(Note: This tip is longer than usual, so if you are short on time now, it is okay to go directly to the reading in NTI. However, be sure to come back and read the tip sometime today when you have more time. The tip is important.)
When the conditions are right, consciousness manifests as a temporary appearance within consciousness. That temporary appearance could be a flower, a baby, a disease, or an appearance that appears to defy the laws of our world. When the basics of the creative principle are understood, to the degree that those basics can be understood, it is seen that temporary manifestation occurs because the conditions come together in a way to create that appearance.
Here are a couple of stories about Ramana Maharshi.
The Story of Ramana Maharshi and Robert Adams
“I am Robert Adams. I was born in New York in 1928, and from the very beginning, as far back as I can remember, when I was in a crib, a little man with a grey beard and white hair, about two feet tall, would appear before me at the other end of the crib and speak gibberish to me. Of course, being a child, I did not understand anything he said. When I was about five or six years old, I told my parents about it and they thought I was playing games. I told my friends and they chuckled. So I stopped saying anything about it. The apparitions of the little man stopped when I was about seven.” …
[A few years later, while taking a math test in school one day:]
“Subjectively, the whole room appeared filled with light more brilliant than the sun. It was a beautiful shining warm glow and the whole room, along with everything and everyone, was immersed in the light, and all the children seemed to me mere particles of that light. I found myself melting into radiant Being-Consciousness. I merged into immaculate awareness. It was not an out-of-body experience. This was completely different. I realized that I was not my body. What appeared to be my body was not real. I went beyond the light into pure radiant consciousness and I became consciousness, and my individuality merged into pure and absolute bliss. I became the universe. The feeling is indescribable. It was total bliss and total joy.”
After this experience, Robert Adams‘ life was not normal. As a teenager, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old, he felt the need for guidance. Some of his friends suggested that he go to Joel Goldsmith, a famous Christian and true mystic. … [Joel Goldsmith] advised him to go to Paramahamsa Yogananda, who was in Encinitas. He said, “He will guide you.” …
Robert Adams went to Encinitas… Robert prostrated to Paramahamsa and said, “You are my Guru.” Paramahamsa said, “No. I am not your Guru. Your Guru is Sri Ramana Maharshi. Ramana Maharshi is not well; you should go to him immediately.”
After leaving Paramahamsa, Robert happened upon a copy of Who Am I? in the philosophy section of a library. Ramana Maharshi‘s picture was on the cover. When Robert saw the image, his hair stood on end because he recognized that face as the same one he had seen in his crib as a toddler. He wasted no time finding his way to Bhagavan. Here he describes his first encounter with the Maharshi:
“When I was eighteen years old I arrived at Arunachala. I took flowers and a bag full of fruits and offered them at his feet. Bhagavan looked at me and smiled and I returned the smile. The very first look of the Maharshi engulfed me in a flood of light, peace, quietude, and bliss and it opened an inner eye. I instantly recognized the meaning and purpose of all my experiences, that I was never a body and that I was ever the unborn Self, the eternal silence.”
The Story of Ramana Maharshi and Papaji
[A] steady urge to be eternally with God became so compelling that [H. W. L. Poonja, later known as Papaji] was forced to go in search. He left his family with his father and went in search of someone who could show him the way to God, and allow him to dwell with God permanently. He toured all over India, meeting sadhus and swamis in Ashrams. His constant questions were: Have you seen God? Can you show me God? The replies that he received always disillusioned him. Feeling disheartened, he returned to Punjab. Yet, the fire of yearning within him was still burning. He fed sadhus who came to his home and posed these burning questions to them.
