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The mythological, holy hill Arunachala (Annamalai in Tamil) has been a spiritual magnet through the ages. A practice called giri-pradakshina (girivalam in Tamil) i.e. the circumambulation of a holy object, in this case, the hill, is done here since ancient times. In 2012 I was fortunate to go around it on 50 consecutive days. I feel I will go again soon.
devotees soon reaching their goal of the 15km circumamabulation (giri pradakshina or girivalam in Tamil) of the holy Arunachala hill, the great temple of Arunachala (Annamalaiyar temple).
It is that feeling of separateness that gives rise to desires, suffering and unhappiness. Keep the mind in the Self!
... You'll see everything as your own Self.
Annamalai Swami
I met Dandapani daily on my walks around the Hill. Besides being a farmer and land owner he used to sell tea and coffee in a shop in Adi Annamalai. His father who was in the same line knew Sri Ramana. Now his sons are running the shop.
that is the circumambulation around the holy hill Arunachala in South India close to the city of Tiruvannamalai.
only very few sadhus on the giriprasakshina (circumambulation) road around the holy Arunachala hill could be seen in contemplation. He was a rare exception. He faced the setting sun, his robe, as is the custom, ochre.
while waiting for my turn...
that was the. first time in my life that I decided to shave my head; it was a nice feeling, a bit awkward but nice.
thank you friends for being here! <3
Be conscious of yourself as consciousness alone.
Watch all the thoughts come and go.
Come to the conclusion, by direct experience, that you are really consciousness itself, not its ephemeral contents.
Annamalai Swami in
today morning while swimming in a pool I saw the lines on the pool floor distorted by the waves; in the same way reality is distorted while we perceive through our mind - all the more when the mind is turbulent. <3
für Simone <3
one who turns inward
with an untroubled mind
to search where the consciousness I arises
realizes the Self
and rests in That
like a river when it joins the ocean.
Sri Ramana Maharshi
the stars may be seen distinctly before the sun rises, but as His light advances their rays are gradually absorbed by His, and they become invisible. Not from the want of light in themselves, but from the superior effulgence of the chief luminary.
The case is similar here, for there is a strong and universal light which absorbs all the little distinct lights of the soul. They grow faint and disappear under its powerful influence and self activity is now now longer distinguishable.
What are you going to do? You're going to quiet the mind. And what will happen? When the mind is quiet everything will happen by itself. The truth will come out of you. You will not have to
think about it. You will be aware of reality and you will find unalloyed happiness, great joy, a great peace, a great love and you will have a great compassion. And you will be kind to everything to insects, to animals, to humans, to minerals, everything is alive and you will have reverence for all things.
...
Just sit by yourself as much as you can. And watch your mind, watch your mind. Do whatever you have to do to slow down your
mind and then you're going to be amazed. You will laugh at yourself. For when the mind becomes quiescent, reality will rush in. And you'll see it's so simple, it’s so simple. Why didn't I know this all the time? I used to believe by reading volume after volume I'll become enlightened. But it was so easy, I just had to quiet my mind.
Robert Adams
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trying to withdraw into silence for a while - thank you dear friends! <3
In the pleasant evening light the lady is selling tasty, home prepared food stuff to people walking along the girivalam path, i.e. the path around the Arunachala hill. Her view seems to rest on the holy hill which is to the left.
that is the full moon night, January 2012, coinciding with the birthday of the sage Sri Ramana Maharshi. A 100 000 , - like a human garland -walk around the holy Arunachala hill.
the stars may be seen distinctly before the sun rises, but as His light advances their rays are gradually absorbed by His, and they become invisible. Not from the want of light in themselves, but from the superior effulgence of the chief luminary.
The case is similar here, for there is a strong and universal light which absorbs all the little distinct lights of the soul. They grow faint and disappear under its powerful influence and self activity is now now longer distinguishable.
In the midst of the cave of the heart, in the form of the I, in the form of the Self, unique and solitary, Brahman’s glory shines directly from Himself on Himself. Penetrate deep within, your thought piercing to its source, your mind having plunged into itself, with breath and sense held close in the depths, your whole self fixed in yourself, and there, simply BE!
This picture is dedicated to Janet! May she be in the Light and have a good journey! <3
today, on November 20. Deepam Festival Commences
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i may be absent for a longer time now, practicing this:
be well dear friends! <3
as we continued along the road around the hill, it soon became dark and we entered the northern road which already spots the first shops of the city of Tiruvannamalai. The shops usually have no door and open towards the street.
Oh yes, I shouldn't have cut his feet!!
day 6/7
until you reach your heart,
then the many will be One.
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When the mind becomes still
the power of the Self will be experienced.
youtu.be/4O-NOxQlKKM?si=KEroeHTb5WmygFTS
You are not earth, water, fire or air.
Nor are you empty space.
Liberation is to know yourself
as Awareness alone—
the Witness of these.
Abide in Awareness
with no illusion of person.
You will be instantly free and at peace.
You have no caste or duties.
You are invisible, unattached, formless.
You are the Witness of all things.
Be happy.
I am wonderful indeed--
beyond adoration.
I am astounded at my powers.
The universe appears within me
but I do not touch it.
from the Ashtavakra Gita
repost
Arunachala hiding under morning clouds.
