INTRODUCTION

A seeker in the path to Self-realisation is often confronted with myriad doubts at different stages of his spiritual discipline. By what process is he to get his doubts dispelled? Bhagavān advises, “Know That through prostration, enquiry and service. The wise ones who have realised the Truth will impart Knowledge to you.” Bhagavatpāda expounds the qualification, “who have realised the Truth”, as, “The considered view of the Lord is that Knowledge imparted by only those who have full enlightenment becomes effective, not any other.” Therefore, it behooves a spiritual aspirant to seek solutions from a Self-realised Sadguru to progress in the path of liberation.

Our Acharyal, His Holiness Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Mahaswamigal, the 35th pontiff of Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetam, was a living testimony to the scriptural declarations regarding a Self-realised sage and a jīvanmukta and, above all, an ideal Guru. He was a nonpareil yogi and had been frequently abiding in nirvikalpa-samādhi, the pinnacle of yoga, ever since His teens. His own perfection apart, His compassion, wisdom and complete freedom from egoism, made Him empathise with His disciples, guide them in sādhanā and raise them to the sublime heights of spiritual greatness.

Acharyal always accorded prime importance to spiritual aspirants. Here is an example. On one occasion, three brahmacāri-s from North India arrived in Sringeri seeking clarifications from Acharyal on spiritual issues. It was very late in the evening, just minutes before Acharyal would normally have proceeded for His evening bath. After giving them a patient hearing, Acharyal began His reply in earnest. The question and answer session progressed and it was over two hours before Acharyal finally clarified the celibates’ doubts. Even as the discussion was in progress, Acharyal remarked to one of His close disciples, who was a witness to the discussion, “How sincere they are! They are leaving shortly and so, I do not mind My evening bath getting late. Their requirements deserve top priority.”

Acharyal’s elucidations to devotees consistently bore the stamp of His direct experience of the Truth, His complete mastery of yoga, His unparalleled erudition in the śāstra-s and His thorough understanding of the requirements of the aspirants. A collection of such replies in the form of dialogues between the disciples and Acharyal forms the main chapters of this book. More details about the dialogues can be had from the “Note to the Readers about the dialogues” page.

During the 35 years that He adorned the Sringeri Sharada Peetam, from 1954 to 1989, Acharyal graced devotees with hundreds of speeches in various languages. Each one is a treasure trove of knowledge. Extremely fortunate are those who have heard the nectar-like words of Acharyal, on at least one occasion. Select excerpts from the published benedictory addresses of the Jagadguru have been incorporated in the various chapters of this book. They, invariably, shed more light on the topics discussed in the dialogues.

Acharyal’s very life is a teaching to all of us. Disciples, who had the invaluable privilege of personal contact, or even a short acquaintance with our Acharyal, could readily comprehend His easy accessibility, childlike simplicity, universal love, intense devotion and deep erudition. Without exception, all devotees experienced His unfailing blessings. The supplications and submissions made to Acharyal by devotees seeking benefits, be they spiritual or material, have borne fruits by His sagacious advices, blessings or even His mere physical presence. An attempt to publish a host of such incidents recorded so far would, by itself, warrant a voluminous publication. Hence, a few select instances of devotees’ experiences with Acharyal have been included in the appropriate chapters of this book.

Acharyal had the innate ability to effortlessly render even highly complex scriptural topics easily and thoroughly intelligible by means of stories conceived by Him or based on the Veda-s and other works. Several of His edifying parables have been appended to the dialogues.

To sum up, each chapter in the book features the dialogues as its principal component. The supplements falling under the classifications viz., ‘Discourses of Acharyal’, ‘Incidents from Acharyal’s life’, ‘Parables of Acharyal’ and ‘Experiences of Devotees’ follow this. Readers are sure to observe differences in writing styles in the supplements, especially in the portion concerning the experiences of devotees. The variation in style is natural since the narrators’ written accounts have been retained, with minimal editing.

I received tremendous co-operation from the team that comprised Sri E.R.Ravikumar, Kum.Rathna Kamakshi, Sri V.Subrahmanian and Dr.V.Jayashankar in the selection, editing and proof-reading of the portions that supplement the main dialogues. My thanking them for their sincere and tireless efforts would only be tantamount to insulting their unflinching devotion to our Acharyal. I have to also acknowledge the assistance rendered by Kum.M.Srividya and Sri R.Gopalakrishnan in typing the portions of the book in digital form. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Sri A.Ramaswamy, I.A.S., Sri K.Srinivasan, Sri K.Suresh Chandar, Kum.Meenakshi Lakshmanan and a few other devotees whose sincere compilation, over the years, of experiences of devotees with Acharyal has been extensively used in this book.

All of us have witnessed the rapturous joy, which suffused disciples when recollecting and narrating their treasured personal experiences with Acharyal.

The idea of supplementing the dialogues with Acharyal’s teachings and several of devotees’ experiences was conceived of by me just some ten days ago. I would like to believe that it was divine grace that was responsible for such a proposition suddenly dawning on me. Once again, solely by divine grace, the task taken has been completed in such a short span of time. The treasure of valuable data available with us on our Acharyal is so huge that, at each stage of the book, I was thoroughly discontented with myself for indiscriminately cutting down information.

Not satiated with the amount of information already packed in the book, each one of our team members came up suggesting more and more data to be included, as everything appeared highly pertinent. Ultimately, my decision was by default - I bowed down to time and space!

I own up complete responsibility for the deficiencies in the selection and editing of supplements to the main chapters, the printing and every possible error in this publication. I may sound humble, though I really am not.

I pray that, in His infinite compassion, Acharyal accepts this book that contains several flaws, as a garland of assorted flowers, fresh and faded, offered by one who is bereft of true devotion.

CHENNAI G. RAMASUBRAMANIAN 17.11.2004