“This certainty ….I cannot give it to you.” - UG

 

UG Krishnamurti

Many books, gurus, teachers have spoken about Life. But the certainty with which UG spoke about Life and how It operates, carried a force and strength that has very few parallels. UG breathed ‘fire’! His words carried clarity and certainty that is indeed rare!

UG 'died' on his 49^th birthday and somehow revived. Did this ‘death’ trigger the certainty?

UG has taken great pains to describe the physiological processes that were set in motion by the ‘Calamity’ on his 49^th birthday. To his credit, Douglas Rosestone seems to have made the epic telephone call that somehow revived life in UG and triggered the cascading physiological changes.

We also have heard or known many a strange anecdote where people declared ‘dead’ by doctors, somehow revived and came back to lead normal lives. Obviously, ‘death’ in their case was not the Calamity that UG spoke of, and certainly it made no difference to the functioning of these people. They resumed their familial relationships and moved on with their ‘old’ lives.

The strange Calamity (or ‘death’) that wiped out the identity called 'UG' in this sense is quite unique!

UG’s oft-repeated line was, “The chance that this might ‘hit’ you …. is one in a billion.”

****

UG was ‘certain’ that he somehow ‘stumbled’ into that state which is nothing but the primordial or primal state of operation of every natural human being.

There were two occasions when UG drilled this into me personally, thrusting his index finger into my chest. The first time, “Look here! There is no difference between you and me. We function in exactly the same way but you are preoccupied and I am not!” Second time, “There is no difference between you and me. Only thing is you are in conflict with society but I am not!”  

UG repeated these statements endlessly, almost every day and with so many people.

UG brushed aside all ‘sadhana’ or preparation or methods or techniques to ‘regain’ the natural state. All of these implied ‘will’. But in case of UG, we see the complete withering away of the will before Calamity. In short, this is not a ‘wilful’ thing at all, rather its complete or total absence!

Post Calamity, UG in his natural state, lived in a ‘state of wonderment.’ His words, when uttered, exposed the social ‘lie’ about our unreal psychological existence, our fictitious identity, our fabricated autobiographical self.

UG spoke with great certainty and pointed to the natural functioning of the entity that is fully endowed with tremendous intelligence and resources, essential for survival and operation in the natural environment.

It is this certainty or authenticity that sets the sage apart.

****

There is a very interesting episode in the life of Kalidasa, who is hailed as the greatest Sanskrit poet ever, that sheds light on the quality of certainty and authenticity.

The story goes like this!

The Emperor Vikramaditya, in whose court Kalidasa reigned as the Poet Laureate, was in awe of his greatness and held him in high esteem. In fact, there were many brilliant poets in his court. Among them there was one other great poet whose expression exactly matched and resonated with that of the great Kalidasa. Their expressions were so similar that it was impossible to tell the difference.

The Empress unlike her husband, felt that both Kalidasa and the fellow poet were of the same calibre and strongly advised the Emperor to treat both on par.

The Emperor was convinced that Kalidasa was unparalleled and wanted to demonstrate this truth to the queen. He hatched a secret plan that would prove the greatness and authenticity of Kalidasa to the queen. According to the plan, the Emperor and the queen were to enact a public drama!

Before the drama began, the Emperor summoned his messengers and sent out a word to all his poets that a beggar had approached him with his wife and the corpse of his only child. The beggar had earlier prayed to the Lord to restore his child’s life and the Lord had appeared to him in a trance and assured him that he would restore the child’s life on completion of a small task. The beggar, incapable of fulfilling the task had now surrendered to the Emperor to help him out in completing the task and revive his child.

In the dream, the Lord, it seems, had uttered an incomplete quatrain (a poem with four lines) with only three lines. The Lord had promised that upon completion of the quatrain, that is, by supplying the missing line, the child would raise from the dead!

The Emperor wanted to help the poor man and announced a great reward for anyone who could complete the quatrain and restore the life of the child.

As per plan, at the appointed hour, the Emperor and the Empress put on the garbs of beggars and along with their infant child appeared in front of the palace. The lady sat on the ground with the sleeping baby on her lap, covered with a cloth, and started wailing out loudly as advised by the Emperor.

