ArunachalaHeart

A beautiful site on Sadguru Sri Nannagaru

2010-08-09T03:24:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Greeshma Myneni, a very devoted and beloved disciple of Sadguru Nannagaru has started an excellent website dedicated to him.

She encourages everyone to share their experiences about the great man in the website.

please visit

www.srinannagarusatsang.com

Guru Bless you Greeshmaji for this excellent and beautiful endeavor.

To Look at Arunachala...

2010-07-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

One of the methods of Sadhana that Nannagaru emphasizes is watching Arunachala.

You have to just sit and watch the Hill.

Watching the Hill is sadhana for it is Surrender...we Surrender to the Hill's will.

No waves of the Mind...only Arunachala...

My encounters with Nannagaru ( Guru meeting in May end)

2010-06-06T04:24:00.000-07:00

I went to meet Sri Nannagaru today knowing that the great man was in my city. The moment I thought of meeting him today...everything was perfect.

My driver arrived on time, there was no power cut, and I got ready within minutes.

The view outside the car too seemed too perfect. I had to cover nearly 12 km of distance in morning traffic and I knew it would take me about half an hour or so. I decided to watch the scenes outside to while away the time.

Everything was perfect.

Schoolgirls with white ribbons and long plaits, the traffic constable with a rayban replica cooling glasses, the peasant carrying a bundle of coconut leaves, commuters waiting for the bus at the bus stop, a youth indulging in helmetless bike driving, two shy lovers hiding from all sitting under a tree shade in a small park...the boy talking excitedly and the girl listening shyly, the vendor with the mangoes for sale, a govt building walls plastered with 'do not pass urine here' :), cars trying to overtake from the wrong side....everything...everything looked perfect.

Today was a day when everything was left uncared for...no analysis...only something that needed to be seen and loved...from sheer ugliness to enchanting beauty...everything was the same...

PERFECT.

Reaching the house where the saint was staying I bought some apples for him and took the lift up to the fifth floor.

there were already a hundred people trying to catch a glimpse of him and trying to get in the small flat that the saint usually stays in.

I was ushered in by his trusted lieutenant whose wife is a patient of mine and made to sit on a sofa as the saint ate his breakfast.

Finishing breakfast the saint looked at me and smiled. He introduced me to the crowd and asked me to come and sit next to him. I refused and tried to sit down. He vehemently opposed this and made me sit next to him.

He inquired about my professional life and family. I answered.

He looked at the fruits I bought for him.

"You have brought a lot of fruits" he said.

I nodded shyly.

"Do you read any other books apart from your subject books?" he asked.

I replied that I read Sri Ramakrishna's books a lot.

He nodded.

"Do you think there is a difference between Sri Ramakrishna's teachings and Bhagwan Ramana's teachings?" he asked.

I shook my head "No"

He smiled and said " Ramakrishna delved into all aspects of Advaita, Dvaita, and other forms of philosophy more than Ramana. Bhagwan was more Advaita oriented." He said.

I nodded again. It seemed to echo an inner feeling of mine.

I looked at him and said " Sri Ramakrishna and You are One. I consider you as God."

There was an instant ripple of joy across the crowd surrounding us.

The saint gave a slight pause as a divine smile played on his features and he looked like Grace Personified.

The Divine glow persisted for a few seconds and then it was gone.

He extended his palms and patted my cheeks.

In another meeting I had said to him

"I worship you as God. I know no other. You are my Sri Ramakrishna."

He had smiled and said

"Protect that feeling of yours and cherish it throughout life." He said. " That one thing is enough...that one thing is enough."

His hands raised in a mudra of blessing as I bowed low before him

Why should we love everyone equally?

2010-05-08T22:09:00.001-07:00

"Why should we love everyone equally?" Buddha was asked. He replied " Because in the billions of lives that we have had...everyone in some form or another...at some time or another...have been dear to us."

Golf with Jesus

2010-05-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

One day, Jesus, Moses and an older gentleman were playing golf. The hole was a short Par-3, with a small pond right in the center. Moses walks up first, pulls out an 8-iron, and swings. The ball looks short, and is about to hit the water when Moses suddenly thrusts his arms out to both sides. The water in the pond parts, and the ball rolls along the bottom of the pond, up on the green, and eventually comes to rest about 6 inches from the pin.

Jesus takes the next shot, pulls out his 9-iron and swings. Again, the ball looks short, and looks like its going to hit the water as well. But instead, the ball bounces off the surface of the water, rolls along the top of the pond, on to the green, and stops about 3 inches from Moses's ball.

The older man is up next. He walks to the tee, pulls out his pitching wedge and takes half a swing. The ball slices sharply to the right, hits a tree and bounces left. It bounces off the second tree, and goes right in the pond with a resounding plop. In the pond, a fish swims by and picks up the ball as its sinking in the pond, and swims it to the surface. Just as the fish comes to the top of the pond, a bird flies by and plucks the fish out of the water. The bird flies around the green with the fish (still holding the ball) about 3 or 4 times, when he swoops down toward the green. And just before the bird hits the green, the fish drops the ball right in the hole. Jesus and Moses look astonished for a few moments, until Moses gets angry, and throws down his clubs. He gives Jesus a dirty look, and exclaims "That's it! I'm NEVER playing golf with your dad again!"

The Will of God is Everything. It can surpass infinite obstacles,make yea into nay and nay into yea.

Everything is in His will.

Everything

Om Arunachala Namaha

The Lord of Arunachala

2010-03-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

He is Sri Nannagaru. The Lord of Arunachala. The Hill in human form. My guru and refuge.

Arunachala Kalpataru

2010-01-01T04:27:00.001-08:00

More than a hundred years ago Sri Ramakrishna manifested His Godhead today and bestowed boons on his devotees. He gave them whatever they asked for. Today is celebrated as Kalpataru Day by all His devotees. Wish you a happy Kalpataru Day. May all your wishes be fulfilled.

Arunachala New Year

2009-12-31T20:29:00.000-08:00

Arunachala New Year to everyone.

Arunachala Christmas

2009-12-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

Arunachala is Lord Jesus Himself.

The Source of all Love, Peace and Blessedness.

Wishing all a happy Arunachala Christmas.

The Largest Shaligram in the Universe

2009-12-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

Shaligram is a dark black stone which represents Lord Vishnu. Scientifically these are stones with ammonite fossils and remnants which are worshipped as parts and representations of Vishnu due to them resembling in various forms the chakra and conch symbols of Vishnu.They are famed to be found in the Kali Gandaki river gorge near Mukthinath, Nepal.

GANDAKYAS CAIVA DESE CA SALAGRAMA STHALAM MAHAT
PASANA TAD BHAVAM YAT TAT SALAGRAMAM ITI SMRTAM
(HARI BHAKTI VILASA 5/296 From GAUTAMIYA TANTRA )

As per Gautamiya Tantra, near the kali - Gandaki river, there is a big place called Shalagram.The stones which appear in that place are called shalagram shila. According to the Hindu tradition this stone is the shelter for a small insect known as "Vajra-Keeta" that has a diamond tooth which cuts through the Shaligram stone and stays inside it. The Saligram stones are hundreds of million years old when the Himalaya was an ocean floor. The marks on the Shaligram gives it a special significance, with the pattern often representing that of Sudarshan Chakra, the Discus of Lord Vishnu. The Shaligrams come in different colours, such as red, blue, yellow, black, greeen. All the varities are considered very sacred. The yellow and golden colour Shaligrams are considered most auspicious and bestow immense wealth and prosperity to the devotee. The Shaligrams of different shapes are often associated with different incarnations of Lord Vishnu such as Narasimha Avatar, Kurma Avatar and so on. According to the Vaishnavas the Shaligram is the "dwelling place of Lord Vishnu" and any one who keeps it, must worship it daily. He must also adhere to the strict rules such as not touching the Shaligram without bathing, never placing the Shaligram on the ground, avoiding non-vaishnavaite (or non-satvic) food and not indulging in the bad practices. The Lord Krishna himself mentions the qualities of Shaligram to 'Yudhishtra' in the Mahabharta. Most of the Shaligrams are considered auspicious, some are very sacred, while others are considered to bring good luck, money, peace, sons and so on. The temples can use any kind of Shaligrams in their rituals. The place where the Shaligram stone is found is itself known by that name and is one of the 108 sacred pilgrimage places for the " Vaishnavas" outside India. In fact such is the auspiciousness of this place that the Puranas mention that any stone from this land is equally sacred to Shaligram.

According to the religious text of Devi Bhagwate (and other scriptures) to kill demonJalandhar Lord Vishnu have to destroy Sati Brindha's sati dharma. When he did that Sati Brindha gave four seeming desecrations to Lord Vishnu to become stone, grass, tree, plant. To wash away this reaction Lord Vishnu took four avatars (incarnations). He became stone (Sri Saligram) grass (Kush) tree (Pipal) and plant (Tulsi). from this time onwardse the Saligrams are considered to be most auspicious to behold and to worship.

There is a place where we find much bigger shaligram. This shaligram is the largest in the entire universe.

It is not near Kali Gandaki River but the river is in the shaligram.

This Shaligram is the manifestation of Vishnu.

This shaligram is Arunachala.

The source of all.

Glory of Radha: The Power of the Lord

2009-12-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Krishna enchants the world...but Radha enchants even Him...

The Power of Radha cannot be denied. She is the Sorce of the Universe. The Great Cause.

devi krsna-mayi prokta
radhika para-devata
sarva-laksmi-mayi sarva-
kantih sammohini para

[“The transcendental goddess Srimati Radharani is the direct counterpart of Lord Sri Krsna. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 4.83)]

We cannot imagine the glories of Radharani. She is sarva-laksmi, the sum-total of all Laksmis, or goddesses of fortune:

ananta-koti-visnu-loka-namra-padmajarcite
himadrija-pulomaja-virincaja-vara-prade
apara-siddhi-rddhi-digdha-sat-padanguli-nakhe
kada karisyasiha mam krpa-kataksa-bhajanam?

makhesvari! kriyesvari svadhesvari suresvari
triveda-bharatisvari pramana-sasanesvari
ramesvari! ksamesvari pramoda-kananesvari
vrajesvari vrajadhipe sri radhike namo ’stu te

[“You are worshiped by Sri Laksmi, the goddess of unlimited millions of Vaikuntha planets. Sri Parvati, Indra’s wife, and Sarasvati all worship and attain benedictions from You. Meditation on even one of Your toenails grants an infinite variety of perfections – O Srimati Radhike, when, oh when will You bestow upon me Your merciful sidelong glance? (Sri Radha-Krpa-Kataksa-Stava-Raja, verse 11)

You are the mistress of all kinds of sacrifices (especially of the topmost yugala-milana-yajna); of all actions (since You are the root of all potencies – mula-sakti-tattva); of the mantras uttered at yajnas and of the sacrificial offerings presented to the demigods; of all the demigods; of the words of the three Vedas; of the enforcement of all scriptural principles; of Sri Rama-devi (the goddess of fortune); of Sri Ksamadevi (the goddess of forgiveness); and especially of the delightful kunjas in Vrndavana. When will You mercifully make me Your dasi and grant me the qualification to render service in Your amorous pastimes with the prince of Vraja? O Srimati Radhika, owner and maintainer of Vraja, I offer pranama unto You time and again.” (Sri Radha-Krpa-Kataksa-Stava-Raja, verse 12)]

Once, as Sri Jayadeva Gosvami was composing the verses of his Sri Gita-govinda, a pastime appeared in his heart in which Srimati Radhika entered Her sulky mood (maan). He saw in his mediation that all of Krsna’s repeated attempts failed to remove Her maan. Then, the mood entered his heart in which he understood that in order to pacify Srimati Radhika Sri Krsna placed His head at Her lotus feet. This filled Sri Jayadeva with fear; he could not bring himself to write it. He thought, “Sri Krsna is everyone’s worshipful Supreme Lord and He possesses all potencies. Srimati Radhika is His potency and maidservant. How is it possible for Sri Krsna to put His head at Radhika’s lotus feet? That would transgress the principles of religion.”

His hand trembled and lost the grip of his pen. He could write no more, so he went to bathe in the Ganga. Meanwhile Sri Krsna, the topmost relisher of transcendental mellows, assumed the form of Sri Jayadeva and went to his house. In the form of Jayadeva, Krsna asked Padmavati to bring Him the manuscript. He then personally completed the verse “smara-garala-khandanam – the deadly poison of amorous love” that Jayadeva had begun to write. He added “mama sirasi mandanam / dehi pada-pallavam udaram – is counteracted by decorating My head with Your flower-like feet.”

smara-garala-khandanam
mama sirasi mandanam
dehi pada-pallavam udaram

[“The beautiful flower blossoms of Your feet counteract the deadly poison of amorous love. They extinguish the terrifying fire of the pain of that love, which rages within My heart. Therefore, please be kind and allow Your feet to decorate My head.”]

Sri Krsna then left the house, and a short time later Jayadeva returned. Surprised, his wife asked, “How were you able to come back so quickly? Just a short while ago you returned, wrote something in your book, and again went out to take bath.” Jayadeva Gosvami asked for his manuscript, and upon opening it he saw that his unfinished verse was now complete. Filled with wonder and weeping, he told his wife, “O Devi, you are blessed. You had darsana of Sri Syamasundara Krsna, who personally came here and completed the verse I was afraid to write. Krsna is brought under control by prema, not by devotion based on rules and regulations.”

source:purebhakti.com

RADHA IS ARUNACHALA, ARUNACHALA IS RADHA.

Arunachala Radha

2009-12-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

The Great Mahadeepam of Arunachala this year ( 2009 ) represents the Love and Light of Radha for Krishna according to agasthiar ashram.

Whosoever sees the flame on Arunachala this year sees the entire pantheon of Gods and Goddesses manifested.

Whosoever sees the flame...see Radha for in Her are the entire pantheon of Gods and Godesses.

Jayo Arunachala Radha! Victory to the darling of Krishna!

Arunachala Jagannath...the Lord of Puri.

2009-11-29T09:39:00.000-08:00

Arunachala Jagannath Darshan.

This is a very beautiful darshan. Here the Hill Arunachala comes to us in the form of Jagannath...the deity of Puri.

Also for close observers of spiritual literature and belief it would be clear that Arunachala Hill is Lord Jagannath Himself.

There is a common point of intersection.

Lord Jagannath stands by Himself bereft of the company of Radha who is absolutely essential for a Krishna idol. Instead He is seen in Puri with His sister Subhadra and brother Balaram.

WHERE IS RADHA?

The answer lies in the caption describing Puri:

It is a vipralamba kshetra...or literally the place of Seperation.

Here Lord Jagannath is in external seperation from Radha. He is crying with wide eyes because of seperation from Radha. Radha is not with Him...She must be somewhere else.

But if it is so...where is Radha.

The answer lies in the fact that though seperated externally Radha is forever united internally with Krishna.

Puri Jagannath thus symbolises Union in seperation.

The smile of Jagannath symbolizes the happiness of Jagannath from internal union with Radha.

The Female Power is in Eternal Union with the Male Principle.

Arunachala too is of the same nature as with Bhagwan's assertion. Once while explaining the greatness of Arunachala Bhagwan explains to a devotee that in Arunachala, Shakthi lies in eternal Union with Arunachala and hence the Hill lies as if unmoved.

From the above words of Bhagwan we can easily see that Arunachala is Puri Jagannath and Puri Jagannath is Arunachala.

Also like Arunachala's Ardha Nareeshwara, Jagnnath is worshipped as Ardha Lakshmi Narayana.

This is the darshan of Arunachala as Puri Jagannath.

Whosoever sees Arunachala...sees Jagannath...whosoever sees Jagannath sees Arunachala.

BOTH ARE THE SAME.

This darshan is also same as Ram Bhakth Hanuman darshan where Hanuman too looses the Conciousness of His Self while thinking of Rama.

An extremely POWERFUL darshan of Arunachala which when meditated upon unites the soul with the Supersoul through the path of Ecstatic Devotion.

Arunachala Baba

2009-11-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

Arunachala Sathya Sai

Nov 23 marks the 84th birthday of Sathya Sai Baba.

Worshipped as God by millions, this Godman of South India has many times fascinated me by surreal dreams.

Though I have never met him before my firts girivallam of Arunachala took place last year on his birthday. For the same, Nov 23 is very close to my heart.

It is reported that Sathya Sai Baba first instructed the world by a song:

On October 20th, 1940, at Uravakonda, He came back from school, threw his books and declared, "I am no longer your Sathya! I am Sai Baba. I do not belong to you. I have my work. My devotees are calling me." He walked into the neighbor's garden, sat on a rock and gave His first message, to the faithful who had assembled there, in the form of a bhajan: Manasa Bhajare Gurucharanam…

Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam
Dustara Bhava Sagara Tharanam
Guru Maharaj Guru Jai Jai
Sai Natha Sad Guru Jai Jai
Om Namah Shivaya Om Namashivaya
Om Namashivaya Shivaya Namah Om
Arunachala Shiva Arunachala Shiva
Arunachala Shiva Aruna Shiva Om
Omkaram Baba Omkaram Baba Om Namo Baba

This song urges the devotee to adore the feet of the guru.

Also, this song contains the Arunachala Mahamantra. It is very surprising that a young boy of 14 knew about Arunachala much before the majority in the world had known it, even though he had never gone there.

Let us all wish this great man a wonderful birthday.

Sathya Sai Baba himself says,"I am beyond the reach of the most intensive enquiry and the most meticulous measurement. Only those who have recognized my love and experienced that love can assert that they have glimpsed my reality. Do not attempt to know me through the external eyes."

Arunachala Apex

2009-11-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

This darshan of Arunachala confers on the believer the increased power of concentration, strength of purpose and clarity of thought.

A very abstract darshan.

Arunachala Ashta Lakshmi Darshan

2009-10-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is the 100th post in this blog and befittingly it is about Goddess Mahalakshmi.

This darshan of Arunachala carries in it the sub darshans of Mahalakshmi as the Eight Goddess Forms called Ashta Lakshmi.

Remembrance of this darshan and worship of this form bestows on the believer the bendiction of the Fortune Goddess.

The Maha Ashta Lakshmi Darshan of Arunachala!!!

Who can know?

2009-10-05T10:25:00.001-07:00

Who can know Arunachala?

Who knows...knows not..

Who knows not...knows.

Arunachala Deep Sleep

2009-10-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was feeling really chaotic. There was a subconcious panic in me. I prayed to Sri Ramakrishna and slept for fifteen minutes.

I woke up thoroughly refreshed.

My mental chaos was gone.

I had slept deeply.

No dreams, no thoughts.

Only my mind had merged in the dark.

here is what Ramana has to say about Deep Sleep.

