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Aside from the fact that Sri Ramana Maharshi was at one point a person who walked upon this earth we are faced with two new aspects: the historical Sri Ramana as encountered in books and film and the Sri Ramana who is a Presence (sannidhi). The books are numerous and gives one a fairly good idea of his personality and how he interacted and taught. They can be inspiring and informative and are a good starting point to begin one’s own journey.

At a certain point, the books will have fulfilled a general curiosity and need and it is then that the real journey begins. For how many tourist guides can one read

before embarking on a journey? I am not particularly academic and my emotions govern my understanding as much as anything. If I consume too much

information at one time I become confused. My modus operandi is generally to take one snippet of knowledge and apply it, if possible, to my life. This may be the result of my Catholic upbringing whereby the frequent examination of one’s conscience was encouraged. Others are able to accumulate large wads of

knowledge and delve into the minutiae of the teaching and be inspired.

Others learn more in a group situation bouncing ideas off one another. It depends on one’s proclivities. Each sincere approach is valid. It is a question of finding

what is best for you. Sri Ramana’s path can be a lonely one at times and considerable inner fortitude is required not to fall into despondency at odd moments due to a seeming lack of progress. This path (marga) does not cater to recurrent spiritual visions or sentimental validations. It can be a stony path.

There are outer sanctuaries which can sustain us such as Sri Ramanasramam or Arunachala. And there are online satsangs or physical meetings which nourish a

seeker. All these strengthen our resolve and open up new avenues of understanding. But the real work is internal. However, one should not misconstrue and imagine that one is completely alone. This is not true for once the door is opened to the possibility of Grace the door is never closed again.

As an invisible but living Presence, Sri Ramana now exemplifies a principle that has nothing to do with a human personality. When we stand on a beach and

watch the waves of the ocean do we ask each one of the waves if they have a personality or an individual name? No, we don’t because all of them are part of

a greater whole that is indivisible. There may be small differences in mineral content or colouration. The moods of the ocean may be turbulent or tranquil but

we would not assume that these variances demarcate each splash as different and independent. Just as mystical visions may vary according to one’s religious

affiliation, but not their validity so too, when we encounter a higher power, we experience a living force that disregards our idiosyncrasies as ephemeral. That

Presence does not see us as separate self-enclosed individuals but aspects of the whole. We absurdly think our small vanities and fears are paramount and cling

onto them as if the world would collapse otherwise. It makes no difference to the Presence. It is not a question of liking or disliking us. When it begins to

actively work on us it is like washing a baby that has dirtied itself.

One day in primary school I came home by the usual route but on the way discovered to my glee that the road had been retarred. The black treacle was an

irresistible invitation to scoop up some of the glop and play with it. After a truly interesting time playing with the substance, I headed home covered in black goo! On seeing me, my mother did not see the important side of my laudable research into the viscosity of tar. She told me not to come into the house and went to get brushes and kerosene. She came back and whipped off all my

clothes outside the back door adjacent the garden. To say that she was annoyed is an understatement. My father in the meantime turned up and watched the

circus unfold with a combination of disbelief and amusement. He decided that my mother was more than competent and did not involve himself. He discretely disappeared while the going was good. I could not see what the fuss was about.

Eventually, I was scoured clean and some of my school clothes had to be discarded. Spiritual discipline is a bit like this. We cover ourselves, much to our pleasure,

with all types of stuff that tends to stick and make our lives let us say, heavy with logjams that impede our flow of lightness of perception. We are paying the

price for our foolishness. The guru does not mistake our layer of dirt with who we are and instead gets to work and cleans us up. Sri Ramana alluded to a sadhu

who suffered grievously and remarked that he got a real beating on the washingstone. 1 Anand Mayi Ma is said to remark that she enjoyed nothing better than

metaphorically rolling up her sleeves and scrubbing a grimy sishya (disciple). 2

The disciple we have become and the discipline we sustain is there for a purpose. Once we dedicate our lives to the Path in whatever authentic form, there is a meaning to our suffering for we know that the rubbing and cleansing (tapas) dissolves the impediments so that we may see clearly. Until we undergo the fire of purification we can never truly comprehend the higher teachings.

The only obstacle keeping us from them is our own blindness.

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1 Talks with Ramana Maharshi, Talk 447. “Sri Bhagavan said that a saint Namah Sivaya who was formerly living in Arunachala must have undergone considerable difficulties. For he has sung a song saying: ‘God proves the devotee by means of severe ordeals. A washerman beats the cloth on a slab, not to tear it, but only to remove the dirt.’”

2 Matri Vani. 244. Children of tender age do not want to learn to read and write because they prefer to play. If little boys and girls are to be taught reading and writing, they will have to be persuaded to learn. So also, to begin with, one has to repeat the Name forcibly. Constant practice is needed. Look, when dirt accumulates on a vessel, it has to be scrubbed and polished to become shiny. Rubbing it just once will not make it clean. In order to light a match, friction is necessary; one cannot be sure at what instant fire will blaze forth. With the repetition of the Name it is also similar. By sustained practice success will be accomplished. Become wedded to the yoga of practice.