Dennis and Bhagawan's Path
Anand Ramanan
Dear Friends in Sri Bhagawan,
It is my honor to participate in this special Satsang where we are reflecting on the role of Sri Dennis Hartel in our lives, especially our spiritual one merged in Sri Bhagawan and His teachings.
He uniquely and gently touched every one of us and is continuing to do so ! For, Dennis the advaitin, there is no coming or going, only being. Unlike most of you, Dennis came into my life through photographs.
When my father visited U.S.A. on an official business trip in the mid-70s he spent a week in the New York and Nova Scotia Ashramas with Sri Bhagawat and his fellow Ashramites. Appa came back with a huge stack of photos and a great impression of the sincere group of devotees in Arunachala Ashrama, including Dennis, Darlene and Evelyn, along with Joan and Matthew.
The images of a ?? young man, sincerely serving Bhagawan struck a chord with me even as a teenager. Over the years, his friendship and gentle guidance is something i've come to treasure.
There are three important attributes or qualities for one on this spiritual path as a devotee of Bhagawan. To be ??, that is, to be a steadfast, firm achiever. To have qualities of Sahajam, one who is natural with everyone; a child with a child, a scholar with a scholar. To have samatwa, equanimity, equal consideration towards all human beings, and even animals. One can see that our Dennis with sadhana, over the years exemplified these three attributes every day.
I'm sure everyone of us is now thinking of personal examples of these attributes of our Dennis as I speak. On a personal level, I still remember Dennis spontaneously coming to Michigan when my son Advait was born in December. He drove all through the night from Buffalo in winter to see him, spend the afternoon with us, and turned around and went back. Every year, he is part of our family when we gather in Duke hospital in my brother Ravi's memory for the 'brain tumor walk' and participate in the satsang that evening. His quiet but strong presence is a source of solace for the family. His sense of humor is amazing and i will state two examples.
Everyone knows our Arthur, is a huge admirer of Krishna Das' kirtans. Once when he came to know that I too liked that, he went down and burned a CD of the latest album. Dennis kept looking at this, and without batting an eyelid, remarked, "Anand!, so now you too are like our Arthur, Krishna Das' das."
The second incident is a few years ago, for the California Satsang, a problem with the the main speaker, who was not sure of appearing, and Sunita asked me to invite John Grimes to speak; What transpired was that both of the speakers showed up. and Dennis' comment at that was priceless; He said "So!, now we have TWO speakers who are going to speak for 15 minutes each, about the importance of Silence."
In Appala-pattu, Bhagawan tells us how to live our life. He says "the qualities of santatan??, sali-para??, santoshamagave??, that is "one should work away, untiringly, steady and being cheerful. Dennis exmplified these qualities. Friends, devotees of Sri Bhagawan like Dennis and many before him, are sign posts on this path for us. They show us the living presence of Bhagawan's teachings and its transformative power by their own life examples. For that i would quote a very good example of niskama karma. Remember how hard Dennis worked for this current building of Arunachala Ashrama, including as he used to say, signing on financial documents, something which he never did, building the Shrine, maintaining it, and then, just walk away from it.
There are two random quotes which reflect Dennis' life; the first one is from the greek philosopher Epictetus. "Remember that you are an actor in a play, and the playwright chooses the manner of it. If he wants it short - it is short, if long - it is long; if he wants you to play the poor man, you must act the part with all your powers. For, your business is to act the character that is given to you, and act it well. the choice of the cast is another's.
the next one: our God is revealed in our hearts, our breath, our actions and in every person whose life we touch. By this, Dennis represents his master, Bhagawan very well.
I'd like to conclude this talk on a happier note. I'm very sure that we'll all meet Dennis one day. A few months ago, before he left the Ashrama, i was discussing a future project for Sri Ramanasramam, where some cottages will be built for long-standing devotees of Sri Bhagawan who can come and spend the autumn of their lives in Arunachala. Dennis enthusiastically stood up and told me "Sign me up first, for that project." So, Dennis!, wherever you are, i know you are listening, please know that i am holding you to your word.
Thank you friends. Namo Ramana.