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Coming to Arunachala, an unknown American geologist is famed to have said "Arunachala should have been thrown up by the earth under the stress of some violent volcanic eruption in the dim ages before even the coal-bearing strata were formed. This rocky mass of granite may be dated back to the earliest epoch of the history of our planet's crust, that epoch which long preceded the vast sedimentary formation in which fossil records of plants and animals have been preserved. It existed long before the gigantic saurians of the pre-historic world moved their ungainly forms through the primeval forests that covered our early earth. It was contemporaneous with the formation of the very crust of earth itself. Arunachala was almost as hoary and as ancient as our planetary home itself"
From this we can place his analysis to mean that Arunachala was perhaps 'born' in the Hadean/Archean period which ranges from 4.4 to 3-8 billion years.
Geological experiments in and around Tiuvannamalai have revealed that the rock (charnokite) which makes up Arunachala covering is older than 3.5 billion years old ( Geological Survey of India) and banded Iron formations around Tiruvannamalai area are thought to be about 3 billion years old.
(Mineralogy and chemistry of banded iron formations (BIF) of Tiruvannamalai area, Tamil Nadu,Journal of Earth System Science,Volume 98, Number 2 / July, 1989.)
It is thus evident that even scientific conclusions do place Arunachala Age to be beyond 3.5 billion years and perhaps the range would be 4.4 to 3.5 billion years old.
In lay man's terms, Arunachala can be as old as the Earth itself!
from the internet
The only useful purpose of the present birth is to turn within and realize the Self. All that is required is to be still. There is nothing else to do.
Sri Ramana Maharshi
seen from the south; almost every morning those clouds are there; by noon they will have disappeared.
having seen through the deceitful senses and allowing them to subside and having thereby ended the objective knowing of the mind, the jumping ego, to know the lightless light and the soundless sound in the heart is the true power of yoga.
from Be As You Are - Ramana Maharshi - edited by David Godman.
youtu.be/5MTy0lSsh3Q?si=S3v04c5lNRWmsvye
try this beautiful guided meditation:
youtu.be/wWZPldc-hg0?si=Cy42CzTA2PDrv7YR
not my photo
taken from:
Karthigai Maha Deepam the great festival in Tamil Nadu, India culminated yesterday with the lighting of a fire atop the Arunachala hill.
Arunachala, the holy hill of Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu is a spiritual focus of the world. One of the oldest geological formations, the hill has a hoary tradition of attracting great souls seeking the truth of existence. Over the centuries, Arunachala, 'the hill of dawn', has become the way, the light for those in quest of spiritual sustenance. Sri Ramana Maharishi, who sought the hill immediately after his life-changing 'death-experience', has said that Arunachala is a hill of spiritual light. Today, millions go round the hill during the full-moon days in the hope that it will quench their spiritual thirst. The chant of Arunachala will put the Light where it belongs.... Your heart. That is the light that illumines all other lights.
As snow in water, let me melt as love in Thee, Who art Love itself, O Arunachala!
quote from the 108 verses on Arunachala by
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------away till June!
thank you friends for all your support, comments, faves ... <3
....
Thou art the inner Self, who dances in the Heart as "I".
Heart is Thy name, Oh Lord!
verse 2 of "Five Stanzas to Sri Arunachala" by Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Arunachala Pancaratnam
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Ocean of Nectar, Full of Grace,
Engulfing the Universe in Thy Splendour !
Oh, Arunachala — the Supreme Itself !
Be Thou the Sun, and open the Lotus of my Heart in Bliss,
Oh Arunachala !
In Thee the picture of the Universe
Is formed, has its stay and is dissolved.
This is the Sublime Truth.
Thou Art the Inner-Self,
who dancest in the Heart as 'I',
Heart is Thy Name, Oh Lord !
He who turns inward with untroubled mind
To search where the conciousness of 'I' arises
Realises the Self and rests in Thee,
Oh Arunachala ! like a river when it joins the Ocean.
Abandoning the outer world,
with Mind and Breath Controlled,
To meditate on Thee within, the Yogi sees Thy Light,
Oh Arunachala ! and finds his delight in Thee !
He who dedicates his mind to Thee,
and seeing Thee always beholds the Universe as Thy figure;
He Who at all times Glorifies Thee
and loves Thee as none other than the Self,
He is the Master without rival – being One with Thee,
Oh Arunachala ! And lost in Thy Bliss.
youtu.be/-k1dM2QKYts?si=aDTAlr6gGd3DqJQp
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Fourth of February 2012, around 6:30. As usual in the morning, Sri Arunachala wears a cloud cap which lasts up to the early afternoon on some days. The path is quiet, especially at this part of the road on the western side of the hill. Few vehicles pass by; always one finds some people doing girivalam (the ritual circuit of the holy hill in clockwise direction).
looking down on the city of Tiruvannamalai on my first walk on the hill after visiting the second time; it was already late afternoon and the shadows grew longer by the minute. The bustle of the city is only faintly audible, the presence and power of Arunachala is felt very strongly. I took this foto exactly 12 years ago, on September 7th. 2012.
ascending from the town (Tiruvannamalai) and after a stop at Virupaksha cave, we reached Skandashram. These people gathered in the shade of a big mango tree and seemed to discuss things about Sri Ramana who lived here for many years until the death of his mother, after which he settled down on the Southside of Arunachala and where thus Sri Ramanasramam was founded.
day 7/8