee everything shall become spiritual. Even a blade of grass shall speak to thee of the spirit."

Tavayogi says the soul (Atma) is suppose to be free not caged, free to explore, free to discover, free to make mistakes. It learns, appreciates, regrets and comes back to the fold eventually. No dogmas, doctrines, rules and codes to adopt and follow. 

J. Krishnamurthi too implies this. 

I want therefore to set man free, rejoicing as the bird in the clear sky, unburdened, independent, ecstatic in that freedom. And I, for whom you have been preparing for eighteen years, now say that you must be free of all these things, free from your complications, your entanglements. For this you need not have an organization based on spiritual belief. Why have an organization for five or ten people in the world who understand, who are struggling, who have put aside all trivial things? And for the weak people, there can be no organization to help them to find the Truth, because Truth is in everyone; it is not far, it is not near; it is eternally there. 

This is akin to Ramalinga Adigal's last sermon too.

Frank tells us to appreciate organizations but never identify with it. "Let there be an organization of ideas nothing more. Never labor for the extension of a purely organized form", he says. "Generally speaking, organizations however spiritual and nonsectarian, degenerate into worldliness".

J Krishnamurthi too says the moment spiritualism is organized it becomes religion. Spiritualism is beyond any dogmas and doctrines. 

You are all depending for your spirituality on someone else, for your happiness on someone else, for your enlightenment on someone else; and although you have been preparing for me for eighteen years, when I say all these things are unnecessary, when I say that you must put them all away and look within yourselves for the enlightenment, for the glory, for the purification, and for the incorruptibility of the self, not one of you is willing to do it. There may be a few, but very, very few. So why have an organization?

Please take some time to read Krishnamurthi's message at http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/about-dissolution-speech It is an eye-opener.

Let us take charge of our lives, for as Frank says, "Faith in others will only make thee more and more helpless and miserable." Frank says "The religious life is purely personal and subjective." 

He too repeats what Tavayogi said, "The religious life may be born in a church, but it must outlive it."

Frank tells us to be loyal and true to the source from which we received inspirations. Let us all be an instrument of the divine, "Work to thine utmost, and then to thine utmost be resigned." He too asked us to be aware of spiritual egoism, saying, "Of all ego's disguises, none is so treacherous and so evil as the spiritual disguise. Be careful of selfish intentions behind these spiritual acts. 

As Agathiyar put me through some trying times and later assured me that it was his doing too so that I learnt and gained a message from the experience, Frank says, "Even should evil befall thee, it cannot be evil when thou lovest the Lord. Even the most fear inspiring experience thou wilt recognize as a messenger from the beloved." After all the wrong I had done yet he was prepared to forgive and accept me. Frank says, "If thou sin for the thousanth time, lo, for the thousanth time and ever doth he forgive thee."

Make the body a tabernacle for the soul; and let the soul be more and more revealed day by day. Then shalt that darkness which is ignorance be gradually dispersed; and that light which is the divine wisdom shall gradually be revealed.

He has another gem for us, "In listening to another, see the realization side instead of the logic of his speech; then no argument shall ensue and thine own realization shall receive new impulses. 

Finally he asks us to, "Make thy own self thy Guru. Each is his own savior and his own Lord. Let the human in thee die so that the divine shall be revealed.