The Holy Lure of Sri Ramanashramam

By G. L. Krishna

I have been a regular visitor to the ashram of Sri Ramana Maharshi in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu (South India). Spending about 4–5 days in the holy precincts of the Ashram has become a cherished biannual ritual for me. 

I have often reflected on what pulls me toward this sacred place. As devotees of Arunachala would attest, while the pull is deep and real, its full nature defies definitive description. A devotee is like Matthew Arnold’s poet, who feels that sharing the deepest truths is challenging: 

Some secrets may the poet tell, 

For the world loves new ways; 

To tell too deep ones is not well 

It knows not what he says. 

I cannot, I am afraid, fathom those deeper aspects of Arunachala’s pull. So, this piece will focus only on those “secrets that I may tell.” 

Tell the Truth, with Love

By Dawn Raffel

In October, I attended Swami Yogatmananda’s talk at Divya Dahm in Queens, NY. I had gone to this temple twice before, both times to hear Swami speak. The first time, I entered tentatively. As someone who does not come from a Hindu background, I was somewhat taken aback by all of the deities—dozens of them, all throughout the temple. Initially, it felt overwhelming. Yet as I continued to sit, what I had tried to understand intellectually began to sink in: There were so many deities that, paradoxically, they had to be One, with many aspects.

This time, I entered the temple eagerly. It was the month of the Durga puja, and Swami’s talk centered on the divine feminine and Holy Mother. The lecture was beautiful, and yet it was an exchange during the question and answer period that has continued to reverberate most powerfully in my mind. The question was posed in a language I don’t understand. Perhaps the specifics of the question don’t matter, because Swami’s answer, in English, is universally applicable: “Tell the truth, with love.” To this, he added, “because the truth is love.”