"
In deep sleep mind is merged and not destroyed. That which merges
reappears. It may happen in meditation also. But the mind which is
destroyed cannot reappear. The yogi’s aim must be to destroy it and
not to sink in laya. In the peace of dhyana, laya ensues but it is not
enough. It must be supplemented by other practices for destroying the
mind. Some people have gone into samadhi with a trifling thought
and after a long time awakened in the trail of the same thought. In the
meantime generations have passed away in the world. Such a yogi has
not destroyed his mind. Its destruction is the non-recognition of it as
being apart from the Self. Even now the mind is not. Recognise it. How
can you do it if not in everyday activities. They go on automatically.
Know that the mind promoting them is not real but a phantom
proceeding from the Self. That is how the mind is destroyed."

Arunachala Goddess Darshans

2009-09-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

Arunachala Hill is the Absolute. It is also the power of the Absolute. In this Hill Shakthi remains in forever absorption with Shiva.

As the Great festival of Dussehra approaches I am highlighting ten darshans of Arunachala as the Goddess.

These darshans are pure inspirations and are not detailed elsewhere.

Goddess Tripura Sundari (the radiant light in the eyes of Shiva)

Goddess Sahasrakshi (lit., "she who has a thousand [infinite] eyes")

Durga Shailputri (Daughter of Mountain)

Brahmacharini

Chandraghanta

Skanda Mata

Katyayani

Siddhidatri

Maha Gauri

Maha Lakshmi

Goddess Parvathi

Vanavasini ( Goddess in the forest)

Goddess Simhavahini
MAHA DURGA

O Glorious Mother with Flowing locks and bright eyes, with the sun and the moon as ear rings and the Earth as a Nose ring, with a smile that thrills the billions of universes, O Goddess Arunachala to you I bow and to you is my love.

P.S. Images have been sourced from the World Wide Web

More Goddess Darshans to follwo...culminating in the Mother of all Darshans of Arunachala.

The Guru's Birthday

2009-09-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the birthday of Sri Nannagaru was celebrated with joy in Hyderabad. I had a chance to meet my guru and share some moments with him.

Sri Nannagaru gave a talk about Vasana's in the Heart and also the role of the sadguru.

The next day he left for Benaras.

Arunachala Heart

2009-09-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

Talk 402.
While speaking of the Brain and the Heart Sri Bhagavan recalled an
incident of old days as follows:-
Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni once argued that the brain was the most
important centre and Sri Bhagavan maintained that the Heart was even
more so. There were others watching the discourse. A few days after
Sri Bhagavan received a letter containing a short poem in English on
that discourse from a young boy, N. S. Arunachalam, who had not
yet matriculated.

That poem is remarkable for its poetic imagination. Sri Bhagavan,
Kavyakantha, and the assemblage of other persons are represented
as the Heart, the brain and the body respectively, and again as the
sun, the moon and the earth also. The light from the sun is reflected
on the moon and the earth is illumined. Similarly the brain acts by
consciousness derived from the Heart and the body is thus protected.
This teaching of Sri Bhagavan is found in Ramana Gita also. The
Heart is the most important centre from which vitality and light radiate
to the brain, thus enabling it to function. The vasanas are enclosed
in the Heart in their subtlest form, later flowing to the brain which
reflects them highly magnified corresponding to a cinema-show at
every stage. That is how the world is said to be nothing more than a
cinema-show.
Sri Bhagavan also added:- Were the vasanas in the brain instead of
in the Heart they must be extinguished if the head is cut off so that
reincarnations will be at an end. But it is not so. The Self obviously
safeguards the vasanas in its closest proximity, i.e. within itself in the
Heart, just as a miser keeps his most valued possessions (treasure) with
himself and never out of contact. Hence the place where the vasanas are,
is the Self, i.e., the Heart, and not the brain (which is only the theatre
for the play of the vasanas from the greenhouse of the Heart.)

Seek Truth

2009-09-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

This thought came as an inspiration to me when I was thinking about my guru SRI NANNAGARU today morning.

Its simple but I wonder why it hit me hard like a very profound realization.

" What if Mr Lie meets Mr Truth...

Truth alone remains.

What if a hundred Mr Lies' meet Mr Truth...

Truth alone remains.

What if a billion Lies' meet Mr Truth...

Truth alone remains.

I AM A LIE...I DO NOT EXIST...

the Guru alone is True...the Guru alone is true."

Explanation for darshans

2009-08-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

Hi following a query regarding the darshan of AdiAnta Prabhu, I am uploading the photo of the Arunachala Hill with the angle showing the clear shapes of Vinayaka to the left and Hanuman to the right.

The Arunachala Vinayaka darshans are darshans of the Hill with the Great Northern Spur. This equates the shape to the 'Elephant' and hence qualifies as a Ganesha Darshan. Other more abstract Ganesha darshans in Arunachala are plenty and will be elaborated in the coming posts. One such previously elaborated darshan is the Karpaga Vinayaka darshan of Arunachala. Kindly refer to archives for that post.

Here is AdiAnta Prabhu.

Here is Vinayaka

and this is Hanuman.

Arunachala Vinayaka

2009-08-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Aum Shri Ganeshaya Namah

"Praise to Lord Ganesha". This is the mantra of prayer, love and adoration. It is chanted to get Ganesha's blessings for the positive starting of a project, work or simply to offer him the praise.

Aum Gan Ganapatye Namah

This is Lord Ganesha's mula ("root") mantra .It is also known as his ''beej'' Mantra. This mantra is used for Yoga Sadhana in which we pray to Lord Ganesha and merge ourself with the supreme knowledge and peace. This is a mantra from Ganapati Upanishad. One can always use it before starting any new venture so that success comes without any hassle.

Aum Vakratundaya Hum

This is a powerful mantra from Ganesha Purana. When things are not in your favour, or when the minds of the people turn negative, depressed or discouraged, the attention of Ganesha may be drawn by this mantra to straighten their ways. The HUM symbolizes "Delay no more, my Lord, in straightening the paths of the crooked-minded ones." This mantra is used many a times in the Ganesha Purana to reduce the violence of cruel demons. In addition, this mantra could also be used for healing any spinal problem, such as curvature of the spine or curved limbs. Dedicate 1,008 repetitions of this holy word to straighten and heal such deficiencies.

Aum Kshipra Prasadaya Namah

Kshipra means immediate. If some danger or negative energy is coming your way and you don't know how to get rid of that danger, with true devotion, practice this mantra for quick blessing and purification of one's aura.
Aum Shrim Hrim Klim Glaum Gam Ganapataye vara varada sarva janamme vashamanaya svaha
There are several beej (seed) mantras in this mantra. Among other things, it says, "Shower Your blessings, O Lord. I offer my ego as an oblation."

Aum Sumukhaya Namah

This mantra has a lot of meaning, in simple terms, it means you will be always very beautiful in soul, in spirit, in face, everything. By meditating on this mantra, very pleasing manners and a beauty comes on you. Along with that comes peace, which constantly works in your eyes; and the words you speak are all filled with that power of love.

Aum Ekadantaya Namah

Ekadanta refers to one tusk in the elephant face, which means God broke the duality and made you to have a complete one-pointed mind. Whoever has that oneness of mind and single-minded devotion will achieve everything.

Aum Kapilaya Namah

Kapila (red) means that you are able to give colour therapy. You are able to create colours around yourself and around others, soak them in that colour and heal them. As per the mantra you create, so will you create the colors. Another meaning is "wish cow," the "cow of plenty." It means that whatever you wish, that comes true. There is a wish-cow inside you. Whatever you wish, especially for curing others, comes true instantly.

Aum Gajakarnikaya Namah

The ears of Ganesha, the elephant - god, are constant fanning, which means people can talk a lot, but you are not receiving inside anything other than what is important. It also means that you can sit anywhere and tune this celestial tube (the body) with seven channels (chakras) and all 72,000 nadis, to any loka and be able to hear ancestors, angels, the voice of God or the voice of prophets. That kind of inner ear you will develop through this mantra.

Aum Lambodaraya Namah

This means you feel that you are this universe. It means that all the celestial bodies are within you. Like an entire tree is in the seed, the whole universe is in the sound of creation, which is Aum, and that Aum consciousness in you makes you feel that you are the universe. Therefore, if you say, realizing the oneness with the universe, "shanti to the world" every day, then the grace of God will come and there will be world peace, universal peace. It is the universe within Aum and Aum within you.

Aum Vikataya Namah

This means realizing this world as a dream or a drama. When you are in that high consciousness, this whole world looks like a dream. All of us have taken a role. We have to play our role in life as wife or husband or children or citizens, all consistent with the role we have taken. When an actor bitten by a sponge cobra that is brought on the stage falls, the entire audience cries; but that boy who has fallen knows it was not a real cobra and he is not dead. Life is a drama --definitely life in this material world, this physical world of ego, is a drama. But inside, like the boy on the stage who is quite happy knowing that he didn't die by the bite of the sponge cobra, like that, the truth never dies in us; it is immortal. So everything else you consider as drama. That consciousness comes to you by knowing this mantra.

Aum Vighna Nashanaya Namah

This mantra invokes the Lord Ganesha to remove every hindrance in your life and in your works. By constant meditation on this mantra, all obstacles and blocked energy in your physical and cosmological bodies are released.
Aum Vinayakaya Namah
Vinayaka is the name of Ganesha in the golden age. So by realizing this mantra, your life will have a golden age. In your office, in your work, you'll be the boss. Vinayaka means something under control. Vinayaka means the Lord of resolving problems.

Aum Ganadhyakshaya Namah

This mantra is very important. Suppose you have a group, a country, neighbours, or any kind of group therapy, group healing or a whole country requiring healing, then you have to bring that entire group to your mind's arena and say this mantra. A group healing takes place by this mantra.
Aum Bhalachandraya Namah
In Sanskrit, bhala means the forehead center. Chandra means the crescent moon. Bhalachandra means that chakra from where the nectar drips. That is the secret of all healing. It is to feel yourself as Shiva, identifying yourself with the Truth and feeling constantly that you are carrying the crescent moon, the symbol of growth and nectar of peace.

text courtesy: www.iloveindia.com

Adianta Prabhu Darshan of Arunachala!!!

2009-08-19T02:27:00.000-07:00

Half Ganesha and half Hanuman Darshan

At Madya Kailas temple Adyar Madras

The idol is an amalgam of Sri Vigneshwara and Sri Anjaneya on the lines of Ardhanareeswara ( Siva and Parvati) and Sri Sankaranarayana (combination of Siva and Narayana).

The word Aadiyantha stands for 'begining to end' (Aadi - begining & Antha - end). There is a Tamil saying 'Begin with Ganesa and end up with Anjaneya'. Many people visit the temple to get blessing of the 'Twins' against the influence of Navagrahas. The importance of the idol is that Sri Vigneswara and Sri Anjaneya are the only two deities who are totally free from any influence over them whatsoever by the Navagrahas. It is believed that, the devotees can and do influence the Navagrahas themselves proportionate to the devoutness with which the devotees address themselves to Sri Aadiyanta Prabhu!

courtesy: www.punditravi.com/rare_forms_of_hanuman.htm

This darshan of Arunachala carries in it the great Ganesha on the right and the powerful Hanuman on the left. A view or darshan of this aspect of Arunachala bestows us with negation of evil influences and ill effects of planets.

It gives us the grace of the All Knowing Auspicious Vigneshwara and also the power of the Lord of Self Enquiry Hanuman.

This is one of the rarest darshans of Arunachala.

This is an original darshan not discussed anywhere previously.

AdiAnta Darshan of Arunachala

Five Narsimha Darshans in Arunachala!

2009-08-16T04:56:00.000-07:00

Arunachala Hill is the repository of all deities.

It is Shiva as well as Vishnu. It is Shakthi, Vinayaka, Murugan and also representative of billions of deities imagined and unknown.

In this post I want to showcase the five powerful darshans of Lord Narasimha which are seen in the Hill. These darshans are original inspirations an are not borrowed from any source.

The five Narasimhas are associated with another powerful hill called Yadagiri Gutta in Andhra Pradesh.

"In Tretayugam, there lived a sage by the name of Yadarishi, son of the great sage Rishyasrunga and Santa Devi who did penance inside a cave with the blessings of Anjaneya (Hanuman) on this hill between Bhongir (Bhuvanagiri) and Raigiri (Now in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, India). Pleased with his deep devotion, Lord Narasimha, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu appeared before him in five different forms as Jwala, Yogananda, Gandabherunda, Ugra and Lakshminarasimha. They later manifested themselves into finely sculpted forms that later came to be worshiped as Pancha Narasimha Kshetram."

wiki

The First is the Jwala Narasimha. The Fire Narasimha.

This is a difficult darshan to elaborate as Aruna Hill to is volcanic in origin hence the entire Hill qualifies as a darshan of Jwala Narasimha.

There is a powerful temple in Ahobilam dedicated to Jwala Narasimha.

Jwala Narasimha

The second is the Yoga Narasimha. The Narasimha who delights in Yoga.

There is a very famous temple dedicated to Yoga Narasimha in Melkhote, Karnataka

Yoga Narasimha

The south face of the Hill is representative of Yoga and hence a darshan of the Hill's south face is equivalent to Yoga Narasimha.

The Ugra Narasimha is eloborated in the post of the Five faced Hanuman.

This is the angry Narasimha darshan.

Next is the powerful Gandabherunda Narasimha...a mythological bird representing Vishnu's incarnation with two heads of a bird.

The last is the most calm Narasimha...Laxmi Narasimha....this darshan also qualifies as Narasimha Prahalad darshan with the Great Northern Spur representing Prahlad and Goddess Laxmi alternatively.

Lakshmi Narasimha Darshan

High Resolution scans of the Hill in the Pacific

2009-08-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

Following my post about my discovery of the antipode of Arunachala deep in the Pacific Ocean, this post illustrates the Mountain in question.

It seems to have five peaks with tw valleys and a huge ridge.

The Talest peak appears to be the second one from the West and girivallam appears to be about 60 km.

The place where this Hill is located...the terrain resembles a sitting lion!!!!

I am absolutely certain that this Hill which represents the Goddess has the same power as Arunachala and is a spiritual power centre.

on to the scans!!! for the first time ever in history!

The Hill from the East.

The Hill ( second peak) from the fifth peak. The valley to the west is the larger one among the two valleys.

The Hill in its entirety with the two valleys.

Northwest face.

Karunachala

The red dots represent the girivallam path...it appears to be long...about 60 km and resembles Mt Kailash Parikrama.

The place where the Hill is located resembles a seated lion indicating that the Hill is a power centre of the Goddess.

The Antipode of Arunachala!!!

2009-07-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

The antipodes refer to land on the opposite side of the world compared to the speaker.

If the coordinates (longitude and latitude) of a point on the Earth’s surface are (θ, φ), then the coordinates of the antipodal point are (θ ± 180°,−φ). This relation holds true whether the Earth is approximated as a perfect sphere or as a reference ellipsoid.

There is a defnite antipode to everything on the surface of the planet.

And there is an antipode of Arunachala!

The Antipode of Arunachala....a hill or mountain in the sea which correlates exactly to the opposite coordinates of Arunachala on Earth.

This is the first time perhaps when any research done by anyone has tried to show the exact coordinates of the sister of Arunachala....a hill bang on the opposite side of the Earth.

To understand more here is some research done into the subject by others:

Reading the following extract from A Sadhu's Reminiscence, by Sadhu Arunachala (Major A. W. Chadwick), it would appear that Bhagavan was quite certain about a corresponding holy hill exactly opposite the globe to Arunachala. Major Chadwick writes:

""He used to say that Arunachala was the top of the spiritual axis of the earth. 'There must,' he said, 'be another mountain corresponding to Arunachala at exactly the opposite side of the globe, the corresponding pole of the axis.' So certain was he of this that one evening he made me fetch an atlas and see if this was not correct. I found, according to the atlas, the exact opposite point came in the sea about a hundred miles off the coast of Peru. He seemed doubtful about this. I pointed out that there might be some island at this spot or a mountain under the sea. It was not until some years after Bhagavan's passing that a visiting Englishman had a tale of a spot, supposed to be a great secret-power centre, in the Andes somewhere in this latitude. Later I found that though a centre had certainly been started, it had failed. Since then I have been told of another person who is practising meditation in solitude in the region of the Andes in Ecuador. So it does appear as though there were some strange attraction about that part of the globe. The earth is not an exact sphere and maps are not so accurate as all that, so we are unable to pin it down to any definite point. It is quite possible that more is going on in that part of the world than we know and this would fit in well with what Bhagavan said. However, I could never discuss the matter with Bhagavan, as it was not until many years after his passing that I had any indication that anything of this sort was happening in those parts. I had many years ago travelled extensively in that country, but had never seen anything which would lead me to think that there might be important spiritual centres there."

Following the thread of Major Chadwick's research, Dr. Ravi Iyer of Virginia writes about his investigation into Machu Picchu, an ancient, sacred mountain in Peru.

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi always insisted that the Holy Hill Arunachala was the spiritual axis of the world, even in a physical sense, similar to the geographical North Pole, with a South Pole axis. So strongly did he maintain the view that another holy hill existed on the opposite side of the globe to Arunachala - which was itself remarkable since he normally did not take very rigid positions except on matters concerning the Self and the Heart - that he once made a devotee pull out a world atlas and look for a similar mountain opposite to Arunachala. The only mention we have of this endeavor was that the search indicated a spot on the continental shelf beneath the Pacific Ocean immediately off the coast of Peru. No further effort seems to have been spent after this, though it appears that Bhagavan may not have supported the conclusion of that research, since he seemed convinced that a land-based mountain existed at the other end of this "spiritual axis".

The Latitude/longitude Coordinates of Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai) are: 12n13, 79e04

Recently I came across an article about a place in the high Andean mountains of Peru that is reputed to be a site of great spiritual force, called Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was discovered by Yale archeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911, and is the site of an ancient Inca temple city. This city appears to have evaded discovery by the marauding armies of the Spanish Conquistadors, yet it represents one of the immense mysteries of the Inca civilization. It appears the Machu Picchu Mountain itself was known as sacred to the Incas from a time before their own civilization, since the Inca's speak of the mountain as the "Ancient One," who preceded the civilization of their ancestors.

There are several striking parallels between the Machu Picchu site and the Shakti culture. The Inca's worshipped Machu Picchu as the manifestation of the Divine Mother Goddess of the Universe. They referred to Her as "Paachamama," a name that bears a striking similarity to the name "Pachaiamman" used for Parvathi in South Indian shrines. [In the early 1900s, the Maharshi spent many months at the Pachaiamman Temple at the foot of the Hill, outside the town of Tiruvannamalai.] The architecture of the temple city was astrologically and astronomically determined. Various points of the city serve as a kind of giant sextant or observatory from where specific constellations and celestial objects can be plotted and observed. A closer look at the topology of the city reveals a striking resemblance to the Sri Chakra, the Meru architectural topology that characterizes Indian Shakti shrines.

On the psychic plane, multiple individuals with siddhic/occult capacities have separately asserted on visiting Machu Picchu that the city is a place where the feminine aspect of the Universe is especially palpable.

