Girivalam Calendar-2014

Month
January February Mar"h A$ri% May June Ju%y Au'us Se$ e(ber )" &ber *&+e(ber ,e"e(ber

Girivalam Day*
15-Jan-2014 Wednesday 14-Feb-2014 Friday 15-Mar-2014 Sa urday 14-A$r-2014 M&nday 14-May-2014 Wednesday 12-Jun-2014 Thursday 11-Ju%-2014 -Friday 10-Au'-2014 -Sunday 0!-Se$-2014 M&nday 07-)" -2014 -Tuesday 06-*&+-2014 Thursday 05-,e"-2014 -Friday

Start Date Day, Time

15-Jan-2014,Wed, 07:30AM 14-Feb-2014,Fri, 03:39AM 15-Mar-2014,Sa , 09:25#M 14-A$r-2014,M&n, 01:13#M 14-May-2014,Wed, 02:14#M 12-Jun-2014,Thu, 12:27#M 11-Ju%-2014,Fri, 03:01AM 10-Au'-2014,Sun, 04:55#M 0!-Se$-2014,M&n, 10:4!AM 07-)" -2014,Tue, 07:13#M 06-*&+-2014,Thu, 05:35AM 05-,e"-2014,Fri, 06:1!AM

End Date Day, Time

16-Jan-2014, Thu,10:33AM 15-Feb-2014, Sa , 05:5!AM 16-Mar-2014, Sun,10:20#M 15-A$r-2014, Tue,01:12#M 15-May-2014, Thu,12:45AM 13-Jun-2014, Fri,09:41AM 12-Ju%-2014, Sa ,0!:33#M 11-Au'-2014, M&n,03:36#M 09-Se$-2014, Tue, 07:07AM 0!-)" -2014, Wed, 04:27#M 06-*&+-2014, Thu, 03:52AM 06-,e"-2014, Sa , 05:56AM

Om Yogi Ramsuratkumar Jaya Guru Raya !!!

Last Thursday, when I headed to walk on the street after having breakfast, I saw an auto passing by me, and felt thrilled as the name of one of the greatest saints of our time, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, was inscribed on its windscreen.

Yogi Ramsuratkumar (1918-2001)

Yogi Ramsuratkumar, a Self reali!ed "aster, came into my life through the writings of my favorite spiritual writer, #alakumaran. $henever, I see %is name or picture stuck on a vehicle or elsewhere, I&ll tell myself, 'Hey, you must be good. You're fortunate enough to see Yogiyaar (that's how I like to call him) Himself." 'nd mostly this would happen on a Thursday()uru*s day. #oth Yogi Ramsuratkumar and #alakumaran have helped +are helping, me a lot in my spiritual -ourney. "oreover, like my brother, Yogi Ramsuratkumar too, as %is name suggests, is a +favorite, son of Lord Rama. #orn in .arnasi, Yogi Ramsuratkumar served as a school headmaster before %e was drawn to South India in %is spiritual /uest. 'fter %is enlightenment, %e called %imself as a beggar, and lived a humble life in Thiruvanamalai. #ut like a magnet attracting iron particles, %e drew spiritual seekers from around the world. Thami!h 0adu&s -ewel, writer #alakumaran was one among them1 one blessed by %im. In his book, )uru .a!hi+)uru*s $ay,, #alakumaran had shared a significant incident, which -ust wiped away my desire to read 'yn Rand books, and emboldened my faith in a great many saint. I*ve translated the incident in #alakumaran&s own words. It was a summer time. But the wind in hiru!anamalai was blowing cool. "ea!ing all the furnitures outside, we em#tied a room in the $aadaar mansion to s#read%out a mat, and sit

before Yogi &amsuratkumar. 'y family was beside me. ( de!otee had #re#ared the food and ke#t it at the corner of the room.

