The sad news of Sri Ramana Maharshi's departure from the physical body soon reached me and his other devotees scattered throughout the world. I do not wish to praise, or compare with other Masters, the Great Being at whose feet the Almighty allowed me to abide. For how could we, from our lower level of consciousness exactly describe the being whose mission was to give us something of his infinite light? Adequately to assess his greatness, one must at least be on the same level of spiritual glory. All that I can do, is to try to convey what I found in my own heart when I received the news.
The light from those luminous eyes of Sri Maharshi was forever engraved on my memory before leaving the Ashram. And now the account of his death lies before me. Does it mean that those eyes cannot radiate their silent initiation anymore? That would be ridiculous. I know this light is not a material one, though it was conveyed through a material body.
This is a mystery but not a paradox. In my heart I found no urge to discover that mystery through the mind. I felt that the fact was so, even though inexplicable to the thinking process. So his death did not deprive me of his reality.
I was quietly sitting as if in preparation for meditation. But this time the usual process changed. Perhaps He saw that the human heart, not yet free from all its weaknesses, sometimes needs some consolation. And then, instead of a void, the well-known and beloved picture arose before me.
There were most mysterious and inspiring evenings at the Ashram when the beautiful hymn 'In Praise of the Lord of the Universe' was sung in the hall. Sri Maharshi evidently loved the hymn, for there would appear a peculiar expression of other than human beatitude and delight on His face. I felt that the hearts of those who were present in that blissful hour of the evening contemplation were deeply tuned to it. Perhaps His penetrating inner sight saw the beneficial process in us, and His silent blessing was the answer.
How can we fathom the unfathomable? And now, as if still in the temple hall with all those others, I once again listened to the same beautiful melody heard before with my outer ears. It was as if I reviewed
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a film. And there was no sadness any more. It could not be otherwise! The true legacy of the Master could never be less than joy, this sublime and silent joy of being, untroubled by the waves of the surrounding illusory world or Maya. This was His peace which He bequeathed to us.
Later on letters came from devotees in other countries. My distant friends each gave their own accounts of how the tragic news aflected them. They tried their best to console themselves and me, by saying that the physical departure of the Master could not break our spiritual link with Him. And yet the ink in the last paragraphs of such letters was often blurred as if with tears.
It is said that love was the force which created the universe.
Perhaps it is. But to me the force of such unselfish and radiant love as His, is just that power which purifies our hearts, when all other methods prove useless.
Neither occult training nor any other method, can give the disciple the true peace which the Master gives.
Sri Maharshi was a centre of love to his disciples. He left us his love, and where else in the world could be found a purifyingpower such as this, to bring peace to our hearts?
The anniversaries of the Mahasamadhi of Sri Maharshi will come one after another. And some year will see the last one for me on this earth.
But at the last moment He will be with me, as with everyone of you who knew Him, and you who yearn to know Him, if you keep to the end, His legacy of love.
* * *
Those who feel an intuitive attraction to the Direct Path of the Great Rishi Ramana, as experienced by the writer and described to a certain extent—in this book, may be interested in the following steps which came later for the author.
Now, when I am looking back from the perspective of a few years, I see that the process which began in Bhagavan's Ashram is uninterruptedly going ahead, changing the whole inner structure of a man.
Many outer things, such as worldly conditions and karmic ties, which before were considered as obstacles, are now becoming as unreal as a passing mist. The inner experiences are now taking a more steady
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and controllable shape, and losing their former unpredictable and rather sporadic character; because they are now directed by an irresistible Will, which mysteriously is—at the same time—both inside and outside of man.
The thinking process as it was in past years has disappeared and cannot be found again. Instead, in its place has come the awareness of the perpetual cosmic current of mind; but it is flowing apart from my consciousness, except when I am selecting what I need from it.
This means, that the formerly invincible compulsion of constant thinking has gone for ever, and in its place is a newly-born and quite natural tendency to remain in the silent shrine of the heart or self, where no thought or emotion dare to enter. There is no effort needed any more as truly predicted by the Master in His teachings, and no exercise has to be performed as in the past.
Basically, the inner experiences described throughout this book are by no means deprived of their sense. They have lost only their spontaneous nature, having deepened and become well entrenched in the same visible outer shell—the body. There is no purpose in delving into them here; for they would be quite incomprehensible to anyone who has not yet lived what has been described. The process of ripening is rather an automatic one; all 'plannings' and calculations for the 'future', together with all hopes, fears and griefs belong to the dead past.
Sri Maharshi says: 'He that has earned the grace of the Guru shall undoubtedly be saved and never forsaken, just as the prey that has fallen into the tiger's jaws will never be allowed to escape'. In other words, once the path is found it cannot be lost any more, no matter how many lives what could be called the illimitable bliss, the fulfillment of our deepest and most pure hopes and spiritual strivings, can follow us on that path.
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It is my firm conviction, that in this world at the present time, there are still many who would be able to enter on this sublime path, the unique direct highway to the absolute. And it is for them, and them alone, that this book has been written. I am stretching out my hand to them. Will they accept it?.
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