50th Anniversary of Arunachala Ashrama

Bhagawat’s childhood dream of travelling to America was fulfilled in the year India gained independence – 1947. He received a fellowship to attend the University of Iowa where he completed a Masters Degree in journalism in 1949. He then took employment as the Information Officer at the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and remained in the United States until 1959.

An American organization had set up a hospitality program to welcome foreign diplomats to their homes with the sole purpose of introducing them to the American people and their culture. While Bhagawat was living in Washington, D.C. with his family he befriended a family belonging to this organization who hosted them several times. It was at the residence of this host that the following story continues in Bhagawat’s own words:

Helen Baily, Albert Baily

On Wednesday, October 13th, 1954, I was in the guest cottage of a Quaker couple, Helen and Albert Baily Jr., located on their farm in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The cottage was situated in a valley near their residence. On the second floor of the cottage my wife, Yogamaya, our 15-month-old boy and I were occupying the large wooden-framed bed that night. In the second half of the night I saw Bhagavan Ramana sitting on the bed near my head. Although this was a dream I saw it as clearly as the sun during the day and remember it vividly. His famous figure was near my head and His legs were dangling. Arunachala Siva Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi stayed near my head for quite awhile so I could drink deep in Him. Bhagavan simply kept looking at me. I was filled with joy and happiness and could not turn my eyes away from Him. I do not know how long this lasted. But once I woke up I could not return to sleep and sat on the bed meditating on Him. All morning and day I kept on thinking of the darshan Bhagavan had given me in my dream. That first darshan of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi is even now as clear and distinct in my mind’s eye as that of the blazing Sun.

During that vision I was magnetically drawn towards Bhagavan as I gazed on Him from head to foot and from foot to head. His majestic figure, the loin cloth wrapped round His waist, a towel on His shoulder, and His hands and arms stretched towards me captivated me beyond words. His brown body was shining and I was being bathed in His Divine Grace. Even now, and all the time when I think of that rare darshan, Bhagavan comes alive for me. That dream enabled the sugar doll to be dissolved into the Divine ocean of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. Since then I have not been the same Bhagawat I used to be. In the remotest part of Pennsylvania, surrounded by woods and trees, Bhagavan took hold of my life and I became a wayfarer on His Path. When I tried to see Bhagavan when He was in the body, He did not make it possible for me. But when He had left the body – more than four years had elapsed since His Mahanirvana – I was blessed by Bhagavan and He made me His disciple and devotee; nay, He made me His very own. Since then nothing has mattered in my life. Whatever I have tried to do, and whatever profession I have endeavored to follow, it has been difficult for me. I can vouchsafe that Bhagavan has held me so tightly that I can’t manage to escape from Him. He is in me all the time and I am made to wade in His Grace.

The following night, Thursday, October 14th, 1954, in the same cottage and in the same bed, another dream occurred to me during the second half of the night: I saw the word ‘Upanishad’ written in bold Sanskrit letters on the top of a bundle of loose leaves. The traditional Sanskrit books used to be either written or printed on single leaves several inches long and a few inches wide. After I had read the word Upanishad, the leaves began to turn by themselves, one by one, and they continued in that manner until I woke up from the dream. After this Divine experience I did not sleep again and kept on thinking of the two wonderful experiences which had blessed my life in that remote part of the world. Not only did Bhagavan give me darshan and initiate me to be His disciple, devotee and servitor, He also showed me the Path through which I would be able to follow His upadesa. The two dreams are the two sides of the same Shield. That Shield is Bhagavan. Bhagavan is Upanishad and Upanishad is Bhagavan.

Time and again these wonderful experiences fill me with Bhagavan and His Grace. When I tried to go to Him I could not reach Him, but when Bhagavan saw that the time had come, He took me into His jaws, just as the lion takes its prey.

