Anthology of articles

BE STILL, IT'S THE WIND THAT SINGS - Anthology of Articles - Fiftieth Aradhana 1950-2000 (Fiftieth anniversary of the passing away of Sri Ramana Maharshi): Arthur Osborne; published by V. S. Ramana, President, Board of Trustees, Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai-606603. Rs. 120.

THIS BOOK by the late Arthur Osborne provides an occasion to recall the almost mystical passing away of Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi on the night of April 15, 1950. Almost at the same time the sky was illumined by a meteor and those who witnessed it would, forever, remember that it looked like a dazzling trail of diamonds, emeralds and rubies. Its effulgence decked it out during those fleeting moments as a magnificent celestial shower.

The well-known English writer, Somerset Maugham, who had been to Ramanasramam during the 1930s and spent sometime with the Maharshi, wrote about this resplendent streak of light while concluding his recollections about the saint in his Points of View.

If a sceptic like Maugham could come under the spell of Ramana Maharshi, it is hardly surprising that there were others from England and the West like Arthur Osborne (1906-70) who had no hang-up relating to Indian otherworldliness and mysticism. They responded spontaneously to the saint. The Maharshi's serenity was stated with a crispness which was attributed to him - ``Ripeness is all.'' Osborne, who had graduated from Oxford with a degree in history and had travelled widely from Bangkok to Poland, where he met and later married Lucia, should have had the Maharshi filling his consciousness even before coming to Tiruvannamalai. He was for a while the Sunday magazine editor of the Indian Express on his return from Bangkok until 1952 before going back to the Ramanasramam. The other distinguished Englishman who was drawn to the saint and stayed in the Ashram and was greatly loved and respected by the inmates was Major Chadwick.

The writings, put together by Osborne, were earlier written by him for the Mountain Path which had been founded by him. The very title of the book is profoundly expressive about keeping one's mind receptive to the grandness of unheard melodies.

In her opening essay, Lucia Osborne writes about all being One and all religions being unanimous - though not many would agree with this. Osborne's unfailing instincts about Sri Ramana, being the guru, did not please the unnamed European - probably a spiritualist - whom he had met and who did not obviously merit such a distinction.

The silence which the Osbornes - Arthur, his wife Lucia and daughter Kitty - along with the others who were drawn into, when they were in the presence of the Maharshi, left them in a state of communion which was enriching beyond words.

If the presence of Sri Ramana still seems so real to those who visit the shrine half-a-century after his passing away, it is because of the ``immaculate peace beyond the rough handling of destiny, an immortal wealth despite their loss.''

The collection of writings by the Osbornes in this well-edited book takes us to a very rich discussion of the one Reality and Dualism with the latter implying that God is a separate being. The sense of separateness arises, it is stated, from the ego to which the humans are vulnerable and to which Sri Ramana was inviting the attention of those who came to him. ``Under whatever name or form - Krishna, Rama or Christ - one may worship the Absolute Reality, it is only a means for realising it without name and form.''

This should take the mind to an awareness of the Infinity when its doors of perception stay open. (Doors of Perception is incidentally, the title of a remarkable book written by Aldous Huxley more than half-a-century ago on the states of reality into which those who are keenly receptive to them could be inducted. Though one does not recall any mention of Sri Ramana in this book, it is very relevant to the perceptions of the Maharshi and those who were drawn to him).

The discussion in this collection of writings on the development of Hinduism and the state of Beatitude to which it could lead and about Ramakrishna Pramahamsa, Vivekananda and Sri Ramana being very close to each other is very absorbing. The book will sail its readers back to the years when Sri Ramana brought peace and cheer to those who came to him.

CVG

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