Thursday, July 31, 2008

The uncarved heartless rock

As the bus pulls out of the town, it takes the pradakshina road to get to Bangalore road, thereby giving me a complete Arunachala darshan.

I realize that the Mountain loves me through my eyes. Only this morning I had walked up to Skandashram with Pavan. Skandashram is a cave like house where Ramana Maharishi lived till his mother left the body. It's a lovely nook in the hill, with a panaromic view of the temple town below.
But if I am in the mountain, I cant look at the mountain.

I wonder if there is mention of this specific brand of devotion anywhere in the spiritual texts. Ramakrishna, in the Gospel, talks about different kinds of bhakti.

Master (to the devotees) : God can be served in different ways. An ecstatic lover of God enjoys Him in different ways. Sometimes he says, 'O God, You are the lotus and I am the bee', and sometimes, 'You are the ocean of Satchitananda and I am the fish'. Sometimes he says, 'I am your dancing girl', and sings and dances before Him. He thinks of himself sometimes as God's friend, and sometimes as his handmaid. He looks on God as a child, as did Yasoda, and sometimes as husband or sweetheart, as did the gopis.

So its Ok for me to feel angry and abandoned and separated when the bus pulls me away from the beautiful uncarved rock who slowly disappears behind the trees.

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