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Swami Ramana Swaroopananda Visits

Kaua`i Aadheenam is honored to have Swami Ramana Swaroopananda visiting us for several days. As a young man in Tamil Nadu, he was a brahmachari under the tutelage of Swami Tejomayananda, head of and successor to Swami Chinmayananda's Chinmaya Mission.

Later in his monastic life, Swamiji was initiated as an Acharya and was sent on a mission to Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2006. He worked in the Chinmaya Mission centered there, though based mostly in Colombo. A copy of Siva Yogaswami's Natchintanai was presented to Swamiji during that time, and Swamiji found himself completely captivated by the teachings therein. Consequently, Swamiji went to Jaffna and with the help of Sellathuraiswami, he was mentored in the meaning of some of the mystical phrases in Yogaswami's songs. Sellathuraiswami managed the Sivathondan Nilayam after Yogaswami's mahasamadhi and did so up until his own Great Departure in 2006.

Inwardly drawn towards Sri Ramana Maharishi's path of Atma Vichara from a young age, Swamiji beseeched Swami Tejomayananda for blessings to venture to Thiruvannamalai, home to Ramana Maharishi's abode at Arunachalam. His guru granted his disciple's wish and thus began Swamiji's current life living and teaching in the famous citadel of Siva.

This morning, Swamiji graced us with his presence in the Media Studio for the Ganapati Kulam's meeting. After all the monks gave their daily Sivathondu report for the day, Swamiji was invited to speak. Initially, Swamiji's modesty shown through and felt uncertain what to say. After being freely encouraged by Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami to say whatever he felt moved by, Swamiji unleashed some beautiful insights and sentiments.

The eloquence and boldness with which Swamiji spoke was profound, and quite honestly, a bit surprising. This quiet, unassuming soul declared that Yogaswami is one of his gurus and has greatly impacted both his inner life and teaching mission. The contrast between Ramana Maharishi's quiet, subtle gaze and Siva Yogaswami's fierce, commanding call to action created a perfect harmony in his mind, Swamiji told us. These seemingly opposing, yet completely reconcilable, attributes made one monk verbalize the parallel natures of these sages to Siva-Sakti, respectively.
 
Swamiji knows many Natchintanai and was, with ease and depth of understanding, powerfully reciting pertinent verses from his heart, more than from simple memory. His respect and affinity for Yogaswami was extended to Gurudeva, Bodhinatha, and all the mathavasi of the aadheenam, noting how inspired he is in seeing our monks working in the fields, building our own buildings, growing and preparing our own food, etc. It was rightly noted that this is a parallel of Yogaswami's requirement which he had for his disciples living in his Batticaloa ashram.

A student of the Vedanta systems, Swamiji mentioned the amount of scriptural study, debate, and interpretation that goes along with that, stating that with the intense focus on different schools and practices, one can be uncertain of what to do and/or how to practically produce inner results in one's life. Upon absorbing the wisdom of Natchintanai, Swamiji revealed that he was transformed by Yogaswami's blunt demands to stop studying and start being. Swamiji, in Tamil, quoted a Natchintanai verse where Yogaswami likened excessive study to "hugging ghosts," meaning embracing something intangible and fleeting, and to start being by actually sitting down and being still. "Do! Don't think!"

Swamiji humbly and rightfully reminded us that the world will always be a place of duality, with great efforts always being directed towards dharma and adharma by all kinds of souls in all yugas. He stressed the necessity of Sivathondu and teaching, but urged one never to forget the Ultimate Goal which is to merge fully with Siva by "knowing thy Self by thyself."

Having performed the tapas of being on mauna (not speaking) for three years, Swamiji continues his serious efforts, both inner and outer. This seriousness is reflected in Swamiji's burgeoning ashram-temple complex at Arunachalam in Thiruvannamalai, called Sri Arunachala Ramana Atma Vidya Mandir. Please check out Swamiji's website.

It is always a blessing and joy to have a fellow monastic from another order visit the Aadheenam. Swami Ramana Swaroopananda, we salute you and thank you for your tireless devotion to the Truth. Om Tat Sat Om!

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The Media Studio's Arid Gardens

We share with our CyberCadets a collection of images taken yesterday just outside the Media Studio in which the very words you're reading were written this morning. The garden there is all arids, planted to contrast with the lush tropical foliage that is everywhere else. They're of various plants, such as orchids, agave, euphorbias and cacti, all of which grow in and around a shallow deposit of black gravel surrounded by Kauai Blue Rock. Requiring little to survive yet able to thrive, these plants hold a monasticism about themselves. Of course, not all desert plants can take the 95 inches of rain at the Aadheenam, but the ones you see here have made the necessary accommodations to enjoy the island. Enjoy this wild array of Siva's beautiful, diverse, peculiar emanation.

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