Lastly, the Latitude/longitude coordinates of Machu Picchu are: 13s07, 72w34. While the geographical coordinates are not exactly opposite of those of Arunachala, it would be unreasonable to expect it would be exact since the earth is not a precise sphere.

I share this with the general community of Ramana bhaktas as an item of spiritual and historical interest. While ultimately there is nothing but the Self, as long as the manifested world is our framework of reference then we will be confronted by the dual pairs of balancing opposites. There can be no Siva without Shakti, and vice versa."

The URL to the astrodienst web site for latitude - longitude determinations is: http://www.astro.com/cgi/aq.cgi?lang=e
The global coordinates for Tiruvannamalai and Machu Picchu are as follows:

Tiruvannamalai: 12n13, 79e04
Machu Picchu: 13s07, 72w34
If you do a precise reversal of Tiruvannamalai's coordinates you will indeed fall off the coast of Peru. You can confirm this by going to the following website and entering the precise reverse coordinate of Tiruvannamalai: http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vlatlon.html (The site shows a satellite view. Make sure you are viewing earth from a 10 km height).
Regarding information on Machu Picchu, check out:
sacredsites.com Machu Picchu
http://www.he.net/~mine/inca/ [stale as of jun-2009] Machu Picchu Crown Jewel In The Clouds — This site had the Meru like (Sri Chakra architecture of the city)
ifp.com://MachuPicchu

But in my thought Bhagwan must have been right! There must be a Hill and it is not Machu Pichu.

I went into geohack and punched in the coordinates of Arnachala.

The coordinates of the peak are

12° 14′ 33″ N, 79° 03′ 29″ E

The Antipode is

12° 13′ 12″ S, 100° 55′ 48″ W

It showed the Lattitude and Longitude and also the correct antipode of opposite of Arunachala. It was a point in the Pacific Ocean off Peru.

By Google Earth and its Ocean Mapping Technology I was able to see a Hill correctly corresponding to the said coordinates!!!

Also by studying the terrain I could see that the Hll too must have been formed by volcanic eruptions.

Who knows how many siddhas, celestial beings and power is associated with this Hill. How many celestial beings go around it in complete surrender and girivallam!

I shudder to think what it would be like to be in a ship which is exactly above the great Hill in the depths of the pacific.

This great antipode of Arunachala....the great HILL in the Pacific.

It represents the Divone Mother Goddess...as Arunachala is Shiva.

I am absolutely sure that it does not have a name.

I propose to call it Karunachala! ( The Hill of Grace)

Karunachala! in the Pacific.

Arunachala Darshan - Goddess Saraswathi.

2009-07-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Arunachala Hill is the Source of all Knowledge. Hence it represents and carries in it the darshan of Goddess Saraswathi in all Her Glory.

This view of Arunachala shows the main peak and the two peaks of Parvathi hill forming the face and the lotus of Sarawsthi and the Great Northern Spur represents the Peacock.

A very powerful darshan of Arunachala.

photo courtesy: www.arunachala-ramana.org.

Arunachala Darshan: Lord Brahma

2009-07-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

This darshan too was indicated by www.agasthiar.org.

This is the Father of Creation: Lord Brahma darshan. It is a darshan which highlights the four heads of Brahma in the four peaks of Arunachala.

Wiki:

"According to the Puranas, Brahma is self-born (without mother) in the lotus flower which grew from the navel of Vishnu at the beginning of the universe.

This explains his name Nabhija (born from the navel). Another legend says that Brahmā was born in water. In this he deposited a seed that later became the golden egg. From this golden egg, Brahma the creator was born, as Hiranyagarbha. The remaining materials of this golden egg expanded into the Brahm-anda or Universe. Being born in water, Brahmā is also called Kanja (born in water). Brahmā is said also to be the son of the Supreme Being, Brahman and the female energy known as Prakrti or Maya.

Brahma is traditionally depicted with four heads and four faces and four arms. With each head he continually recites one of the four Vedas. He is often depicted with a white beard (especially in North India), indicating the near eternal nature of his existence. He is shown as having four arms, with none holding a weapon, unlike most other Hindu Gods. One of his hands is shown holding a scepter in the form of a spoon, which is associated with the pouring of holy ghee or oil into a sacrificial pyre, indicating that Brahma is the lord of sacrifices. Another of his hands holds a water-pot (sometimes depicted as a coconut shell containing water). The significance of the water is that it is the initial, all-encompassing ether in which the first element of creation evolved. Brahma also holds a string of prayer beads that he uses to keep track of the Universe's time. He also is shown holding the Vedas, and sometimes, a lotus flower.

Another story in connection with Brahma's four heads is that when Brahmā was creating the universe, He made a female deity known as Shatarupā (one with a hundred beautiful forms). Brahmā became immediately infatuated with Her. Shatarupā moved in various directions to avoid the gaze of Brahmā. But wherever She went, Brahmā developed a head. Thus, Brahmā developed five heads, one on each side and one above the others. In order to control Brahmā, Shiva cut off one of the heads. Also, Shiva felt that Shatarupā was Brahmā's daughter, having been created by Him. Therefore, Shiva determined, it was wrong for Brahmā to become obsessed with Her. He directed that there be no proper worship on earth for the "unholy" Brahmā. Thus, only Vishnu and Shiva continued to be worshipped, while Brahmā is almost totally ignored. Ever since the incident, Brahmā has been believed to be reciting the four Vedas in His attempt at repentance."

This darshan of Arunachala is called Chathurmukha Brahma Darshan....the four faced Lord.

Seeing this darshan one ets the benefit of the vision of Lord Brahma.

Chathurmukha Brahma Darshan of Arunachala

Arunachala Darshan: Lord of Palani

2009-07-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

This Arunachala darshan was indicated by www.agasthiar.org.

This is a darshan which is equivalent to the darshan of the Lord of Palani, Murugan.

Here is a brief history of Palani from tripod.com

"Once upon a time Saint Naradhar visited Lord Shiva and Sakthi at Kailash. Saint Naradhar is well known for his divine plays. He gave a Mango fruit to Shiva and told that it is fruit of Wisdom. Lord Ganesh and Lord Murugan the two children of Lord Shiva and Sakthi wanted the fruit fully for themself, they are not ready to share the fruit. Then it was decided that who first completes circumventing the Earth will take the fruit. Lord Murugan using his peacock started his journey and took the challenge. Lord Ganesh assumed that his father and mother are equivalent to Earth itself and circumventing them is equivalent to circumventing the Earth and he won the challenge and got the Mango fruit or fruit of Wisdom. On knowing the reason how his brother Lord Ganesh got the fruit, Lord Murugan was is temper and sacrificed everything even his clothes and went to Palani. Then Lord Shiva and Sakthi came to Palani and convinced Lord Muruga as he himself is a fruit of wisdom ( Palam Ni ), since then the place were Lord Murugan stood is known as Palam Ni or Palani."

Here is another interesting account

"Bogar is a Siddhar, he is considered as one of the 18 siddhars born in the world. According to epigraphical sources and his book Bogar Seven thousand his period is around 3000 B.C. Bogar born at India and visited China in search of truth of life, he gained knowledge in medicine, astrology, spritiuality, yoga etc.
Bogar anticipating that in due course of period, human beings will suffer from large number of disease. As an expert in medicine he used 4448 rare herbs and made 9 poisonous medicine, mixing these 9 poisons into one needs great knowledege and skill, to make a Master Medicine ( One medicine to cure all disease ). Thirumoolar also discuss one such Master Medicine in his book Thiru Mandiram. With the consultation of Agasthiar ( Father of Ayurvedic Medicine) and other siddhars Bogar mixed the 9 poisons ( Nava Bashanam ) and made the Master Medicine in the form of Lord Murugan which is currently worshiped at Palani Murugan temple. There is a place near Palani Hill called Thanasiappan Temple which is the place were Bogar mixed the Nava Bashanam and made the Murugan idol.

Bogar and others then decided that by using the milk and panchamirtham ( a sweet recipe ) poured on the idol, one can extract the medicine from the idol. The milk and panchamritham then becomes medicine to cure disease. After installing Lord Murugan Navabashana idol at the Palani Hill, Bogar used to worship it with milk abishegam ( pouring milk on the idol ) and panchamirtha abishegam ( pouring panchamirtham on the idol ).
His disciple Pulipani siddhar then took over the job of Lord Murugan pooja after Bogar went into Nirvigalpa Samadhi - the highest samadhi stage; where the Mind dissolves with Matter and Energy. Bogar Samadhi is inside Palani Murugan temple at Palani Hill. Actually Bogar himself constructed his samadhi exactly under the Lord Murugan Navabasha idol and went into Nirvigalpa Samadhi there. The entrance to his samadhi is a cave like structure, now also worship for this great siddhar is conducted at this entrance where he is last seen by his disciples which is at the Palani temple. "

The Lord of Palani cures all ills.

This darshan of Arunachala too cures all ills.

This is the magnificent Lord of Palani darshan of Arunachala

The Great Banyan Tree: Possible locations.

2009-07-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

When I was in Tiruvannamalai recently I had a chance to meet Richard and when we were going around the Hill I chanced to mention about the great banyan tree under which Arunagiri yogi sits. We debated as to where the great tree was.

From Ramana's account we come to understand that the banyan tree is on the northern slope of Arunachala.

"It is said in the Puranas that on the northern slope of
Arunachala, near the summit, a Siddha [?] Purusha [?] (Sage with supernatural powers) known as Arunagiri Yogi sits beneath a banyan tree, in an almost inaccessible spot, teaching in silence. There is a shrine or mantapam [?] dedicated to him in the Great Temple of Tiruvannamalai. The story indicates that the Grace of Arunachala, guiding men through mouna diksha [?] (silent initiation) on the path of Self-enquiry to Liberation, though ever potent, had become inaccessible to the people of this
spiritually dark age. Nevertheless, the symbolical meaning of the story does not make it any the less true literally. It happened one day, about 1906, that Sri Bhagavan was wandering on the northern slope of the hill when, in a dry watercourse, he saw an enormous banyan leaf, large enough to serve a meal on. Presuming that it must have been carried down by the water and wishing to see the tree which bore such leaves, he set out on a later occasion to climb the water-course up the hillside. After climbing steep and rugged parts of the hill, he reached a place whence he could see a large flat rock and on it the banyan tree he was seeking, enormous and a deep green. He was amazed to see such a tree growing on what looked like bare rock. He continued to climb but, as he was drawing nearer, disturbed a hornets' nest with his leg. The hornets flew out and attacked the offending leg in a fury of revenge. Sri Bhagavan stood still until they had finished, meekly accepting their just punishment for having destroyed their home; but he took this as a sign not to proceed and so returned to the cave. The devotees were getting anxious as he had been out so long. When they saw him they were appalled at the state of his leg, swollen and inflamed. He has since pointed out the position of the almost inaccessible banyan tree but he never again set out to reach it and he discouraged any of his devotees who wished to do so."

If we scrutinize the photo on the main page of this blog we see what Arunachala's Northern slope looks like. It is somewhere here that the great banyan tree lies.

Taking clues from Ramana's account

We need to look for a

1. Hill stream in the upper slopes of the northern side.

2. A steep climb.

3. A large flat rock.

4. A magnificent tree coming out of it.

There are in my opinion Three probable places where the Tree lies...one of them even looks very much plausible.

We will discuss each one in detail.

The first image is a little to the east of the northern slope. We see a clump of trees on the right side and a pile of rocks with hidden trees and foliage to the left and up.

Possible?....

Probably not.

The second image is of the Hill nearer to the peak with huge boulders which form the face of Arunachala...with hidden caves and paths leading to beautiful crevices.

The density of rocks makes this place more plausible for the great banyan tree.

There perhaps is a flat rock somewhere...

The third image is a stunning image bang on the northern slope with a stunning flat rock with a tree visible on it!!!!

This flat rock forms a part of the Eye of Arunachala in the Narasimha Swami darshan elaborated previously in the blog.

A detailed study of the terrain surrounding this rock is stunning for there seems to be a hill stream to its left and appears almost impossible to access the rock from any direction because of hidden boulders and dense foliage.

Is this the Great Banyan Tree?!!!

Who knows?!!

The Face of Arunachala

2009-07-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

Many of us who have one around the Aruna hill have been fascinated by the 'Face'.

This is a man like face visible on the rocky northeastern face of Arunachala.

The face is made of large boulders forming the nose and the chin and cheeks and clumps of trees forming the eyes and the lips.

It looks like a solemn Shiva looking down on His devotees doing Girivallam with love.

It forms a part of the Sri Rama Seetha Lakshmana Sametha Hanuman darshan of Arunachala which I had talked about in an earlier post.

So here it is...the Face of Arunachala!!

MOST POWERFUL DARSHAN OF ARUNACHALA

2009-07-02T03:41:00.000-07:00

Sri Panchamukha Hanuman Dhyana Sloka

Panchasyachutamaneka vichitra veeryam ||
Sri shanka chakra ramaniya bhujagra desam ||
Peethambaram makara kundala noopurangam ||
Dhyayethitam kapivaram hruthi bhvayami ||

Arunachala is the universal form of all deities known and unknown.

The great Hill from before Time has been the centre of the universe signifying the ultimate goal, the source.

It is the final destination for the grand path of Self Enquiry.

Being unique in its form, the Aruna Hill has been believed to manifest itself in infinte darshans in various angles.

Every deity, god or godddess can be found in the Hill.

And one of the stunning, stunning darshans of the Hill is the form of PANCHAMUKHA ANJANEYA or PANCHAMUKHA HANUMAN.

Five faced Hanuman!!!

Panchamukha Hanuman is the symbol of Self Enquiry and helps those who tred the path. The Ramayana talks of Panchamukah Hanuman when Lord Hanuman went to kill Mahiravan and rescue the captured Lord Rama and Lakshmana. The five faces of the Lord blow out five lights which represent the life of Mahiravan at the same time. Then the Lord emerges from the bowels of the Earth with Rama and lakshmana.

I feel the story is a metophor where the five lights represents the senses and Panchamuka Hanuman represents the act of Self Enquiry. The result of the effort is the emergence of the Lord Rama from the bowels of Maya.

Fiva faced Hanuman is the Lord of Self Enquiry.

The five face Hanuman with five faces:

-- The East facing Sri Hanuman removes all blemishes of sin and confers purity of mind.

-- Sri Karala Ugravira Narasimha Swami, facing the South, removes fear of enemies and confers victory.

--The West facing Sri Mahavira Garuda drives away evil spells, black magic influences etc., and removes all poisonous effects in one's body.

--Northfacing Sri Lakshmi Varaha wards off the troubles caused by bad influences of the planets and confers all prosperity.

--The Urdhva Mukha facing upwards of Sri Hayagriva Swami confers knowledge, victory, good wife and progeny.

Arunachala Hill has all these darshans of the five faces if one sees closely.

East Facing Hanuman

South facing Narasimha

West facing Garuda

North facing Varaha

Upward facing Hayagriva.

This is perhaps the MOST POWERFUL DARSHAN OF ARUNACHALA, for it represents the GOD of Self Enquiry...the Five faced Hanuman.

This is an original, inspired darshan and to my knowledge the first time this darshan ( and many more darshans in this blog) has been brought forwrad.

For this I owe it to Arunachala...the Eternal Canvas which shows what we want to see in it.

The Great Magnificent Five faced Hanuman!!! with the rock faces tallying exactly to the directions they are supposed to face!

Arunachala Five Faced Hanuman Darshan

2009-06-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

This is perhaps the most powerful darshan of Arunachala.

Stunningly all the five faces are easily recognizable in this darshan.

I am going to Chennai tomorrow and by Arunachala's grace will be going to Arunachala for the specific photography of this darshan and many more future darshans.

Watch this space for more.

The five faced Hanuman in Arunachala is coming up next!!!

Om Arunachaleshwaraya namaha!

Arunachala Right Heart

2009-06-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

Bhagwan answers Poonjaji

When I entered the hall in the afternoon Bhagavan was
already explaining in answer to some questions put by Mr. Poonja,
a Punjabi:
“I ask you to see where the ‘I’ arises in your body, but it is
really not quite correct to say that the ‘I’ rises from and merges
in the heart in the right side of the chest. The heart is another
name for the Reality and it is neither inside nor outside the
body; there can be no in or out for it, since it alone is. I do not
mean by ‘heart’ any physiological organ or any plexus of nerves
or anything like that, but so long as one identifies oneself with
the body and thinks he is in the body he is advised to see where
in the body the ‘I’-thought rises and merges again. It must be
the heart at the right side of the chest since every man, of
whatever race and religion and in whatever language he may
be saying ‘I’, points to the right side of the chest to indicate
himself. This is so all over the world, so that must be the place.
And by keenly watching the daily emergence of the ‘I’-thought
on waking and its subsiding in sleep, one can see that it is in the
heart on the right side.”

23-5-46; Day By Day

Arunachala Milky Way

2009-06-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the night skies of planet Earth in the International Year of Astronomy, photographer Larry Landolfi created this tantalizing fantasy view. The composited image suggests a luminous Milky Way is the heavenly extension of a country road. Of course, the name for our galaxy, the Milky Way (in Latin, Via Lactea), does refer to its appearance as a milky band or path in the sky. In fact, the word galaxy itself derives from the Greek for milk. Visible on moonless nights from dark sky areas, though not so bright or colorful as in this image, the glowing celestial band is due to the collective light of myriad stars along the plane of our galaxy, too faint to be distinguished individually. The diffuse starlight is cut by dark swaths of obscuring galactic dust clouds. Four hundred years ago, Galileo turned his telescope on the Milky Way and announced it to be "... a congeries of innumerable stars ..."

-- APOD

The Milky Way is the most holiest galaxy in the entire cosmos.

In it resides the Absolute God in all Glory!

Arunachala!

The Alpha, the Omega.

The Apple of the Milky Way.

The Darling of the Cosmos

Arunachala Stillness

2009-06-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

Bliss will arise if you remain still.

Why, little sir, this involvement still

with yoga, whose nature is delusion?

Will [this bliss] arise

through your own objective knowledge?

You need not reply,

you who are addicted to ‘doing’!

You little baby, you!

If you remain still, without paying attention to this, without paying attention to that, and without paying attention to anything at all, you will, simply through your powerful attention to being, become the reality, the vast eye, the unbounded space of consciousness.

Udal Poyyuravu’, verse 52

Arunachala Monsoon

2009-06-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

a mixture of monsoon blue....wet greenery....red hue.....and pure white....yes guys...the dhaani chunariya ( colorful embroidery) of nature is back....

picture a wet green landscape....flaming red gulmohars....pure white cranes and lightening against a backdrop of monsoon blue clouds.....

and Arunachala in the midst...

every drop that touches it is filled with Moksha...every wind that blows from it with life vivifying energy...

spread ur arms and yearn to be lifted up by this most exquisite beauty that visits south india every year....crane ur necks....dive deep into the depths of the sky filled with a hue of unimaginable blue.....

the monsoons have begun in india....and have brought with them unimaginable beauty...the dhaani chunariya of nature.

