GANAPATHI MUNI
1878-1938 (see)
In 1903 there came to Tiruvannamalai a great Sanskrit scholar and savant named Kavya Kanta Ganapathy Sastri. He was famous as "Ganapathi Muni." Ganapati Muni was born as an ‘amsa’ of Dundi Ganapati, had a huge following, and was a born poet. He was a great scholar and a tapasvi with powerful Siddhis who could bring down or stop the rains! He could destroy a whole town. Once when he was harassed during his stay in the city of Nasik he cursed that the whole city should be destroyed. Soon the whole city was destroyed through the dreaded disease of plague.
He was drawn by a force to the sacred mountain Arunachala emanating from a young Sanyasin who was to eventually come to be known as the Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. When he first saw Ramana, he was gazing at the sun. It was a habit with him to gaze the scorching sun in the afternoon till the sunset. Ganapathi Muni stayed with Ramana for a number of days and had discussions with him; many of his doubts were cleared.
Although he had studied the Vedanta (Indian Philosophy) and the Upanishads, he had not clearly understood what tapasya meant. The simple explanation that Ramana gave cleared a big doubt that tormented him. It was Ganapathi Muni who gave the young Sanyasin the name of "Maharshi" or "Bhagawan." Not only that. He wrote hymns in Sanskrit, in praise of Ramana Maharshi, and wrote a book with the title "Ramana Gita" explaining his teachings.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING GANAPATHI MUNI:
As a five year old boy, his father named him Ganapati. He became a treasure house of the Vedas, the Upanishads and other Sanskrit literature, and Sanskrit poetry was on the tip of his tongue. He had done plenty of mantras, japa, tyaga, tapasya. Still, he was discontented, not at peace.
He had met the yet-to-be-called Sri Ramana on the southern slopes of Arunachala. One day he was assailed by pains, troubles, doubts. He remembered that the young Swami was on the hill, and at midday, a little after noon, he climbed and found him sitting outside Virupaksha cave, alone. He prostrated and said, "All the scriptures that have to be read, I have read. All the mantras and japa that have to be done, I have done. Still I have no peace. Please save me." The young Swami took a little time. For at least fifteen minutes he silently gazed at him. Then in Tamil, he spoke. The English translation is simple:
"If one watches whence the notion 'I' arises, the mind is absorbed in That; that is tapas. When you recite a mantra, watch where the sound is coming from, within you; when you sing a song or prayer, watch where it is emanating from: your Heart. Put your attention on That. That is tyaga, that is TAPASYA, that is all."
All his doubts and delusions were washed away that day.
Sri Seshadri Swamigal had watched over the young Swami while he was sequestered in the underground vault, Patala Lingam, in the main temple, Arunachaleswarar. By the time the young Swami had moved to Virupaksha Cave on Arunachala Hill he was accompanied by a self-appointed Malayalee attendent named Palaniswami. Ganapathi Muni asked Palaniswami about the young Swami's former name, Venkataraman, then he cut out Venkata, added Maharshi and renamed him Sri Ramana Maharshi, or Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Arthur Osborne in Ramana Maharshi And The Path of Self-Knowledge (York Beach: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1995, pages 96-97) writes that about a year after his first meeting with Sri Bhagavan, Ganapathi Muni experienced a remarkable outflow of his Grace. While he was sitting in meditation in the temple of Ganapati at Tiruvottiyur he felt distracted and longed intensely for the presence and guidance of the Bhagavan. At that moment Sri Ramana entered the temple. Ganapati prostrated himself before him and, as he was about to rise, he felt the Maharshi's hand upon his head and a terrifically vital force coursing through his body from the touch; so that he also received Grace by touch from the Master. Speaking about this incident in later years, Sri Ramana Maharshi said:
"One day, some years ago, I was lying down and awake when I distinctly felt my body rise higher and higher. I could see the physical objects below growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared and all around me was a limitless expanse of dazzling light. After some time I felt the body slowly descend and the physical objects below began to appear. I was so fully aware of this incident that I finally concluded that it must be by such means that Sages using the powers of Siddhis travel over vast distances in a short time and Appear and Disappear in such a mysterious manner. While the body thus descended to the ground it occurred to me that I was at Tiruvottiyur though I had never seen the place before. I found myself on a highroad and walked along it. At some distance from the roadside was a temple of Ganapati and I entered it." (see)
Osborne goes on to say that around the year 1936 Ganapathi Muni settled down in the village of Nimpura near Kharagpur with a group of followers and from there until his death two years later devoted himself to asceticism. Although it has been reported that Ganapathi became the recipient of the Maharshi's grace on Monday, November 18,1907 and "all his doubts were dispelled at one stroke by the vision of Central Reality," Sri Ramana was asked following Ganipathi's death whether he could have attained Realization during this life. Ramana replied, "How could he? His inherent tendencies were too strong."
AND NOW THIS:
In the second paragraph above the following is found:
He was drawn by a force to the sacred mountain Arunachala emanating from a young Sanyasin who was to eventually come to be known as the Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Now, if Ganapathi Muni's inherent tendencies were too strong as Ramana suggests or if all his doubts and delusions were washed away that day as his biographers suggest is not known with all certainty, BUT IT IS SAID that when you truly need a teacher, one will appear. This may due to some inexplicable serendipity. It may be due to the fact that the seeker has searched deeply within himself or herself and determined what sort of instruction seems to be required. It could be a spiritual desperation on the part of the seeker, or a successful sales pitch by a teacher (sincere or not). It may be a combination of the previous factors, or some intuitive awareness beyond expression. For whatever the reason, the saying often applies and the results can be found most eloquently in the following:
SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI: THE LAST AMERICAN DARSHAN
RECOUNTING A YOUNG BOY'S NEARLY INSTANT TRANSFORMATION INTO THE ABSOLUTE DURING HIS ONLY DARSHAN WITH THE MAHARSHI
It should be noted that Adam Osborne, who, as a young boy grew up at the Ramana Ashram and the son the Ramana biographer Arthur Osborne mentioned previously, played a prominent role in the Last American Darshan as linked above.
There is some question regarding the actual year of Ganapathi Muni's death. Although the year 1936 has been cited by some sources, the official Maharshi Newsletter (Sept/Oct 1994, Vol. 4, No. 5) states that on November 22, 1938, Ganapathi personally handed Sri Ramana a letter of introduction from Mercedes DeAcosta referencing her arrival at the ashram. Osborne, cited above, writes that in 1936 Ganapathi settled in the village of Nimpura and died two years later, which would help substantiate the 1938 date as accurate.
THE MEETING: An Untold Story of Sri Ramana
Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where
we differ is that we place a fog, a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience
and then make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself.
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ZEN ENLIGHTENMENT IN A NUTSHELL
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