Sadhus Reminiscences of Raman Maharshi

Author(s): Arunachal Sadhu
Publisher: Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai

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A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi
professional photographer, he annoyed the boys in some way who started ragging him, in the course of which his wrist watch, which turned out to be no watch at all but some form of miniature radio, was snatched off. For this he was hauled off by the police as a Japanese spy and probably suffered the inevitable end, anyhow we never saw him again. All we can say is that he had been well prepared by Bhagavan.
One day Bhagavan was telling us that the Tamil Saint Manickavasagar's body disappeared in a blaze of light leaving no residue. I asked him how that had happened and he explained that the body is solidified mind. When in Jnanam the mind dissolves and consumes itself in a blaze of light, the body is burnt up in the process. He gave Nandanar as another example of this. I mentioned the case in the Bible of Elijah being carried up to Heaven in a chariot of fire, a poetic way of saying the same thing. I asked if Christ's disappearance from the tomb had resembled this in any way, but Bhagavan pointed out that this was entirely different, for Christ's body remained for a time after death, whereas the bodies of the others had been immediately and utterly consumed. He explained that the subtle body is composed of light and sound and that the gross body is a concrete form of the same.
One often hears people saying that Bhagavan was an Avatar, in this way thinking to add to his glory; but except for the fact that everybody might possibly be called an Avatar, since each of us is God in a human body, there