K.R.K. Murthy
WITH A VIEW to record Sri Bhagavan’s voice and preserve the same for posterity, someone raised a discussion on the sound recording machines in the presence of Bhagavan. Sri Bhagavan agreed with what they said, regarding this wonderful machine. Seeing that Sri Bhagavan was very favourably disposed towards the same, they wanted to pursue the matter further and fix up a date for recording Sri Bhagavan’s voice. At that moment Sri Bhagavan replied, “My real voice is silence; how can you record that?” In this connection he narrated the story of the saint Thandavaraya, who by his dynamic silence stilled the minds of several people, for three full days.
Once when someone was expressing that all sensations near his hip were not being felt for some time, Sri Bhagavan quickly remarked, “How nice will it be if the whole body becomes like that? We will be unaware of the body.”
One attendant of Bhagavan was reading to Bhagavan in the night. The attendant heard snoring sounds and stopped reading thinking that Bhagavan was asleep. Immediately Bhagavan questioned him as to why he stopped. Again the attendant continued and similar snoring sounds proceeding from Bhagavan made him stop again. But Sri Bhagavan was quite alert and asked him to continue. Is it not a job to find out when Bhagavan is inattentive?
Once Sri Bhagavan said, “If you remain quiet you do the greatest service. One who is abiding in Atma nishtai is always doing greater service (sishrusha) to the guru, than one who does some service physically.” Guru is one who shows the way to Atma nishtai (abidance in the Self ) and the disciple is one who follows.
“If one wants to commit suicide, even a small implement or knife is sufficient. For murdering others, bigger ones are required. Similarly for oneself, one or two words are sufficient but to convince others, books after books have to be written.”
“This Ashram is a place where people can stay and improve and not remark or criticise. In the beginning people come here with the best of intentions to secure the grace of the swami. After a time, they begin to comment, ‘This is not right, that is not right’, and engage themselves in some kind of activity and run after power and position and, as it were, forget for what they have come here.”
“Always it is safer to use cheap and ordinary items as no one then cares to cast a greedy eye upon them.”
“One who does the work without the feeling of doer-ship escapes misery and unhappiness; work then becomes more a pleasure and not exacting.”