For two years after this experience we continued to live in Washington D.C., where I was employed. I obtained all the books concerning Bhagavan from His Ashrama in Tiruvannamalai. Although I did not realize it then, the entire course of my life had undergone a change. I carried on the duties assigned to me, but my inner life and aspirations were never the same. I remember how I used to write to Bhagavan from Washington, expressing my devotion to Him. I generally addressed all such letters to Bhagavan by name. I knew that He was no more in the body and it was no use addressing these letters to Him. But I was always inspired to write to Bhagavan. It was not so much to prove my devotion to Him but rather evidence of my faith that Bhagavan is as much present as he was when in the body. The practice of writing to Him continues to this day.

In 1957 I left Washington D.C. and returned to my Alma Mater, the State University of Iowa. Someone had held out the promise of a teaching position for me in the Midwest, but it never materialized. That was the beginning of a long time of trials and travails which have taken me to many places. The more Bhagavan got hold of my life, the more worldly and material problems began to plague me and my family and we were put to the severest tests. It was in the quest of the non-existent teaching position that all our savings were exhausted and we were forced to fall back upon the charities of others. But the Divine Bliss of the Silent Sage of Arunachala was with me all the time. He always protected me.

While I was chasing the mirage of teaching Indian culture in an American college, professional complications were piling up and I did not see a ray of hope. My limited resources were rapidly depleting and I was so much obsessed with the idea of getting the teaching position that I was bewildered.

About this time in 1957 at the University of Iowa I saw a dream which is as clear today as it was at the time I saw it. I was in a forest where I saw a swift mountain stream in front of me. I kept looking at the water which was crystal clear, so clear I could easily see the bed of the stream. As I looked on, I saw a black snake sprawled in the water, on account of which I couldn’t think of crossing the stream. I was afraid.

Instantly, Bhagavan Ramana appeared before me, lifted me on his shoulders and literally carried me across the stream, setting me down on the other side. That showed me how Bhagavan had taken hold of my life and that He was there all the time to protect me from any kind of harm. It so happened that we returned to India in February, 1959. We lived in my village and the world of cold, corrugated cement and concrete was replaced by the village life.

IN the village of Sahuri, near Begusarai, Bihar, Bhagawat experienced a therapeutic release from the “cold, corrugated cement and concrete” of city life in America, but his career ambitions and spiritual aspirations still remained unfulfilled.

Bhagawat writes: “Back in the village we were completely destitute in the true sense of the term. It was a very trying period for all of us. But the Grace of Bhagavan kept surging inside of me and was the main sustenance of my life. The desire for the darshan of Arunachala Ramana at Sri Ramanasramam remained unquenched within me because I did not have money to travel.”

Then Bhagawat’s nephew got inspired to take him to Arunachala. “As soon as we caught the first glimpse of Sri Arunachala, I was swimming in the Bliss of Bhagavan. After 19 years Bhagavan had brought me to His Lotus Feet. The greatest dream of my life was fulfilled. On December 30th, 1960, Friday morning, Rambahadur [his nephew] and I were in Sri Ramanasramam.”

It was then at Sri Ramanasramam that Arthur Osborne, a staunch devotee of Bhagavan, author of several profound books who later founded the Mountain Path magazine, encouraged Bhagawat to start some regular meetings centered on the Maharshi when he returned to the USA. Bhagawat did not know at that time if he would return to America, but he did, taking up a position at the Indian Mission to the United Nations.

Bhagawat was not keen to live in New York City. He accepted the assignment only because he came to the conclusion that Bhagavan must have had some purpose in his not finding employment elsewhere. And the purpose soon did reveal itself. On November 12, 1965 Bhagawat began weekly meetings in a room at the American Buddhist Society on the West Side of Manhattan.

Once a week his wife Yogamayaji and son Bhaskar would carry the gramophone to play the Veda Parayana and bhajan records and Bhagavan’s books to read out the teachings. But as Suri Nagamma had mentioned [1], “Good endeavors encounter several obstacles,” Bhagawat also experienced multiple roadblocks on his march to raise Bhagavan’s banner of Self-Enquiry of ‘Who am I?’ in the West.

First of all, there was scant interest and the father, mother and son would often be the only attendees. Discouraged, Bhagawat consulted his wife and son about continuing their weekly routine. Fortunate he was, for both mother and son flatly refused to discontinue the meetings, which encouraged Bhagawat immensely.