Arunachala...in the clouds...in the rain...in the Monsoon!

Smiling Venkateshwara

2009-06-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

A post of my visit to Tirupathi long ago...

"Aren't you going?" I asked incredulously.

" No," my friend replied.

" But you worship him as God. You should be visiting him on his birthday celebrations" I persisted.

"There will be tremendous rush. It is not worth it." he replied again.

"But isnt that the test of devotion?" I queried.

"Perhaps..." was my friend's noncommital reply.

I was talking to him about the upcoming birthday celebrations of Sathya Sai Baba of whom my friend is a devotee. The fact that he refused to face hurdles on that day for his darshan made me remember a small little episode I had when I went to see the Lord of the Seven Hills a few years back.

"it was about 4 years since i saw him.

the delay when noted was surprising given that he is the most visited diety in the world. and i am one of those who eagerly visited him regularly.

its time, i told ramesh and baba (my friends). they both agreed.

so on a slightly sunny august morning seated in an empty AC Chair car of the south central railway the three of us headed south...to the seven hills of tirumala.

baba and ramesh spent most of the time sleeping. and i like everytime shunned the AC for the rush of wind on the dirty compartment steps. India! it has never ceased to fascinate me.

as the rushes of green interspersed with canals, rivers, farmers, huts , birds and all galloped past us for a moment i was Mohun Bhargav...this was Swades....and i was looking at a beautiful but poor India.

but before i could start singing " ye jo des hai tera" reality came bombarding and a yawning baba came out and wondered whether the train was on time.

the train was on time. we reached renigunta and climbed into a taxi by a tamilian called Arunachalam. i smiled at him and queried about his life as the taxi rushed towards the abode of venkateshwara atop the sevven hills. he explained his entire life from agra to mumbai to kanyakumari in the 45 minutes it took us to reach tirumala.

during the ascent i chanced to gaze out at the seven peaks...they are shaped like hoods of a snake (natural formations )...it was chilling to gaze at their humungous black silhouttes in the night. i felt i was being watched.

we checked into the cottage and slept as our darshan was booked for 4 am.

at 4 am we joined the eager crowded line at vaikuntam and the snails march towards Srinivasa began. it was one of the most lifeless crowds i had ever joined...discussions on business, politics, marraiges and a lust for laddoos dominated the psyche. shouts of govinda by me were met with passive stares. i wondered....did modern psyche finally overcome the awe and devotion? there were many from the USA, who made sure everyone knew they were from the USA by their loud english banter. the line moved on....and then....

after 4 years and 2 hours in the line i saw him.

he was the most beautiful thing i ever saw. standing on the pedestal , smiling in mirth venkateshwara looked ready to fulfill any boon u asked him. i waited for the tears to well up in my eyes and the palpitations to start. but they didnt..... within a moment i was out and i wanted to see him again. for i was surprised and confused that whether i too had become too modern for his devotion.

so ramesh and i went to the darshan booking centre and boooked our darshan for the evening....with the regular poor people darshan lines. the previous darshan was through internet booking. in the evening was the raw darshan. with the coolies, the laborers, the poor.

and was it a tornado!! hundreds of poor in luck and money when compared to the ultraelite group of the morning darshan were part of us now. there were lusty shouts of govinda doing the rounds. a small hint shout of govinda of mine brought forth much more lustier and louder shouts of ecstasy from the buzzing line. one person kept on shouting govinda till he saw the diety.

and was it my imagination or was venkateshwara more smiling and happier in their presence than in the morning? the diety it seemed was brimming with life and more mirth.

is this why internet, privileged darshans might bring us close to the lord within minutes....but it is with true brimming devotion that the lord is truly gladdened?

the next day early morining we had another darshan , the lord now in pure form divested of all gold ornaments and the trip ended.

as the taxi climbed down the hills towards the station, i wondered, the poor in luck>? in money? but in faith...in love....they were the billionaires.

Srinivasa it looked, was playing one of his subtle leelas again.

Arunachala Buddha

2009-05-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

The great Arunachala Buddha Darshan

Finally Arunachala responded to my silent queries and revealed in itself, the great Buddha Darshan.

This is a darshan of Aruna Hill which can be had before Adi Annamalai.

This darshan reveals the great Lord Buddha and his beaded hair. It carries with it the same power and glory and compassion of the Buddha.

No wonder it is a part of the Arunachala Sanjeevini darshan and also a part of the yet to be revealed one of the most powerful darshans of Arunachala...Panchamukha Hanuman darshan which will be dealt later on.

Arunachala Buddha

Sorry for the delay!

2009-05-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay. I am a little held up with my daily work and am not getting time to contemplate on Arunachala. Usually the darshan comes in a flash.

I promise to intensify my contemplation and come out with Arunachala Buddha darshan ( by the Grace of the Hill) soon!

Alien Girivallam

2009-05-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

Arunachala is the deity of the cosmos. It is the great piligrimage centre not only for Earthlings but also for billions of alien civilizations all over the known and unknown cosmos.

It is the Father, It is the Mother.

Imagine an alien spaceship coming from a planet in Andromeda Galaxy perhaps. Imagine aliens doing the regular girivallam in a spaceship.

Imagine...

Girivallam by aliens.

(photos courtesy Google Earth)

Arunachala Guru

2009-04-28T04:32:00.000-07:00

The Guru is God

I would like to share with you all an incident that happened today when I visited my guru Sri Nannagaru who is a well known devotee of Ramana and a jnani.

At the end of a fifteen minute interaction when it was time to go I saluted him and said " I consider you as God, my guru."

The saint smiled lightly and said "Cherish that emotion and protect it diligently." His eyes seemed to say that that one emotion was enough for my sadhana.

I instantly remembered Bhagwan's views that verily the Guru is God and the verbal confirmation of the same emotion by my living guru made me feel awe.

Arunachala Dream

2009-04-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

I had a dream about Arunachala just before I saw it for the first time last year.

It was a surreal dream.

Here is a mail that I had sent to one of my friends about my longing for Arunachala.

"hi xx,

i believe strongly that a person who has seen the hill from close
quarters and has the grace to do girivalam is a highly evolved being
in the cosmic sphere.

This hill has no religion, no caste, no creed.

It is just a magnetic hill which attracts souls, effaces their karma
and perfuses them with divinity. The supreme divine knowledge that
cannot be got even by a crore of births is made attainable by the
gracious glance of the hill.

i long for the day when my eyes will set my eyes on this magnificent
mountain of light. I have never seen it but it has occupied my
conciousness for the past few months now and decorates my desktop, my
cellphone screensaver. i have not asked anything from the hill. my
devotion to it is mysterious. it just came and captured my mind when i
first glanced at its photo in a book.

i have dreamt of it, i have smelled the flowers which grow on its
slopes, i have felt the dampness of mysterious streams which punctuate
its myriad caves, i have rolled on its dust filled mountain paths and
have stood on its peak one with the cosmos.

after the dream i have never been the same.

panting and waiting for the time i will lay my eyes on the mounatin of
light.

love"

Arunachala on the Head of Ramana

2009-04-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

Arunachala Darshan 32

Grasshopper commented about the Mountain's sillhoutte visible on Bhagawan's head in a previous post and that made me remark that I would be posting about those darshans soon.

So here is the first darshan of Arunachala on the head of Sri Bhagawan.

The first photo is of Bhagwan in the early years.

The next is the close up of Bhagwan's hairline with Arunachala resembling the Elephant or Ganesha.

The third is a picture taken by Mr Dev Gogoi which highlights the same contour.

More Darshans to follow!!

Arunachala Geology

2009-04-15T04:30:00.000-07:00

The Age of the Mountain

Recently an anonymous visitor to the blog asked me whether any scientific research was conducted on the age of Arunachala. I promised him/her that I would soon respond with a post and this a fulfillment of the same.

To first understand the age of Arunachala we should first know the basic geological concepts according to contemporary knowledge.

Roughly about 4.6 billion years ago a cloud of interstellar dust which was revolving around its own axis forming a rough sphere, globbed together to form what we know as Earth today. The formation of the Solar System too followed th same procedure but was perhaps a mere 0.2 to 0.1 billion years before the formation of the Earth.

The primitive Earth thus formed was divided into the early eons of the Hadean and the Archean.

The Hadean period is the first period where Earth was mostly molten, but there was rock formation and this is been recently proved in the Isua Greenstone Belt in the Greenlands where the rock dates about 4.4 to 3.8 billion years. Similar structures of rocks could be seen in other places like Jack Hills region of Western Australia and a few other places.

This is how a Hadean Landscape would have looked like at 4.4 to 3.8 billion years ago.

These rocks of the Hadean period represent the most primitive crust of the Earth. Any new rock formations or sediment depositions would have occured on this primitive crust only.

As the Earth cooled, the rocks became more bigger, hills formed, mountains formed and slowly life began to appear as we know it in a few million years.

Hence in contemporary geology if we can identify stones or sediment formations that are thought to have occured during the Hadean or the following Archean period we will know that we are dealing with an ancient piece of nature.

Coming to Arunachala, an unknown American geologist is famed to have said "Arunachala should have been thrown up by the earth under the stress of some violent volcanic eruption in the dim ages before even the coal-bearing strata were formed. This rocky mass of granite may be dated back to the earliest epoch of the history of our planet's crust, that epoch which long preceded the vast sedimentary formation in which fossil records of plants and animals have been preserved. It existed long before the gigantic saurians of the pre-historic world moved their ungainly forms through the primeval forests that covered our early earth. It was contemporaneous with the formation of the very crust of earth itself. Arunachala was almost as hoary and as ancient as our planetary home itself"

From this we can place his analysis to mean that Arunachala was perhaps 'born' in the Hadean/Archean period which ranges from 4.4 to 3-8 billion years.

Geological experiments in and around Tiuvannamalai have revealed that the rock (charnokite) which makes up Arunachala covering is older than 3.5 billion years old ( Geological Survey of India) and

Banded Iron formations around Tiruvannamalai area are thought to be about 3 billion years old.

(Mineralogy and chemistry of banded iron formations (BIF) of Tiruvannamalai area, Tamil Nadu,Journal of Earth System Science,Volume 98, Number 2 / July, 1989.)

It is thus evident that even scientific conclusions do place Arunachala Age to be beyond 3.5 billion years and perhaps the range would be 4.4 to 3.5 billion years old.

In lay man's terms, Arunachala can be as old as the Earth itself!

But Arunachala is the unborn.

How can the Source have an Age? How can time limit the Mountain from where time was born?

I have actually modelled a fiction novel around this concept and would request my readers to bear me with patience till the book comes out.

I am sure once anyone reads the Theory they will not be dissapointed.

So for the true Age of Arunachala...please bear with me in patience for some time.

:)

Arunachala Richard: The Explorer of Arunachala

2009-04-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

The man who plays in the bosom of Arunachala

Last year when the pull of Arunachala was growing on me and it was just a matter of time before my eyes would behold the sweet and magnificent Hill for the first time that I stumbled upon a blog during my websearch for Arunachala.

The blog was richardarunachala.wordpress.com and was maintained by a couple living in Tiruvannamalai.

The couple, Richard and Carol, who had left their previous memories and life back in the West and had come to settle down for good in the bosom of Arunachala, gave such beautiful descriptions of Arunachala in the blog that it increased my want to see the Hill much more.

The more I read into the blog the more was I charmed by the simple observations and the plain heartedness in the postings. I was also very grateful for the blog in showcasing unknown beautiful paths and photos of Arunachala. I wanted to know about this man who approached Arunachala with such ease and love.

Richard, a sixty plus ardent devotee of Arunachala, was a practitioner of the Zen ( Ch'an ) Buddhism for nearly twenty five years. His experiences were peaceful and nice but never too deep. It was then that he was introduced by his spiritual teacher Nome of the Society for Abidance in Truth to Ramana. Though at first Richard could not understand what Advaita philosophy meant, he knew in his heart that it was the Truth.

A couple of years of practice gave birth in him an idea to experience the Truth the way Ramana and Nome had experienced. This gave birth to regular Self Enquiry and meditations during the Brahma Kalam ( The Time of God ) from about 4.00 AM. This period was the beginning of a new chapter for him for he felt that his real spiritual practice began from here and all previous endeavors were just preparatory for the same.

Years later...the call from Arunachala came.

"If you hear the call from Arunachala...you must go....for it is the most Silent place in the cosmos" said Poonja Papaji.

Richard and his wife Carol ( who had always wanted to visit Arunachala ) signed up with a group accompanying Nome to come to Tiruvannamalai. On arriving they decided to stay in Guest House in the town rather than with the group in Ramanaashram. From the rooftop of the Guest House Richard communed in Silence wih Arunachala.

On the third day he came down the steps with a thoughtful mood. He looked at his wife and said "We could stay here"

And those simple words were the beginning of an entirely new chapter in Richard and Carol's life.

Richard soon retired from active service in 2007, set up an account at a
California office of State Bank of India - so fund transfers to India
would be easy and spent three painful months of real work to dispose a lifetime of items, books etc.

And then Richard and Carol came to Arunachala.

Richard says "When we got here, I found I was very interested in getting to know more about Arunachala, and several times each week, found myself on the Inner Path, walking round the hill, and wondering what was up all the side paths I kept seeing everywhere."

Initially Richard began to note his experiences of Arunachala in a friend's blog luthar.com but soon realized that he needed a blog which would exclusively deal with this and so richardarunachala.wordpress.com was born.

Within a year the blog which talks of the couple's experiences averages a whooping 5000 hits per month. And it is still going strong.

When I think of this couple and their enthusiasm and love in exploring Arunachala I am reminded of two children playing in the bosom of Shiva. It is like what children do on their Father's lap. It shows a certain amount of Love, Closeness and Ease. I can picture in my mind's eye Arunachala smiling at them with Love and unravelling
It's many secrets so that they can shower it on common people like me.

In Richard's own words

quote "I have found that many love Arunachala, and seeing photos of Arunachala reminds them of the love that is in their heart. I have also found that most do not
use the inner path, and when they start going on it, they generally love the peace they find on this route of the mountain. I have found that the appetite for pictures of Arunachala is great, almost like the interest of new parents in photos of their baby and child. So I use the blog to encourage people to come to the Inner Path. Then when they are at the Inner Path, so step off it and explore for themselves some of the wonderful places you can easily get to. There are so many places around the hill that seem filled with peace. I hope that the blog draws the few that are interested in such peace to these places.

When I started this, there was little focus. Since I have started this exploration and writing about the exploration, I have found that others are not writing about the Inner Path and other places on Arunachala. So there is a particular need and interest in this material. By this exploration and writing a feel that I am serving Arunachala. And this service is a joy. And after one year of exploration, I now have more places, not fewer places, to explore next.

The exploration is practice, walking with quite mind, focused on Existence. The exploration is joy, finding out more about Arunachala, which is a love or both myself and my wife. The exploration (and writing about it) is also a sharing of a spiritual love with others who feel the same. This is such a blessing." unquote

Arunachala is richer in my mind today because of many contributions of various people I have come across on the internet and in Tiruvannamalai.

Of them Richard and Carol rank among the first and among the best.

Arunachala Richard and Carol

Om Arunachala Namaha

Arunachala Path

2009-03-31T23:02:00.000-07:00

The road to Arunachala!

The greatest journey perhaps is not to something out there but to something 'here'

Here is an account of a devotee taken from the life of Ramana.

"The next morning I started off for giripradakshina (circumambulation) of Arunachala. Sri Ramanasramam was on the way and, as everyone was going into the Ashrama to have darshan of Bhagavan, I followed. The moment I saw him I was overcome with emotion and cried out, "When will I be rid of this bondage?" I was visibly shaken. Bhagavan kindly gestured to me that I should sit. I sat down for an hour and was unconscious of my body. I had an urge to stay on there and asked Chinnaswami (the Ashrama manager) for permission. He said, "You are young. What can you do? Go back home." But I did not leave. I said, "Please give me any work. Bhagavan will give me the strength." As I would not leave, Chinnaswami relented and finally asked me to remove the weeds from the flower garden. With much enthusiasm I did the work of two people. Bhagavan also praised my work.

I would daily attend to the work given to me and when free would sit in meditation. That was my only routine. One day I asked Bhagavan, "Swami, what is the way to salvation?"

"The way you came," was his simple reply.

The moment I heard him say this my mind froze.

Rangaswamy, Ramana Jyothi Journal"

tracing the root of thought brings us to the Supreme Soul.

The way to salvation is the way we came...tracing our thoughts back.

The way to Arunachala...

Arunachala Manolaya

2009-03-28T01:09:00.000-07:00

The State of Mental Stillness

"D: When I am engaged in enquiry as to the source
from which the ‘I’ springs, I arrive at a stage of stillness
of mind beyond which I find myself unable to proceed
farther. I have no thought of any kind and there is an
emptiness, a blankness. A mild light pervades and I
feel that it is myself, bodiless. I have neither cognition nor
vision of body and form. The experience lasts nearly half
an hour and is pleasing. Would I be correct in concluding
that all that was necessary to secure eternal happiness (i.e.,
freedom or salvation or whatever one calls it) was to
continue the practice till this experience could be
maintained for hours, days and months together?

