IN STILLNESS IT SHINES
In the tenth verse of his Eleven Stanzas to Sri Arunachala, Bhagavan adores the grandeur and splendour of his guru, Lord Arunachala, thus, “I have discovered a new thing! This hill, the lodestone of lives, arrests the movements of anyone so much as thinks of It, draws him face to face with It, and fixes him motionless like Itself, to feed upon his soul thus ripened. What a wonder is this! Oh souls! Beware of it and live! Such a destroyer of lives is this magnificent Arunachala, which shines within the Heart!
This is, perhaps, one of the most important verse of Bhagavan giving as it does the most direct insight into the Truth.
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The three important and practical aspects that are revealed here are (I) motionless like Itself (ii) thus ripened and (iii) which shines within the Heart.
(I) Achala means motionless, still. This is the real form of Arunachala. The mountain is its gross form. Not only is it without any movement, it also transforms all movements of the soul, into its own nature of stillness. Thus, stillness as the foundation for spiritual perfection, is clearly brought out by Bhagavan.
(II) The next important step for attaining Self-realization is to remain without movements of the mind. This will effectively lead to the of ripening of the soul.
(III) “The only purpose of life is to attain the Self”, says Bhagavan. When the mind is stilled, it reverts back to its source, the Heart or the Self, from which it sprouted. In swooning, deep sleep and death, such merging takes place, but only unconsciously and temporarily. In the state of Self–realization, the merging is complete and total like a river joining the ocean. This state of Self-realization is not a time-bound end of sadhana, but an ever existing Truth in the ever-flowing NOW. That is why, Bhagavan uses the continuous present tense, “shines”.
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Whenever we remain in a state where mind does not oscillate and we are yet consciously aware of the Self shining in the Heart, we experience the state of Self-realization. Such experiencing takes places only in the NOW. The NOW being true reality, it knows no difference between a moment and eternity, both of which belong to the realm of unreal time. It is as it is!
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“Summa iru” or “Be still” is the greatest of all direct and practical teachings of our beloved master, Bhagavan.
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