The Greatest Gift

 “Bhagavan was pouring his grace on me. I was suddenly gripped by an overwhelming urge to surrender unreservedly to him to guide me in my spiritual hunger, abandoning all the methods I had previously followed and all the beliefs I had built my hopes on. That very moment, I passed on my fate and all that I was to the sacred hands of my master, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.” S. S. Cohen, devotee.

Lord of the Heart, beloved Master,

 there are no words to describe your perfection, your compassion, your being!

With infinite kindness, you tolerated this fool, accepting all my faults and blemishes,ignoring my sins, pouring your divine grace upon me

 like a waterfall that washes all stains away!

All the blessings of the universe flow to me in the warmth of your gaze.

Tears of bliss fall from these eyes like rain at the very thought of your presence:

Sweet my lord, how can I ever thank you enough?

With loving kindness greater than any mother, you protect and cherish me every day.

With gentle understanding greater than any father, you guide me to the truth.

Your infinite grace takes care of everything in my inner and outer life.

Like a fledgling sheltering beneath his mother’s wing , I surrender at your holy feet.

You give me everything, O lord, with no holding back;

And the greatest gift of all: 

you shine in my Heart eternally with the splendour of a thousand suns!

Jai Bhagawan! Jai Bhagawan! Jai Bhagawan!

Like drop falls into ocean, I fall so gladly into thee.

This Peace

“Fix the mind in the Heart. If you keep your attention on the source from which all thoughts arise, the mind will subside there at the source and Reality will shine forth.”

Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharishi’s instructions to Mastan Swami

When I let go of all that I thought was me

And turn my attention inwards, in loving devotion and surrender,

Diving deep into myself to find where all the thoughts arise,

I find the source of the “I” thought that is the root of Being

And dissolve in ineffable truth-consciousness-bliss.

This is my true home, the beginning and the end, the source and the goal of everything.

Beyond time and space and intellect, this is the perfect flame of the Divine,

The sacred fire of jnana, the eternal, unchanging Self.

Drunk on this ambrosia…now nothing else remains:

Like a babe clings to its mother, 

I hold fast to this subtle, ecstatic peace!

The Valley

There is a secret valley where an infinite stream of joy 

meanders through meadows of flowering awareness 

under a deep and endless sky of peace.

A long time ago, in a rare moment of thought-free stillness, I fell into myself and found this wondrous place.

I tasted its ecstatic essence, its perfect love and harmony.

Alas! It was but a glimpse of paradise!

I was thrown gasping, like a fish out of water, on the shifting shore of Maya.

For aeons, I struggled with all my being, trying to find my way back.

I tried so many different paths – to no avail.

In despair, I let go and surrendered totally at the feet of the Master.

By his compassionate grace, I awoke from the nightmare of samsara:

Lo! I discovered I had never been away!

Now I dwell quietly at His feet in the valley of sat-chit-ananda, 

singing silent songs of gratitude and praise.

Jai Bhagavan! Jai Bhagavan! Jai Bhagavan!