B: This does not mean salvation; such a condition
is termed manolaya or temporary stillness of thought.
Manolaya means concentration, temporarily arresting
the movement of thoughts; as soon as this concentration
ceases, thoughts, old and new, rush in as usual and
even though this temporary lulling of mind should last
a thousand years it will never lead to total destruction
of thought, which is what is called salvation or liberation
from birth and death. The practiser must therefore be
ever on the alert and enquire within as to who has this
experience, who realises its pleasantness. Failing this enquiry he will go into a long trance or deep sleep (Yoga nidra).
Due to the absence of a proper guide at this stage of
spiritual practice many have been deluded and fallen a
prey to a false sense of salvation and only a few have, either
by the merit of good acts in their previous births, or by
extreme grace, been enabled to reach the goal safely.
Sri Bhagavan then told the following story:
A Yogi was doing penance (tapas) for a number of
years on the banks of the Ganges. When he had
attained a high degree of concentration, he believed
that continuance in that stage for prolonged periods
constituted salvation and practised it. One day, before
going into deep concentration, he felt thirsty and
called to his disciple to bring a little drinking water
from the Ganges; but before the disciple arrived with
the water, he had gone into samadhi and remained in
that state for countless years, during which time much
water flowed under the bridge. When he woke up
from this experience the first thing he asked for was
‘water! water!’; but there was neither his disciple nor
the Ganges in sight.
The first thing which he asked for was water because,
before going into deep concentration, the topmost layer
of thought in his mind was water and by concentration,
however deep and prolonged it might have been, he had
only been able to temporarily lull his thoughts and when,
therefore, he revoked consciousness this topmost thought
flew up with all the speed and force of a flood breaking
through the dykes. If this is the case with regard to a thought which took shape immediately before he sat for
meditation, there is no doubt that thoughts which have
taken deeper root earlier will still remain unannihilated;
if annihilation of thoughts is salvation can he be said to
have attained salvation?
Sadhakas (seekers) rarely understand the difference
between this temporary stilling of the mind (manolaya)
and permanent destruction of thoughts (manonasa). In
manolaya there is temporary subsidence of thought-waves,
and, though this temporary period may even last for a
thousand years, thoughts, which are thus temporarily
stilled, rise up as soon as the manolaya ceases. One must,
therefore, watch one’s spiritual progress carefully. One must
not allow oneself to be overtaken by such spells of stillness
of thought: the moment one experiences this, one must revive
consciousness and enquire within as to who it is who experiences
this stillness. While not allowing any thoughts to intrude,
he must not, at the same time, be overtaken by this deep
sleep (Yoga nidra) or Self-hypnotism. Though this is a
sign of progress towards the goal, yet it is also the point
where the divergence between the road to salvation and Yoga
nidra takes place. The easy way, the direct way, the shortest
cut to salvation is the Enquiry method. By such enquiry, you
will drive the thought force deeper till it reaches its source
and merges therein. It is then that you will have the response
from within and find that you rest there, destroying all
thoughts, once and for all.This temporary stilling of thought comes automatically
in the usual course of one’s practice and it is a clear sign
of one’s progress but the danger of it lies in mistaking it
for the final goal of spiritual practice and being thus
deceived. It is exactly here that a spiritual guide is necessary
and he saves a lot of the spiritual aspirant’s time and energy
which would otherwise be fruitlessly wasted."

-- Crumbs from His table Chapter 8

Arunachala Krishna : Darshan 31

2009-03-24T04:03:00.000-07:00

Arunachala Krishna

The priest of a temple at Dwaraka, returning from
Aurobindo’s Ashram, visited Bhagavan and asked him in Sanskrit,
“I wish to get sakshatkara of Sri Krishna. What should I do to
get it?” This question was put while Bhagavan was reading a
rather long letter from Lt. Shroff, which his wife had brought.
The letter closed with the sentiment: “Do what you will to me.
Send me health or sickness, riches or poverty.” Bhagavan said
with reference to the priest’s question, “I did not want to disturb
his faith, but wanted to tell him ‘Just leave it to Sri Krishna, —
even this sakshatkara of Krishna.’ And this letter of Shroff
contains the same thing.”
After saying this, Bhagavan added, “What is your idea
of Sri Krishna and what do you mean by sakshatkara?” On
this, the priest replied, “I mean the Sri Krishna who lived in
Brindavan and I want to see him as the Gopis saw him.”
Bhagavan replied, “You see, you think he is a human
being or one with a human form, the son of so and so, etc.,
whereas he himself has said, ‘I am in the Heart of all beings,
I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all forms of
life.’ He must be within you, as within all. He is your Atman
or the atman of your Atman. So if you see this entity or have
sakshatkara of it, you will have sakshatkara of Krishna. Atma
Sakshatkara and sakshatkara of Krishna cannot be different.
However, to go your own way, surrender completely to Krishna
and leave it to Him to grant the sakshatkara you want.”

Talks 27-4-46 Morning

Arunachala is Sri Krishna...the Atman of the Atman.

The darshan of Sri Krishna who sported as a cowherd boy of Vrindavan aeons ago can be easily had by anyone who gazes at the Hill.

The darshan is amplified on full moon nights which represent Sri Krishna playing his flute enchanting the cows and people of Vrindavan.

Here is one such Arunachala Sri Krishna Darshan in a magnificent photograph taken by Mr Dev Gogoi

photo courtesy: Dev Gogoi, source: World Wide Web

Om Namo Bhagwathe Vasudevaaya!

Arunachala Darshan 30

2009-03-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

Arunachala Paraman : Lord Vishnu with four hands darshan

Gadadhara (Vishnu) bearing Shankha, Chakra, Gada and Padma is called Keshava. He is Lord Narayana.

He represents the final culmination of Bhakthi.

Vishnu is Paramatma (The Supreme Soul) and Parameshwara ( The Supreme God). The meaning of Vishnu is the 'vis': to enter, to permeate; 'nu': into.

Hence Lord Vishnu represents the All pervading Force in all. This is nothing but Arunachala. The Substratum of all, the Power in all.

Those who approach Arunachala through the Jnana marga see in it Lord Shiva ( Absolute) and those who approach Arunachala with Bhakthi see in it Lord Vishnu ( The Supremely Beautiful Godhead)

This darshan of Arunachala is Lord Vishnu with His four Arms with conch, mace, lotus and chakra.

This is the Arunachala Paraman Darshan and is a MUST darshan.

Arunachala Meditation

2009-03-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

Mr. Cohen had been cogitating on the nature of the Heart, if the ‘spiritual
heart’ beats; if so, how; or if it does not beat, then how is it to be felt?
M.: This heart is different from the physical heart; beating is the
function of the latter. The former is the seat of spiritual experience.
That is all that can be said of it.
Just as a dynamo supplies motive power to whole systems of lights,
fans, etc., so the original Primal Force supplies energy to the beating
of the heart, respiration, etc.
D.: How is the ‘I-I’ consciousness felt?
M.: As an unbroken awareness of ‘I’. It is simply consciousness.
D.: Can we know it when it dawns?
M.: Yes, as consciousness. You are that even now. There will be no
mistaking it when it is pure.
D.: Why do we have such a place as the ‘Heart’ for meditation?
M.: Because you seek consciousness. Where can you find it? Can you
reach it externally? You have to find it internally. Therefore you are
directed inward. Again the ‘Heart’ is only the seat of consciousness
or the consciousness itself.
D.: On what should we meditate?
M.: Who is the meditator? Ask the question first. Remain as the
meditator. There is no need to meditate.

Talk 205

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

Arunachala Gayathri / Arunachala Darshan 29

2009-03-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Goddess Gayathri Arunachala

Goddess Gayathri is the Mother Goddess of the vedas.

The Goddess is invoked through the mantra:

"Om Bhur Bhuvah Swaha

Tath Sa Vitthur Varenyam

Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi

Dhiyo Yona Prachodayaath!

It means:

We salute the The Supreme Light illuminating the gross, subtle and the causal Cosmos.

May that light illuminate our intellects!"

This mantra is held as the most powerful and sacred mantras on par with OM and the Sri Rama Mantra.

It is the secret teaching that the pupil gets from his guru whence he undergoes the Thread ceremony which symbolises a new birth for the Brahmin.

The Goddess invoked has the conglomerate attributes of all the three main Goddesses Lakshmi, Parvathi and Saraswathi.

She is represented with Five heads , four representing the four vedas and the fifth head representing the Ultimate reality.

Arunachala Hill is Goddess Gayathri.

On its slopes were the Vedas realized, in its shadows did ancient hermitages lost in the translation of thousands of years, flourish.

The trees of the Hill, the animals on its slopes were witness to innumerable Siddhas attain to the Realization of the Vedas thousands of years ago.

Arunachala as such represents Goddess Gayathri in all aspects but is best appreciated in this darshan.

Arunachala Gayathri

Arunachala Seer

2009-03-09T04:02:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS ARUNACHALA?

Let us try to analyse and understand what Arunachala is with the help of these images.

This first image shows the Mind/ Ego representing a prism which scatters the single ray of light to myriad beams which form the World that we see.

The Waking/ Dream/ Deep Sleep.

The ray of light is from the Self/Arunachala which will be unveiled shortly.

The second image shows us how the scaterred light forms the myriad forms of the waking state.

It is characterized by a larger outgoing tendency of the mind hence is perceived longer.

What exists is the Mind, Ego, the state of Waking and Arunachala in this state.

The third image shows the Dream state where the outgoing tendency is much shorter and hence the dream worlds are much hazy and shorter than the waking state.

Bhagwan has characteristically stated that there is no difference in both the waking and the dream states except that one is longer.

The fourth state is the Deep Sleep Stage where there is no world that is created by the Mind but the 'Mind' exists!

It is a temporary state of mental calmness which is one of the most happiest experiences for a human being...because he doesnt have any thoughts.

But this state too is not the ultimate state for it has not unveiled Arunachala.

The fifthe image shows the Act of Self Enquiry where the Mind is inturned and
enquires to its own nature.

In this state there is an Awareness of the false Ego, the Prism ( false because it is not Arunachala).

An aspirant who reaches this stage understands that there really was no world, no waking, dream or deep sleep states. Moreover he begins to realize that his Mind too is of ephemeral nature and is not Arunachala.

When Enquiry reaches its final stage, the Mind is destroyed by its own inwardness and what exists cannot be described.

For it is ARUNACHALA.

An aspirant who reaches this stage understands that Arunachala was the substratum all along ( blue background).

Moreover he realizes that the Mind, the world, the waking, dream, deep sleep states have risen from Arunachala and have dissolved in Arunachala.

Everything is Arunachala, Arunachala is everything.

Who can ever find Thee? The eye of the eye art Thou, and without eyes Thou seest, Oh Arunachala!

Arunachala Sweeter than the sweetest

2009-03-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

This is Sugar.

This is one of the sweetest things in the world.

There is something in the world which is sweeter...

This is chocolate.

Billions of people around the world love it for amazing taste and sweetness.

There is something in the world which is sweeter...

This is honey.

A very sweet and tasty syrup made by bees.

There is something in the world which is sweeter...

This is the Ocean of Milk.

Lord Vishnu rests on it.

The ocean is the condensed sweeteness of bhakthi, devotion of all souls.

There is something sweeter...

Arunachala!

The Divine Sugar of Self Enquiry.

The Divine Chocolate of Jnana.

The Divine Honey of Aksharamanamalai.

The Divine conglomerate Ocean of Milk of devotional madness.

Arunachala!

Oh Darling Arunachala!

Arunachala Age

2009-03-04T05:57:00.000-08:00

This is Posidonia oceanica.

Posidonia oceanica is a species of seagrass that is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.

This marine plant forms large underwater meadows that are considered to be of high importance to the environmental conservation of the region.

It is 1,00,000 years old.

There is something in the Uinverse which is older than it...

This is the Earth.

It is 4.5 Billion Years Old

There is something in the Universe which is older than it...

This is the Sun.

It is 4.6 Billion years old.

There is something in the Universe which is older than it...

This is the Andromeda galaxy.

No one knows its age for sure but it may range from 7 to 11 billion years.

There is something in the Universe which is older than it...

This is the Hercules Cluster of galaxies which represent the Early Universe.

They are about 11 to 13 billion years old.

There is something which is older than this...

This si the Big Bang.

The Birth of creation.

15 to 16 billion years old.

There is something older...

Arunachala!

The Oldest, most potent living force of the entire manifested and unmanifested Universes.

It is the Alpha, Omega and beyond and Before.

It gave birth to Time.

In its bosom lies Space.

Its play in the space-time continuum is for all of us to see.

Blessed are we.

We are seeing GOD.

Arunachala!

A hill of granite and shrubs and trees? you may ask.

No!!!

It is the SAT CHIT ANANDA : Pure Existence, Pure Knowledge, Pure Bliss!

The Oldest of the Oldest.

Arunachala!

Arunachala Lion

2009-03-02T00:10:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows the story of the advent of Arunachala where Shiva emerges from an infinite pillar of light and calms the warring Vishnu representing EGO and Brahma representing INTELLECT.

The story ( discussed previously in the post Happy Birthday Arunachala ) goes on to prove that unless the Ego and the Intellect surrender to God, He does not reveal Himself.

A similar story with Vaishnava ( worshipper of Vishnu ) background can be seen in the story of Lord Narasimha, the Manlion incanation of Vishnu.

"Narasimha (IAST Narasiṃha, Sanskrit नरसिंह) (other spellings are Narasingh, Narasinga) is an avatara of Vishnu described in the Puranas, Upanishads and other ancient religious texts of Hinduism,and one of Hinduism's most popular deities, as evidenced in early epics, iconography, and temple and festival worship for over a millennium. He is often visualized as one who takes the form of half-man/half-lion, having a human-like torso and a lower body, but with a lion-like face and claws. This image is widely worshiped in deity form by a significant number of Vaishnava groups (especially in Southern India). He is known primarily as the 'Great Protector', being a form of Vishnu or Krishna, who specifically defends and protects his devotees at the times of need.

Narasimha kills Hiranyakashipu, as Prahlada and his mother bow before Lord NarasimhaThe story of Narasimha as described in the Bhagavata Purana is as follows:

In his previous avatara of Varaha, Vishnu killed a rakshasa known as Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha's brother Hiranyakashipu, greatly angered by this, started to abhor Lord Vishnu and his followers. To which end he decides to attempt to kill Vishnu by gaining mystical powers, which he believes Brahma, the chief among the devas will award him if he undergoes many years of great austerity and penance. This initially seems to work as planned with Brahma becoming pleased by Hiranyakashipu's austerities. Brahma thus appears before Hiranyakashipu and offers him a boon that he will personally make true anything he wishes for. In reply to which Hiranyakashipu requests the following:

O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the living entities created by you. Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought about by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal. Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time.

One day while Hiranyakashipu was performing austerities at Mandaracala Mountain, his home was attacked by Indra and the other devas, seizing the opportunity in his absence. At this point the divine sage, Narada intervened in order to protect Kayadu, who he describes as 'sinless'. Following this event Narada takes Kayadu into his care and while under the guidance of Narada, her unborn child (Hiranyakashipu's son) Prahlada, became affected by the transcendental instructions of the sage even at such a young stage of development. Thus, Prahlada when later growing as a child began to show symptoms of this earlier training by Narada, gradually becoming recognised as a devoted follower of Vishnu, much to his father's disappointment.

Hiranyakashipu eventually becomes so angry and upset at his son's devotion to Vishnu (who he sees as his mortal enemy) that he decides he must kill him but each time he attempts to kill the boy, Prahlada is protected by Vishnu's mystical power. When asked, Prahlada refuses to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and claims that Vishnu is all-pervading and omnipresent. To which Hiranyakashipu points to a nearby pillar and asks if 'his Vishnu' is in it:

"O most unfortunate Prahlada, you have always described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everyone, and who is all-pervading. But where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar?"

Prahlada then answers, He was, He is and He will be. In an alternate version of the story, Prahlada answers He is in pillars, and he is in the smallest twig. Hiranyakashipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar with his mace, and then following a tumultuous sound, Vishnu in the form of Narasimha appears from it and in defence of Prahlada moves to attack his father. In order to kill Hiranyakashipu and not upset the boon given by Brahma, the form of Narasimha was chosen. Hiranyakashipu could not be killed by human, deva or animal, Narasimha is neither one of these, as he is a form of Vishnu incarnate as a part-human, part-animal. He comes upon Hiranyakashipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his sharp nails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowels and kills the demon. Kurma Purana describes the preceding battle between the Purusha and demoniac forces in which he escapes powerful weapon called, pashupata and it describes how Prahladas brothers headed by Anuhrada and thousands of other demons "were led to the valley of death (yamalayam) by the lion produced from the body of man-lion" avatara. The same episode occurs in the Matshya Purana 179, several chapters after its version of the Narasimha advent.

Even after killing Hiranyakashipu none of the present demigods were able to calm Narasimha's fury, not even Shiva. So all the gods and goddesses called his consort, the goddess Lakshmi, but she was also unable to do so. Then, at the request of Brahma, Prahlada was presented to Narasimha, and finally, he was calmed by the prayers of his devotee. Before parting, Narasimha rewards the wise Prahlada by crowning him king.

Based on this story, it is believed by followers that Narasimha protects his sincere devotees when they are in extreme danger. He saved Adi Sankara from being sacrificed to the goddess Kali by a Kapalika. Thus Adi Sankara composed Laksmi-Narasimha stotra."

courtesy: wikipedia

If you notice in this story too the main Godhead emerged from a pillar, here a pillar of stone.

Prahlada representing the ego had surrendered to the Lord, but Hiranyakashyapa representing the intellect had not.

The Lord emerged from the pillar and gave darshan.

This story is very similar to the story of the pillar of light.

And in comparison both the stories carry the same message.

That Surrender to God makes Him give His darshan.

Arunachala hence represents Lord Narasimha (Vishnu) as much as it represents Lord Shiva

Arunachala Lion

ito nrsimhah parato nrsimho,
yato yato yami tato nrsimhah,
bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimho,
nrsimham adim saranam prapadye

"Lord Nrsimha is here and also there. Wherever I go Lord Narasimha is there. He is in the heart and is outside as well. I surrender to Lord Narasimha, the origin of all things and the supreme refuge."

Arunachala Darshan 28

2009-03-01T00:09:00.000-08:00

Arunachala Kwan Yin Darshan

Guanyin (Chinese: 觀音; pinyin: guān yīn; Wade-Giles: kuan-yin) is the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshi'yin (觀世音, pinyin: guānshì yīn, Wade-Giles: kuan-shih yin) which means "Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World".

It is generally accepted (in Chinese community) that Guanyin originated as the Sanskrit Avalokiteśvara (अवलोकितेश्वर), which is her male form. Commonly known in the West as the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin is also revered by Chinese Taoists as an Immortal. However, in Taoist mythology, Guan Yin has other origination stories which are not directly related to Avalokiteśvara.

Guanyin's origin is debated among scholars. The root of this debate lies in the history of religion in China. China's indigenous religion is Taoism. It is possible that Guanshi'yin originated as a Taoist deity, the Queen Mother of the West. With the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism to China in around the fourth to fifth centuries AD, Taoism and Buddhism became religious rivals in China. The Buddhist tactic was to change, and even supplant, indigenous Taoist deities in favor of Buddhist deities. Over the centuries, this trend has had the effect that it is now virtually impossible to determine Guanshi'yin's true origin. The official Buddhist view is that Guanyin originated with the male Avalokiteśvara, though Guanyin's origin may be more complex than this simple, linear derivation. While it is certain that the name "Guanshi'yin" is derived from the name "Avalokiteśvara", the image of the Chinese/Korean/Japanese/Vietnamese Bodhisattva (along with her femininity) may be at least partly derived from other sources.

: courtesy wikipedia

Basically Kwan Yin is the Goddess of Compassion. She fulfills the needs of all. She is the eternal Wishfulfilling Tree. The Kalpataru.

The image of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirumala... which is venerated variously as an image of Vishnu, Shiva, Buddha Avalokiteśvara..is also venerated as an image of a female goddess of Buddhism.

Kwan Yin.

The image is said to fulfill the wishes of all whosoever asks anything of it.

Arunachala too has a Kwan Yin darshan. This is a darshan which is a personal darshan for it so happened that after thirty years when I first reached Arunachala,the mountain was covered in thick clouds. I could not see the peak. I felt personally hurt that the Mountain should have chosen this day of all days to veil Itself from me.