All the poets including Kalidasa and the great poet made a beeline to the palace. One by one, each of them made an attempt to complete the poem and revive the dead child.

The first poet came and sang the quatrain supplying the missing line. The beggar went over to his wife, uncovered the child and found the child lying motionless and came back nodding his head in disappointment. 

The poet announced, “Perhaps there is a better way of completing the verse and wake up the child”, and walked away in dejection, giving way to the second poet, then to the third and so on….

Now it was the turn of the poet who was as great as Kalidasa. He too went up to the beggar couple and uttered the missing line. The child did not get up!

Finally, Kalidasa took his position and uttered the missing line.  The beggar again went over to his wife, uncovered the child and came back announcing that the child still did not wake up!

Unlike the previous poet who had accepted his helplessness and walked away, Kalidasa stood his ground and asked the beggar to repeat what the Lord had  instructed in the dream. The beggar repeated that the Lord had promised him that upon completion of the missing line, the dead child would get up!

Then Kalidasa ended the high drama with these words, “True! The dead child will get up… and if the child does not get up, the child is not dead!”

Kalidasa and the other great poet had in fact uttered the same missing line. This was exactly the same line , word for word, the exact replica! What lacked with the other man was the certainty. He was a great poet and a great wordsmith but singularly lacked the confidence and certainty of Kalidasa!

****

In the Upanishads or Vedanta, the sage is categorised as Brahma Nishta, as the One rooted or grounded in Brahma or Natural State whereas a Brahma Jnani is said to be aware and knowledgeable about the Natural State or Sahaja Sthiti but not grounded. 

Jnani howsoever subtle and harmless still denotes the ego!

This subtle difference between the Jnani and Nishta was highlighted by the great sage of yore, Yagnavalkya, in no uncertain terms!

The certainty or authenticity is the hallmark of a Brahma Nishta.

To paraphrase UG’s words, “(A Jnani) may have seen ‘the sugar cube’ but not tasted it (like the Nishta)!”

****

“It never occurs to me that you are different from me.” - UG

UG with Dr. Moorty ( video courtesy: Chandrasekhar Babu)

This write-up revolves around a very interesting excerpt from Dr. Narayana Moorty’s Book on UG, Being Yourself.

The book is a compelling account of Dr. Moorty’s long association with UG. In his characteristic ‘no-holds-barred’ style, Dr. Moorty shares some interesting episodes and encounters with his readers. This is a ring side view of the sage from an accomplished scholar who straddled both the Eastern and Western philosophies.

UG and Dr. Moorty shared many common interests and remained buddies for decades till the very end. UG personally paid for the First Class round-trip ticket from US to Italy to have Dr. Moorty visit him during his last days.

I admire the sheer guts of this nonchalant professor.

Seems once UG and Dr. Moorty set out on a wandering spree and ended up in a way side inn with a kitchenette. Between friends, they wanted to hammer out a deal as to who should pay the bill, and who should cook. UG was magnanimous and let Dr. Moorty take the call. Guess what – without batting an eyelid, Dr. Moorty gleefully offered to pay up the rent and enjoy the stay, while UG ended up in the kitchen cooking for both of them, for the rest of their stay!

****

Here is the excerpt from Dr. Moorty’s book:

“Another morning, UG was talking away and was trying rather unsuccessfully to remember a Sanskrit verse about Vedantins, Naiyayikas, Bauddhas and other philosophers. I told UG that it was possible to get the exact text of the verse from the Internet. He said “Do it!” I went into the anteroom and fished for the verse on the Internet. It didn’t take long. I copied it in the Devanagari script and showed it to him. He said he would be more comfortable reading it in the Telugu script. So I wrote it in the Telugu script on another sheet of paper and he was able to read it with ease.” 

(Source: Being Yourself: Essays on UG Krishnamurti and Related Topics, Kindle Edition.)

This was really interesting ! After reading this, I promptly got in touch with the ever reliable and resourceful Chandrasekhar Babu for more details . The meticulous and kind Babu dug into his archives and shared with me not just the verse, but even the video clip that showed UG and Dr. Moorty engaged in conversation about the very verse. Babu even sang the verse for me in his melodious voice. Seems this was a personal favourite of UG!

