And now have you known the essence

When T.K. Sundaresa Iyer was a boy of twelve he first visited the Maharishi on the Hill in 1908. That first meeting bonded him to Bhagvan for the remainder of his life and, consequently, he was a witness to many marvelous events in his Guru's presence. Here is one such incident on a holy Sivaratri night in Sri Ramanashram, as recorded in his book, At the Feet of Bhagvan.

It was Sivaratri Day. The evening worship at the Mother's shrine was over. The devotees had their dinner with Sri Bhagavan, who was now on his seat; the devotees at His feet sitting around him. At 8.00 PM one of the sadhus stood up, did pranam (offered obeisance) and with folded hands prayed: "Today is the Sivaratri Day; we should be highly blessed by Sri Bhagavan expounding to us the meaning of the Hymn to Dakshinamurthy (stotra)." Says Bhagavan: "Yes, sit down."

The sadhu sat, and all eagerly looked at Sri Bhagavan; Sri Bhagavan looked at them. Sri Bhagavan sat in his usual pose, no, poise. No words, no movement, and all was stillness! He sat still, and all sat still, waiting. The clock went on striking, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, one, two and three. Sri Bhagavan sat and they sat. Stillness, calmness, motionless - not conscious of the body, of space or time. Thus 8 hours passed in Peace, in Silence, in Being, as It is.

Thus was the Diving reality taught throught the speech of Silence by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Dakshinamurthy.

At the stroke of 4.00 AM Sri Bhagavan quitely said, "And now have you known the essence of the Dakshinamurthy Hymn?" All the devotees stood and made pranam to the holy form of the Guru in the ecstasy of their Being.

"Language is only a medium for communicating one's thoughts to another. It is called in only after thoughts arise; other thoughts arise after the 'I' thought rises; the 'I' thought is the root of all conversation. When one remains without thinking one understands another by means of the universal language of silence."

Sri Ramana Maharishi