What followed was a string of prayers throughout the night with silent love and coaxing, asking the Mountain to show me its peak. By the time we started for Girivallam ( Mountain Circumbulation) the mountain still did not leave its cloud veil.

It was the time when we reached half the distance that finally the mountain decided to lift its cloud cover and answered my prayers.

The view of the mountain on that winter morning always reminds me of Kwan Yin...the Goddess of Compassion.

Arunachala Kwan Yin Darshan

Happy Birthday Sri Ramakrishna

2009-02-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

Om sthapakaya cha dharmasya, sarva dharma-svarupine;
Avatara-varishthaya Ramakrishnaya te namah.
Om namah shri bhagavate Ramakrishnaya namo namah.

Today is Sri Ramakrishna's birthday according to Thithi.

May He bless you all with happiness and prosperity.

Arunachala Glory

2009-02-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

I myself am Arunachala

Verses celebrating the Power of Arunachala

‘Let human beings become blessed and satisfied by bowing down to this linga. I shall assume an effulgent form and stay here under the name Arunachala for the sake of (men’s) achievement of siddhi on the surface of the earth.’ (Chapter 4, v.36-37 Skanda Mahapurana)

“Visvarupa! God in the form of Sonachala! Effulgent one! Linga in the form of a hill! Remover of all sins! Obeisance to Thee. Thy glory could not be realised even by Brahma and Vishnu as Thou art truly fiery. But Thou hast cooled down for the welfare of the world.” (The Goddess worships Arunachala before merging in it)

Neither by me nor by Visnu can the greatness of this mountain be accounted in words even in the course of hundreds of crores of years.( Lord Brahma)

"The supreme knowledge (Self-knowledge), the import of Vedanta, which cannot be attained without great difficulty, can easily be attained by anyone who sees the form of this Hill from wherever It is visible or who even thinks of It by mind from afar." (Arunachala Mahatmyam)

"Arunachala is truly the holy place. Of all holy places It is the most sacred! Know that It is the heart of the world. It is truly Siva Himself! It is His heart-abode, a secret kshetra. In that place the Lord ever abides the Hill of light named Arunachala."( Bhagwan Ramana)

Happy Birthday Arunachala

2009-02-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

The Birth of Arunachala

The Legend of the Linga

The legend of Shiva Linga or Lingodbhavamurthy is deeply related to Mahashivaratri. The legend narrates the story of vain search by Brahma and Vishnu to discover the Aadi (beginning) and the Antha (end) of Lord Shiva. The legend thus proves the supremacy of Lord Mahadeva over other Hindu Gods and explains why the lingam is believed to be one of the most potent emblems in Hindu ideals. The story is stated in the three of the puranas - the Kurma Purana, the Vayu Purana and Shiva Purana

The Legend
According to Puranas, once the other two of the triads of Hindu Gods, Brahma and Vishnu were fighting over each other’s prowess. Horrified at the intensity of the battle, the other gods asked Shiva to intervene. To make them realize the futility of their fight, Lord Shiva assumed the form of a flaming Linga in between Brahma and Vishnu and challenged both of them by asking them to measure the gigantic Linga (infinite pillar of light representing Shiva).

Awestruck by its magnitude, Brahma and Vishnu decided to find one end each to establish supremacy over the other. Lord Brahma took the form of a swan and went upwards while Lord Vishnu assumed the form of Varaha - a boar and went into the earth towards nether land. Both searched for thousands of miles but neither could find the end.

Lord Vishnu got exhausted and surrendered Himself to the infinite pillar of light.

On his journey upward, Brahma came across Ketaki (screwpine) flower. Exhausted and bewildered with his search to find the uppermost limit of fiery column, Brahma made Ketaki assent to lie that he had seen the top of the column where the flower had previously resided. Accompanied by his accomplice, Brahma confronted Vishnu and asserted that he had indeed discovered the origin of the cosmic column.

At this point, the central part of the pillar split open and Shiva revealed himself in his full glory. Overawed, both Brahma and Vishnu bowed before him accepted lord Shiva’s supremacy. Lord Shiva also explained to Brahma and Vishnu that both of them were born out of him and that the three were then separated out into three different aspects of divinity.

However, Lord Shiva was angry with Brahma for making a false claim. The Lord cursed Brahma that no one would ever pray to him. (This legend explains why there is hardly any Brahma temple of significance in India.) Lord Shiva also punished the Ketaki flower for testifying falsely and banned her from being used as an offering for any worship.

Since it was on the 14th day in the dark fortnight of the month of Phalguna that Shiva first manifested himself in the form of a Linga, the day is extremely auspicious and is celebrated as Mahashivaratri - the grand night of Shiva. To celebrate the occasion, devotees of Lord Shiva fast during the day and pray to the Lord throughout the night. It is said that worshipping of Lord Shiva on Shivaratri bestows one with happiness and prosperity.

courtesy www.mahashivratri.org

In this story Lord Vishnu represents the ego of man and Lord Brahma the intellect. Lord Shiva represents the Undying Supreme Self.

The story means that unless the Ego and the Intellect surrender themselves to the Supreme Spirit, It does not reveal its true glory.

After having seen the bewitching form of Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma prayed to Lord Shiva to manifest Himself in a more approachable way so that people can worship Him.

The Lord granted their wishes by stating that He will hence forth be visible to the entire cosmos as the Arunachala Hill.

As we all identify ourselves with our body, so too the Supreme Self has identified itself with Arunachala Hill. The human mind craves for forms and hence the Hill stands as testimony to the fact about the Supreme Self.

Logically speaking no date can be attributed to the happening, but faith is the backbone for all beliefs.

Since it is that day the Lord took the Form of Arunachala, the coming Mahashivaratri is the Birthday of Arunachala.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARUNACHALA!

"I am seldom found in Kailash, Kasi or my various dwelling places in Kula mountians. I myself am Arunachala. On seeeing the peak of which people will not only have the benefit of having their eyes but also the destruction of all sins and the acquisition of the vision born of knowledge.’

Skanda Mahapurana Chapter 5 vv. 70-71

Arunachala Nannagaru (Part 3)

2009-02-19T01:10:00.000-08:00

I met the great man in his chambers that evening after returning from pradakshina (by car).

I was introduced to him by a common friend and the saint smiled and asked me to come in.

He asked me to sit beside him and enquired about my well being and my profession. Knowing that I was a practising joint replacement surgeon at a young age he expressed surprise and joy.

"Are you happy then with your life?" he asked

I did not know what to say but blurted out a 'yes'. His question was more of a prod for me to introspect rather than a question searching for superficial confirmation.

He looked at me.

His eyes were reputed to be piercing, purifying.

But as I gazed into his eyes I felt a different emotion. I could see a little surprise, a little enquiry and a little mirth in them. I could also see changes in them due to old age.

What was he seeing in me? Was he seeing in me all the sins I had ever commited? All the people I have cheated? All the people I have lied to?

What was he seeing in me?

The very thought was scary.

Finally the saint smiled at me.

And in that moment I knew that, despite my sins, my shortomings, I had been accepted.

"Manasa Bhajore guru charanam, dusthare bavasaagara taranam.

Guru Maharaj, Guru Jai Jai. Sri Sadhguru Nannagaru Jai Jai."

( O mind chant the glories of the Guru's feet, they take you across the ocean of phenomenal existence, the Guru is Emperor, Victory to the guru, victory to Sri Nannagaru."

Arunachala Darshan 27

2009-02-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

The Divine Mother Maha Durga Darshan of Arunachala

Durga is one of the more benign manifestations of the Divine Mother. She represents the powerhouse of Pure Energy Who manifests Herself for the protection of Her devotees.

She is the Queen of the Relative and hence Her nod is required if a soul wants to transmigrate the Oean of Phenomenal Existence. She is worshipped in every household as the symbol of magnificent energy which defeats all foes and converts all endeavors to victory.

She is the ' Mother' of Sri Ramakrishna. She is the refuge for the weak and the strong. She is the Ative Energy who was born and underwent penance near Arunachala.

The story goes like this that Goddess Gowri once playfully closes all the three eyes of Lord Shiva. This act of Her's is followed by a great armageddon in the entire universe for Shiva's eyes are the light of the universe. To redeem herself from this sin, the Goddess is born as Gowri and undergoes austerities in Kanchipuram and Arunachala in Sage Gautama's ashram.

Finally at the end of the austerities She assumes the form of Durga or the Invincible One for slaying of the demon Mahishasura who bouyed by a boon from Brahma would be tormenting the entire cosmos. Once She slays the demon by assuming the form of Mahishasura Mardhini, the killer of demon Mahishasura, the Goddess is reunited with Shiva as Arunachala.

The Victorious Durga

The mount of the Goddess is the Lion and she is ten armed with various weapons gifted t her by the gods.

She is the Absolute Brahman in relative form.

And this is the darshan of Arunachala as Maha Durga.

Arunachala Thought

2009-02-16T19:30:00.001-08:00

"Mere thought of Thee has drawn me to Thee, and who can gauge Thy glory (in Itself), Oh Arunâchala?"

Arunachala is the largest magnet in the cosmos. It attracts souls from all qaurters of the universe...by a mere thought.

All holy places do... but there is something about Arunachala.

Something in its power to pull..pull and keep pulling.

Once you see Arunachala...you feel like running back to it...over and over again.

It is like you are going back home after a long period of play in the playground.

Arunachala Darshan 26

2009-02-13T00:58:00.000-08:00

The Deity of the Cosmos Darshan

This is a darshan of the Arunachala Hill from space.

It is the same darshan as the Brahmanda Vishwaroopa Darshan that has been discussed before.

This darshan is regularly had by various siddhas, aliens in other planets, spheres, galaxies, universes.

The Gods worship this aspect, the unending Linga.

This is the most ancient deity of the cosmos.

Arunachala Darshan 25

2009-02-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

Adi Annamalai Arunachala Darshan

This is a temple which one comes across at the midpoint of the girivallam path near the village of Adi Annamalai.

The origins of the temple are obscure but the ancient legend tells us that Lord Brahma after the dispute with Lord Vishnu comes to this side of the Hill and installs a lingam there.

This is the Adi Annamalai deity.

Logically this temple and the deity is much older than the deity in the main Arunachaleshwara temple.

I feel very curious when I think of the Adi Annamalai temple. The temple is much smaller than the main temple in Tiruvannamalai. Who built this temple? When? Obviously this is the more older of the temples and there is a legend of a secret tunnel that links this temple wih the main temple on the other side of the Hill. The tunnel goes through Arunachala and Bhagwan is reported to have had a vision of the same tunnel where innumerable siddhas were seen by him lost in communion with Arunachala. He then ordered the tunnel to be closed so that these siddhas are not disturbed by curious people.

I wonder what Arunachala was when this temple was being buitl. What was the culture that dotted its slopes? Was there an ancient civilization much before the Adi Annamalai.

Arunachala Hill is nearly 4 billion years old. It is the ancient and most sacred deity of Jambudwipa. It is Mount Meru.

How many civilizations must have lived and perished in its shadow. How many deities must have been worshipped.

Only for the past two thousand years we associate the Hill with Arunachala temple.

Who was the deity before? Who dug the tunnel?

Arunachala Darshan 24

2009-02-10T06:17:00.000-08:00

Sri Valli Devasena Sametha Subramanya Darshan

The main peak is Lord Subramanya, the two peaks represent Valli and Devasena.

This darshan also qualifies as darshan of the Self between two thoughts ( the main peak, the two peaks).

This darshan also qualifies as Ganesha Darshan with Siddhi and Buddhi.

Arunachala Darshan 23

2009-02-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

Mount Meru Darshan

The great Mount Meru...the centre of the Earth has been the one of the most researched and searched legends from ancient India. It has been famed to be lying in the ancient continent of Jambudwipa.

I personally feel that the ancient continent of Jambudwipa correlats to the Kumari Kandam and the legend of Lemuria.

This ancient continent stretched from the northern Indian plains to Madgasgar and Africa in the west , to Indonesia and beyond in the southeast uptil Australia.

An ancient catastorphe perhaps has submerged the great continent into the Indian Ocean.

Mount Meru which is proclaimed to be the centre of the Earth has been cited as Mount Kailash in Tibet by various researchers. Also there are many other contenders like

"A few scholars believe Mount Meru or Sumeru to be the Pamirs, north-east of Kashmir . In epic times, it had formed the parts of Ancient Kamboja--more precisely, the Parama Kamboja of the epic Mahabharata (II.2.27) .

Some scholars have tried to locate Mt Meru somewhere in Central Asia, but there are explicit references of it being in the middle of the Earth. Suryasiddhānta mentions that Mt Meru lies in 'the middle of the Earth' ("bhoogola-madhya") in the land of the Jamboonada. E. Burgess translates "bhoogola-madhya" as "the centre of the earth-globe" and not as 'bhoo-madhya' which is used for equator in Sanskrit and Hindi texts. Narpatijayacharyā, a mediaeval work of 9th century, based on mostly unpublished texts of Yāmala Tantra, mentions "Sumeruḥ Prithvī-madhye shrūyate drishyate na tu" ('Su-meru is heard to be in the middle of the Earth, but is not seen there'), which implies that middle of earth meant either the middle of surface landmass or the middle of entire surface, ie the equator, because the author could not go to the centre of earth-globe to see anything[5]. In the same chapter, description of Prithvi-Koormachakra shows that this mediaeval author had no knowledge of any country outside India except in the vicinity. Therefore, he looked for Mt Meru in the middle of India and could not find it there. Vārāha Mihira, in his Panch-siddhāntikā, locates Mt Meru at the North Pole. Suryasiddhānta, however, mentions a Mt Meru in the middle of Earth, besides a Sumeru and a Kumeru at both poles. Therefore, Sumeru was used both for North Pole as well as for the central Mt Meru by ancient authors. There is a town Meru at the foot of Mt Kenya at the equator, another Mt Meru lying in neighbouring Tanzania, a place named Kinyan-giri is in Tanzania,which translates as Mt Kinyan or Kenya, etc. Relations of these Sanskrit names in central Africa to Indian Meru is not clear. Clyde Winters claims to read the problematic Meroitic language of ancient Kushites of Sudan as a cognate of the Tochārian language of Kushānas of Central Asia, which is an Indo-European language of the western kentum branch. If his decipherment is valid, then the ancient city of Merœ eulogized by Herodotus may be related to Mt Meru in some way"

courtesy : Wikipedia

The Devi Bhagawata describes Mount Meru

"On the east of Meru is established the city of Indra and the Devas dwell there. It is called therefore Devadhânikâ. On the south of the Meru, is the famous city of Yama, the God of Death, named Samyamanî. On the west of Meru, is the great city of Varuna, named Nimnochanî. On the north of Meru is the city of the Moon, named Vibhâvarî. O Nârada! The Brahmavâdîs say that the Sun first rises in the city of Indra. At noon the Sun goes to Samyamanî; at evening the Sun goes to Nimnochanî and He is said to set. In the night the Sun remains in Vibhâvarî. O Muni! The going of the Sun round Meru is the cause of all the beings getting themselves engaged in their respective duties. The inhabitants of the Meru see the Sun always in the central position. The Sun moves on, eastwards towards the stars, keeping the Meru to his left; but if the Zodiac be taken into account, it would appear that the Meru is left towards the south of the Sun. The rising and the setting of the Sun are always considered in front of Him. O Devarsi! Every point, every quarter, every person, seeing the Sun says that the Sun has risen there; again where he becomes invisible, He is considered to set there. The Sun always exists; so there is no rising nor setting for Him. It is His appearance and disappearance that make men say that the Sun rises or sets. When the Sun is in the Indra’s city, He illumines the three cities, those of Indra, Yama, and the Moon and illumines the north-east and east-west corners. So when He rests in the city of Fire, he illumines north-east, east-west, and south-west, the three corners, and at the same time the cities of Indra and Yama; and so on for the other cities and corners. O Nârada! The Mont Meru is situated towards the north of all the Dvîpas and Varsas. So whenever any person sees the Sun rise he calls that side “east.” But Meru exists towards the left of the Sun; so it is said. If the Sun travels in 15 (fifteen) Ghatikâs, the distance from Indrapurî to Yamapurî, He is said to travel within that time a distance equal to 2¼ Kotis, 12½ lakhs and 25000 Yojanas (22695000 Yojanas). The thousand-eyed and thousand rayed Sun God is the Manifester of Time. He travels in the aforesaid way the cities of Varuna, Chandra and Indra respectively. He is the diadem of the Svarloka; and the Zodiac is his Âtman. He travels thus, to mark off time to all persons. O Nârada! The Moon and the other planets and stars rise and set in the aforesaid manner. Thus the powerful chariot of the Sun travels in a Muhûrta 142,00000 Yojanas. By the force of Pravaha Vâyu (air), the Sun God, the Incarnate of the Vedas travels round the cities, the Zodiac, in one Samvatsara (year). The wheel of the Sun’s Chariot is one year; twelve months are the spokes; three Châturmâsyas are the nave and the six seasons are the outer ring or circumference of the wheel. The learned men call this chariot as the Samvatsara (one year). The axis or axle points to the Meru on one side and to Mânasottara mountain on the other. The end or circumference of the wheel marks off other divisions of the time as Kalâ, Kâsthâ, Muhûrta, Yâma, Parahara, day and night, and fortnights. The wheel is fixed on the nave. The Sun goes on this wheel, like an oilman’s on his oil-machine, round and round the Mânasottara mountain. The eastern side of the wheel is on that axis and the other part is fixed on the Pole Star. The dimension of the first axis is (15750000 Yoyanas). The second axis measures one-fourth of the above (3937500 Yoyanas). It resembles the axis of an oil-machine. The upper side of that is considered to belong to the Sun. The seat of the Sun on his chariot measures 36 Lakh Yoyanas wide. The Yuga measures in length one fourth of the above dimensions, that of his seat. The Chariot is is moved by seven horses, consisting of the seven Chhandas, Gâyatrî, etc., driven by Aruna. The horses carry the Sun for the happiness of all. Though the charioteer sits in front of the Sun, his face is turned towards the west. He does his work as a charioteer in that state. Sixty thousand Vâlakhilya Risis, of the size of a thumb, chant the sweet Vedic hymns before Him. Other Risis, Apsarâs, Uragas, Grâmanîs, Râksasas, and all the Devas, each divided in groups of seven, worship every month that highly lustrous Sun-god. The earth measures 90152000 Kros’a Yuga Yoyanas (1 Krosa - ¼ Yoyana). The Sun passes over this distance in a moment. He does not take rest in his this work even for a day; no, not even for a moment.

Here ends the Fifteenth Chapter of the Eighth Book on the motion of the Sun in the Mahâpurânam, S'rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa."

There are many such references to Mount Meru in ancient texts.

But none of the contemporary mountains fit the power of being Meru, even Mount Kailash for the Himalayas were born a few million years ago due to Jambudwipa smashing into the main Asian land mass.

Mount Meru has to be older...as old as the Earth.