The verse bears a special significance in light of the sombre settings of the scene. These were UG’s final hours in the physical realm.

(Image Courtesy: Chandrasekhar Babu)

The verse is self-explanatory. It is supposed to be inscribed on a stone tablet (dated 1380 A.D.) in the world-renowned temple of Belur in Karnataka. The author of the verse is Udayanacharya, a 10^th century scholar and logician of Naiyyayika school of Reasoning.

Here below is the most ancient source for the idea of the inscription, from the Vasishta Gita of sage Valmiki. 

The verse attempts to reconcile the essence of all religions and doctrines, just in three short pithy lines. It boldly proclaims that there is one Cosmic Spirit that is animating the entire creation and that its votaries call it by various names.  

Chandrasekhar Babu pointed out that Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Ex-President of India, a good friend of UG, had at some point improvised the same verse to append a line that brought into fold the other two names - Christ and Allah.

“Kraistvah Kristuriti kriyapararatah Alleti Mahammadah Soyam”  

(“Whom the Christians devoted to work as Christ and the Mohammedans as Allah.”)

UG’s choice of verses is truly amazing! He had a ready stock of Sanskrit quotes in his repertoire and could easily handpick any verse from any source, in a flash. He enjoyed a profound understanding of all the major religions and doctrines. He was well-clued in Vedas, Vedanta (Upanishads), Buddhism (he especially liked the Chan Buddhism), Taoism, Eastern and Western philosophies as well as psychology. 

****

In the early ‘70s, in the years that followed his Calamity, UG is known to have interacted with many pundits, scholars, intellectuals, many who were well versed in Vedas and Vedanta (Upanishads).

UG met Dr. K B Ramakrishna Rao, the Principal of Sanskrit College in Sringeri (North Karnataka) who later moved over to Mysore as Professor of Philosophy in Manasa Gangotri, University of Mysore. He was an accomplished scholar in Advaita philosophy. UG regularly visited his home in Mysore for several years till Dr. Rao’s death in the late ‘80s.

Dr. Rao created the first UG portal in Mysore and introduced UG to many of his learned friends. UG met up with many luminaries of the time there.

Also, Dr. Rao personally held many discussions with UG on Upanishads or Vedanta, the distilled wisdom of the Vedas, the crest-jewel of Oriental teaching. These interactions with UG seemed to have inspired his own book on the Bhagvad Gita. Also Dr. Rao penned the first ever biography of UG ( Illi Vaadavilla, Iruvudella Veda - ಇಲ್ಲಿ ವಾದವಿಲ್ಲ, ಇರುವುದೆಲ್ಲ ವೇದ ), a short introductory book in Kannada.

This was the same period when UG came in touch with another friend, Brahmachari Sivarama Sharma, a great scholar, also well versed in Vedanta and a close associate of Dr. Rao. 

At the time, Brahmachari was getting groomed to take over as the pontiff of Kudli Mutt, as its successor. Kudli Mutt is a spiritual centre in Shimoga that owes its allegiance to Adi Shankaracharya of the seventh century, the proponent of Advaita doctrine or Monism.

UG immediately saw a threat to his friend’s life and prevented Brahmachari from getting embroiled in the ‘politics of spirituality’ and weaned him away from his pursuit and let him lead a peaceful and contented life.

While in Udupi, UG briefly interacted with another great scholar Bannanje Govindacharya, an expert in the Vedas and Indian philosophy, a scholar of great repute and renown. During this meeting, UG and Bannanje seemed to have exchanged their notes in Sanskrit!

****

Coming back to the verse, it is interesting to note UG’s recollection of the verse at a time when he was nearing the end of his earthly sojourn!

What makes this verse and its timing significant is the fact that it is a pointer to UG’s position on God!

Did UG ever consent to the idea of a personal God or Godhead?

Never! There was not even a slightest hint about his stance on Personal God anywhere in his innumerable talks and discussions. Rather, he was always seen ridiculing and blasting gods and goddesses, and calling names.

Obviously, UG could not bring himself to reconcile to the ‘idea of a Personal God’. According to him the ‘idea of God’ is born in a mind that is infested with fear.

“It is the mind that has created God, out of fear!”

