"The very first step in understanding what this is all about is giving up the concept of an active, volitional 'I' as a separate entity and accepting the passive role of perceiving and functioning as a process." - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Display of Devotion Not Needed

Sri Annamalai Swami

In the early days, when B was staying at Virupaksha Cave, he frequently used to go to the summit alone, stay for sometime, and then return to the cave. He told me that on one occasion when he went to the peak by himself he was secretly followed by a devotee called Coutrallam swami. Ten minutes after B reached the top, Coutrallam swami appeared with a mud pot containing water. He had followed B to the summit, carrying this pot on his back, so that B should not suffer from thirst after his long climb.

Coutrallam Swami, who was also known as Sivaya or Mouni Swami, eventually left B and became a famous spiritual figure in his own right. He became the head of several maths, had many followers, and even had a big car, a great rarity in those days.

Some people thought that he was a rather arrogant man but B once spoke to me about him in glowing terms: 'He is a good devotee but he does not show his devotion externally. The devotion is all inside. He hides it so well that most people think that he is not a good devotee. I like this kind of devotion very much.'

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सर्वभूताधिवासं यद्भूतेषु च वसत्यपि।
सर्वानुग्राहकत्वेन तद्स्म्यहं वासुदेवः॥

That in whom reside all beings and who resides in all beings,
who is the giver of grace to all, the Supreme Soul of the universe, the limitless being:
I AM THAT. -- Amritabindu Upanishad