Ramana Ashram Visit #5

[Guest guest]

Ashram Food

 

I awoke the next morning at 6:55AM, just in time for morning breakfast, which

was to be my first meal a Ramana Ashram. Meals are provide free to residents and

guests, and the food there, I was told, was great. And breakfast didn't

disappoint. How meals work at Ramana ashram is that banana leaves are laid out

on the floor, along with a stainless steel cup of distilled water. People are

ushered in and take their places in lines, sitting at each banana leaf/cup

placement. Everyone washes the banana leaf with some of the water from the cup,

and the food detail comes around with large pails of food of various kinds, and

slaps the food onto the banana leaf, kinda like sloppin' the hogs. But the food

is excellent, and you can eat as much as you want. There are different foods

prepared for Indians and westerners, and the servers come around and say,

"spicy!", and you have the choice to take it or not. I took the spicy food on

several occasions and it wasn't that bad. There are no utensils provided - in

South India, all foods are eaten with one's good old hands, but a few folks

brought their own utensil, which I did on subsequent meals. When one is done

eating, one folds the banana leaf in half and walks out. On the way out, I

looked at numerous pictures of Ramana, his mother and various disciples

throughout the years, which decorate the walls.

Skandashram

 

After my first cold bucket bath and a lunch that was more like a feast, I

proceeded to the back entrance of Ramana ashram, past the peacocks and monkeys

playing in the trees. There is stone filled path leading up to the two places

where Ramana did much of his sadhana for over three decades, Skandashram, a

small cave about 800 feet about the city, where he spent 6 years, and Virupaksha

cave, where he meditated for over 18 years. Virupaksha cave is named after a

great yogi and saint of Thiru who preceded Ramana. He had a large following and

one day, he told his students that he wanted to be alone in the cave for some

time. After a while, the students started to wonder and when they entered the

cave, all they found was a pile of ashes. Ramana subsequently took over the cave

and formed the ashes into a tall pile. Virupaksha cave is about 200 feet below

Skandashram.

 

I proceeded to the back gate of Ramana ashram, past a group of villagers working

on a small stream bed that flows through the back area of the ashram. These

folks live in a village just behind the back wall of the ashram, and are

employed as manual laborers. Just as in so many places, the men shovel out the

dirt, place it in a small bowl, which is placed on one of the women's head and

they cart the dirt off to parts unknown. Their neck muscles must be so, so

strong. One of the women has a yellow face, which is a common phenomena in South

India. At first I thought it was some strange Hindu ritual, but someone

eventually told me that it was just a beauty secret of the women -they spread

tumeric on their face for healthy skin! It does make the women appear a bit

ghostly, in comparison to the dark brown skin of the average South Indian.

 

After I passed through the iron gate of the ashram, a cross road is encountered

which leads to several residential villages along the base of Arunachala

mountain. At the crossroad (rather 'crosspath') is a nice old mud pit which a

family of piggies were enjoying in the midday sun. The actual path up the

mountain is laid out quite nicely, a stone path that took quite a bit of work.

As I walked up the path, I ran into several men and one of them seemed to start

looking after me, as if he was trying to be my guide, which basically means he

wanted money from me. I mean, this is a well defined rock path, how much

guidance do you need? But he kept ahead of me up the mountain, like he was doing

me some big favor.

 

We passed a sign for a very worthy cause for Arunachala mountain - a

reforestation program that has been started, since the mountain has been

stripped almost barren of trees, being used by the folks of Thiru for firewood.

The program was started by a westerner and takes donations to sponsor a group of

trees, each of which is numbered and has a rock wall around it for protection.

Apparently the whole area around Arunachala mountain was once a fairly dense

jungle, and circumambulating the mountain was a very dangerous journey, with the

possibility of encountering a large jungle cat or snake. But nowadays, the most

danger is from vehicular traffic.

 

The path to the caves is steep at the beginning, but not that steep as to make

it difficult for a non-hiker. Some people do the hike in their bare feet. About

10 minutes into the ascent one is given a wonderful view of the lands around

Thiru - one can see individual mountains and hills dotting the landscape - it

seems very unusual to see scattered non-connected mountains, no semblance of a

mountain range. And many of those mountains have a small village at its base as

well as a temple on top. However, the town of Tiruvannamalai is hidden from view

until one is almost at the caves. The mountain itself is fairly nondescript,

with a few rock walls, and a light on top at night. In addition to the

reforestation program, there was an aggressive drive to keep people from living

on the mountain over the years, which for the most part has been successful.

 

But there are a few sadhus and yogis who do make the mountain home. One famous

Baba lives near the top of the mountain, spending most of his time in

meditation, and apparently only drinks one or two glasses of milk a day for

nourishment. That's it. People can climb to the top to get his blessing, but if

you disturb him in meditation, he apparently can get quite upset and will throw

rocks at the trespassers. I didn't get a chance to climb to the top, so I do not

know if these rumors of his moodiness are true.

 

Just before reaching the first cave, known as Skandashram, the vista opens up to

the entire town of Tiruvannamalai. The huge Arunachleswar temple stands

majestically just below you, near the base of the mountain, its nine towers of

various heights overshadowing the rest of the town.

 

Arriving at Skandashram, it is really a small building built into the side of

the mountain, with a small courtyard and two inner chambers. After taking off

one's shoes, one can sit in the outer chamber and look into the small 5 foot

square inner chamber, which can hold at most two or three meditators.

Fortunately when I arrived, there was an open pillow in the inner chamber, and I

proceeded to sit for a while. It was, needless to say, a very powerful place.

Some places are so imbued with spiritual force that it can be felt as a pressure

on the body, and this place is certainly one of them. I noticed that discursive

thoughts disappeared easily and one could sit free of thought generation, to

enjoy that or to take on any practice as desired, such as the "Who Am I" enquiry

that Ramana gave to the world.

 

I stayed for about a half hour in the inner chamber as people came and went,

mostly European westerners, here to visit or permanent residents of South India.

Afterwards, I went out of the courtyard and just hung out on a rock overlooking

the town below. I did notice that the noise of the town drifted up to this area,

which to a small degree ruined the peacefulness, with honking horns abounding.

But the mountain itself is a powerful place, and the same freedom from

discursive thought could be found just by being on the mountain - it is a very

wonderful place and a great advantage for meditative practice. On the way down I

passed a couple of young men selling small statues, a bit of commercialism that

has infiltrated the mountain, but not to an annoying degree, thankfully.

 

I made it a goal to go to the Virupaksha cave in the next day or so. It is

situated just below Skandashram about 700 feet above the town, a place in which

Ramana meditated for 17 years.

 

The late afternoon was spent in the large hall that houses Ramana's samadhi

site. I would circumambulate the large altar at least three times and then take

a seat while an hour's worth of Vedic chanting occurred, in which men and women

would alternate reading a verse - it became very hypnotic and conducive to

simply being still. And not long afterwards, it was time for another wonderful

dinner in the dining hall. At night, I would spend a some time in the adjoining

meditation room that held the couch that Ramana sat on for years.

 

Courtesy of Phil Seredvio

 

Tiruvannamalai My final destination, Ramana Ashram!