The weak, fearful and greedy minds have a need for God and therefore invent one!

Devoid of 'self' or 'ego', the sage does not suffer from separation or division from rest of creation. Life is just one boundless ocean of energy for the sage, everything is his, he is everything and therefore there is nothing to seek, nothing to fear.

The sage is just the pulsing of Life Energy! Sage and Life are not two separate things!

This is not some far-fetched theory, but a living reality that we see operating in the life of sages.

A sagely life validates the universal truth that “Life is undivided organic whole!”

World has seen great sages and seers, many unsung, unknown teachers ‘whose footprints have been lost in the sands of time’, from every ancient land. Whether from Africa, Egypt, the Middle East (the cradle of the three Abrahamic religions), India or China. all the sages spoke in unison and proclaimed the truth about the ‘Unity of Life’!

On numerous occasions UG pointed out, “There is no one here. UG comes and goes whenever there is a demand!”

Again, “It never occurs to me that you are different from me.”

Our minds were confounded and then UG explicated his situation with the beautiful analogy of the circle.

Wherever there is a 'centre', the circle is limited and bound by its circumference. In other words, it is the 'centre' that defines the circumference and limits the circle. In the absence of the 'centre', there is no more circumference, and the circle just explodes into infinity.

UG explained that, in our case, it is the ‘self’ or ‘ego’  that forms the centre. It is this centre that imposes serious limitation and defines the bounds of life energy. Without this centre, Life is boundless and infinite, encompassing everything in the universe.

Sages seem to operate in this boundless, limitless field of Life energy.

UG referred to this limitless energy field in his talks as 'Intelligence' or 'Life Energy' just to keep matters simple and uncomplicated.

****

There are countless anecdotes where UG ‘encompassed and became’ the person he was watching….In Casino de Paris, he couldn’t tell whether he was the dancer or there was some other dancer on the stage!

Dr. Sreedhav narrates another anecdote in Major’s farm house in Bangalore, when UG refused to use the toilet for three consecutive days. He had discovered a lizard in the commode that stubbornly refused to leave its new abode. UG could never bring himself to flush away the poor creature, how could he ever do that to  himself?

Dr. Moorty recollects yet another incident. 

Once UG and himself were sitting in a hotel lobby waiting for their turn to check in. UG, for some reason, appeared extremely agitated and in intense pain. It turned out that he was fixated on the front desk where a young girl was struggling to cope with her multiple roles as a receptionist, telephone operator, manager, and concierge loading, unloading heavy luggage pieces for guests. The extreme stress levels of the girl, as she laboured on and struggled, to cope up with her gruelling work, began to manifest in UG!

In UG's life, we see the practical demonstration of the universal truth about “The Unity of Life”

If there is a singular message that keeps reverberating time and again, in the ancient wisdom of the Vedanta or Upanishads, in the spirited discussions and debates that resounded in the serene forest universities of eminent sages, or in the discourses held in spectacular courtyards of India’s greatest emperors and kings, it is this plain truth– ‘Universe is an organic whole’! This is the essence of Vedanta, Brahma is that organic whole!

Short of acknowledging God, UG took a much more rational, sensible and realistic position, “God is irrelevant!”  while re-emphasising the Unity of Life! 

****

Here is the audio clip carrying the melodious rendering of the verse sung by Jesudas in the Kannada movie Malaya Maruta. 

                                 

“Where did you meet this ‘monster’?” – Mahesh Bhat

During the early years of my association with UG, once Mahesh Bhat queried me, “Where did you meet this ‘monster’?”

Mahesh’s description of UG was spot on! 

Like a monster, UG could completely ‘devour’ you, especially if you were one of those ‘crazy types’ feverishly looking for answers to life’s problems or hankering after spiritual goals. Once in his field of influence, UG appeared to grow bigger and bigger, like a monster and to engulf you completely!

It was simply not possible to debunk or dismiss UG’s words or actions that falsified (the entity called) ‘you’ at every step. UG relentlessly pointed out that the ‘you’ as you know yourself, is a mere ‘impostor’, a psychological beast foisted upon the physiological entity by human society or culture. And that it has no real basis!

