The smile soothed and illumined like the cool brightness of the moon. The face lit up by the eyes was cooled by the smile. The stillness of the blissful heart was reflected in the calm, bright beauty of the face. Observers were transported by that gracious glance and bright smile, cool and calm like moonlight
The jnani makes no effort and knows no fatigue; his enthusiasm, his energy is the radiance of blissful peace. His Awareness is itself energy and shines forever like the Sun, unwearied in well-doing
Now the mind, already with the Father, draws the body after it. Withdrawing the mind from outward objects and seeking the Self within is seeking the Father’s abode. “I go in search of my Father,” wrote Bhagavan when he left Madura. In Arunachala, Siva withdraws Sakti into Himself and stands as pure Being and Awareness. After reaching Arunachala Bhagavan ‘does’ nothing. His story is the story of his devotees and the story of the whole world
That the meaning of I is Being-Awareness-Bliss, the identity of self and Self, this is the supreme truth that Bhagavan realized and taught. From that day in July 1896 when he transcended the upadhis (attributes of limitation and separation) and attained complete identity with Universal Awareness, he enjoyed the unbroken bliss of Eternal Being. Man has become God without ceasing to be man. An ordinary schoolboy has been chosen by Mother Sakti to be and function as Kumara, a perennial source of spiritual energy and a living centre of creative goodness
Dextrous in deed, victorious in games, lucky in every task he undertook, Bhagavan turned whatever he touched into the gold of Awareness and Bliss. Compare the epithet Hiranyabahu for Siva.
The play with mythology and metaphysics now becomes localised. The human child divine is born at a hallowed spot and gains illumination in another, both appropriate and well prepared by centuries of tradition, to re-establish the rule of dharma and ensure the world’s welfare. An avatar helps moksha-siddhi (the attainment of liberation by persons) and jagat hitam (the well-being of the world). Bhagavan fulfils both these purposes, which are indeed mutually complementary
This child was born, not as a result of past Karma, but for the divine purpose of renewing human life and transforming the world. His birth can be explained only teleologically. It is wrong to conceive of time as the past flowing into the present and causing the future. The Timeless flows perennially into time as Awareness for transforming the world and creating a future more human and therefore more divine than the past
Viswanatha Swami, a great devotee and scholar, composed twenty slokas containing the 108 Names of Sri Bhagavan which are used in formal puja. As each Name is uttered by way of invocation, a flower is offered in worship. The choice and the arrangement of the Names provides an exquisite blend of biography, mythology and loving adoration and thus create the proper atmosphere for devotees invoking and enjoying the Presence of Sri Bhagavan.