Slowly a small group of seekers began to gather and Arunachala Ashrama, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Center was legally incorporated as a religious charity on December 8th, 1966. In 1967 Bhagawat resigned his job and dedicated himself fully to the Ashrama. A room was rented at 78 St. Mark’s Place and Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawat, the name that he legally adopted, began his daily routine of traveling by subway from his Brooklyn apartment at 533 East 2nd Street to the Manhattan Ashrama.

Bhakta Bhagawat, now 55 years old, unemployed and without funds to support his family, totally threw himself prostrate before his Master, taking refuge fully in Him. About this time he wrote, “I wander about like a drunken person who does not care what the world thinks of him, as he is oblivious to the physical world in his inebriated state.”

Bhagawat was a prolific writer. He sometimes said, “Unless my mind sinks into the Heart, I cannot write.” And it would sink, and the writing went on and on. All his spare time would be occupied with “Worshipping at the altar of Hermes 3000 (his typewriter) with the fruits and flowers of my breath.” He would often be seen sitting inwardly absorbed in front of the typewriter, or outwardly absorbed typing thousands upon thousands of pages of what he called “prayer manuscripts”.

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In 1970, he began writing a piece titled, “Bhagavan! Thou Art the Self”. This concluded only after 3500 pages. “From the top of my voice I declare to the world that Thou art the very breath of me and day and night I find myself immersed in the surging Ganga of the Silent Sage of the Holy Hill of the Beacon Light, Sri Arunachaleshwara Shiva Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi..." Thus he writes on the last page in 1973, only to begin another piece titled, “Bhagavan! Thou Art My Breath”.

He would never read what he wrote unless asked to, and he would routinely make many carbon copies. When the Xerox machines came he was the most diligent customer. Bhagawat would sometimes ask us to send copies of pages to this or that person, thus fulfilling, in his own unique way, the desire to share whatever grace and experience Ramana had blessed him with.

Bhagawat was uniquely qualified to bring Bhagavan’s message and personality to the West. First of all, like almost all who made their way to Bhagavan’s Arunachala Ashrama, he had never had the opportunity to visit Sri Maharshi in His Ashrama before his Mahanirvana in 1950. In spite of this, he was fully immersed in the grace of Bhagavan and was a perfect example of a totally dedicated devotee completely surrendered to his Lord and Master. Besides this, born in a remote village of Bihar in the land of Mithila from whence Sita, Rama’s consort, hailed, Bhagawat fully embodied the ancient cultural and spiritual heritage which has run through the veins of all bhaktas in India down through the ages. He loved India, its land, its people and especially its saints.

On a personal note, I (the editor) can remember in the year 1972 going with him to see a documentary on the famed musician Ravi Shankar presented at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. Bhagawat had not been back to India for eleven years at that time. The film began with panoramic views of Indian villages and landscapes. As soon as Bhagawat saw these he burst into irrepressible tears. Not just tears; he was sobbing uncontrollably, and this lasted nearly throughout the whole film. He could never refer to India without prefacing it with ‘Mother’ or ‘Bharat Mata’. In his heart he was always only an Indian villager.

Another point is that Bhagawat had a perfectly clear understanding of Bhagavan’s teachings. He had made them his own and experienced the truth they embodied. He would tell us “I can never say anything about Bhagavan’s teachings unless I have experienced them.” And he did. The exaltation of his experience is what drove him to share it with others. And this sharing with others was in fact the very basis or foundation of his inspiration to found Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Center here in the West.

The first rented space for Arunachala Ashrama was in the East Village of Manhattan at 78 St. Marks Place, near First Avenue. It was just an upstairs room in an apartment building. That is when Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawat started his daily routine of taking the F Train subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan to open the Ashrama. In the evening devotees would come for the nightly chanting, meditation and reading of Bhagavan’s teachings. A simple meal, usually of rice, dhal and potatoes, cooked by Bhagawat himself, would be served after the practice. He would spread a mat on the floor and all would eat sitting around it. Bhagawat always ate like the simple villager he was, with his hands.

