Yogi Ramsuratkumar changed my life

Yogi Ramsuratkumar changed my life

One year ago on 27 December, 2017, I was invited to the 4 am Pradakshina in the

Yogi Ramsuratkumar Pradhan Mandir. The one hour Nama chanting and circumambulation

of the large hall was a profound experience. Following the lead of Ma Devaki,

beloved disciple of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, the rounds went quickly and were full of energy

and grace.

This was followed by Ma Devaki’s Satsang in the Grace dining hall with tea, coffee and biscuits.

A welcome refreshment in the still early morning hours.

With a subtle blend of stories and insightful teachings Ma drew me into the world

of Yogi Ramsuratkumar. Sitting among 20 or so Westerners I felt a little less the outsider

and more connected to Guruji. I imagined he himself would have done the same were

he still in his body. There are many stories about how he had welcomed and comforted

Westerners with his presence and teaching.

It wasn’t long before I experienced a tremendous attraction emanating from this place.

After several days the energy was clearly focused on the quote on the wall of the Grace

dining hall and the nearby photograph of Yogi Ramsuratkumar. Suddenly I became lost in a transcendent grace that pervaded my entire being. As I read the words repeatedly,

hypnotically, a shift in perspective opened up a world where everything was God.

If you want God alone

Why do you accept

The existence of

Anything else?  Yogi Ramsuratkumar

The wording challenged the last defences of my resistant ego;

the ‘you’ that separated itself from God. That ‘you’ once released melted and God alone

shone everywhere.

From that moment onward a clear direction was set to the magnetic north of Truth.

“Father alone exists. Nothing else. Nobody else.” Yogi Ramsuratkumar

In fact, what was formerly seen as other, people, places, and objects, became animated

by the same magnetic energy. Everything is God. Including the ‘me’ I thought I was.

I returned to my country and former life in January 2018.

Rapidly all the responsibilities and emotional attachments of my former life

resolved themselves. I did very little. Business holdings, family relationships,

financial and other obligations clearly and decisively ended.

The effortlessness itself was exhilarating. Within a month of leaving I found myself

back in Tiruvannamalai appreciating that heaven on earth had admitted me.

An outsider no more. I was Home.

Ways To Leave Your Lover

A very powerful image of Kali that I have experienced. Laying down for the Love of Your Life in the form of Kali is what Shiva does. No argument, no fighting, no deal making.

Om Mata, Om Kali, Durga Devi Namo Namaha 🙏

The pose shows Dakshinakali at the conclusion of an episode in which Kali was rampaging out of control after destroying many demons. Shiva, fearing that Kali would not stop until she destroyed the world, he could only think of one way to pacify her. He lay down on the battlefield so that she would have to step on him. Seeing her consort under her foot, Kali realized that she had gone too far, or maybe just far enough, and calmed down.

The problem is all inside your head she said to me
The answer is easy if you take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover

    Paul Simon - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

No Do-Overs

After Learning all scientific theories and becoming highly educated persons in the world, then if the people do not destroy their pride and ego through Self-Inquiry, there is no use of their illusionary achievements.

The uneducated people are better than them.

The pride of acquiring Education, the desire for appreciation and fame are subject matters for discouragement.

That Education is not at all education and real knowledge.

The Education which paves the way for searching the Truth, the education which inculcates obedience in them is the superior education. It will make them humble and honest people to behave with a sense of equality towards all in the World.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

If you've made it this far you must be fascinated by the above quote. Personally, I was attracted and repulsed by it. Now, a year later, I am attracted to the direction it indicates.

Let me explain.

I am very aware from personal experience of the pride, ego and desire that Sri Ramana introduces here. My education carried me through an MBA in a very conservative school that basically taught that greed was good. At the same time I was studying Zen Buddhism at the Rochester Zen Center, so was somewhat balanced, or confused, in turns.

Self-Inquiry can help destroy pride and ego. The suffering that comes with relationships based on self-will makes made me receptive.

It's the obedience that I always have a hard time with! I, for various reasons, have not trusted many teachers and superiors very much. So this came with difficulty to me.

Then I realized that I was an iconoclast, challenging cherished beliefs or venerated institutions on the grounds that they are erroneous or pernicious. It was a reflexive action, not a conscious choice.

I mentioned that suffering makes one receptive. That made all the difference and tipped the scales for me towards Self-Inquiry. It became evident that the more I pushed, tried to understand and came up with fixes and solutions, the more personal suffering followed. Not to mention the suffering my efforts brought to others. 

Quite a shock to realize that all the evaluation, analysis and problem solving I spent my waking hours doing was not helping, and in many cases really doing harm to the ones I loved.

This didn't happen overnight. Unfortunately. My grip on coming to terms with all of this involved a lot of ''trying to understand" which, according to my oldest child, turned out to be a weird way of controlling others behavior through relentless questioning.

A client of mine then told me something that made sense. In difficult relationships don't Question, Suggest, or Advise. Unfortunately for me it was too little too late. They took my quiescence in a different way.

Now I'm quietly working on becoming a humble and honest person behaving with a sense of equality towards all in the world. Who Am I? is the question I ask to guide me.