Papa - Ocean of grace and beauty
(Dr S A T Sen, a devotee of Sri Ramana Maharishi visiting Anandashram for the first time with Maharishi's approval and records here her first impressions with great devotional fervor)
I entered Ashram hall and there I found the said Swami Ramdas - a marvelous being robed in the spiritual splendour of the golden rays of the Sun - a face lighted by a radiant smile of welcome, his eyes radiating infinite Love. A superhuman being - I hesitated
"Whose Feet shall I touch in reverence
The Guru and the Lord both stand before me'. - Kabir
I immediately became merged in this Ocean of Grace and Beauty.
I could scarcely speak, and did not know exactly what answer I gave to his kind enquiries about my welfare. I did not know where I was, only Him I saw. After a time the consciousness of the outer world came back to me and I discovered that this wonderful being was in a charming hall, tastefully decorated and exquisitely built with side pillars, with a verandah all round. Once Swami Ramdas said that there are three kinds of sages. Those who are completely absorbed and abstracted from the world, those who behave like mad men and those who behave like children. We can recognise easily the category to which Swami Ramdas belongs. His simplicity, spontaneity, divine charm, childlike nature exercise on all the devotees a tremendous influence. One of the greatest charms of 'Papa Ramdas' is his accessibility. We can approach Him, talk freely to Him, sit near Him, take care of Him, serve Him, nurse Him, touch Him. I shall never forget the emotion I felt the first time I helped to make His bed and the ecstasy to massage His feet. With Kabir I could say:
"I 'massage' His feet and I look upon His face and I lay before Him as an offering,
my body, my mind and all I have".
One evening, when we were all sitting round him, some devotees came to touch his feet. He asked us, 'Why are the devotees so fond of touching Furu's feet?' I answered: 'Papa, it is like this. As I cannot embrace you I catch hold of your feet'. How fortunate are those who can embrace Papa! So many times I felt like embracing him. He is an ideal of innocence, an ideal of spirituality, spontaneity. His divine love melts you. Of course I know that the reason I gave for touching Furu's feet is not the traditional one.
When some one is leaving the Ashram, all the friends and family members gather round and escort the devotee to the taxi or cart waiting down below at the gate. I have seen a touching scene, a natural procession formed with Papa and Mataji with children in their arms, and the others following them. And what ajoy the devotee carried away to keep in his memory, the sight of Papa waving to him or her with his handkerchief from the highest point of the Asham, the portico of the Temple.
Sri Ramdas in spite of his moving about among us, in spite of his directing all the activities of the Ashram himself, in spite of his unassuming attitude which makes us feel that he is one of us, possesses great yogic powers. His influence on us is tremendous. In him the extremes of sublimity and simplicity meet. In the magic of his silent Presence, a mysterious works taking place in our souls. His love is compelling, transmuting, always at work witha penetrating inner gaze. I have personally experiences this silent working and heard the same experiences from some friends also. For instance, if one approaches him with some anger in the heart, without a word having been exchanged the anger gets appeased, the agitated mind gets tranquilized; hasty or rash resolutions and plans are forgotten. Peace invades the heart. Before his love nothing can stand. It is not always the information or verbal teaching that one gets that makes one progress, but it is the breathing of a certain atmosphere, the consciousness being drawn to higher levels through an exaltation of each one's capacity or receptivity. When we are away from him, especially, at night, we become conscious of his presence by a certain knowledge of himself. We are drawn inward, God works and speaks, some inner dynamo starts functioning; it invades our whole being, we feel we are nothing, we can only surrender to that loving guidance and stronger Divine Will. The surface mind often resists that Force taking hold of its sovereignty. It is unwilling to yield, but in that fight God always gets the victory. We become submerged in the bliss of the deeper self.
As a result of his contact, our capacity for work is very much increased. The driving force of his love takes hold of us. We forget ourselves. We do not feel tired. Sometimes we do not know the nature of the food we eat. We lose all sense of time and space. All the Masters have their own way to enter the hearts of their devotees. We do not know the process. But all the same, they abide in our minds. A force that is not our own thinks for us, acts for us and speaks for us.
