"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

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Guru's Feet Are Within

Sri Annamalai Swami


I can remember one occasion when Bhagavan appeared to approve of a devotee falling at his feet. B was sitting on a sofa outside the hall and many devotees were coming, prostrating and then leaving. A Christian priest came into the ashram but he didn't come near B, nor did he attempt to prostrate. He just stood at a distance and watched B with evident curiosity for about forty-five minutes. Finally, just like a tree falling down, he went down on the floor, prostrated full-length and then left. He had obviously had some experience which convinced him of B's greatness but we never found out what it was because he left without saying a word. After he had gone, B smiled and remarked, 'He couldn't control himself any longer without doing any namaskaram.'

A devotee once approached B and asked him if he could prostrate to him and touch his feet.

B replied: 'The real feet of B exist only in the heart of the devotee. To hold onto these feet incessantly is true happiness. You will be disappointed if you hold onto my physical feet because one day this physical body will disappear. The greatest worship is worshipping the Guru's feet that are within oneself.

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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