Grace

It is by God's Grace that you think of God.
Ramana Maharshi 

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Vaikuntavasar

Vaikuntavasar worked up his way to be Sri Ramana's attendant in 1940. Later he also was a member of the Board of Trustees of Sri Ramanasramam. The following article written by him entitled, 'Bhagavan the Way' appeared in the April, 1977 issue of The Mountain Path. "Out of thousands, perhaps one strives for Perfection; out of those who strive, perhaps one knows Me as I AM" BHAGAVAD GITA, Ch. VII. v. 3 Many are called but few are chosen; many more are not even called! Mumukshutwa (the seeking) is a rare trait and God's grace is needed for one to become a seeker. One does not become a seeker simply by giving up attachment. The great Maharashtrian saint, Eknath, a great scholar himself, had to do seva (service) to his guru, Janardana Swami, for not less than forty years! The seva included all household jobs like washing, cleaning, fetching water and there was actually no spiritual teaching as such. Our tradition enjoins twelve years of service to the guru. I was f...
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Pokkiri Mani

Rangan had a brother, who had also been Bhagavan Sri Ramana 's classmate. Though his name was Mani, he was nicknamed "Pokkiri" Mani ("Pokkiri" means "rogue" in Tamil). He was a tough, hefty man who intimidated people wherever he went. No one dared to pick a fight with him and gave in to his every whim. His mother was deeply devoted to Bhagavan Sri Ramana, even though she had seen him only as a child. When she saw Bhagavan Sri Ramana later at Virupaksha cave, she was totally transformed. Unfortunately, her son did not share her spiritual aspirations. Once, while travelling to Tirupati, the train passed through Tiruvannamalai. Mani's mother begged him, "Let us get down here and see our Venkataraman!" "I do not believe in all these fake sadhus. I won't come," he rasped. He took her to Tirupati, but on the way back she begged again, "I can't proceed further. I must see my Venkataraman!" Pokkiri Mani finally complie...
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ANNAMALAI SWAMI REMEMBERED

Building works, part 14 As the cowshed was nearing completion (Chinnaswami) came up to me and said, 'This building will be a success because of Bhagavan's plan. It is only because of his grace that we have been able to finance it. Now I believe you.'  Bhagavan often came to the cowshed to give instructions and to see what progress had been made. He even used to visit the site during the night.  Once, as we were supervising the work together, Bhagavan told me, 'If you build this cowshed for Lakshmi, we will get all the necessary punya [merit accumulated from performing virtuous acts] to build a bookstore, a dining room, and a shrine for the Mother. All this will happen in due course. This area will eventually become a town.'  Lakshmi herself often came to see how we were progressing with her new home. If Bhagavan were there he would often pat her on the head and say, 'You must wait for a few more days. The work isn't finished yet.'  In those days Lakshmi ...
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