During Bhajan in the Hall, Swami Ramdas takes his seat on a cushion, facing us. We gaze at his face translucent, lighted by an ethereal mysterious light - a self-effulgence that is not of this world. A supernal change in the appearance of the Saint can be seen like the transubstantiation taking place in a consecrated HOst. God Himself appears before us in the person of Swami Ramdas. In that state His eyes radiate a cool spiritual power and His mystical glance transmits itself along an invisible ray. It touches you and penetrates deep into you. The effect is amazing. Sometimes one feels stunned or intoxicated. At other times it absorbs you into itself, draws you inward, and the consciousness of outside world is lost. One feels merged, fixed, locked, immovable. In perfect union with the Beloved in the deepest sanctuary of the heart, the soul kneels in adoration and feels completely annihilated.
A personal touch of the Master has an instantaneous effect on the devotee. A mere look, a mere thought is enough. It is not rare to see some miracles. The Master brings the Kingdom of Heaven down on earth and offers through Him a direct way of transmission for higher spiritual forces.
A smile of Sri Ramdas is unique. Several times I received unforgettable smiles from him. His smile is a heavenly sunshine, embracing you, encouraging you, rewarding you. His eyes are like starts, uplifting, commanding, controlling everything about you.
Some people may think that in a place where there is freedom and no restriction, there is no discipline. Such is not the case in Anandashram. The all-seeing eye of the Master controls the whole place. The discipline is not based on compulsion or fear; it is only the sense of responsibility and the will to serve that inspire everybody. The guru when he puts the workers in charge of some branch of his work, places complete trust in them.
One day, Papa said that God was busy and hnugry. He was busy making kings into beggars and beggars into kings. He was hungry and He satisfied His hunger by eating the ego of His devotees.
Once when were sitting near him, some one brought Papa's bunch of keys. A devotee said, 'Oh Papa you hold the keys of the kingdom, the keys of our hearts'. Papa said, "There is a master key which opens all the hearts, it is the Ram-mantram'.
Papa said on another occasion, 'Only a soul can kindly another soul. It is through direct contact with the realized souls that one's spritual blindness is removed'.
The Saints make others like themselves.
From Sannyas Silver Jubilee Souvenir
Swami Ramdas: The Divine Messenger of a New Era
by Dr. (Mrs) S A t Sen.
(Dr S A T Sen, a devotee of Sri Ramana Maharishi visiting Anandashram for the first time with Maharishi's approval and records here her first impressions with great devotional fervor)
I entered Ashram hall and there I found the said Swami Ramdas - a marvelous being robed in the spiritual splendour of the golden rays of the Sun - a face lighted by a radiant smile of welcome, his eyes radiating infinite Love. A superhuman being - I hesitated
"Whose Feet shall I touch in reverence
The Guru and the Lord both stand before me'. - Kabir
I immediately became merged in this Ocean of Grace and Beauty.
I could scarcely speak, and did not know exactly what answer I gave to his kind enquiries about my welfare. I did not know where I was, only Him I saw. After a time the consciousness of the outer world came back to me and I discovered that this wonderful being was in a charming hall, tastefully decorated and exquisitely built with side pillars, with a verandah all round. Once Swami Ramdas said that there are three kinds of sages. Those who are completely absorbed and abstracted from the world, those who behave like mad men and those who behave like children. We can recognise easily the category to which Swami Ramdas belongs. His simplicity, spontaneity, divine charm, childlike nature exercise on all the devotees a tremendous influence. One of the greatest charms of 'Papa Ramdas' is his accessibility. We can approach Him, talk freely to Him, sit near Him, take care of Him, serve Him, nurse Him, touch Him. I shall never forget the emotion I felt the first time I helped to make His bed and the ecstasy to massage His feet. With Kabir I could say:
"I 'massage' His feet and I look upon His face and I lay before Him as an offering,
my body, my mind and all I have".
One evening, when we were all sitting round him, some devotees came to touch his feet. He asked us, 'Why are the devotees so fond of touching Furu's feet?' I answered: 'Papa, it is like this. As I cannot embrace you I catch hold of your feet'. How fortunate are those who can embrace Papa! So many times I felt like embracing him. He is an ideal of innocence, an ideal of spirituality, spontaneity. His divine love melts you. Of course I know that the reason I gave for touching Furu's feet is not the traditional one.
