Emphasis on ‘Silence’ and ‘Who am I ?’ In the Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba and Ramana Maharshi We live in an age of noise. The earth and the sea are, today filled with strife. The very air is full of noise. God has retreated ! Where is He ? In silence; God is the Great Silent One. Abraham of the Bible found God silent for 13 years. Grasping the Great Truth of God (Genesis 17:1-27) Who are they, who truly seek God ? Who are they, who truly commune with Him ? Lovers of silence, the silent ones ! Not without reason doth every Shloka in the ancient Aryan scriptures close on this one significant syllable : “Shanti, Shanti, Shanti...” Shirdi Sai Baba barely uttered anything and stayed in the mosque. On some rare occasions, He expressed Himself in a cryptic manner with the use of parables, symbols and allegories to make the point clear to His devotees. Here is just one parable of gold told by Him. Once, He conveyed the following message to one Madhavnath Maharaj through one of His devotees named Laxman Pradhan : “I’ve got sacks of gold on a donkey’s back. Thieves have stolen them on the way. A hole in the ear has to be pierced only by the goldsmith. It is very difficult to pull on, in this naughty world. Tell this much to my brother Madhavnath.” In the above message : ‘gold’ is the symbol of divine love and knowledge; ‘donkey’s back’ allegorizes those who do not realize the value of gold and are quite unaware of the wealth; even though ‘gold is kept on a donkey’s back’, it still would go on bearing the weight out of usual habit. Sai Baba always taught His devotees to lead a normal life, discouraging ‘mystical flights’ and condemning ascetic excesses. He used to encourage very few to take the path of Sanyasam. Baba’s central teachings intended to awaken the mind of devotees to crucial existential issues – ‘Who gives ?’ ‘Who receives ?’ Baba advised meditation on the fundamental questions : ‘Who am I ?’ ‘Who are we ?’ Such a call was aimed at motivating and inspiring devotees to tread the path of ‘Jnana Marga’. In ‘Jnana Marga’, the path of enquiry is direct, and ‘know thyself’ is a teaching, which is common from Jesus to Sai Baba to Ramana Maharshi. Ramana Maharshi, one of the greatest sages of India, was not a mere life, but a manifestation, that descended on to this earth on December 30, 1879. It was a Monday and more important the ‘Day of the Arudra Darshan’ (celebrated as the birthday of Lord Shiva). He was apparently an ordinary baby at birth. What he made out of his life, however, was extraordinary. When he was barely 17 years old, he experienced a feeling - in the summer of 1896 - of death and life thereafter. The aftermath of the experience left him not scared, but enlightened. The boy Ramana, magnetized by the vibrations of the sacred hill Arunachala at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, India, reached there on September 1, 1896. Ramana Maharshi was the awe inspiring sage, whose presence graced the renowned sacred Arunachala hill of South India during much of the 20th century. He was known throughout the world as the silent sage, whose peaceful presence and powerful gaze changed the lives of the many that came into his presence. Of him, it is often said that his silence was more eloquent than his words. This austere master, who lived and died a hermit on the Arunachala hill, left posterity, the legacy of his wisdom. Ramana Maharshi mainly gave his grace through silence. Maharshi seldom talked. Paul Brunton, a journalist, who had visited a number of so-called masters, and had left each one still skeptical, also visited Ramana Maharshi and wrote : “It is an ancient theory of mine that one can take the inventory of a man’s soul from his eyes. But, before those of the Maharshi I hesitate, (feel) puzzled and baffled. I cannot turn my gaze away from him. My initial bewilderment, my perplexity at being totally ignored, slowly fades away as this strange fascination begins to grip me more firmly. But, it is not till the second hour of the uncommon scene that I become aware of a silent, resistless change, which is taking place within my mind. I know only that a steady river of quietness seems to be flowing near me, that a great peace is penetrating the inner reaches of my being, and that my thought-tortured brain is beginning to arrive at some rest.” Ramana Maharshi would constantly urge the process of self-enquiry. His oft-repeated advice to aspirants was - “Constantly introspect - ‘Who am I ?’ - that which is peace. All that we need to do is to keep quiet. Peace is our real nature.” On some rare occasions Ramana Maharshi used to answer questions of seekers and some times narrated short stories to make the point clear to them. While telling stories Ramana Maharshi used to get very much involved. On one occasion while describing Gautama’s joy at Goddess Parvati’s coming to his Ashram, Ramana could not go on, for tears filled his eyes and emotion choked his voice. Trying to hide his plight from others, he remarked, “I don’t know, how people, who perform Harikatha, explain such passages to audiences and manage to do it without breaking down. I suppose, they must make their hearts hard like stone before starting their work.”
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 02:35:08 +0000
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