****

The renowned Sri Narayana Guru from Kerala once visited Sri Ramana Maharshi along with his disciples and stayed on in Tiruvannamalai for a few days. Referring to the Maharshi, he exclaimed that Ramana is indeed ‘the King Cobra’ !

The following anecdote from the life of Sri Ramakrishna captures the real essence of allegory of the King Cobra:

“One day I was passing the Panchavati on my way to the pine-grove, I heard a bull frog croaking. I thought it must have been seized by a snake. After some time, as I was coming back, I could still hear its terrified croaking. I looked to see what the matter was, and found that a water-snake had seized it. The snake could neither swallow it nor give it up. So, there was no end to the frog’s suffering. I thought that had it been seized by a cobra, it would have been silenced after three croaks at the most. As it was only a water – snake, both of them had to go through this agony. A man’s ego is destroyed after three croaks, as it were, if he gets into the clutches of a Real Guru.”

In today’s spiritual bazaar, the clueless gurus and their hapless disciples suffer from the agony of painful and exploitative relationships.

The ego of the ‘guru’ is far worse than the ego of the ‘sishya’, both suffer from the burden of bloated egos and self-deceit!

****

UG perhaps was the ‘monster’ and the ‘king cobra’ rolled into one!

An encounter with UG was like a ‘body blow’ to those hankering after spiritual goals. The impact of the blow decimated the drive in the individual for any further ‘shopping’ or ‘guru hopping’! 

UG struck at the very root of the problem as it were, and ensured that the very search for spiritual ‘goodies’ lost its steam and charm. All our spiritual endeavours turned insipid, irrelevant and redundant in his company.

UG asserted that there will be no (needless) thinking or chattering if one is not wanting or chasing. “Wanting and thinking go together. There is no thinking if there is no wanting.”

Further UG explained, “The ‘self’ is the ‘movement of knowledge’.

Goal is the binding glue that coalesces thoughts into the ‘thinker’, giving it a rock-solid appearance! 

Our goals set the psychological machinery up and running. Goal is a powerful engine that drives the mechanics of ‘becoming’! Goal propels thought, giving it movement, and the ‘movement of thought’ or the ‘movement of knowledge’ creates the illusion of the ‘thinker’ or the ‘self’.

Goal, especially the spiritual kind, is the real culprit. Goal perpetrates thinking. Any pursuit demands tremendous investment of energy and resources. It is a drain on our psychological and biological resources, guzzling away enormous amounts of life energy. 

Children, free from this artificial demand of ‘becoming’ ( the bane of adults), seem to enjoy vast reserves of energy and are full of beans.

UG therefore carefully chose his target and sledgehammered at our ideals and goals, dismantling the very mechanics of ‘becoming’, helping us to go back to the source and to tap into the vast reserves of energy and peace, inherent within our own biology.

****

Physiological implications of the ‘thought movement’ are well known among scientists in the realm of neuroscience.

[ There are some interesting findings in the field of neuroscience that give us a glimpse of how the brain copes with cognitive or psychological demands.

There are a large number of dendritic 'spines' or finger-like projections at the tip of every nerve cell or neuron. 

These dendritic spines could be in the order of a few thousands to a few hundred thousand per cell. This means that each neuron could effectively link up to and ‘talk to’ hundreds of thousands of neighboring cells and also form connections known as neuronal 'pathways and circuits' in the brain.

The dendritic spines help in forming chain-like connections with adjoining neurons at cell junctions known as ‘synapses’.

There are nearly a hundred billion neurons in the human brain and tens of trillions of synapses.

The neuroscientists point out that whenever there is a cognitive demand on the system, the dendritic spines or fingers actually grow and multiply in huge numbers. Conversely their numbers dwindle when the brain is not really engaged in intense cognitive activities. 

Cognitive load could be anything from learning a new subject or picking up a new skill to an intense psychological activity.

It is said that even routine and ordinary tasks like reading or listening could impact the numbers of 'synaptic connections' and continually reshape the physical brain. This is referred to as the 'plasticity of the brain', brain is ever changing!

Little do we realise that whenever we read, see or hear something, it is having a tremendous impact on our biology!]

****

In light of the above scientific findings, we could safely assume that chasing after goals sets off the mechanics of ‘psychological becoming’, placing huge demands on brain physiology, requiring the re-deployment of available energy resources.  

