Guest guest Posted March 1, 1999 Report Share Posted March 1, 1999 Professor N. R. Krishnamoorthy Aiyer 's first visit to Ramana Maharshi. It is a very funny account. Harsha Professor Krishnamoorthy Aiyer speaks in his old age: I am now ninety-two years old and I first met the Maharshi in the summer of 1914. I had a question for the Maharshi. At that time I was an agnostic. I thought nature could take care of itself, so where is the need for a Creator? What is the use of writing all these religious books telling 'cock and bull' stories, which do not change the situation. I wanted to put to him straight questions: is there a soul? Is there a God? Is there salvation? All these three questions were condensed into one: Well sir, you are sitting here like this - I can see your present condition - but what will be your future sthiti ? The word sthiti in Sanskrit means 'state' or 'condition'. The Maharshi did not answer the question. "Oho," I thought, "you are taking shelter under the guise of indifferent silence for not answering an inconvenient question!" As soon as I thought this the Maharshi replied and I felt as if a bomb had exploded under my seat. "Sthiti, what do you mean by the word sthiti!" he exclaimed. I was not prepared for that question. "Oho, this man is very dangerous, very dangerously alive. I will have to answer with proper care," I thought. So I said to myself, "If I ask him about the sthiti or 'state' of the body it is useless: the body will be burned or buried. What I should ask him was about the condition of something within the body. Of course, I can recognize a mind inside of me." Then I was about to answer "By sthiti, I mean mind," when it struck me what if he counter-questions with "What is mind?" This I am not prepared to answer. As all this was passing through my mind he was sitting there staring at me with a fierce look. I then questioned within me, "What is mind? Mind is made up of thoughts. Now, what are thoughts?" I landed in a void. No answer. I then realised that I could not present a question about a mind which did not exist! Up to that point, the mind was the greatest thing that existed for me. Now I discovered it did not exist! I was bewildered. I simply sat like a statue. Two pairs of eyes were then gripping each other: the eyes of the Maharshi and my eyes were locked together in a tight embrace. I lost all sense of body. Nothing existed except the eyes of the Maharshi. I don't know how long I remained like that, but when I returned to my senses, I was terribly afraid of the man. "This is a dangerous man," I thought. In spite of myself, I prostrated and got away from his company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 1999 Report Share Posted March 1, 1999 On Mon, 1 Mar 1999, Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar) wrote: > "Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar)" <hluthar > > Professor N. R. Krishnamoorthy Aiyer 's first visit to Ramana Maharshi. It > is a very funny account. OOO! what a wonderful introduction to the nature of mind! Very fortunate person in my book! | Debora A. Orf | The earth was not given to us by our parents, | dorf01 | It was loaned to us by our children. | | --unknown | Programmer/Analyst | | SCCCLD | Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 1999 Report Share Posted March 1, 1999 Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar) wrote: This is a great story. Thanks for sharing it. Gloria > > "Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar)" <hluthar > > Professor N. R. Krishnamoorthy Aiyer 's first visit to Ramana Maharshi. It > is a very funny account. > > Harsha > > Professor Krishnamoorthy Aiyer speaks in his old age: I am now ninety-two > years old and I first met the Maharshi in the summer of 1914. > > I had a question for the Maharshi. At that time I was an agnostic. I thought > nature could take care of itself, so where is the need for a Creator? What > is the use of writing all these religious books telling 'cock and bull' > stories, which do not change the situation. I wanted to put to him straight > questions: is there a soul? Is there a God? Is there salvation? All these > three questions were condensed into one: Well sir, you are sitting here like > this - I can see your present condition - but what will be your future > sthiti ? The word sthiti in Sanskrit means 'state' or 'condition'. > > The Maharshi did not answer the question. "Oho," I thought, "you are taking > shelter under the guise of indifferent silence for not answering an > inconvenient question!" As soon as I thought this the Maharshi replied and I > felt as if a bomb had exploded under my seat. > > "Sthiti, what do you mean by the word sthiti!" he exclaimed. > I was not prepared for that question. "Oho, this man is very dangerous, very > dangerously alive. I will have to answer with proper care," I thought. > So I said to myself, "If I ask him about the sthiti or 'state' of the body > it is useless: the body will be burned or buried. What I should ask him was > about the condition of something within the body. Of course, I can recognize > a mind inside of me." Then I was about to answer "By sthiti, I mean mind," > when it struck me what if he counter-questions with "What is mind?" This I > am not prepared to answer. > As all this was passing through my mind he was sitting there staring at me > with a fierce look. > > I then questioned within me, "What is mind? Mind is made up of thoughts. > Now, what are thoughts?" I landed in a void. No answer. I then realised that > I could not present a question about a mind which did not exist! > > Up to that point, the mind was the greatest thing that existed for me. Now I > discovered it did not exist! I was bewildered. I simply sat like a statue. > Two pairs of eyes were then gripping each other: the eyes of the Maharshi > and my eyes were locked together in a tight embrace. I lost all sense of > body. Nothing existed except the eyes of the Maharshi. > > I don't know how long I remained like that, but when I returned to my > senses, I was terribly afraid of the man. "This is a dangerous man," I > thought. In spite of myself, I prostrated and got away from his company. > > ------ > Have you visited our new web site? > > Onelist: Helping to create Internet communities -- Enter The Silence to Know God ... and... accept life as the teacher. Gloria Joy Greco e-mail me at : lodpress and visit our homepages at: http://users.intercomm.com/larryn/ & http://www.freeyellow.com/members/zg888/ Hope you enjoy them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 1999 Report Share Posted March 2, 1999 Chaffin <chaffin Dear Advaitins, I loved the story about the first visit to Sri Ramana Maharshi. It reminds me of a story you may have heard (bear with me if you have). It's about a British officer who went to see Sri Ramana in the early part of the century when Sri Ramana was living under a cliff overhang with about 80 disciples living around him. When the British officer came down from the cliff, having spent four or five hours in His presence, he said, "All I can tell is he isn't his body; his body is just an appendage and the power of God flows through him." At the close of the 20th century when reflecting back, is it correct to say Sri Ramana Maharshi would be considered the primary teacher of this century? (Surely it's so). best wishes, Kym Harsha: You are right of course! But why only the 20th century?. The Truth is that people are helped by whomever they are attuned to. Whether it is Shankra, Swami Nityananda, Swami Sivananda or anyone. Ramana Maharshi himself pointed out that the Guru is not the body but the Self. And the Self is beyond time and space. When Sri Ramana lay dying, people went to him and begged him to remain for a while longer as they needed his help. His reply is well known: "Go! Where can I go ? I shall always be here." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.