One day, a sadhu knocked on his door. The sadhu was received with respect by Papaji and fed well. When asked the usual questions, the sadhu smilingly replied, “I can show you a swami who can answer your questions.” Punjaji immediately asked, “Where is he? What is his name?” The sadhu answered, “His name is Ramana Maharshi, and he is in Arunachala, in an Ashram called Ramanashram in Tiruvannamalai.” The sadhu gave him directions on how to reach the Ashram. Papaji was elated that he was at last going to meet a swami, who would show him the way to God. …
Papaji was already thirty-four years old when he reached Madras in 1944. He was excited and eager to see the swami who would answer his burning questions and show him God. At Ramanashram, he left his baggage in the common dormitory and went to the old hall where they said the swami was seated. He peeped through the window and was totally disappointed and enraged by what he saw. He told himself, “The same sadhu who visited me at my home in Punjab is seated here! He gave me his own name and address and is now seated on the sofa! He is a cheat; I will not stay here even for a minute.” Such was his anger!
Papaji ran back to the dormitory and hurriedly picked up his baggage. He was fuming and frustrated. However, an old devotee, Framji Dorabji, told him, “You have not been here even for an hour. Why are you going back when you have come from such a distance?” Papaji narrated what he had seen and concluded, “This swami is a cheat. He gave me his own name and address and said that he would show me God. I know he is a cheat. I know it!” Framji said in a concerned voice, “There is some mistake here. Bhagavan has not left Arunachala for thirty-five years!”
Papaji continued to fume, but Framji Dorabji induced him to partake of lunch. He told him to have Bhagavan‘s prasad. After having his lunch, Bhagavan would retire to the old hall. People were told not to disturb the Maharshi between eleven-thirty and two-thirty. Papaji attempted to follow the Maharshi, but Krishnaswami, the attendant, prevented him from following. Bhagavan, who was already in the hall, told Krishnaswami, “Allow him to come inside.” Papaji recounts what happened:
“I approached the swami in a belligerent manner. I asked him, ‘Aren’t you the man that came to see me in my house in Punjab?’ The Maharshi remained silent. I repeated, ‘Did you not come to my house and tell me to come here?’ Again the Maharshi made no answer. Since he was most unwilling to answer, I moved on to the main purpose of my visit. I asked him the questions that I had come to ask: ‘Have you seen God, and if you have, will you help me to see God? I am willing to pay any price for the answer, even give my life. But your part of the bargain is that you must show me God.’”
The swami answered, “No, I cannot show you God. I cannot help you see God because God is not an object that can be seen. God is the subject. He is the seer. Do not concern yourself with the objects that can be seen. Find out who is the seer.” He then added, “You alone are God.”
Bhagavan advised Papaji to find out more about this ‘I’ that is so desirous of seeing God.
“Then, he looked deep into my eyes in such a way that my entire body began to tremble. I felt a shiver running through every inch of my body. My hair stood on end, such was the intensity. Believe me; I became aware of the spiritual heart. What I am referring to is not the physical heart, but the heart that is the source and support of all that exists. This heart opened up and blossomed in the Maharshi‘s presence. I have never had such an extraordinary experience before. I had not come in looking for any kind of experience, so when it happened, it took me by total surprise.”
Note: Both stories about Ramana Maharshi are excerpts from The Human Gospel of Ramana Maharshi as told by Ramana’s grand-nephew, V. Ganesan, and written down by John Troy.
I have shared these stories, because they are not fictional like the one in today’s reading. These things do happen, and usually the credit for these ‘miracles’ goes to the master—in this case, Ramana Maharshi. However, when someone tried to credit Nisargadatta Maharaj with miracles that occurred around him, he said:
I know nothing about miracles, and I wonder whether nature admits exceptions to her laws, unless we agree that everything is a miracle. As to my mind, there is no such thing. There is consciousness in which everything happens. It is quite obvious and within the experience of everybody. You just do not look carefully enough. Look well, and see what I see.
Contemplate this tip as you read today’s reading. If you have a desire for mystical experiences, notice how Jesus handles that desire in the story. You could also do like Ramana Maharshi advised Papaji and find out more about the ‘I’ that is so desirous of mystical experiences.
As you read, remember what was written at the beginning of this tip:
When the conditions are right, consciousness manifests as a temporary appearance within consciousness. That temporary appearance could be a flower, a baby, a disease, or an appearance that appears to defy the laws of our world. When the basics of the creative principle are understood, to the degree that those basics can be understood, it is seen that temporary manifestation occurs because the conditions come together in a way to create that appearance.