In short, all psychological pursuits ‘come at a cost’ to the physical system, and impact and disrupt its internal ‘economy’, resulting in a huge 'energy deficit'.

Once we realise the dangers of ‘becoming’, and the cost of its trade-off on the physical system, we are freed of the illusory goals! 

Unburdened we begin to relax, we then enjoy the mundane and the ordinary, and begin to appreciate life’s little joys and live life more fully!

When every guru, worth his salt, seemed to recommend some goal or other, UG seemed to completely differ! His was a sane and lone voice in the spiritual wilderness that alerted us to the dangers of  false pursuits saving us from a myriad illusions and delusions.

When the King Cobra strikes, is there an escape?

**** 

" Under the spell of UG, I overcame self imposed inhibitions" - Satya

UG and Major 

UG’s impact is truly amazing on all those who he touched!

You shall find many stories in these blogs but there shall be a common thread running through all of them - UG!

Every one of these stories will be seen interwoven with and revolving around the story of UG, the protagonist!

****

Among UG friends, a countable few were chosen for ‘special’ treatment by the ‘raging sage’! They had to face the ‘fire test’, walk through the toughest ordeals and stormiest encounters.

Major Dakshinamurti and his nephew Dr. Sreedhav belong to this group.

Major’s sojourn makes for a compelling narrative. UG’s impact on Major’s life was total!

The candid, lively Major shares and bares his life with friends who call on him at his farmhouse. He is affable and enjoys narrating his encounters with UG and Puttur Ajja, two remarkable souls with who he was associated intimately.

Major was married but could never enjoy conjugal happiness as tragedy struck immediately after the marriage. His wife met with a freakish accident soon after the marriage and suffered a terrible spinal injury and became an invalid. She spent rest of her life confined to a wheel chair. The kind and stoic Major took exceptional care of the lady, serving her and attending to her personal needs for decades, till her premature death in the early ’90s.

Major was stationed at Delhi when he first chanced upon UG in a TV interview!

Even though it was only a telecast, UG’s simplicity, authenticity and certainty came through with such intensity that Major was instantly touched. He immediately decided to seek and meet this extraordinary man, come what may!

 

Shortly afterwards, Major managed to get in touch with Chandrasekhar Babu , UG’s host in Bangalore and through him arranged a meeting with UG who was in India at the time. On the morning of the visit however there was a sudden change in UG’s program as he had to travel to some place. Unaware of these developments, Major reached Bangalore on the appointed day with his wife only to discover that UG had already left the city early that morning. The kindhearted Babu took care of the Major couple with his renowned hospitality and also treated them to a couple of UG videos to mollify Major.

Disappointed at the sudden turn of events, hapless Major started back to his home town with his wife. Tragedy struck once again!  His wife developed sudden medical complications on the return journey. Major rushed her to a hospital en route, that did not help, soon she breathed her last.

Major was completely shattered!

His resolve to meet UG redoubled!

Within a fortnight, after the funeral and the ceremonies got over, a determined Major once again set out on a trip to Bangalore to be with UG!

It was a successful meeting that had a lasting impact on Major's life. 

Major’s initial years with UG were stormy, full of turbulence. He was torn between his unfulfilled libido on the one hand and his conscience and high values on the other. His sexual desires had not found fulfillment in his tragic marital life. But Major was a man of strong character and refused to succumb to these temptations. He was able to overcome all kinds of urges and temptations. He yearned to lead an ascetic life, a life of ‘sadhana’ (a life of truth and austerity), in the footsteps of revered sages like Sri Ramana Maharshi, Anandamayi Ma and others. 

He yearned for a life of quiet solitude, his ideal of ‘Vanaprastha’, a life of retirement from society, a peaceful life in tune with nature!

UG blasted all kinds of seekers and all manner of seeking, he ruthlessly lambasted the (egoistic) sadhakas and their (selfish) sadhanas. On the other hand, Major single-mindedly insisted that UG grant approval for pursuing his ‘sadhana’. They soon locked horns! 

UG did not spare the Major! He turned on heat in full blast! He would even chide him by addressing him as 'Major Disaster'!

