Part 9-Mastan

 ...

To be, 

you must be nobody.

To know that you do not know is true knowledge

In reality you were never born and will never die

...........

https://www.davidgodman.org/sri-guru-ramana-prasadam-excerpt/

418

He is the Ancient One who prospers in his powerful natural state of mauna, untroubled by questions of ‘where’ and ‘when’. He is the Wondrous One who, established in the glorious radiance of the supreme reality, banishes the mental creations that manifest as space and time.

437

Those devotees who have tasted the unique word distilled from the divine lotus mouth of the Prince of Tamilians, and have slaked their thirst on the fair ambrosia of reality, will be immersed in the Self, conscious of nothing which is not That.

440

When, through the power of his unique word, Sri Ramana destroyed my soul’s defilement, declaring it to be non-existent,

 then  my own true Self, 

shining forth suddenly within my heart, 

became as Shiva 

in the divine sky of Chidambaram.

441

Through the medium of his unique unspoken word, the knot within my heart was severed and destroyed, so that my spirit became separate from the illusory body that surrounded it, giving way to the overflowing expanse of reality.

448

What a wonder it was how, through his sweet grace, 

I attained true tapas so that my mind became clear, realising that ‘I’ is Sivam;

 how the shameful delusion of ego was abolished, and sorrow, the dream of birth, vanished.

451

‘Know that the realisation of Lord Siva, the foundation of the universe, is of the same essential nature as your own Self!’ 

454

Setting the irremovable seal of the all-encompassing state of Brahman upon my heart, 

he entered and made it his abode,

 thoroughly permeating my awareness 

so that I was conscious of nothing apart from the Self, 

whose very nature is consciousness itself.

..

He is the Unique One, whose awareness does not perceive even the tiniest thing as different from itself! 

He is the Supreme One, whose form is the stillness of reality!

458

He is the Supreme One, the Lord who dwells upon Kailash’s Mount, who does not frequent those who do not seek him out. 

Yet, poor ignorant fool that I was, as I wandered in confusion amongst the states of waking and sleep, he came to me and illuminated my heart with the radiance of his true nature.

462

I saw him as the wise One with the power to destroy the effects of my deeds; little did I realise then that he would destroy me as well! With a love greater even than that of a mother, he put an end to me, deeming it most beneficial for me.

463

‘Final liberation in Lord Siva is to be united with the supreme reality that shines, filling your consciousness with its light!’ Thus, never relaxing his hold, spoke the Lord, as he brought my own consciousness into the state of union with Brahman.

467

The delusion wherein I wandered in a dream from womb to womb came to an end, and I feared no more as I awoke into the supreme state of reality. And as I entered this divine existence in the Self, illumined by the blessed truth of Lord Siva, the light of realisation began to shine within me.

468

Mounted on the steed of thought, Sadasiva rode into the city of my mind, so that miraculously, through the perfection of his grace, the ‘I’, my own self, was revealed as the all-transcending supreme Self in all its glory.

469

Through the clarity of his divine wisdom that is the very essence of the pure supreme Self, he nurtured in me the eternal state of supreme liberation, so that my very thoughts were sweet sustenance to that gracious Creator.

.................Mastan.................

When I came to Bhagavan, he was seated like a rock…. [His unwavering gaze] was filled with grace, compassion and steady wisdom. I stood by his side. 

After giving me a look, he opened the gate of my Heart

 and I was also established in his state. 

I stood like that for eight hours, 

absolutely without fatigue, but filled with total absorption and peace.

 Bhagavan in those days used to open our Heart with a simple gracious look, and it transformed us. 

There was no need for any questions since he made us, by his look, like himself. 

(The Mountain Path, 1979, p. 154.)

Many of Sri Bhagavan’s activities, utterances and reactions were to some degree predictable. 

When you live in close proximity to a great being such as Bhagavan, becoming drenched in his presence and teachings, you start to believe that you understand him, at least to a certain extent.

 However, once in a while Bhagavan would spontaneously say things that astounded us all, making us realise how little we really knew and understood him. I remember one such statement very well.

Bhagavan once told me, ‘All sorts of beings gravitate towards the presence of a jnani – devas [inhabitants of the heavenly realms], rishis [sages], Brahmanishtas [those established in Brahman], siddhas [perfected beings with supernatural powers] and yogis. 

