---Sure. Ramana was devoted to the Arunachala Hill, a murti of the
static form of Shiva . (p.2 Bhagavan Sri Ramana, A Pictorial Biography,
published by Sri V.S. Ramanan, President, Sri Ramanasramam).
Bhagavan spoke these words:
(p.1): "Siva, the Lord Supreme whom all adore, Us'd once His trident in
a mighty act of Grace;
That trident He made in times of yore,
Proclaims for e'er Tiruchili a sacred place.
In "Necklet of Nine Gems", Bhagavan is quoted as saying:
"To rescue me--born of virtuous Sundara and Sunari in the holy town of
Tiruchili, seat of Bhuminatheswara--from this barren worldly life, He
raised me to His state that His Heart might so rejoice, the immanence
of Siva so shine forth, and the Self flourish. Such is Arunachala,
famous throughout the universe!'. (page 1).
In "Marital Garland of Letters", his transcribed words are: "From my
home Thou didst entice me, then stealing into my heart didst draw me
gently into Thine, such is Thy Grace, O Arunachala". (p. 17).
Bhagavan saw the Arunachala Hill for the first time in 1896, and then
later said "From here Jnana Sambadha beheld the peak of Arunagiri and
sang verses out of excess joy and installed an image of Arunacheleswara
in the same spot." (p. 21).
Then, Bhagavan wrote out (in his own handwriting) a quote of Saint
Sambandha: "On the hill Arunachala, little animals like deer, bears,
and pigs along with big ones like elephants roam about fearlessly. Here
Lord Arunachala abides as Supreme Knowledge, santified with the Holy
name Annamalai, and blesses His devotes with his characteriscally
unfailing grace by removing their shortcomings".
Then, at the last stage of journey to Arunachala, Bhagavan (then
Venkataraman), entered the Arunacheleswara Temple and beheld the
Arunacheleswara Lingam". The editor (p 24) states,
"As though the Father was thus preparing to welcome his 'beloved son
', Venkataraman walked straight into the inmost shrine and addressed
Arunachaleswara thus: "I have come to Thee at Thy behst. Thy will be
done".
The foregoing thus provides a brief set of statements in Bhagavan's
words attesting to the fact that one can be devoted to "a God - a
Deity, even after realizing the Self. Such devotion by no means implies
a state of dualistic ignorance.
In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, netineti3 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
> >
> > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "matrixmonitor"
> > <matrixmonitor@> wrote:
> > >
> > > --External Gods may still be worshipped after Brahman Realization
> > > ("external" as Brahman, nondifferent); since Ramakrishna was
devoted
> > > to Kali before and after Realization, and Ramana Maharshi was
> > devoted
> > > to Arunachala Shiva.
>
> Can you please tell where it says Ramana Maharishi was devoted to
> Arunachala Shiva? I am curious why you say this.
>
