Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

Discipline is the bridge between goals and

accomplishment.

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Ramana Maharshi: His Life, Ch. 13

Devotees and Visitors.

It was in the thirties that the fame of Sri Ramana started to spread

throughout the world. In 1931 Narasimha Swami published the

first English Ramana biography ‘Self Realization’.

Some years later Paul Brunton’s book ‘A Search in Secret India’

was published in England. It became a best-seller and

introduced Sri Ramana to the West.

Over the next few years many new devotees came to join him.

Some of them stayed with him their whole lives, for example the

Englishman Major Chadwick (Sadhu Arunachala), Balarama Reddy

and many others. In 1932, M.A. Piggot was the first Western

woman to visit him. More Westerners followed, such as Maurice

Frydman and the famous film star Mercedes De Acosta. In 1938

Mercedes De Acosta spoke with Sri Ramana about the spiritual

Heart. He pointed to the right side of her chest and said, “Here lies

the Heart”. This made such a deep impression on her that she gave

her autobiography the title ‘Here lies the Heart’.

Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Ramdas

were also among the visitors.

A meeting with Mahatma Gandhi almost took place, when one day

Gandhi gave a talk in Tiruvannamalai. But as his car drove past the

Ashram gate, his companion gave a sign to the driver to drive on

and so it did not happen. Later Krishnaswami visited Mahatma

Gandhi in Madras. When he introduced himself as a resident of

Ramanashram, the Mahatma replied, “I would love to come and

see Bhagavan but I don’t know when the time will come.”

Also worth mentioning is the brief visit of Somerset Maugham, the

celebrated British writer, which took place in 1939. Major Chadwick was sitting with Maugham on the veranda when he suddenly fainted. He was brought to Chadwick’s room to rest. Later Sri Ramana came to see him there. They sat opposite each other for half an hour without a word being said. Then Somerset Maugham asked, “Is there any need to say anything?” “No,” replied Sri Ramana, “Silence is best. Silence is itself conversation.”

About the meeting Somerset Maugham wrote the essay ‘The Saint’

and also digested his impressions in his famous novel ‘The Razor’s Edge’.

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In order to stop our racing me-centered narratives, first we need to make peace with what’s arising in our minds and hearts and to see it as it is. What is the ego, or what we think of as the ego, doing?

Lisa Ernst, “What to Do When Someone Steals Your Cushion”

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Ultimately, our ability to handle stress often depends on our capacity to control our attention and create accurate and helpful mental narratives about how we approach challenges.

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