Only one such land mass qualifies for this.

It is my strong BELIEF, FAITH, that the ancient Mount Meru is none other than Arunachala.

Bhagwan has been the most potent voice in bringing the attention of the world to Arunachala being the spiritual Heart, the centre of the world. It is the older of the Himalayas geologically and also seems to occupy the centre of ancient Jambudwipa.

"“When someone asks me who I am, I say that I
am one of the aboriginal people of India. Some historians
have dated the Vedas to be a few thousand years
old. But the Vedas itself states the geography of the
region in which it originated to be an island, surrounded
by water (jambudveepe). This must have been
before the land masses became what they are today.
The tradition espoused in India is indeed timeless.”

--Sri Ganapati Sthapati
'The Maharshi'

Arunachala is Mount Meru.

The most ancient, magnificent deity of Jambudwipa...the deity which has seen innumerbale civilizations rise and fall, born and die.

Even the Sun circumbulates Arunachala, the Moon offers it rays out of pure love for It.

Any darshan of Arunachala automatically qualifies as Mount Meru Darshan as this is a general darshan and not a specific part of Arunachala. It is our blessedness that we can see these great darshans of Arunachala.

Here are a few.

The Great Ancient Maha Meru Darshan of Arunachala

Arunachala Darshan 22

2009-02-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

Ardhanareeshwara Darshan of Arunachala

Here is an excerpt from the online book Ramana's Arunachala about the deity Ardhanareeshwara...basically Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi united as ONE.

"GOWRI JOINS SIVA
At the end of one month the Goddess celebrated a
festival. On the evening when Krittika was in conjunction
with the Moon in the month of Karthika (November-
December), She propitiated the Lord of Arunadri with all
the prescribed offerings. The Goddess then went round
the hill along with her companions. As she did so
Arunachala shone like an emerald and her sacred body
was enveloped by the lustre of the Hill. As she walked
slowly, the lustre of her lotus feet made the earth look as if
it had been strewn with lotus petals. Her radiant looks
were like blossoms of nilotpala (blue lotus) scattered by
worshippers all round Sonadri.
Goddess Gowri was devoutly walking round the Hill
as if she were walking round the ceremonial marriage havan
with the object of attaining union with Siva. She was joined
at each step by Brahma and Vishnu and their consorts
Saraswati and Lakshmi, the devas, the dikpalakas and their
consorts and the celestial maidens with their fragrant
offerings. It appeared that she was appeasing the hill of fire
by her austerities she was. Constantly remembering
Mahadeva she gave spiritual instruction to the divine rishis.
The Mother of the world bowed to the Destroyer of
the three cities and prayed that she should attain union
with Him. Noted for her sweet words, she prayed very
devoutly in this manner for the welfare of the world, “Let
not this form of thine which charms the eye and the mind
be ever abandoned by thee. As this form of thine is
enchanting, auspicious for the world and is full of divine
bliss, let everyone always have thy darshan. Instead of thy
former appearance of matted hair, wearing the serpent
round the neck, holding the skull of Brahma, smearing
ash from the Rudra Bhoomi (cremation ground), pray,
assume the form of the Maha Purusha, the Eternal
Bridegroom, adorned with divine garlands, perfumes,
robes and gem-set ornaments. Great Lord! Let deva and
gandharva maidens adore thee, dancing and singing to
the accompaniment of musical instruments. Let thy
devotees also adore thee unceasingly. Let this vision of
our united form Ardhanareeswara be always, by thy Grace,
capable of inspiring intense devotion, of bestowing
prosperity and of fulfilling all desires.”
On hearing this the Lord of Sonachala granted all the
boons the Goddess asked. That Lord himself now appears
as Ardhanareeswara who is adored by the world.

The term Ardhanareeswara literally means, halfwoman
(the Goddess) and half-Ishwara. The Supreme
Being assumes the form wherein the left side appears as
a woman and the right, as a man. In passing, we may
mention an interesting incident which is described in
the Arunachala Purana. When Parvati was born to
Himavan, it was predicted in her nativity chart that she
will assume a glorious form in which, her left side will
contain tresses of dark hair, ear-ring, pierced nose and
breast, while the right side of her frame will have matted
locks, the chest of a man, etc. Thus we can say that,
either Parvati has given her right side to Ishwara, or that
Ishwara has given his left side to Parvati. In iconology,
rules are laid down as to the sculpturing of
Ardhanareeswara statue. Thus it is an accepted form of
worship. Vishnu being the male aspect of Parvati, we
also have Shankaranarayana, i.e., one half of the body
being Vishnu and the other half, that of Ishwara."

Though conventional iconography represents Shiva on the right of Parvathi in the Ardhanareeshwara statue, my vision of Arunachala is of the Goddess peak to the right of Shiva in this darshan.

The assumption is purposeful for who can differentiate between the Goddess and the God? And especailly in a kshetra like Arunachala where Shakthi and Shiva are united forever as One.

Who can say which peak represents Shiva and which peak Parvathi in this darshan when both are one and the same?

So here it is... the great Ardhanareeshwara darshan of Arunachala.

p.s. the iconographic darshan can also be had after a few meters of walking down the girivallam path, just before Kubera Lingam when the main peak is to the right and the Northern spur to the left. This too represents the Ardhanareeshwara Darshan for the devotees who are detail specific.

Arunachala Darshan 21

2009-02-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

This is Arunachala Nannagaru.

He is a master from Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

He is a very sweet man brimming with love.

It is said that at Arunachala there is always a great soul.

When I see Nannagaru, when I hear him and especially when I feel his SILENCE...I know that the power of Arunachala is manifesting through him.

I have met him, talked with him and sat next to him.

And all I can say is he is Love, Love and full of Love.

His devotees swear that they can see his face in the Mount Arunachala.

I am not that lucky and hope to, by his grace, appreciate his unique darshan in the great Hill someday.

The Darshan of Arunachala from Nannagaru ashram.

website: www.srinannagaru.com

Arunachala Darshan 20

2009-02-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Sri Murugan Ganapathi Darshan

This is the darshan one sees when Arunachala emerges from the Maya Peaks and manifests Itself as the Elephant.

This was also my first darshan of Arunachala's peak.

In this darshan the main peak representin Ganesha who out of brotherly love overflowing is looking at the Northern Spur (smaller peak) representing Murugan.

The two Maya peaks represent the respective vehicles of Murugan and Ganesha, Peacock, Mouse.

Sri Murugan Ganesha Darshan of Arunachala

Arunachala Darshan 19

2009-02-01T23:37:00.000-08:00

Sri Venkateshwara Darshan of Arunachala

Arunachalam is Venkatachalam, Venkatachalam is Arunachalam.

Lord Vishnu who receives millions of devotees in the form of Venkateshwara in Tirumala, is also Arunachala Siva.

Arunachala Siva who bestows liberation by a thought is also Lord Venakteshwara.

Bhagwan himself had told that in the Hill Arunachalam can be found the seven hills of Venkatachalam.

This darshan of Arunachala clearly shows seven projections of the rock surface signifying that Arunachala is Venkatachalam and the Hill is in the form of Venkateshwara in this darshan.

Sri Venkateshwara Darshan of Arunachala

Arunachala Darshan 18

2009-01-31T20:19:00.000-08:00

Sri Jnana Pandita Katargama Murugan Darshan

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia about Lord Murugan

"Murugan or Murukaṇ (Tamil: முருகன், Malayalam: മുരുകന്‍) called Subrahmanya (Kannada: ಸುಬ್ರಹ್ಮಣ್ಯ,Telugu: సుబ్రమణ్య స్వామి) is a popular Hindu deity among Tamil Hindus, and is worshipped primarily in areas with Tamil influence, especially South India, Sri Lanka , Malaysia and Mauritius . But in Sri Lanka, Hindus as well as Buddhists revere a highly sacred Buddhist and Hindu shrine Katharagama temple (also in Sinhala "Katharagama Devalaya") dedicated to him and situated deep south in the country.

Lord Murugan is more popular in South India compared to other parts of India.He is the God of war and the patron deity of the Tamil land (Tamil Nadu). Like most Hindu deities, He is known by many other names, including Senthil, Saravaṇa, Kārttikeya (meaning 'son of Krittika' ), Arumugam or Shanmukha (meaning 'one with six faces'), Kumāra (meaning 'child or son'), Guha, Skanda (meaning 'that which is spilled or oozed, namely seed' in Sanskrit), Subrahmaṇya, Vēlaṇ and Swaminatha."

Arunachala Hill is Lord Murugan Himself. Ramana has been cited by various devotess to be none other than the Shanmukha Murugan.

Arunachala therefore offers millions of Murugan darshans one of which is the Sri Jnana Pandita Katargama Murugan.

This is the darshan of the Hill from Kubera Lingam.

This darshan offers financial success and also helps in unfoding of Jnana, by the grace of Jnana Pandita Murugan.

The main peak is the Lord Murugan and the Northern spur to His left the Peacock.

Sri Jnana Pandita Katargama Murugan Darshan

Arunachala Darshan 17

2009-01-31T00:42:00.000-08:00

Sat Chit Ananda Darshan

"The Lord and the Lady, along with Kandan, merged together are respectively the obstruction free SAT CHIT and ANANDA."
--- Padamalai 2656

This is the amazing Sat Chit Ananda darshan of Arunachala.

The main peak is representative of Shiva, the middle peak of Murugan, and the lateral peak of Parvathi.

This is the Union of the three Godheads.

Of all the darshans of Arunachala, this is the most abstract darshan.

Sat Chit Ananda Darshan of Arunachala

image courtesy: http://www.tantrajoga.cz/hlavniokno.php?rub=zaklady_6_2

Arunachala Darshan 16

2009-01-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

Rama bhaktha Hanuman

Sri Hanuman is the chief devotee of Sri Rama.

He is th harbinger of auspiciousness, peace, courage, devotion and liberation.

On his lips is the great mantra Sri Rama.

He is Chiranjeevi ( Eternal ) and is in the pose of namaskar as he contemplates the beauty of Sri Rama in his mind.

The face of this Sri Rama Bhaktha Hanuman which is suffused with devotion and happiness forms today's Arunachala darshan.

This darshan can be had just before the girivallam road bridges off into chengam road and Bangalore highway.

The Rama Mantra is a very powerful sadhana for anyone who do their daily devotions thinking this form of the Hill.

Sri Rama Bhaktha Hanuman Darshan of Arunachala

Arunachala Darshan 15

2009-01-26T10:48:00.000-08:00

Karpaga Vinayagar Darshan

Here is an account of Karpaga Vinayagar from Wikipedia:

Karpaka Vinayakar Temple is an ancient rock-cut cave shrine dedicated to Ganesha, located at Pillayarpatti, (10 kilometers west of Karaikkudi), in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.

In the cave temple, there are rock cut images of Shiva and other gods as well as several shrines. The Agama texts found on stones in the temple help date the temple between the years of 1091 and 1238. A unique Tamil image of Ganesha found in the temple helps to verify this dating. The presiding deity of the temple is Karpaka Vinayakar or Desi Vinayaka Pillaiyar.

Today, the Pillayarpatti Nagarathar worshipers are involved in conducting daily worship services in the temple, as well as maintaining it. People from all over the state, as well as great numbers of pilgrims, come here everyday and gather for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival held every year during the months of August and September.

Like all Shivite temples, Pillayarpatti temple also has Lord Shiva as its presiding deity. Lord's name is Arjunapureeswarar. This temple is more famous for the rock cut Vinayagar (Ganesha) sitting majestically inside a cave

The Sculptor who designed the figure of Load Vinayagar also had registered his signature as “ EKKATTOOR KONE PERUMPARANAN” ( Perunthatchan) is in Tamil letters which was in use between 400 BC and 500 BC. From this we can take for granted that is was carved just before 500 BC.

From the history of divine architecture and from stone sculptures and from the available documentary evidence Pillaiyarpatti KARPAGAVINAYAGAR figure alone is the first Pillaiyar in the world

Karpaga Vinayagar is not having Mothakam (Sweet) at his right hand.He is in meditation ( having Lingam at his right hand ) for welfare of the entire Universe. Since he is Yoga Vinayagar (Vinayagar with Meditation and all fortunes) he grants all good things we request."

The Hill Arunachala stunningly, stunningly resembles the great Karpaga Vinayagar.

It is a darshan of the hill which can be had about a kilometer away and inline with the temple towers and the main peak.

The great God Ganesha waits with eternal patience to clear our obstacles and bless us with bliss divine.

A very powerful darshan of the great Arunachala.

The Great Karpaga Vinayagar darshan of Arunachala ( notice the rock on the left side of the photo forming a rudimentary tusk of Vinayaka?!!!)

image courtesy : www.arunachala-ramana.org

Arunachala 'I'

2009-01-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

I was pouring over the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and am charmed to see it in a new light having been to Arunachala and having read Bhagawan's way.

The gospel too is replete with instances where Sri Ramakrishna has referred to the 'I' and the 'Thou'.

'I' here represents jiva and 'Thou' Paramatman.

Here is one such example of Sri Ramakrishna urging devotees to seek the 'I' to find the 'Thou'

Master: Try to find out what this 'I' is. Is this 'I' the bones, flesh or blood or intestine?

Seeking the 'I' you discover 'Thou'.

In other words nothing exists inside you but the power of God.

There is no 'I' but only 'He'.

Chapter 43, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Belur Math.

Arunachala Darshan 14

2009-01-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

Arunachala Panchamukha Darshan

This is the darshan of the Hill in the girivallam path where Arunachala presents Himself with five faces.

Eeshana, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadjyojata

Eeshana is the core, the womb of all other energies, this is the Absolute Shiva.

Tatpurusha faces East and represents the emotion Tat Tvam Asi.

Aghora to the south represents the fire of creation, maintainence and destruction.

Vamadeva to the North represents beauty, the arts etc.

Sadyojata to the West represents the power to be.

The five faces of this darshan are also said to represent Parvathi, Vinayaka, Subramanyam, Nandi.

This is a must darshan and helps in financial and spiritual progress.

There is also another panchamukha darshan of Lord Anjaneya which is totally different and will be elaborated in the future.

Arunachala Darshan 13

2009-01-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

Maha Arunachala Vishwaroopa Brahmanda Darshan

The Arunachala Hill is the Great Cause.

Within it are all the darshans of the manifest and unmanifest universe.

It is the repository of all deities.

It is the Absolute.

There is a darshan of the Hill where all the other darshans of the Hill can be easily had.

This darshan of the Hill is the Maha Arunachala Vishwaroopa Brahmanada Darshan.

It is an inspired original darshan.

Here Arunachala depicts the Great Cause in the form of the Cosmic Egg.

It is also the Sri Chakra Darshan according to Bhagavan Ramana.

It is the most powerful darshan of the Aruna Hill.

We are lucky that we could have this darshan by living in modern times.

The Cosmic Egg

Th Great Darshan of the Arunachala Vishwaroopa

image courtesy: World Wide Web, Google maps

Arunachala Moonlight

2009-01-12T03:05:00.000-08:00

THE GODDESS OF THE NIGHT

As I was returning from a town a few humdred miles from my city in the darkness of the night with the forest and the moon and the mystical dark silhouttes of the yonder hills, I discovered the Goddess.

She was clothed with the dress of nature. Her saree was sprinkled with fields, her birthmarks the hills, her long tresses of hair were the thick forests and her wonderful forehead decorated with the Moon.

She was playing in the soft rays of the moon in the fields.

She was dancing in the winds of the forest as the leaves rippled with ecstasy of her touch.

She was standing motionless on the hilltops, her form darker than the darkest hills.

She looked at me with a gaze of an infinite moksha...

She smiled at me...calling me...showing me...that life is beautiful when it is like the moonlight in the forest at night.

Solitary. Divine. Beautiful.

Beyond human description,

a desireless, contentful being.

an emotion of supernal existence

next time when we walk through the full moon night, circumbulating Arunachala... let us look at the Moon through the canopy of trees...let us look at Arunachala....the Hill which is verily Ramana, verily the great Goddess...

let us see the dance of the Moon on the soft contours of Arunachala...

and discover the smile of the Goddess,

a smile of an Eternal Silence of unimaginable depth

image courtesy : World Wide Web.

Arunachala Darshan 12

2009-01-10T23:22:00.000-08:00

Sanjeevini Darshan

Inspired Darshan

The Ramayana has a story where Lord Hanuman flies to the Himalayas in search of the elusive herb on Mount Dronagiri. The herb, Sanjivini, was the antidote for the unconcious Laxmana.

Here is an account of the same from Wikipedia:

"When Lakshmana is severely wounded by Indrajit during the war against Ravana, Hanuman is sent to fetch the Sanjivani, a powerful life-restoring herb from the Dronagiri mountain in the Himalayas to revive him. Ravana realises that if Lakshmana dies, a distraught Rama would probably give up, and so has his uncle Kalnaimi tempt Hanuman away with luxury. However, Hanuman is tipped off by a crocodile (actually a celestial being under a curse) and kills the Rakshasa. When he is unable to find the specific herb before nightfall, Hanuman again displays his might by lifting the entire Dronagiri mountain and bringing it to the battlefield in Lanka, thus helping others find the herb to revive Lakshmana. An emotional Rama hugs Hanuman, declaring him as dear to him as his own beloved brother Bharat."

Hanuman lifting the Mount Dronagiri with Sanjeevini

The image of the Lord Hanuman lifting Dronagiri is worshipped as a deity which bestows health and good life.

This is the Sanjeevini darshan.

The same darshan is easily seen in Arunachala just before Swami Nityananda ashram.

The darshan has the same power to bestow health and good life to all people who see it like the legendary Sanjeevini herb in the Himalayas.

The Parvathi peak here in this darshan represents Dronagiri. the trees on the peak are representative of Sanjeevini and Arunachala view resembles the face of the great monkey God...Hanuman.

Everyone who comes to Arunachala must try to get this darshan.

This is an original inspired darshan by the will of Arunachala.

The Great Sanjeevini Darshan of Arunachala:

image courtesy : World Wide Web, Wikipedia, www.arunachala-ramana.org

Arunachala Darshan 11

2009-01-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

Sri Ramachandra Seetha Lakshmana Hanuman Darshan

Sri Rama Rama Rameti,
Rame Rame Manorame
Sahasranama Tattulyam Rama Nama Varanane

This darshan of the Arunachala Hill can be seen from a place near Kubera Lingam.

The most powerful mantra and name in the created universe is Rama.

Arunachala is Sri Ramachandra Himself according to Bhagavan Ramana.

The vision of Sri Ramachandra with Goddess Seetha, Lakshmana and Anjaneya is very commonly seen in contemporary paintings and calenders.

The same vision can be seen from near Kubera Lingam.

A close up

The main peak represents Sri Ramachandra and the very adjacent outcropping to the peak's right Lakshmana. The Shakthi peak to the left of the main peak is the Goddess Seetha and the foothill represents Lord Hanuman.

