Ramana Maharshi's Gaze
Direct Transmission
Ramana’s Transmission Breaks the Heart Wide Open
The transmission from the gaze of Ramana Maharshi is direct and unmistakable, going right to the heart. Penetrating like a blade and igniting a fire within the heart’s deepest chamber, the gaze takes one all the way to the truth of who one is.For me seeing his gaze happened innocently and unexpectedly, as did the transmission that followed, in fact, there was simply nothing I could do about the revealing effect, which seeing his face for the first time had upon me.
In Ramana’s transmission That! is revealed… that which one is looking for, the purest desire, the basic yearning, and the fire within the heart.
This revelation is the greatest gift of Ramana, burning up everything else, leaving only the purest desire in the depth of the heart as a sure guide! When this awakening takes place a simple and naked truth is revealed that is both irrevocable and unquestionable: the unmistakable, powerful knowing that this is what you have been looking for your entire life.
What is revealed is that this that is always igniting within the heart of everyone has been forgotten. Now through this penetrating gaze one is awakened to the recognition of that which is at the core of one’s own being--Ramana.
Even when one, such as me, has not belonged to any religion or comes from a “simple unsophisticated” background born anywhere in the world, one is still bound to be indoctrinated and locked into a belief pattern.
When this gaze—from merely looking at a photo of Ramana—penetrated me, I didn’t know at that time from whom this gaze was coming, only that it appeared to me, with the greatest innocence and open-hearted simplicity wherein the flavor of love fully emanated without any name. Yet, came a deep recognition of the truth that is always alive at the core of our being.
In this full recognition, which reveals the heart as the center, there is great relief and freedom as never known before. The heart becomes free to feel all the way, everything: the yearnings, the things forgotten or remembered, the realized re-union of that which was never separated. This heart broken-open caused tears to flow in a bathing fountain, tears unstoppable, springing from a deep well of gratitude that one has finally come home!
Some, may ask, all this just in a single gaze…? Yes, in just a gaze! Amazing because what is the gaze of the one who has become free? Of the one who is no longer bound by the conditioned mind’s beliefs and desires? A gaze from such an unbound being wants nothing, but simply is… fully present and totally here in this eternal knowing, an awareness without separation. From that gazing there was no recovery for the conditioned beliefs of the mind.
Later I learned that this gazing individual was gone, no more a physical but yet I was left with a yearning that I never knew before, having experienced what is possible, what is true, what is real! The ignited fire within began—or continued—to light my path, delivering me to Ramana’s living lineage that could support me deeply into the silence, and instruct me in the way of self-inquiry, just as Ramana taught the spiritual seekers who came to him.
The transmission was a timeless revelation of what is always alive and totally free, anytime and everywhere. And the gaze is always here looking from within into its own self!
Meeting Gangaji
My Beloved Teacher, Mi Amada Maestra
I am celebrating the 20th anniversary of meeting with Gangaji - a meeting that redirected my life profoundly. I am delighted to reflect on this "once in a lifetime encounter" because it is impossible to separate oneself from the moment or the presence in which one awakens to one's true nature. It will always be the reference that marks this individual lifestream. It is before and after and in that gap, and between both, there is only this love as the one reality that permeates all existence.
My heart opened like a flower and in that opening, my entire life shifted from a fear-based self-centered separate identity to the profound realization of being nothing at all and one with everything. Since my several years in silent retreats with Gangaji, the overflowing love of silence and the recognition of my true nature has been the support. It ended many of many battles with people, family, peers, and the world. I recognize that arrogance, criticism, and judgment became less prominent and a deeper understanding of my human nature is always arising.
Seven years passed in a deepening and unraveling process, supported and assisted in solitude I never knew before. Life has unfolded in mysterious ways and moved toward whatever needed to be met.
As I continued to facilitate my work, I realized there was a transmission happening and that whatever I did was in the serving of it. This facilitation was no longer about improving people's character but to wake up from the character and inquire into the nature of oneself. While I was facilitating workshops, talks, individual sessions, and retreats, I became aware of how the attendees had the flame of truth at the core of their hearts.
My meeting with Gangaji kept revealing that an “Eternal Moment “ is what it is - a love affair with oneself, a journey into the heart’s realization that the truth reveals in deep silence from where the nectar of bliss emanates. From this silence came these words:
Sacred
Sacredness--
It doesn’t belong to the past
Not to any tradition
You can taste it right at this moment
It doesn’t belong to the future
not to evolution either,
not to when peace reigns on earth
It is right here.
But when you and I drop away
and silently we speak to each other
whispering… I love you!
Mi encuentro con Gangaji
Estoy celebrando el vigésimo aniversario de mi encuentro físico con Gangaji, una re-unión que redirigió mi vida totalmente en 360 grados. Me dirigió al origen, a la fuente, a mi esencia.
Es lo que yo llamo "encuentro único en la vida" porque es imposible separarse del momento o la presencia en la que uno despierta a la verdadera naturaleza. Este encuentro siempre será la referencia distintiva de esta vida individual. Es antes y después ya que aquí se rebela que solo el amor existe como la única realidad que impregna toda existencia.
Mi corazón se abrió como una flor y en esa apertura, toda mi vida cambió de una identidad separada egocéntrica basada en el miedo a la profunda comprensión de no ser nada en absoluto y uno con todo. Durante años en retiros de silencio con Gangaji, el amor incondicionado se rebeló ser mi verdadera naturaleza y es lo que me ha sostenido.
Terminaron muchas de las muchas batallas con la gente, la familia, los compañeros y el mundo. Reconozco que la arrogancia, la crítica y el juicio se hicieron menos prominentes y siempre surge una comprensión más profunda de mi naturaleza humana.
Entre a un proceso de profundización y desintegración durante siete años, apoyada y asistida por un silencio que nunca había conocido y con el apoyo incondicional de Gangaji. A partir de entonces la vida se ha manifestado de manera misteriosa y ha fluido hacia lo que es necesario vivir.
En la medida que retorné a las actividades de mi trabajo, me di cuenta de que estaba ocurriendo una transmisión que se sintonizaba totalmente con la esencia que se me había rebelado. Mi trabajo ya no se trataba de mejorar el carácter de las personas, sino de despertar del personaje e indagar sobre la naturaleza de uno mismo. Mientras estaba facilitando talleres, charlas, sesiones individuales y retiros, me di cuenta de cómo los asistentes tenían la llama de la verdad en el centro de sus corazones, exactamente como la mía. Que somos la misma esencia.
Mi encuentro con Gangaji siguió revelando que este "Momento es Eterno". Que esto es un amorío de uno mismo, un viaje a la comprensión del corazón, donde la verdad se revela en profundo silencio desde donde emana el néctar de la felicidad real. De este silencio salieron estas palabras:
Sagrado
La Sacralidad--
No pertenece al pasado
Ni a ninguna tradición
Puedes descubrirlo en este momento
No pertenece al futuro
no a la evolución tampoco,
no cuando la paz reina en la tierra
Está justo aquí
Cuando tu y yo nos acercamos
y silenciosamente nos susurramos... te amo!
Meeting with Gangaji in Ashland, Oregon