“Openness of Heart,” was a favorite expression of his. “Guilessness and humility,” he would say are the essential qualities of a true aspirant. And he longed for such rare, pure souls who embodied these qualities. “One must have an open heart for God to enter, and if it remains closed, even among friends, how can you realize the Self or God?”, he would often ask. Bhagawat would travel any distance at any time of the day or night to benefit from serving and associating with such friends. “I need your company more than you need mine,” he would tell us. And he believed it, though we certainly thought otherwise.

Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawat provided us the living example of how to gain Bhagavan’s grace and attain the purpose of human existence in light of the life and teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Although Bhagawat was such an intelligent man, we really never saw him use his intellect or direct his self-will in making decisions in his life. Inspiration and intuition were the forces that motivated him. And he believed it all came from “Arunachala Siva Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi” Himself. During this period of the Ashrama history, he wrote in his prayer manuscript: “I wander about like a drunken person who does not care what the world thinks of him, as he is oblivious to the physical world in his inebriated state.”

He placed whomever came to the Ashrama on His head, metaphorically, and gave the person full attention, respect and devotion. But if it turned out that people came to deceive, disturb or exploit, he would not hesitate to confront them. He was vigilant to protect the Ashrama and its devotees from negative and misguided people. He instilled in all who kept company with him the importance of loving kindness, service, respect and devotion to the ideal manifested in all creation.

In 1969 the Ashrama moved to a rented storefront at 342 East 6th Street in Manhattan, just two blocks south of the first location. This remained the Ashram’s home for the next 18 years. It was here that I (the editor) first arrived in Bhagavan’s American abode in November of 1971. Already earlier this same year Joan and Matthew Greenblatt and Evelyn Kaselow had become attached to Bhagavan and the Ashrama that Bhagawat had founded. When I first met Bhagawat I asked him if he was the teacher here and he said, pointing to Bhagavan’s photo on the altar, “He is – that old man. He is the teacher and we practice the teachings.”

“Do you preach,” I asked. “He said, “Yes, we preach, but with the ‘p’ removed from the word preach, that is, we ‘REACH’!”

“Then what do you do here?” I asked.

“You see the entrance door there? Do you see the doormat in front of the door? Bhagavan has made me his doorman and doormat, the servant and servitor in His Ashram.” He always referred to the Ashrama as Bhagavan’s Ashrama only. And that same day he went on to describe Arunachala Ashrama as “AAA: Arunachala Abhyāsa Ashrama.” The Ashrama is a place to ‘practice’ the teachings, not for discourses and discussions. He always emphasized the necessity of daily, regular practice of Bhagavan’s teachings. Bhagavan has said that those who have succeeded owe their success to perseverance. Bhagawat would tell visitors, “We believe in hard work.” Most visitors did not. They wanted some quick and easy way to Self-Realization. They would be told there are no quick shortcuts. Hard work, discipline, service, intense devotion perhaps over many years is required. Many visitors left when they heard this, hoping to find a guru who would give them mukti by a wave of the hand.

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Bhakta Bhagawat followed in the tradition of a householder, a married person, yet he was totally devoted to his Master and Lord, Bhagavan Ramana. He provided a touching example of how this can be harmonized. He had a very simple village wife and one son. His love and attention extended to the devotees and to them equally. He made all feel as members of one family. Bhagawat could never fulfill his wife’s wish to own a house and other material possessions common in the West. He had no desire for these things himself but felt much compassion for her because of this. In her last years, when she had gone blind, I overheard a visitor ask Bhagawat what he did in the Ashram. “I serve Mother,” was his simple reply. I doubt whether the visitor understood what he was talking about, but I knew.

As for his son, Bhagawat gave him complete freedom. He believed example was the best form of guidance, and that is what he provided. He once remarked, “In my Indian tradition it is said that once a son reaches 16 years of age he then becomes your brother.” If asked by his son, he would always advise him properly. And he took him to India to marry. Bhagwat continued to shower love and affection on him, his devoted wife and wonderful children, whom he named. Yet, I never heard him say “my son,” but always “our son” when referring to him. The innocent charm and devotion of his grandchildren gave Bhagawat much happiness. He was always their Baba and they loved him dearly. And we looked upon them as our children too. They are your family to whom your hearts unite in love and friendship. We all felt like one family totally protected and guided under the watchful eye of our Master and Lord, Bhagavan Sri Ramana.

