Introduction Wie we wake up in the morning, we take it for granted that we wake up to a world that is somehow more real than the shifting world we encounter whilst asleep. We think also that the world to which we awaken is a mere continuation of the world we left behind when we entered sleep the previous night. But who is the sleeper, the dreamer and the Self who wakes up and claims this world as his own and not another’s? This question has perplexed many individuals who have surrendered all to discover the answer to this riddle. For it is obvious that before we understand and identify the true nature of this Self, in both its dreaming and its waking states, we are merely carried along by the seemingly chance experiences that arise in our consciousness. Be it understood that the latter is the basis of all our experiences — in both dreaming and waking. As the former, it is vague and seldom under our control; as the latter, it formulates what we know as our mind. But what is mind? It is the identification of a limited, indi- vidualised consciousness-of-existence, as ‘my existence’, ‘your existence’, and so on, themselves but the figments of dreaming. It is the same with consciousness. ‘Things’ spring into existence; without consciousness we seem to experience pure non-existence a void so far as we are concerned, although there is no ‘we’ to experience it. Notwithstanding, it is the basic Self, and it supports both consciousness and mind. The full appreciation of this fact—_- 14 At The Feet of the Guru constitutes Self-realisation, the supreme state of being-non. being, which is experienced by the Sages, as by other embodiments of fully illumined consciousness, such as those that form the substance of the following essays. The gods and goddesses, temples, images and icons that form a backdrop to the stage whereupon many of the lives men- tioned herein were enacted, need not mislead the reader into according to them any but a purely incidental element, consonant with the nature and habits of the individuals here considered. The scene is India, yes; but the Players are beyond nationality, in that they are jivanmuktas — a term signifying ‘liberated whilst yet incarnate’. So, whether it be the repetition of a particular mantra specified by the Guru, or the profound study of sacred texts with Guru’s guidance — or even the touching in reverence of the feet of a divine statue, or those of a living Guru — no distinction is made by either the Guru or the chela — for all are One and Not-One. The author’s thanks and acknowledgements are due, and gratefully given, to th a e Editors of the various publications which appear in the bibliography, Kenneth Grant, London, 2005.Arunachala Siva The Void Nature of the Self ‘n Sri Narasimhaswami’s book Self-Realisation, The Life and Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, it is described how Bhagavan appeared to a devotee in his true form. The devotee had asked Sri Bhagavan: “Will you please enable me to see your Real Form, if I am eligible to see it?” In the words of the devotee: “He silently gazed on as usual and I gazed into His eyes. Then his body and also the picture of Dakshinamurti dis- appeared from my view. There was only empty space, without even a wall, before my eyes.” A month after this mysterious incident, Bhagavan said to the devotee: “You wanted to see my form. You saw my disap- pearance. I am Formless. So, that experience might be the real truth.” Now if we pause to consider the significance of this marvellous occurrence, we are struck with the astonishing fact that this is what happens to each one of us every day. Each time we enter into the state of Sushupti, or deep and dreamless sleep, objects vanish as mysteriously as they vanished for the devotee in the above quotation. The difference, of course, being that the devotee ~ by the incalculable Grace of Bhagavan — entered into the formless or deep sleep state while yet awake! But, nonetheless, the message enshrined in the incident is one which can andsee his real form, but the devotee himself. The |: sciousness apprehended itself in all its fullness and truth, and the form therefore disappeared; for the Void alone is true and latter’s con- mass, to that Eye of the Infinite which alone cognises massive Bliss and which sees the Void alone, for It is Itself. of nature Void. It is quite clear from many remarks which Bhagavan made from time to time, that He did not hold his bodily form to be any more real than a Painting or Photograph of Him. When a devotee once took leave of Bhagavan carrying away a portrait of Him, Bhagavan remarked “He is taking Swami with him”. And when the moment of the Mahanirvana drew nigh, He insisted that Bhagavan was not the body. Also that He would abide eternally where He always was, for where else could He 80, being for ever the Void and spaceless Arunachala Siva in the Heart of the devotee. And thus again did He insist upon the identification of the Real with the Blissful nature of the Void.Arunachala Siva 17 Bhagavan has declared the only mode of discovering the Real; for when all is said and done, one is forced back to the juestion: To whom do all these objects appear? Who is it that a these things of the world? And it is plain upon very little see’ ation that all - without the least exception ~ occur only to the body and the mind, and are therefore worthless, because impermanent and so unreal. There is no other way left to us who love Bhagavan and the way He taught, but to determine now to discard interest in all that occurs to this body and mind, and to seek and merge in the Void nature behind all appear- ances. We can no longer deceive ourselves into thinking that one way is as good as another, for this is manifestly not the case, as all considerations depend ultimately upon the identity of the experiencer and not upon what is experienced. Bhagavan has said that Atmavichara is the only Sadhana not dependent upon mentation. To worship any form, divine or otherwise, is but to beg the question and delay the issue; for once again, Who is it that worships? The way of Atmavichara is for those who can no longer be enchanted by the glamour of Maya, but who steadfastly refuse to enter into any consideration of worldly issues. Economics, Progress, Civilisation, are pet foibles and base illusions as meaningless as they are pernicious, for they pertain to a totally unreal state of things which can never be anything but replete with misery and deception. Bhagavan has cleared the ground on all such issues; we cannot know the nature of the world until we know the Self, and any help we may presume to render the world until the Realisation of the Self has been achieved, is but fresh fuel to the seething cauldron of chaos and disorder that some would have us believe already prevails. When Bhagavan was broached on such matters — as He often was — He denied the disharmonious nature of the world, and pointed to the root of the trouble in the questioner’s ego which alone originated, Peed and fed all the trouble he thought he saw outside im. Further, He asks if these troubles appear in deep and —aa, and one is forced to admit that they q © not, re of these apparent troubles made Manifes, At The Feet of the Guru 18 dreamless sleep, 5 s is the true natu aa, ee most stupid of us. : : ‘And so all is resolved into the single question: Who am I? Ty Bhagavan’s books, the ultimate Truth is presented in a manner of sublime simplicity and ineffable beauty. After perusing these books and meditating upon their contents, if one asks further questions, one merely confuses the issue and proves oneself incapable of comprehending even the simplest statement of fact, So then, let us endeavour with all the one-pointedness of which we are each individually capable, of so tracing the thought to its source that the world disappears from our vision, Then we shall know at last the true significance of the marvellous incident related of Bhagavan’s bodily form which seemed to vanish from before the gaze of the devotee. Let His Divine Grace work within us to this end, that we also may see His true form and become one with the Void, the Self, the Brahman or Pure Consciousness, forever bereft of thought-constructions, ideas and forms. The Call Divine, Bombay, May 1953.