Eleanor Pauline Noye
One day, when I was three years old, I went and prostrated to Bhagavan. When I got up, Bhagavan said, “Ganesa, go, your Noye is seated there. Go sit on her lap.” I ran joyfully towards the elderly American lady and promptly clambered on to her lap. She was Eleanor Pauline Noye. This was not the only incident where Bhagavan’s grace linked me to her. The same year, I went one day into the dining hall when Bhagavan and the devotees were seated for lunch. Heading straight for Eleanor Pauline Noye, I insisted on eating from her leaf plate. The cooks and some of the seated devotees were horrified - steeped as they were in orthodoxy. For them, even the thought of a Brahmin child sharing food from the plate of a westerner was abhorrent. They came running to save me from this unthinkable act of pollution! Adamant on having my way, I started throwing a tantrum and creating a scene. Bhagavan’s attention was drawn to the whole drama. With a single look, he took in what was taking place. Unperturbed, he advised the cooks, “Bring a plate of food with a spoon in it and show it to the child. He will come along with you. His insistence is not to eat from her plate. Since Ganesan has never seen anybody eat with a spoon, he too wants to eat with one!” The cooks did as Bhagavan suggested and I followed them like a happy puppy. Bhagavan looked at me and remarked, “See, your wish is fulfilled!” Bhagavan then turned to the cooks and the others and said, “And your problem too is solved!”
Bhagavan drew all kinds of seekers from across the world. To almost all of them whom I met, I would pose the same question, “What made you come to Arunachala and to Bhagavan?” They would generally reply, “Somebody gave me an article about Bhagavan and Arunachala. That’s how I came here.” I would persist, “You must have read of many places. Do you go to all the places that you read about?” On reflection, and sometimes, I confess, with a little prodding from me, it would dawn on them that it was not the printed word but a higher power, call it Bhagavan or whatever else, that drew them to Arunachala. Every devotee who has been attracted to Bhagavan has been brought here by the same higher power that in 1896 drew Bhagavan himself to Arunachala!
In 1939, Mrs. Noye was living in California with her twin sister when she went through a major crisis. It caused such mental anguish that she couldn’t even sleep. Her suffering was so intense that though she was not well to do, she decided to travel around the world to find solace. Due to her very poor health, her doctor advised her not to travel. “Why do you want to travel in this condition?” the doctor asked. She answered, “I want to know myself.” Quite prophetic, considering that the cardinal teaching of the master she was to meet was, “Find out who you are.”
Though her planned destination was Calcutta, when her ship reached Chennai she felt impelled to disembark. She took a room in a hotel but did not feel like staying there because of the heat. The hotel staff advised her to go to Kodaikanal, a hill station. The next day, she reached Kodaikanal in a taxi that was arranged for her. In the course of a pleasant stay in a hotel there, she asked some of its workers if there was any living seer or saint they knew about. One of them immediately replied, “Yes, there is a sage called Ramana Maharshi in Arunachala! He is the greatest seer in India!” The surprising thing was that the answer came from an ordinary worker in the hotel, not from a seeker or a scholar. In 1939, the Maharshi was not that well known, yet, he was described as the greatest seer in India.
Mrs. Noye left at once for Arunachala. When she arrived at the ashram, Niranjanananda Swami, the sarvadhikari, welcomed her and took her directly to Bhagavan. This is what she wrote: “I felt the atmosphere was filled with Bhagavan’s purity and blessedness. One feels the breath of the divine in the sage’s presence. When he smiled, it felt as though the gates of the divine were thrown open. I have never seen eyes more alight with divine illumination. He greeted me very tenderly and made some enquiries about me which put me at ease and his look of love and compassion made a benediction that went straight to my Heart. He knew how much I needed him. I was immediately drawn to him. His greatness and kindness was all embracing. His silent influence of love and light was more potent than words can ever be. Everyone who comes to him is blessed. The inner peace which is his is felt by all.”
Mrs. Noye seated behind Sri Bhagavan on the Hill (Lakshman Joo is to the left of Sri Bhagavan)
From that moment, till her taking leave of Bhagavan after a year, her eyes rarely stopped shedding tears. Bhagavan’s attention on her was continuous and without a gap. The moment she came into his presence, he would turn his attention on her. Unbelievable, but true, such a wonderful relationship is unique in the pages of the book of Bhagavan’s life. Her pure, simple ways and her melting tears endeared her to all the old devotees as well. In the beginning, her tears were due to anguish, sorrow and suffering. Later on, her tears were a spontaneous expression of inexplicable joy and spiritual fulfillment. After she met Bhagavan, she slept soundly for the first time in many years. From then on, the sleeping pills she had been taking were given up for good. She attributed it to the direct blessings of Bhagavan. When asked how she managed to do it, she replied, “I received the medicine of all medicines - the unfailing grace of Bhagavan.” Her answer echoes one of Bhagavan’s poems in which he addresses Arunachala as ‘the medicine of all medicines’.
After some months, she wanted to travel and see India before leaving for home. After a long tour of India, when she reached Calcutta, her port of departure, she suddenly felt the powerful pull of Bhagavan and Arunachala. Without a second thought, she returned. Bhagavan welcomed her with a glorious smile. Mrs. Noye describes her experience of her second sojourn, “My love blossomed into deep devotion and I was filled with ineffaceable peace. The things which seemed so vital before were no longer of any importance. I could see things in their correct perspective. The heartaches of yesterday and thoughts of tomorrow faded into insignificance and finally into complete oblivion.”
One day, seeing her with a beautiful rose, a devotee asked her about it. Mrs. Noye answered that it was for Bhagavan. But when she entered the hall she had no courage to offer it directly to Bhagavan. So she placed the rose on a foot stool that was usually kept before Bhagavan. Bhagavan looked at her and asked her, “What is that?” “It is only a rose, Bhagavan.” “Will you give it to me?” She picked it up and gave it to Bhagavan who took it from her and touched it to his eyes, his head and his Heart. On seeing that simple, beautiful gesture, filled with emotion, a silent prayer burst forth from her heart, “Oh Bhagavan! May you always be my father! May you always be my mother! May you always be my God! May I always be your child!”
After a stay of eight months, the day came for her to leave for California. Standing in front of Bhagavan to take leave, she cried profusely. Bhagavan assured her, “I am always with you.” When she went back to her home in America, she used to stay in touch with Bhagavan through letters. Whenever she wrote, Mrs. Noye would write four letters - one addressed to Bhagavan, one to Niranjanananda Swami, one to Bhagavan’s attendant Krishnaswami who was very kind to her, and a fourth one to me. Every time he read a letter from Mrs. Noye, Bhagavan would, believe me, be moved to tears as she would have written in her letter, “Bhagavan! I am writing you this letter with tears rolling down my cheeks.” In those days, Indians travelled very rarely to America. But whenever a devotee informed Bhagavan about such a trip, he would instruct them, “Go and meet Noye.”
After Bhagavan dropped his body, she wrote a letter in which she stated, “Bhagavan! You have taken me to your Heart. I am in your Heart.” This remarkable lady, who came to Bhagavan full of anguish, suffering and sorrow, successfully completed her spiritual journey through the enfoldment of Bhagavan’s loving and compassionate grace.
Sri Bhagavan seated near the Ashram well