My First Days at the Holy Mountain

 

MARCH 2013

 

 

I’m writing to you from my desk which overlooks the southern face of Arunachala while listening to a Tamil song that says “appala mittup paru, attai chappi-tun asai-yai tiru”- “make poppudums, just try, and these eat, your longing to satisfy”. The song continues, using the process of making poppudums as an analogy of the spiritual path. The Tamil family in whose house I have my little “hermitage” (one bedroom with bathroom and kitchen), received me as a sadhak (one performing religious practices in the search of divine truth). They have been an extension of Lord Arunachala Siva’s gracious hospitality towards me. In this “small” space my heart opens wide and I find immense freedom and joy.

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Here, in Tamil Nadu, my ancestors since time immemorial have worshipped the Transcendent Mystery of the Universe as Siva. I believe that this Siva is none other than the one Jesus called Father. And Jesus who claimed to be “the way to the Father” has led me here to my Father’s presence as Arunachala Siva.

 

Arunachala - the immovable mountain of light - was originally the manifestation of Lord Siva as a pillar of fire. In his benevolence, the Supreme Siva allowed the column of fire to solidify into this mountain as a constant reminder of his presence in the midst of us. The mountain is the very embodiment of Anbe Siva (the God of absolute love and bliss). Sages have been drawn here for thousands of years, where they have been held in the strong-soft arms of Arunachala, having their ego rooted out, so that the true-self may be realised.

 

 

MY LIFE AT THE MOUNTAIN…

 

Life here in Thiruvannamalai revolves around the central feature of the Mountain. Through life and death, movement and stillness, sorrow and joy, the vile and holy – all the movements and emotions of human life – Arunachala stands there unmoved, blissfully still, strong and majestic – a sign of the Unmoved Mover of all things.  At the base of the mountain there’s all sorts of things happening -temple pujas, funeral and wedding processions, selling and buying, tourists, pilgrims, traffic… every sense is invoked! And in the midst of it Arunachala stands there motionless as the silent witness of all and an ever-present sign of the Supreme Reality. A year ago the magnetic power of this Mountain caught my heart and has now drawn me here with cords of love. Like mother and father the Mountain embraces me at every moment and directs my entire day.

 

Truly, this has become home! However, it has been a major lifestyle change in comaparison to my life in South Africa - cycling instead of driving a car, white dhotis instead of levi jeans, watching for full-moon days instead of following a diary, less speaking and more listening… All of this change happening within that wonderful movement of grace that guides us in the great journey back 'Home'. Arunachala is truly an intense call to journey inwards towards what the Hindu sages have called “the cave of the heart” - that place where in the depths of the self is hidden the true essence of the human soul and where the only thing that matters is oneness with the One. I feel the watchful eye of Arunachala-Siva constantly looking at me and gently working within me.

 

I still struggle to wake up too early (some of you would know I’m not a morning person) and only fall asleep by midnight. I begin my day with some simple yoga exercises, then perform puja (worship) at the shrine in my room, and then turning towards my open window overlooking the Mountain I enter into an hour of meditation. There’s a depth that I reach here that I haven’t experienced in other spaces. I credit this to the movement of grace emanating from Lord Arunachala-Siva. This is the first pillar of my day.

 

The second pillar is the evening prayer that takes place at the Ramana Ashram. Monday to Saturday night there is the singing of Parayana, which are Tamil verses sung about the spiritual journey. As the women and men, seated facing each other, offer the verses from one side to the other, a wave of divine bakthi (devotional expression inspired by the movement of love) is formed and those sitting in the hall are carried on it – washed, lifted up and refreshed.

 

Between these two pillars the rest of my day swings, in which everything and anything can happen. Some days I walk up the mountain and sit in one of the caves, other days I read, or I meet with friends, or visit the main temple, or spend time at Qua Vadis (the Interfaith Dialogue Centre), or do pradakshina (circumambulation of the mountain which takes about 3 hours) or rest… 

 

In the midst of all of this I’m learning to just be present in the moment as I sharpen my God-consciousness by surrendering daily to the grace and power of Arunachala-Siva and seeking to live according to the teachings of my Sanata Sat Guru, Jesus Christ. 

 

 

HINDU-CHRISTIAN...

 

Some may struggle with the fluidity in which I move between Hindu and Christian thoughts. For those who know me this will not come as a surprise. I’m Christian in as much as Jesus the universal embodiment of love is my guru and Hindu in as much as the spirituality with which I have the deepest hereditary, emotional and intellectual connection is Hinduism. Religion is only a sign pointing to the Supreme. Many stop and worship at the sign forgetting the Greater Reality it points to. I believe, in different ways all the religions at their essential level point to the same thing. When we behold that which true religion points to and listen to each other we see that it is One. These terms, Christian, Hindu, Muslim etc, and all other terms by which we define and categorise humanity become less meaningful as we realise we all are divine sparks from the One Great Fire. Every human being is a child of God returning to the Heart of the Universe. Any religion that claims an exclusive god, offers a god that is too small for me! Even religion must be abandoned in the final leap of faith – when holding to nothing, stripped of everything, I cling to the Supreme alone.

 

 “The raindrops showered down by the clouds, risen from the sea, cannot rest

until they reach, despite all hindrance, once again their ocean home. 

The embodied soul from You proceeding may through various ways, self-chosen, 

wander aimless for a while, but cannot rest till it rejoins You, the Source.

A bird may hover here and there and cannot in mid-heaven stay.

It must come back the way it went to find at last on earth alone its resting place.

Even so the soul must turn to You, O Arunachala, and merge again in You alone, Ocean of bliss.”                                  

(Ramana Maharishi - Sri Arunachala Ashatkam)

 

Om Tat Sat – It’s Is!

 

Yenrum Anbudam – with all my love,

 

Fr. Kumeran