Are There Two Bhagavans?
When Arthur Osborne founded Sri Ramanashramam’s quarterly publication The Mountain Path in 1964, he declared: “The aim of this journal is to set forth the traditional wisdom of all religions and all ages, especially as testified to by their saints and mystics, and to clarify the paths available to seekers in the conditions of our modern world.” And then he added: “The Mountain Path is dedicated to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.”
The dilemma of many, who have come to the point of only occasionally reading The Mountain Path, is that for some time articles appear which instead of providing clarification, only leave the sincere reader with a deepening of confusion regarding the teachings of Bhagavan and the way to practice them.
Nowadays (in our modern world), many of the main articles appear to be inspired by the new wave of interpretation commonly coined “Neo-Advaita”. From the attempt of these self-appointed mystics and philosophers to present and instruct their readers on the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, one would have to conclude that there were two Bhagavans. The fault cannot be laid upon the Editor and Publisher, for what they present, as is seen in Editorials, clearly adheres to “traditional wisdom and… clarifies the paths available to seekers.”
A clear example of such an Editorial emphatically states: “The crucial word is application…the practice of the instructions requires persistence and conviction.” These statements surely confirm Bhagavan’s statements, “Practice is necessary, there is Grace.” And further, “Know that the wondrous jnana vichara is only for those who have attained purity of mind by softening and melting within. Without this softening and melting away of the mind, brought about by thinking of the feet of the Lord, the attachment to the “I” that adheres to the body will not cease to be.”
In addition, Bhagavan declared when asked to define ‘yoga’ said, “Effort itself is Yoga.” This is most clear and full of tradition; this Bhagavan teaches practice, effort with persistence and conviction, purity of mind and thinking of the feet of the Lord.
Though the above quotes are inspiring and uplifting, they appear to be refuted by articles which propound teachings from a seemingly altogether different Bhagavan.
From the inception of The Mountain Path, its intention seems to follow in the footsteps of Bhagavan, attempting to only clarify and never contradict. Nevertheless, when authors make statements that, even to the untrained eye, appear alien to the Bhagavan that made the above statements, one must be on guard against misrepresentation. By leaving out Bhagavan’s guidance of ‘practice and then further practice’ exemplified by the Maharshi’s statement: “People have all sorts of notions about nirvikalpa… All this is due to their viewing it intellectually. Nirvikalpa is Chit - effortless, formless Consciousness… To some whose minds have become ripe from a long practice in the past, nirvikalpa comes suddenly as a flood, but to others it comes in the course of their sadhana, which slowly wears down the obstructing thoughts and reveals the screen of Pure Awareness ‘I’-‘I’. Further practice renders the screen permanently exposed. This is Self-realization, Mukti, or Sahaja Samadhi, the natural, effortless State,” authors might qualify themselves for misrepresentation of the truth, and perhaps such a serious omission can be deemed shameful.
There is, undoubtedly, a readership that is pleased to see in print support for their misinterpretation of Bhagavan’s description of the “effortless state”, though as is seen from the above quote, clearly is depicted as the goal of long and protracted effort. The case-in-point is should this fringe minority element dominate the Ashram Publication?
These fringe but non-the-less loud voices of certain quarters in the Tiruvannamalai community are tending to over-determine the absolute aspects of advaitic teaching. This phenomenon is typified by such hackneyed phrases like, “you are the self; there is nothing you need to do.” While on the absolute level this statement is true, as a teaching on practice, it is heretical, even dangerous.
Lamentably, people will even quote Bhagavan to defend such a position but it is, as the majority of Bhagavan’s followers will agree, a misuse of Bhagavan’s teaching. They have not understood that when Bhagavan spoke like this, he was addressing a Brahmin orthodoxy that may have over-determined the other side, having become too formalistic and too ritualistic in their approach to spiritual life.
From the establishment of The Mountain Path, the basic appeal was for the necessity of sadhana – and effort – and tapping into the wisdom of the ages, the great teachers, who gave us solid foundations on which to build our practice. As stated by the original editor, the journal provided a means to clarify the paths available to seekers in the conditions of our modern world. A revitalization of the “Statement of Purpose” originally given by the Ashram and it’s co-founders is now all-the-more sorely needed by the local culture as well as devotees world wide who have unfortunately become contaminated with false teaching. Let this teaching instrument of Sri Ramanashramam once again give voice to the badly neglected central feature of spiritual life emphasized by the Maharshi, namely, sadhana.
Posted by Swami Sadasivananda at 7/31/2008 12:43 PM 
Categories: Letter to the editor of The Mountain Path
Categories: Letter to the editor of The Mountain Path
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