Sadhus Reminiscences of Raman Maharshi

Author(s): Arunachal Sadhu
Publisher: Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai

Page 59

A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi 53 Devotion) and to love him one must know him, while to do this a certain amount of Hatha Yoga and Karma is often practised. Hatha Yoga itself consists of various exercises, body postures and breath control, whereas Karma Yoga is the Yoga of works and comprises chanting of Vedas, elaborate Poojas and daily purification ceremonies. There are many other minor schools such as Tantra, Kundalini and others.
Bhagavan of course never taught any of these though I once saw him giving instruction in Yoga, a thing almost unheard of, to a North Indian who was practising some form of Kundalini Yoga. This can only be explained by the fact that Bhagavan saw that by this method and this method alone the person would be able to advance. But as a rule he would tell people not to waste time in these practices, going the long way round, when they could go direct by the practice of Self-enquiry.
One evening during the last few months of his life, at a time when only the attendants were allowed into the immediate presence of Bhagavan, a man from the North came and obtained special permission for a private interview with Bhagavan. Of course he had to work through an interpreter and it was from him I had the story, though through the window I saw the interview proceeding.
The man explained to Bhagavan that he had been practising Kundalini Yoga; that he could bring the force up to a certain point or Chakra, and that there it got stuck, he could proceed no further. What should he do?