Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives- Tiruvanamallai, India

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives- Tiruvanamallai, India

Tiruvanamalli was covered in a dark blanket of night, when I arrived for the first time. The few hours of silence between midnight to early morning were still remaining, however a roadside tea stall had resumed its services. The vapors coming out of boiling tea were vanishing in the moist air, inducing freshness even before sipping. The tea was finished, but the beauty of night forced me to absorb the moment a bit more. On a lonely bench of a bus stop, I was trying to look the sacred Arunacha hills, and wondering about its presence. It is like God; you know that it exists but you cannot see. After spending sufficient time, I boarded in a hotel and fell into sleep. The spirituality doesn't wake you up when you are already in heaven. At 9:00 hrs, I was ready to have a first view of hill Arunachala, which was the last and only attachment of Shri Ramana Maharish. Maharishi said that “there is no place left, where I have not stepped on the hill”. Also, he recommended his devotees to pay homage by circling the hill. I was relating all these stories with the Govardhana Hill of Brijbhoomi; the land of Lord Krishna close to my birthplace in northern India. My mind was lost in the beauty of the hill and my body was following the way to the Ramanashram. As soon as you enter, the soberness of ashram draws your attention and gives a soothing feeling. My attraction was the meditation room where Bhagwan was used to meet his devotees in silence. However, the entry was restricted as it was time for cleaning, thus I started my journey to the hill. After returning from the hill, the serenity and silence of the room welcomed me. The aura of silence in the room cannot be expressed in words, thus I am not even trying it. The Bhuddha said that “which cannot be said should not be said”.   Maharishi used to say that “which is silence, how silence can be expressed in words”. How In

I always wonder that how people gain courage to renounce worldly life for the search of peace. In meditation room, a thought flashed about Baba Neeb Karoli who used to say that “courage is utterly important in devotion”. I said to myself, what is this courage and how it is possible to have it on will. The next thought was “learn from the people who have experienced it”. Now, evening was approaching and people started gathering in the ashram for Arunachala prayer. As a ritual, a person lits the fire on the hill top, and devotees view it from the ashram and chant Arunachala song. The chanting was going, and in a big crowd my eyes stopped on one face. She was a foreigner in her early thirties, wearing an India  attire. She was chanting the song and I could see a deep devotion flowing from her eyes. On the next day, I had opportunity to talk and asked to share her story about the journey to Ramanashram. Now I am sharing the story of this devotee of Bhagwan Shri Raman Maharishi, which is very ordinary, but highly inspiring.

Lena is sitting in her consultation chamber and looking towards the window with vague eyes. She holds a doctorate in psychology from a premier university of Chile (Latin America) and help people in solving their psychological problems. Since childhood, she has been conditioned to lead a challenging life of the urban sphere, but today she is sad as one of her clients has asked a tough question in return to the counselling; “Are you happy and completely satisfied in your life”?  The question was strait and Lena was not prepared for it. She smiled and said “off course”, but she is deeply shocked with the realization that she is really not happy. For the next few days, she became more conscious towards her unhappiness, which is without any reasons as she has all what is required to be happy. Lena said “Finally, I accepted that my life is boring and lost the meaning”. She lost all the interest in her profession, because she believed that an unhappy person cannot bring happiness to others. She consulted one of her professors, who advised her to visit India for a change and experiencing solitude. In his opinion, the concept of spirituality is still very much matured in the east and old techniques has solution for the modern world. 

With no second thought, Lena packed her bag and arrived in New Delhi. But, what she found was completely different from her imagination. She stayed some time in Haridwar and Rishikesh and tried to adjust in the new environment. “People stare you constantly, which brings a sense of insecurity and uncomfort”. New culture, environment and lonliness  changed her thought process, and unknowingly the trip changed into a stressful mission. A deliberate effort to counter the adverse situation, resulted into frustration  which accumulation underneath. She started disliking the place, and whole world appeared to be rough with her. One fine day, the bubble of pain bust into tears with a tender touch of river Ganges. Lena was sitting on the famous bank of the Ganges (Har ki Paudi) and constantly looking to the flowing water. Suddenly, she was out of sync from her thought process and had a glimpse of inner compassion. She was the source and receiver of that compassion, which melted her toughness into tears. She was crying loudly and everybody was looking at her. Suddenly, a mid aged Indian lady came and hugged Lena. The lady started consoling her like a child. They both did not know each other, but that was not a limitation at that moment. Lena accepted the lady as a very close being and kept her forehead on her shoulder. Probably, the lady was from rural India and not able to speak English, but a non verbal communication was powerful. Lena received the mother like love from her, which brought a drastic transformation within her. From that day, she had no more negative feeling or frustration; the whole world was changed suddenly. Now, she could appreciate the colors of the holy city and staring eyes were no more causing insecurity. From that time Lena never looked back and started living life at a different level of consciousness. Later she moved to Tirruvanamalai, and in no time realized that this is her home. In the due course, she met her a boyfriend and now they both are exploring the way ahead. She admits that this is an endless journey, and happiness is not an object. Her quest for happiness is no more there and she is in love with her present. She works for an International university, and run a course on “effective online teaching”. Nothing has changed, but life has changed.  

So this was a story about an ordinary courage which resulted into extraordinary life. The simple things are very rare, because complexity fascinates human mind. I hope this story will inspire you to look for a different dimension of life within this life.                   

Written by Krishnamurti in 1980 at the request of his biographer Mary Lutyens.

The core of Krishnamurti’s teaching is contained in the statement he made in 1929 when he said, “Truth is a pathless land”. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through the mirror of relationship, through the understanding of the contents of his own mind, through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection.

Man has built in himself images as a fence of security—religious, political, personal. These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden of these images dominates man’s thinking, his relationships, and his daily life. These images are the causes of our problems for they divide man from man. His perception of life is shaped by the concepts already established in his mind. The content of his consciousness is his entire existence. The individuality is the name, the form and superficial culture he acquires from tradition and environment. The uniqueness of man does not lie in the superficial but in complete freedom from the content of his consciousness, which is common to all humanity. So he is not an individual.

Freedom is not a reaction; freedom is not choice. It is man’s pretence that because he has choice he is free. Freedom is pure observation without direction, without fear of punishment and reward. Freedom is without motive; freedom is not at the end of the evolution of man but lies in the first step of his existence. In observation one begins to discover the lack of freedom. Freedom is found in the choiceless awareness of our daily existence and activity.

Thought is time. Thought is born of experience and knowledge, which are inseparable from time and the past. Time is the psychological enemy of man. Our action is based on knowledge and therefore time, so man is always a slave to the past. Thought is ever limited and so we live in constant conflict and struggle. There is no psychological evolution. When man becomes aware of the movement of his own thoughts, he will see the division between the thinker and thought, the observer and the observed, the experiencer and the experience. He will discover that this division is an illusion. Then only is there pure observation which is insight without any shadow of the past or of time. This timeless insight brings about a deep, radical mutation in the mind.

Total negation is the essence of the positive. When there is negation of all those things that thought has brought about psychologically, only then is there love, which is compassion and intelligence.

Copyright ©1980 Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Ltd.