The Guru

 “He who turns you towards Self and reveals to you the knowledge of Self, is the Guru. In truth He is Self and He is God. Cling to Him. Without killing the body, but by killing, with His compassionate glance, the ego which poses as if it were really existing, the Guru exposes the entire fiction of name and form as nonexistent, and reveals the shining of the one Supreme Self as the only real existence. Just as a deer caught in the jaws of a tiger cannot escape, so those who are caught by the glance of the Sadguru’s grace will never be abandoned, but, having their ego and vasanas completely destroyed, they will realize the non-dual truth.” Sri Ramana Maharishi, Guru Vachaka Kovai

No words can begin to describe the glory and the mystery of the Guru.

Looking upon all with an equal eye, he sees only the Self everywhere.

On all those who take refuge at his feet, he showers divine blessings unstintingly.

His arrow of grace pierces the lotus of the Heart and grants perfect freedom and bliss.

The Guru is the grace-bestowing power of God.

He is Shiva, he is Brahman, he is the Self in every being.

Beyond space and time, he is the essence of Vedanta, pervading all that exists.

Though his true nature is formless, absolute, infinite and immortal, out of  compassion for his devotees, he sometimes takes a human form.

“Sri Ramana is not a theme for discussion; he is an experience; he is a state of consciousness. Sri Ramana was the highest reality and the cream of all scriptures in the world. He was there for all to see  how a Master can live in perfect detachment. Though in the mortal form, he lived as the beauty and purity of the Infinite.” Swami Chinmayananda

Sri Ramana Maharishi, the sage of Arunachala, left his body in 1950, after 54 years spent at the foot of his beloved mountain. He said “ Though they say I am dying, I am not going anywhere. Where can I go? I am here.”

Those who saw the sage while he was in his mortal form were truly blessed. His samadhi and the surroundings of Ramanasramam continue to be permeated by a wondrous, powerful, undiminished grace. Millions from all over the world have been drawn there and experienced the deep peace and compassionate blessings of the sage. There are even those who have never been to the Ashram but only worshiped from afar, reading his teachings and seeing his luminous gaze in photographs. 

Like thousands of fortunate souls, I bear witness to the living presence of Sri Ramana , at Ramanasramam and in my Heart. By his compassionate grace, all my deepest longings have been fulfilled. I cannot count his multitudinous blessings nor begin to describe the marvel of the transformation he has wrought in my soul. All I can do is bow at his sacred feet and give thanks, again and again. Om namo bhagawathe, Sri Ramanaya!