It was one of those blessed occasions where Yogi &amsuratkumar would talk about worldly matters, and teach us without teaching. In his child%like !oice, Yogi &amsuratkumar asked me, "How much ha!e you studied, Balkumar." " ill school, Bhagawan (a fond way of addressing a reali)ed soul)." He continued, *+hy did you sto# with that,*I had great doubt whether I can #ass out of school. I had no interest in studies. I ha!e got )ero in mathematics. o successfully com#lete school life was itself like walking on fire. .o, I had no further interest to #ursue my studies."

"But how is it you s#eak /nglish !ery well. /!en those

+ho call themsel!es as graduates don't s#eak #ro#er /nglish." Yogi &amsuratkumar was a literature graduate. His flawless /nglish had left many in awe. "It's because of my ac0uaintance with /nglish literature. Buying and reading contem#orary writers' books from a rental book store is a old habit of mine. " "Is it, .o, what books do you read," "(rthur 1oestler, (yn &and, Ir!ing +allace, Ir!ing .tone..." I mentioned a few names, and also their no!els. He asked, "+ere you able to read them all." "(t first, it was tough Bhagawan. But as I continued to read, I was able to gras# the nuances of the language. I'd keenly obser!e the con!ersations in the no!els. .o soon, I learnt to s#eak /nglish without making any grammar mistakes. It all ha##ened because of reading /nglish no!els."

"2kay. 3an you tell me what (yn &and says," "ike an inter!iewer Bhagawan Yogi &amsuratkumar asked with eyes shar#ly fi4ed on me. "I can tell, Bhagawan. I ha!e read one of (yn &and's no!els many times. hree of her no!els are !ery #o#ular 5 ( "(. .H&677/8, +/ H/ "I9I$7, and :2& H/ $/+ I$ /""/3 6(". hese are also my fa!orites." "2kay. hen, tell me about (yn &and's #hiloso#hy." He asked again. "(yn &and says that ./":I.H$/.. I. ( 9I& 6/. .3(&I:I3( I2$ I. ( :&(686"/$ +2&8. $obody sacrifices anything for anybody. Behind e!ery sacrifice, there is selfishness hidden. here is no necessity for anybody to sacrifice anything. .elfishness alone is the only sacred thing." "Is it," Yogi shrunk His eyes, and continued, "+hat she says is against our culture, isn't it, 8o you belie!e in this, +hen e!ery religion says we ha!e to sacrifice, I think, she is talking on the contrary, and gaining #o#ularity. +hat do you say about this," I mused for a while, and said "Bhagawan, I think what she says is right. /!erybody, in e!ery stage of life, is selfish. 2ur selfishness is what makes us to li!e. +hat husband has with wife; wife has with husband, father has with son; son has with father, is nothing but selfishness. It's only with selfishness we li!e." "I didn't ask you to take your life as an e4am#le. Here (in India), there are so many noble souls

who ha!e sacrificed their li!es...do you say that they all did it out of selfishness, 8o you say 'ahatma 7andhi was selfish, 8o you say &amalinga 9allalar was selfish, 3an we call Buddha, .hree &amakrishna <ramahamsa, Bhagawan &amana as selfish #eo#le, You say e!eryone is selfish. +ill you include them too, +ill (yn &and certify their li!es as selfish too, +ill she say their sacrifices were fraudulent," hough His face was calm, the 0uestion was intense.