In 1972 Arunachala Ashrama branched out into Canada. Even now, understandably, we are asked, “Why did you go all the way up to Nova Scotia to open a country ashram? Couldn’t you have found a place nearer to New York City?” This question will be easier to answer if we explain a little more detail about the founder of Arunachala Ashrama, Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawat.

Bhagawat had a dream of a country ashram dedicated to the practice of the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi where “people from Wall Street can sit on the grass.” And, certainly, he did wish that the country ashram be near New York City to make it easier for seekers of the metropolitan area to visit. But how did he go about fulfilling this dream? Much as he did in all other matters: he fixed his mind and heart on Ramana Bhagavan, surrendered at His Lotus Feet and waited for Him to bring someone to the Ashrama who would make it happen.

We should keep in mind that by 1970 there was a deluge of yogis, teachers, and spiritual masters flooding into the USA, making New York City their first stop. And also at that time, masses of disillusioned youth traversed the country looking for alternative lifestyles to those of their parents. The spiritual teachers who arrived in America made disciples and opened ashrams and spiritual centers around the country that served as a haven for a good number of these youth who were often labeled ‘hippies’.

In contrast to all these famous bearded yogis in robes that attracted thousands was this penniless villager called Bhagawat, a married man who offered no initiation, no secret mantra, had no disciples, possessed absolutely no skills for organization, and who acted purely on intuition, calling himself a “servant, doorman and doormat” of the tiniest abode of his Master, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. On top of this, the guru of Arunachala Ashrama, Sri Ramana Maharshi, had been interred 20 years earlier.

Nevertheless, the upsurge of Bhagawat’s inner, overwhelming experience of the presence of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in his heart constantly inspired him to “Shout from the highest tower, proclaim to every corner of the earth, the glory and majesty of my Guru, Arunachala Shiva Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Dakshinamurti!” But how was he to do it? Who was there to listen? None. So, he resorted to the confines of his Hermes 3000 typewriter to express his aspirations and experience, and thousands upon thousands of pages of “prayer manuscripts” poured out.

By 1970 or 1971, gradually, a few sincere seekers began to hear his call, frequent the Ashrama and receive a vibrant spark of inspiration to one-pointedly pursue the path taught and peerlessly demonstrated by Sri Ramana. Every evening the Ashrama resounded with chanting followed by deep, silent meditation. Bhagawat would have already prepared a dinner to serve the devotees after the meditation. These meals, which consisted mostly of rice, dhal and potatoes, cooked in his own unique village style, were sometimes memorable to the unwary visitor who had no knowledge of Bhagawat’s fondness for chillies! It was during these after-dinner meetings that devotees came to know of Bhagawat’s desire to open a country ashram.

And in answer to his prayers, David Sewell, a young professor from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, visited the Ashrama on East 6th Street in New York City during the summer of 1971. David told Bhagawat of the abundance of inexpensive farms and land available in this province of Canada. He offered to buy a property for the country Ashrama there. The land prices in Nova Scotia were only 20 percent of what it would cost within a 60mile radius of New York City. A back-to-the-land movement had pushed property values up in the nearby countryside, and Bhagawat had no money anyhow.

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By 1971, Joan and Matthew Greenblatt, a recently married young couple, had already become dedicated to Bhagavan and the New York Ashram. They were also taken with Bhagawat’s dream of living a dedicated life of spiritual practice and service in a country setting. As soon as they heard of this offer in Nova Scotia they set off in their Volkswagen Beetle (a wedding gift) to meet David and establish a retreat for Arunachala Ashrama in Nova Scotia. That was in September of 1971. Providentially, by the time the Greenblatts arrived in Nova Scotia and met with David Sewell, his circumstances had changed. Disappointed but not deterred, the Greenblatts decided to go out in search of a property themselves, even though they had no means to purchase one. Joan and Matthew had the conviction and faith that Bhagavan had brought them all the way up there for reason. So, from farm to farm, house to house, they worked their way through the province, inquiring about farms for sale from the friendliest and gentlest people they had ever met. Eventually, the search was narrowed down to the historical, idyllic Annapolis Valley, and after several days of search they found themselves returning to the home of a kind elderly couple who lived on a 130-acre farm nestled up close to the slopes of the North Mountain. This kindly couple were the Taylors, who in due course revealed to our pilgrims that, in fact, they themselves had been thinking about selling their farm and moving into town. Won over by the Taylors’ kindness and the potential that they saw in their farm as a country ashram, a price was settled upon and an agreement drawn-up and signed. This was a pure act of faith on the part of Joan and Matthew, for they did not possess, nor did the Ashram, the means to purchase it.

