Arunachala Nannagaru

I heard of this saint while surfing on the internet about Sri Ramakrishna. I read about him and wondered whether I would meet him any day.

A few months back on Gurupoornima I heard that the saint was coming to my city and decided to go and see him.

Sri Nannagaru is a Advaita master who is intimately connected with Arunachala. A website dedicated to him is www.srinannagaru.com

I saw the man amidst thousands of his followers sitting on the podium and delivering one of the greatest speeches I have heard about advaita. His words were not dry but carried with them the conviction of personal experience. I instantly knew I was in the presence of a master. Time flew by.

And then there was the silence.

He just looked at the huge gathering with piercing but benign gaze. There was a stunning pin drop silence in the entire hall. It was more powerful than his speech. Every eye was riveted on him. The breath seemed to have been sucked out from one's being and been replaced with silent power. In every eye was a light of calmness and in every heart a feeling of bliss.

I realized with more conviction that this was really a mahapurusha.

And then the spell broke.

At the end of the satsang I decided to test the great man by sening mental waves asking him to acknowledge my presence.

The man was surrounded by countless devotees who wanted to touch him and speak with him. I stood right in front of the podium and was hoping and wishing that he see me.

He did not.

I decided to leave the place with a slightly bruised ego and a thought perhaps that we did not share a relationship.

I had come out of the hall when suddenly a thought struck me that he is indeed a great purusha and I should try again.

I went inside with vigour and climbed the podium. I reached the crowd that was surrounding him whence suddenly there was a opening and I saw the master looking at me with a smile on his lips. He beckoned me closer and patted on my right cheek.

I was stunned and immediately bowed down low before him

The place where he touched me tingled with sensation the entire day.

I do not know if it was his touch or my destiny...but within a month I laid my feet on holy Arunachala soil and got an accomadation in his ashram.

More of the story later.