I feel this area is a very powerful recptive area for the Rama mantra.

This is a darshan of personal intuition and has nothing to do with any recorded darshans previously by anybody. I trust Arunachala to inspire my intellect for the same purpose in rightful direction.

As I said previously I would be confining myself to originality many of the times trusting my intuitions and recording aunachala darshans. In cases when necessary I will elaborate on darshans that I come across from Agasthiar ashram and others.

Arunachala photo courtesy : www.arunachala-ramana.org

Arunachala Darshan 10

2009-01-08T04:34:00.000-08:00

Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Darshan

Maha Vishnu is worshipped in the reclining pose (Ananthashayanam).

He rests on the coiled body of Sheshnag with Lord Brahma emanating from His umbilicus in a lotus.

The right hand of Mahavishnu is stretched out and underneath it rests a Shiva lingam symbolising Shiva. In the right hand MahaVishnu is seen holding a Lotus.

He is worshipped by hundreds of devas and rishis who surround Him.

Goddess Lakshmi sits near the feet of Vishnu.

This vision of the Lord is known as Anantha Padmanabha Swamy.

Th iconography is representative of the idea that Brahma emanates from Vishnu and is the father of creation. Lord Vishnu sustains it and when the world disappears Lord Vishnu is offering a lotus to Lord Shiva who represents the Absolute. This deity signifies the unity of trinity.

The Creator = The Sustainer = The Destroyer

Arunachala has this darshan of Anatha Padmanabha Swamy which is easily seen from the road to Kanchi and Parvathamalai, just a few kilometers from girivallam road.

This darshan is an insipration of intuition and has nothing to do with any recorded darshans of Arunachala that I have come across.

One can clearly see the form of the Hill resembling the reclining pose of Maha Vishnu.

The vast sky is the creation signifying Brahma and the Absolute is beyond comprehension representing the Whole, Lord Shiva.

The great Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Darshan of Arunachala

Arunachala Ramana

2009-01-06T17:31:00.000-08:00

The benedictory verse adopted as an auspicious
introduction to the Five Hymns to Sri Arunachala was rather
puzzling as it was not clear who actually wrote those words “the
Paramatman, who is the same as Arunachala or Ramana.” Sri T.
P. Ramachandra Iyer, one of the oldest devotees, who gave up
his practice as a lawyer to serve Bhagavan, was consulted and so
was Sri Visvanatha Swami. Their account of the matter is that
one day, when Bhagavan went out of Virupaksha Cave for his
usual morning walk, one Amritanatha Yati put on Bhagavan’s
seat a piece of paper on which he told in a Malayalam verse, of
his great longing to know who Bhagavan really was, “Are you
the manifestation of Lord Vishnu, or Siva, or the great
grammarian Vararuchi, or the greatest of yatis (renunciates)?”

His question was couched in classic form and script. When
he returned a little later to the cave, he found Bhagavan already
back from his walk. On the reverse of the piece of paper was
Bhagavan’s reply, also in verse and Malayalam script, rendered
with mastery. On reading it, Amritanatha Yati felt shaken and
in all humility fell at Bhagavan’s feet “like a tall coconut tree
cut even at the base”, to use his own words.

The reply was as follows: ‘In the lotus-shaped Heart of all,
beginning with Hari, there shines as absolute Consciousness
the Paramatman who is the same as Arunachala-Ramana. When
the mind melts with love of Him and reaches the inmost recess
of the Heart wherein He dwells as the beloved, the subtle eye
pure intellect opens and He reveals Himself as pure
Consciousness.”

: The Silent Power
Sri Ramanaashram

Arunachala Nannagaru (Part 2)

2009-01-05T02:43:00.000-08:00

A beautiful photo of Sadhguru Sri Nannagaru

image courtesy:: www.srinannagaru.com

I returned to Arunachala in the month of December just two days after the MahaDeepam. My stay was in Nannagaru Ashram. There was a good crowd still lingering in the ashram despite the conclusion of the Deepam festivities. The main reason though was that Sri Nannagaru was still there in the ashram.

The MahaDeepam would be lit for a few more days on Arunachala peak and I wanted to see it.

I arrived by afternoon in the car and went around Girivallam road capturing some pictures of Arunachala. Then on returning to the ashram I was informed that Sri Nannagaru would be leaving to Ramana Ashram at three in the afternoon.

I went to the ashram with some local friends and found Nannagaru surrounded by devotees. He first went to the Mother shrine and then to Ramana hall. I first tried to see him through the windows of the Hall. A few elder devotees seeing me gestured to me to come nearer and see the master.

"Ramana is Him, He is Ramana. There is no difference" one woman told me. I nodded not knowing what to say.

As the master entered the Ramana shrine, I saw devotees take strategic places around the samadhi so that they can come in line when the master sees them.

I too decided the same and hoped that the Sadhguru would remember me from our meeting in Hyderabad.

And so I stood with bated breath as the great man circumbulated Ramana Samadhi. Finally when he came close to me he looked at me. I watched him and willed him to smile at me. There was no hint of recognition from him. And then he walked past.

I chided myself for having a 'Vivekananda Complex'...that is hoping for the Sadhguru to smile at me and say with love "Where were you all these years my beloved disciple? I have been waiting for you.":)

I decided to meet the master later in the ashram in the evening.

I respectfully saluted him and left the place for a car girivallam.

Arunachala Darshan 9

2009-01-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

Shiva Sakthi Aikya darshan

The Union of the Shiva and Sakthi

This is a beautiful darshan that one can see from agasthiar ashram.

This vision was one of the most anticipated darshans for me when I first went to Arunachala. I had read about this vision on agasthiar.org and was waiting to see it in real life.

When my cousins and I reached the ashram and saw the darshan, Arunachala decided to stunningly show us something more.

A cloud, thin and beautiful suddenly came in front of the Shiva peak and looked like a namam across the forehead.

All of us who saw this darhan were stunned beyond words. We marvelled at the magnificent darshan and took out our binoculars to study the cloud further.

We saw a bird flying amidst the mist of the cloud and felt very blessed.

This is pehaps one of the fondest darshans of Arunachala that I have had the privilege of having.

Arunachala Panchamukha

2009-01-03T08:13:00.000-08:00

Sri Panchamukha Hanuman Dhyana Sloka

Panchasyachutamaneka vichitra veeryam ||
Sri shanka chakra ramaniya bhujagra desam ||
Peethambaram makara kundala noopurangam ||
Dhyayethitam kapivaram hruthi bhvayami ||

Arunachala is the universal form of all deities known and unknown.

The great Hill from before Time has been the centre of the universe signifying the ultimate goal, the source.

It is the final destination for the grand path of Self Enquiry.

Being unique in its form, the Aruna Hill has been believed to manifest itself in infinte darshans in various angles.

Every deity, god or godddess can be found in the Hill.

And one of the stunning, stunning darshans of the Hill is the form of PANCHAMUKHA ANJANEYA or PANCHAMUKHA HANUMAN.

Panchamukha Hanuman is the symbol of Self Enquiry and helps those who tred the path. The Ramayana talks of Panchamukah Hanuman when Lord Hanuman went to kill Mahiravan and rescue the captured Lord Rama and Lakshmana. The five faces of the Lord blow out five lights which represent the life of Mahiravan at the same time. Then the Lord emerges from the bowels of the Earth with Rama and lakshmana.

I feel the story is a metophor where the five lights represents the senses and Panchamuka Hanuman represents the act of Self Enquiry. The result of the effort is the emergence of the Lord Rama from the bowels of Maya.

The five face Hanuman with five faces:

-- The East facing Sri Hanuman removes all blemishes of sin and confers purity of mind.

-- Sri Karala Ugravira Narasimha Swami, facing the South, removes fear of enemies and confers victory.

--The West facing Sri Mahavira Garuda drives away evil spells, black magic influences etc., and removes all poisonous effects in one's body.

--Northfacing Sri Lakshmi Varaha wards off the troubles caused by bad influences of the planets and confers all prosperity.

--The Urdhva Mukha facing upwards of Sri Hayagriva Swami confers knowledge, victory, good wife and progeny.

Arunachala Hill has all these darshans of the five faces if one sees closely.

They will be elaborated in the next post.

for more information on panchamukha visit the beautiful site

www.panchamukha.org

imge courtesy: www.panchamukha.org

Arunachala Ramakrishna

2009-01-01T04:59:00.000-08:00

KALPATARU DAY

Today is the day when Sri Ramakrishna manifested his true identity of Supreme Godhead.

"I shall make the whole thing public before I go,' the Master has said some time before. On January 1, 1886, he felt better and came down to the garden for a little stroll. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon. Some thirty lay disciples were in the hall or sitting about under the trees. Sri Ramakrishna said to Girish (Ghosh), 'Well Girish, what have you seen in me, that you proclaim me before everybody as an Incarnation of God?' Girish was not the man to be taken by surprise. He knelt before the Master and said with folded hands, 'What can an insignificant person like myself say about the One whose glory even sages like Vyasa and Valmiki could not adequately measure?' The Master was profoundly moved. He said: 'What more shall I say? I bless you all. Be illumined!' He fell into a spiritual mood. Hearing these words the devotees, one and all, became overwhelmed with emotion. They rushed to him and fell at his feet. He touched them all, and each received an appropriate benediction. Each of them, at the touch of the Master, experienced ineffable bliss. Some laughed, some wept, some sat down to meditate, some began to pray. Some saw light, some had visions of their Chosen Ideals, and some felt within their bodies the rush of spiritual power."

From the Introduction to THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA,
by Swami Nikhilananda

The Arunachala Hill and the Lord of Bengal Sri Ramakrishna are one and the same power. This is my strong conviction.

Om namo Bhagvate Ramakrishnaaya namaha
Om Namo Arunachalaeshwaraaya namaha

Arunachala New Year

2008-12-31T03:26:00.000-08:00

Once a man went with flowers with an intent of worshipping Arunachala for a boon. He marvelled at his devotion. But on reaching Arunachala he was stunned to see that millions of beautiful scented flowers from thousands of trees were being offered daily to the Hill by nature. The air was filled with sweet calls of birds. The streams from rains washed the Hill's body.

His pride burst and he realized

that Nature worships Him

the clouds bath Him

the trees offer Him fruits and flowers

the birds sing for Him

and humans...

humans only ask boons from Him.

Have a lovely 2009 year my friends and may Arunachala bless you all in all your endeavours.

Arunachala Darshan 8

2008-12-30T05:41:00.000-08:00

Mount Kailash Darshan

This is a darshan where Arunachala resembles Mount Kailash in one of its aspects.

People who have been to Mount Kailash can understand this darshan easily by the way the Hill peeps over from between two foothills. There is a place in Kailash Parikrama where the huge mountain also peeps from between two foothills. The resemblance is a matter of perception and faith.

This darshan is seen just about hundred meters before Seshadri Swamigal Ashram.

I do not know the spiritual potency of this darshan but would dare to say that seeing this darshan is equivalent to seeing Mount Kailash in Tibet.

Arunachala Darshan 7

2008-12-29T18:37:00.000-08:00

Trimurthi Darshan

We went on our first Arunachala Girivallam in Nov 2008. We were guided by Mr Anand who is the manager of Nannagaru Ashram. He took us through the path and showed us various darshans of Arunachala.

Near the point where the highway to Bangalore bridges off from the Girivallam road he showed us Arunachala and the three rock projections.

He told us that this is called as Trimurthi darshan by Sadhguru Sri Nannagaru. The three rock projections represent the three main gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Any wish asked off the Hill will fructify from here.

Arunachala Darshan 6

2008-12-28T09:28:00.000-08:00

The Triumphant Elephant darshan

The Vision of Arunachala from Adi Annamalai temple.

I personally am very fascinated with this darshan and try to look at this darshan as a triumphant Ganesha.

I still remember the beauty of the Hill on that lovely November morning.

Arunachala Darshan 5

2008-12-28T01:27:00.000-08:00

Narasimha Darshan

This is also a personal finding. It was discovered by my brother-in-law

It was the first time when I went to Arunachala on Nov 23rd 2008 that my brother-in-law pointed out to me that the Hill resembled the ManLion incarnation of Vishnu known as Lord Narasimha. Incidentally my brother-in-law's name too is Narsimha.

As we cross Adi Annamalai temple and walk towards Ramana bridge we come across the Elephant shaped Arunachala slowing turning into a pointed peak with the Northern Spur coming in line with the main peak. This darshan we will discuss later.

Before the two peaks come in line the main peak of Arunachala looks like a Lion face.

It is my imagination that from here the Hill looks like Narasimha with the smaller peak symbolizing prahlada.

A beautiful darshan.

Do try to get it when you are there next time.

Arunachala Parikrama

2008-12-27T06:23:00.000-08:00

Swami Gaurangananda

I was talking to Swami Gaurangananda today morning in Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad. He is a senior swami who has had the oppurtunity to go for Kailash parikrama a few years back. He has put forward very interesting aspects about the concept of parikrama.

Everyone of us who have done the parikrama of Arunachala have done with utmost faith in Bhagawan's words that its merits are indescribabale. But do we know why?

The Swami while explaining the concept of parikrama asks us to imagine the time we have gone to Tirupathi to see Lord Balaji.

Remember the stress, the hours long wait...etc.

Finally when we are in front of the Lord,we spend a few seconds and then we are immediately pushed so that others behind us can have a darshan. We too feel very happy that we have seen the Lord even though for a few seonds and move on. We do not mind the hours of stress because we were able to the Lord for a few seconds.

What would we do if we were given a chance to be with the Lord for hours together?

We would jump in joy. :)

This emotion is easily realized with parikrama.

As we circumbulate the Divine, we are with Him every second, every step.

We get to spend more time with the Lord. Also, the Lord is a centre of infinte grace which flows equally in all directions. Hence when we circumbulate Him we receive holy vibrations of the Godhead which makes parikrama even more practical and holy.

I thought these were beautiful words about a beautiful ritual.

The other famous parikrama sthalas are

River Naramada Parikrama (3000km)

Govardhan giri parikrama (30km)

Vrindavan Parikrama (10km)

and the very famous

Mount Kailash parikrama

Arunachala Darshan 4

2008-12-26T04:33:00.000-08:00

Eyes of Ganapathy darshan

This darshan is a personal finding and hence close to my heart.

If you see Arunachala once you cross Ramanaashram and before the road bridges to Bangalore you will be able to see the eyes of the Lord Ganapathi looking at you!!!

Indulge my perception for a moment.

Study the photograph of Arunachala uploaded with this darshan.

Now look at the peak.

Just below the peak on either side you will see two human eyes looking at you and the terrain between them bridge off into a trunk!

It looks like Vinayaka with a crown is looking at you with yogic eyes.

It is a very very stunning darshan and a personal finding which you can easily see in every photo or even live capture of Arunachala in this segment.

On analysing the image or the Hill you realize that the 'eyes' of Ganesha are made up by two groupings of trees with boulders on either side.

The right eye is made of trees and a sloping rock

and the left eye of a small grouping of trees and some boulders

and the Hill between these form the trunk.

try to understand and get this Arunachala Darshan...I feel it is very very powerful.

Arunachala Darshan 3

2008-12-24T23:33:00.000-08:00

Éru Pancha Muka Darshan

Peeping Shiva Darshan

This darshan according to agasthiar ashram is called Eru Pancha Muka Darshan. It is a darshan which destroys sins commited under duress.

Many of the darshans that I am going to outline in the various posts over the days are inspired both from the Agasthiar lineage and also from personal experience.

The usual sanskrit or tamil names of darshans indicate what agasthiar ashram names these darshans as.

The English heading is what I feel the darshan to be. Being an artist I felt I should also pen down my feelings of various darshans of the Arunachala Hill.

In the two previous posts, the Maya darshan is my own way of looking at the Mountain whereas the darshan from Seshadri Ashram is borrowed from agasthiar ashram.

I feel this darshan of the Hill from Ramanaashram is "The Peeping Shiva Darshan".

Here Shiva appears to me to be the Lord who is playing Hide and Seek with us and hence peeps out from his abode beyond the foothills of Arunachala. One who sees the Lord peeping from the summit of the foothills is blessed with emancipation from sins...obviously.

Arunachala Christmas

2008-12-24T04:46:00.000-08:00

Perfect cone Arunachala

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas

Arunachala Darshan 2

2008-12-23T20:13:00.001-08:00

Thejho Mukha Darshan

Emerging Shiva Darshan

This is the darshan of the Hill from Seshadri Swamigal ashram. If one looks at the hill from here one attains clarity of thought and strength in purpose. These emotions lead to further benifits of improving social relations and hence improves both materialistic and spiritual goals.

If one analyses the darshan from here one can see that the Hill is emerging slowly from the backdrop of various other smaller hills filled with strewn stones and shrubs.

The immediate vicinity of the darshan with these other hills is chaotic,muddled but the distant vision of the rising hill is calm, majestic and sovereign.

It holds a promise of power and glory soon to manifest.( The logical conlusion of this vision is the one the hill manifests in Ramana Ashram which will be discussed in the next post)

This is an absolutely stunning view of the hill and hence accelartes the mind to attain the various virtues discussed previously.

I personally look at this darshan as the Emerging Shiva Darshan. It looks to me that the Lord has had a good sleep and is now emerging from supine position to the reclining position. Just my thoughts...

The darshan of the Hill from Seshadri Ashram

images courtesy : WorldWideWeb

Arunachala Darshan 1

2008-12-21T01:42:00.000-08:00

MAYA DARSHAN

I think of this as the Maya Darshan. When I first went to Arunachala it was covered in the clouds. I could not see it. I hoped that I would be able to see it the next day when I went for my maiden Pradakshina around the Mountain.

I started along with my cousins early next day at about 4.00 AM. I had slept very little and had rushed out to see whether the cloud cover had receded. Unfortunately it had not.

On the Pradakshina path I walked slowly hoping for the clouds to lift. It was after I had covered a substantial distance that I thought I could see the peak as the clouds were slowing lifting away.

My first thought was the Mountain was sooo small. However I uttered heartfelt prayers to the peak which looked like a pointed triangle.

Stunningly the clouds behind the peak slowly lifted off and I saw awestruck at the Elephant Darshan of Arunachala.

I realized that the peak which I had thought to be Arunachala initially was the Parvathi Peak, a symbol of Maya.

I remebered Sri Ramakrishna's teaching that unless the Mother Goddess who is veruly Maya permits...one cannot see Isvara.

Here too my first full darshan of Arunachala was accomplished only I had 'worshipped' the Maya peak. It looked as if the Goddess in her compassion gave way for me to see the Lord who had smilingly emerged from behind her.

Truly the path to Isvara is by permission from Maya. Here are the photo graphs to explain what I mean.

This is before Arunachala disappears behind Maya. I could not see this becoz the cloud cover was very dense and it was dark.

This is Arunachala hidden behind Maya.

The Lord emeges at this angle and this is the place where I had my first darshana.

Moe Arunachala darshans to follow.