In March of 1972, Bhagawat, Joan, Matthew and Dennis Hartel, who had become a resident of the New York Ashrama in November 1971, drove up to Nova Scotia to see the farm and make the final decision on its purchase. Nova Scotia was still cold with snow on the ground, but the warm hospitality of the Taylors and the other residents they met brightened and warmed their hearts. When gazing upon the hill behind the Ashram, Bhagawat was amazed when he saw a steep rocky outcrop near the top. “Look there!” he said excitedly, “It is right there on that cliff that I had the vision of Bhagavan standing looking down at me!” This provided Bhagawat with the certitude that the Taylor farm was the place destined to become Sri Bhagavan’s country ashram. Later, at that very same spot, a cave was discovered and was immediately christened “Virupaksha Cave”.

By April of 1972, the required funds were somehow collected and this farm of 130 acres, along with its 60foot barn and large house, was purchased in the name of Arunachala Ashrama, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Center for $15,000. That may not sound like much money these days, but at that time when the few devotees of the Ashrama possessed nothing but their faith as collateral towards the fulfilment of a noble dream, its purchase appeared to them as nothing short of a manifestation of His Divine Will in their lives.

That very same month, Dennis, Joan and Matthew moved into the new country Arunachala Ashrama in Canada. The house had been neglected, the barn had holes in its roof, the landscape around the buildings was eroded, yet none of these flaws could dampen the enthusiasm of these few sadhakas. Having traversed the world in search of a safe harbor in which to drop their anchors and dedicate their lives to the ideal that flooded their hearts with joy, nothing outwardly could slow their march to the inner sanctuary of peace and happiness. Their outer activity was now in perfect harmony with their inner spiritual aspirations, which they understood to be the only true purpose of human existence. This filled their hearts with joy and their bodies with energy and purpose. They were building a home for the children of their guru, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, who had said: “By serving my devotees you are serving me.” And they experienced his guiding presence at every turn, leading them on to rest forever in the final state of pure awareness and joy.

Now, to return to the question posed in the first paragraph: “Why did you go all the way up to Nova Scotia to open a country Ashram?”

After the ashramites had settled into their new home, the advantages of a country ashram in Nova Scotia became increasingly clear. Many youth of the counter-culture movement of the late 1960s and early 70s had begun to question the focus on fulfilment in life through material gain. Among them were young people who along the way had lost sight of the value of discipline, hard work and dedication devoted to an ideal. They would float from one commune to another or from one ashram to another. To take the trouble to travel all the way up to Nova Scotia a certain amount of sincerity and genuine interest in the ideals of Arunachala Ashrama was required. Consequently, only the most earnest of seekers visited the Nova Scotia Ashram, insuring that the Ashrama thus remained an oasis of deep peace and harmony.

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Also, anyone who visits the pristine province of Nova Scotia, Canada immediately realizes how special and unspoiled the land and its people are. The unpolluted lakes and streams, the uninhabited natural Atlantic coastline never far from wherever one may be, the open fields, forests, farms and the softly rolling hills of the Annapolis Valley themselves are a healing balm for the ills of a restless mind.

As one dives ever-deeper into the heart of Bhagavan Ramana’s teachings, life at the Nova Scotia Ashrama shines radiantly in the vast dark sky of human existence. Those who visit the Ashrama with a sincere desire to deepen their experience of the Divine Presence both within and without can testify to this fact.