I was not able to say .hree &amakrishna <ramahamsa and Bhagawan &amana as selfish #eo#le. (t the same time, I was not able to ignore (yn &and too. I sat with an ideological confusion. 'y family was watching me. Yogi gesticulated to talk. (s I remained silent, He e4#ounded, "Balkumar, once a #erson came to Bhagawan &amana and said something similar to this= >/!eryone in this ashram is working and doing ?obs. You alone are sitting sim#ly without doing any work. +hy don't you do something like others,@ Bhagawan &amana retorted= > H/&/ I. $2 2 H/&.A@ 8o you understand what it means, Balkumar, When there is no 'I'; then, there is no 'you.' 2nly when you ha!e the sense of 'I'; then, there will be the sense of 'you'. 2nly for those who ha!e the ego 'I', there is a di!ision called 'others.' 2nly when we se#arate oursel!es as 'I' and 'you,' then, there can be a di!ision that some are su#erior and some are inferior. 2nly for those who are di!ided, 'selfishness@ and >sacrifice@ a##ears as two o##osite ends. In our Hinduism, selfishness itself means only others' welfare. SELF MEANS ONLY OTHERS. OTHERS ARE THE SELF. In truth, there is no such thing called di!ision. Birds, trees, animals, #lants, stone, mud, sea, sky, wind, humans5nothing is se#arate. /!erything is 2ne. hat's called 7od. You and I are #art of Him. You are in me, and I'm in you. In an ocean, is there a difference in the wa!es, (re two sea wa!es different, +e see them only as a #art of ocean, isn't it, +ithin ocean, they may se#arate themsel!es as wa!es and bubbles. But still they remain only as a #art of the ocean. /ach wa!e and each bubble are #art of the whole sea; rising and dissol!ing are an a##earance. In fact, they are not different from the ocean. (nd so are we, like the sea wa!es in the ocean.

Balkumar, this is not ?ust told for the sake of an e4am#le. his is truth. his is a reality. his is a state we all can attain. +e all can li!e in. If you feel hungry, I should also feel hungry. Your hunger should disturb me. If you cry, I should also cry. Your tears should shake me. his is the life of e!ery enlightened men. Humans should always try to li!e such a life. /ach one of us should continuously stri!e to li!e like that, e!en if it takes lifetimes.

+hat (yn &and says is a delusion. .omething !ery su#erficial. Born out of ego.

In our li!es, after marriage, the >I@ thought is slowly broken as it e4#ands as my wife. hen it further e4#ands as my children; my children@s children; my children@s relati!es; my children@s friends, and also as my country men5 so on and so forth. "ikewise, as one grows older, this 'circle' called the ego must also grow bigger and bigger, and get e4#anded. hat@s a life worth li!ing. But if the o##osite ha##ensBif the circle shrinksBit becomes ugly. .uch a mind will only become deluded..ince I didn't fully gras# and digest what Bhagawan e4#lained, a foolish 0uestion arose in my crooked mind= *If I eat, will your hunger be satiated Bhagawan. If you ha!e food, will my hunger be satiated.But Yogi &amsuratkimar is a 8i!ine 'aster. He could easily read others' thoughts. *2nce a ri!er mingles in ocean, then it@s ne!er called as a ri!er. It can@t se#arate itself from the ocean to become a ri!er again. .imilarly, those who ha!e dissol!ed themsel!es in 7od can ne!er come back to ordinary state. 7od@s mercy and com#assion are like the ocean that ne!er drains. (nd that@s the state of those who ha!e attained 7od%hood. In them too, 7od@s mercy and com#assion will e!er be there, flowing to all others. his is how .hree &amakrishna <ramahamsar, Bhagawan &amanar, .hree (urobindo li!ed. here was not a dro# of selfishness in their li!es, Balkumar. hey ne!er did their sacrifice as an act of dece#tion.-

+hen He uttered the last line, there were tears in His eyes. .eeing that, I #anicked and got u#. I #rostrated before him, and said, *If I ha!e s#oken something wrong, #lease forgi!e me.He smiled and said, *+hat you s#oke has made me ha##y. You should always s#eak like that. 2nly then you can clarify your thoughts, and write with ease.Yogi &amsuratkumar made me reali)e the !irtue of sacrifice, and the ugliness of selfishness. :rom then on, my writings got transformed. It was all because of my 7uru, 7od@s child, Yogi &amsuratkumar. Later, that day, it had happened that a few youngsters had come to meet Yogi Ramsuratkumar to propound 'yn Rand&s philosophy. #ut Yogi silently sent them to #alakumaran to do the talking.

'nd that&s how, my beloved reader, India&s greatest saint of our times, shattered the self indulgent philosophy of 'yn Rand, who is said to be one of the most influential writers of twentieth century.