I hear Your Silence calling me
So softly calling me
To where I have always been.
I am burning and burning
In Your Grace.
These words are being felt deeply here at Ramanasramam…the home of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. The picture is in the Shrine Hall. I am sitting up against the wall just as you come into the hall, as this picture was taken. People come and go, but the Stillness remains, as It is. The “burning” is a cool melting into the Heart as “I-I” … giving way to This is all that is left to do …
I did promise to take you with me and here we are …
There is a schedule that is informal here … it is available to attend as you wish. One finds a natural rhythm and flows into what suits you. My day has found this particular rhythm: The man, who is serving our area, comes with hot water, for bathing, at 4:00 am. It is from another building where a wood fire has been put on earlier, which brings a vat of water to a very hot temperature. You put a large bucket out in front of your door and the guard knows to fill it with hot water. Then, I move on to morning meditation in the Old Hall at 5:00 am. (The Old Hall is where Bhagavan sat and met with people…the energy of his presence remains, as if he is still present sitting on his sofa, as usual.) At this early hour, an offering of flowers, incense and chanting (puja) is done in the adjacent Shrine Hall and at 6:45 am the first milk of the day (from one of their resident cows) is placed on the shrine and then offered to the people attending. 7:00 am is breakfast and 11:30 am lunch. In between this, it is lovely to just go out the back gate and up onto Arunachala for a brisk morning walk. Then, during the day, a number of puja ceremonies are done over the shrine. My favorite time of the day is after our siesta …at 2:00 pm…where it is absolutely quiet in the Shrine Hall and the Old Hall. Just basking in the Stillness is heaven. Then, tea is at 4:00 pm and dinner at 7:30 pm with a sing-a-long chanting session before that at 6:30 pm. A full day… simply basking in the Grace of the Presence of Awakeness…awesome…can you feel it?
My experience of being here is hugely different from the times that Ramana and I would come and bring pilgrims. (This was from 1992 until 2000 before we had our own ashram here.) My schedule was not my own. There was always something to tend to for our pilgrims or Ramana. This was also a time when new programs would create themselves…I SIT, NNP, CC&R for example. This time, it is an open and clear day to follow whatever arises in the moment. Each time has been special for me and absolutely different. I am certainly grateful to have this experience to flow with what comes. It is right on time.
I am being blessed and BLISSED!
By the way, if you would like to visit the Shrine Hall yourself and hear the chanting that is done in the evening, just click onto this connection to our website.
I’ll feel you here…
