Introduction

‘Vasanas’ are an individual’s store of past actions — both good and bad — and their results. Spiritual life is usually a long and sustained effort to exhaust or empty the results of past actions.

As Sri Bhagavan puts it cryptically in Tamil: “புஜித்தே தீர வேண்டும்” “Bhujiththey Theera Vendum,” meaning: “The whole stock of such stored up actions and their results will have to be completely wiped out. And it has to be done by the same individual who accrued them in his previous births.”

In his Pappad Song, Sri Bhagavan mentions about nal vaasanai or ‘good actions’ and their stored up good karma. It clearly indicates the existence of its opposite — dhur vasanai or bad actions and the stored up bad karma. Living in the proximity of a Saint means one has to exhaust not only one’s nal vasanai but also ‘dhur vasanai’. The Guru’s “Anugraha” or “Blessings” makes it sprout and start operating — sometimes with hurdles and obstacles. But, the same Guru’s “Anugraha” removes them all and thus, completely frees the afflicted spiritual aspirant from all the stored up ‘vasanas’.

To help the aspiring sadhaka experientially understand the nuances of the whole process of how the Guru’s “Anugraha” wipes out the sadhaka’s stored up past actions resulting in ‘vasana kshaya’, I would like to share some events from Annamalai Swami’s life.

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colour photo of the elderly Annamalai Swami, white-bearded, in white cloth

black-and-white photo of the Ashram Dining Hall and Kitchen under construction

The Ashram Dining Hall and Kitchen — together — were built under the supervision of Annamalai Swami

photo of Sri Bhagavan walking at a building site with workers

photo of Sri Bhagavan standing with a stick beside a thatched shed

Sri Bhagavan visits the working site, encouraging Annamalai Swami

photo of Sri Bhagavan seated on a low wall by the kitchen building

Sri Bhagavan admiring the about-to-be completed Kitchen

photo of the completed Dining Hall and Kitchen building with a grinding stone in the foreground

Dining Hall and Kitchen completed. Sri Bhagavan blessed it by making a board “Paaka Salai” on top of the building!

photo of the completed Goshala (cow shed) building

“Goshala” (cow shed) construction completed by Annamalai Swami