Some come in a normal human form, but others turn up in their subtle, astral bodies. 

Some of these great beings show up in the guise of beggars or madmen, and some of them even manage to appear in the forms of birds and animals.

Among those who show up in a normal human body, and who subsequently stay on and become devotees, there is a huge range of spiritual attainment: complete beginners mix with highly advanced souls. 

The most advanced are ripe fruits, just waiting to fall.

 They only have to come into the presence of a jnani in order to plunge into a deep experience of the Self. 

One such devotee was Mastan.

He was such a ripe soul, when he came to Virupaksha Cave to see me he would sometimes go into a deep samadhi before he had even entered the cave. 

As soon as he touched the railings of the gate, he would have a paralysing experience of the Self.

 He would stand, rooted to the spot, unable to move, for six or seven hours. This happened several times. 

Usually, these experiences would happen before he had even seen me since I would be inside the cave, unaware of what was going on at the gate.

‘Mastan was in an entirely different category to most of the people who came. He was highly spiritual, although outwardly he looked like an ordinary man. He was a kind generous man who was always looking for an opportunity to help other people. He never showed any self-importance. On the contrary he liked to stay in the background, unnoticed and unappreciated by ordinary people.’ (Unpublished story narrated to V. Ganesan by Viswanatha Swami in the 1970s)

These samadhi states did not give him a full and permanent experience of the Self. When his mind reasserted itself, he went to Bhagavan for advice:

Once, while I was on my way to see Bhagavan, I prayed for his grace.

On my arrival at Virupaksha Cave he asked, ‘Do you like saguna upasana [meditation or worship of form], or do you like nirguna upasana meditation or worship of the formless]?

I replied, ‘I only want nirguna upasana’.

Bhagavan then told me, ‘Fix the mind in the Heart. If you keep your

attention at the source from where all thoughts arise, the mind will subside at the source and reality will shine forth.’

I had already come across similar teachings in Maharaja Turavu, Mastan’s verses and Sukar Kaivalyam. I had also seen these instructions in several other books. 

I took a firm decision that this was the way for me. After this meeting with Bhagavan I had no further doubts about this. No doubts at all. 

(From B. V. Narasimhaswami’s interview)

‘Mastan had a very peaceful disposition.…After his first visit he used to come to Arunachala whenever he felt like it and have Bhagavan’s darshan at Virupaksha Cave for long periods, but standing at a distance. He would not speak anything to anybody… He did not get married and remained a brahmachari. He was leading a peaceful life, practising his weaving profession and having Bhagavan’s darshan.’

 (Taken from Ramana Bhakta Vijayam, an unpublished manuscript Kunju Swami was working on when he passed away. It was going to be an account of all the major devotees of Bhagavan whose stories were known to him.)

Perumal told him, ‘Mastan, you should have caught it. If you had managed to capture it, we could have brought it up here and kept it as a pet.’

Bhagavan was listening to this conversation.

Addressing Mastan, he said, ‘Whom do you think he was? Do you think you could have caught him, and do you think that this other man could have domesticated him? This was a sage of Arunachala who took on this form to come and visit me. He wanted to pay his respects to me. How many times have I told you that sages come to see me in various forms?’

I was living up the hill at Skandashram. Streams of visitors were climbing up the hill from the town. A mongoose, larger than the ordinary size, of golden hue (not grey as a mongoose is) with no black spot on its tail as is usual with the wild mongoose, passed these crowds fearlessly. People took it to be a tame one belonging to someone in the crowd. The animal went straight to Palaniswami, who was having a bath in the spring by Virupaksha Cave. He stroked the creature and patted it. It followed him into the cave, inspected every nook and corner and left the place and joined the crowd coming up to Skandashram.

I noticed it. Everyone was struck by its attractive appearance and its fearless movements. It came up to me, got on my lap and rested there for some time. It went round the whole place and I followed it lest it should be harmed by the unwary visitors or by the peacocks. Two peacocks of the place looked at it inquisitively. The mongoose looked nonchalantly from place to place and finally disappeared into the rocks on the southeast of the ashram. (Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 82 dated 16th October 1935)

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