When some one is leaving the Ashram, all the friends and family members gather round and escort the devotee to the taxi or cart waiting down below at the gate. I have seen a touching scene, a natural procession formed with Papa and Mataji with children in their arms, and the others following them. And what ajoy the devotee carried away to keep in his memory, the sight of Papa waving to him or her with his handkerchief from the highest point of the Asham, the portico of the Temple.
Sri Ramdas in spite of his moving about among us, in spite of his directing all the activities of the Ashram himself, in spite of his unassuming attitude which makes us feel that he is one of us, possesses great yogic powers. His influence on us is tremendous. In him the extremes of sublimity and simplicity meet. In the magic of his silent Presence, a mysterious works taking place in our souls. His love is compelling, transmuting, always at work witha penetrating inner gaze. I have personally experiences this silent working and heard the same experiences from some friends also. For instance, if one approaches him with some anger in the heart, without a word having been exchanged the anger gets appeased, the agitated mind gets tranquilized; hasty or rash resolutions and plans are forgotten. Peace invades the heart. Before his love nothing can stand. It is not always the information or verbal teaching that one gets that makes one progress, but it is the breathing of a certain atmosphere, the consciousness being drawn to higher levels through an exaltation of each one's capacity or receptivity. When we are away from him, especially, at night, we become conscious of his presence by a certain knowledge of himself. We are drawn inward, God works and speaks, some inner dynamo starts functioning; it invades our whole being, we feel we are nothing, we can only surrender to that loving guidance and stronger Divine Will. The surface mind often resists that Force taking hold of its sovereignty. It is unwilling to yield, but in that fight God always gets the victory. We become submerged in the bliss of the deeper self.
As a result of his contact, our capacity for work is very much increased. The driving force of his love takes hold of us. We forget ourselves. We do not feel tired. Sometimes we do not know the nature of the food we eat. We lose all sense of time and space. All the Masters have their own way to enter the hearts of their devotees. We do not know the process. But all the same, they abide in our minds. A force that is not our own thinks for us, acts for us and speaks for us.
During Bhajan in the Hall, Swami Ramdas takes his seat on a cushion, facing us. We gaze at his face translucent, lighted by an ethereal mysterious light - a self-effulgence that is not of this world. A supernal change in the appearance of the Saint can be seen like the transubstantiation taking place in a consecrated HOst. God Himself appears before us in the person of Swami Ramdas. In that state His eyes radiate a cool spiritual power and His mystical glance transmits itself along an invisible ray. It touches you and penetrates deep into you. The effect is amazing. Sometimes one feels stunned or intoxicated. At other times it absorbs you into itself, draws you inward, and the consciousness of outside world is lost. One feels merged, fixed, locked, immovable. In perfect union with the Beloved in the deepest sanctuary of the heart, the soul kneels in adoration and feels completely annihilated.
A personal touch of the Master has an instantaneous effect on the devotee. A mere look, a mere thought is enough. It is not rare to see some miracles. The Master brings the Kingdom of Heaven down on earth and offers through Him a direct way of transmission for higher spiritual forces.
A smile of Sri Ramdas is unique. Several times I received unforgettable smiles from him. His smile is a heavenly sunshine, embracing you, encouraging you, rewarding you. His eyes are like starts, uplifting, commanding, controlling everything about you.
Some people may think that in a place where there is freedom and no restriction, there is no discipline. Such is not the case in Anandashram. The all-seeing eye of the Master controls the whole place. The discipline is not based on compulsion or fear; it is only the sense of responsibility and the will to serve that inspire everybody. The guru when he puts the workers in charge of some branch of his work, places complete trust in them.
One day, Papa said that God was busy and hnugry. He was busy making kings into beggars and beggars into kings. He was hungry and He satisfied His hunger by eating the ego of His devotees.
Once when were sitting near him, some one brought Papa's bunch of keys. A devotee said, 'Oh Papa you hold the keys of the kingdom, the keys of our hearts'. Papa said, "There is a master key which opens all the hearts, it is the Ram-mantram'.
Papa said on another occasion, 'Only a soul can kindly another soul. It is through direct contact with the realized souls that one's spritual blindness is removed'.
The Saints make others like themselves.
From Sannyas Silver Jubilee Souvenir
Swami Ramdas: The Divine Messenger of a New Era
by Dr. (Mrs) S A t Sen.
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