UG tested Major, he teased, ridiculed and tempted Major at every juncture. He pushed Major in umpteen ways to seek a new life partner. Major was stubborn, with his monstrous determination, he refused to budge an inch and stuck to his credo of carrying on his ‘sadhana.’

The wheedling and needling by UG reached a climax when UG personally flew down to Australia seeking a match for Major. The girl turned out to be an air hostess working for Qantas. UG personally called Major to push for the marriage. This was the boiling point! Major openly dissented and threatened UG that he would stop seeing him if he invoked the 'm-word' again!

The comical stand0ff finally ended! 

UG  relented and gave his nod to Major to follow the dictates of his heart and carry on with his sadhana, a rare occurence in the saga of UG! 

****

UG reiterated that any pursuit beyond and above that of food, clothing and shelter was neurotic. Major embraced this tenet with his heart. Abandoning a decent career in the army, he settled down into a life of solitude far away from the din of society. Even the lease of the farmhouse for the Major was arranged and supervised by UG!

The lives of dear Major, his devout elder brother Dr. Subba Rao and Major’s brilliant nephew Dr. Sreedhav are full of remarkable anecdotes and exchanges that bring to light hitherto unknown facets of UG's enigmatic personality.

**************************************************************************** 

Bringing to you a beautiful write-up on Major by our dear friend Satya, a reticent techie from Bangalore. 

Satya and his homemaker wife Sridevi (their marriage was solemnized by UG!) were closely associated with UG especially during the final years. UG visited them often and helped them to overcome several challenges and trials that they faced at the time. They found tremendous strength and guidance in his sagely company.

Over to Satya…

The first time Sreedevi and I met Major Garu, it was at Sri UG Chandrasekhar Garu's place on a December 2001 evening ; This time period was the most unexpected, unanticipated moment of our lives - without the faintest expectation or slightest idea of how our lives would never be the same from then on ... We had gone to meet Sri UG Krishnamurti, a great sage, who we learnt from a remote relative's voice on the phone, was unconventional, explosive and even dangerous!

During the subsequent days, when we hung around UG Garu, basking in irreverence, I found a deeply devoted person, with a barrel mustache that was attached to a most enchanting smile, ever ready to break into simple laughter that was prompted by constant and sincere self deprecation - This laughter at once conveyed the depth of self abandonment as an inevitable and yet cheerful response to life's most difficult tests ; Little did we know then that this man would be our guiding influence and personal gateway to discover the fortune that we stumbled into during our association with Sri UG Krishnamurti. 

On the 3rd day of our hanging around someone in the crowd mentioned that UG Krishnamurti was now going to stay at the Major's Farm House for a couple of days ; "Major's Farm House ?" I recall inquiring ... with some uneasiness ... I had quaint disdain about rich and famous people holding spiritual teachers hostage in their opulent surroundings - The marketplace of spirituality had plenty of such examples that mesmerized the gullible into cozy comfort traps of a supposedly higher existence, which was a mere excuse for luxury. He was a Major from the Army ? And then he had a Farm House ?? I was already doubly disinclined to go there!!

Under the spell of UG Krishnamurti, I overcame self imposed inhibitions to make the first trip to the Farm house in the spirit of adventure - I now discovered what in reality was an anti-stereotype experience of my wild imagination!! YES, he was a Major who retired from the Army ; And NO, he was not filthy rich or anything like that! .. There was not even a hint of ostentatiousness  in the way he lived ; This place was not even his own, he was merely renting it and he was renting it to see the trees, wild grass and green bamboos to aid his meditation !

Actually, to call this place a farm house was an exaggeration - The 600 sft house was made up of one hall, two bedrooms and a kitchen ; All of them had something in common - They were bare, as bare as an army barrack - functional to the core ; The kitchen had a very finite number of spoons, glasses, plates and vessels - meticulously arranged and separated on open cement shelves, as though for taking an audit, if only to account the reasons for their very existence at short notice. One could quickly count and conclude that the kitchen possessions were in place to entertain no more than 5 guests at the maximum - And the basic design constraint was restricted to serving green tea and some cookies for those lucky 5 people - Nothing much else was on offer, perhaps even at gun point (considering that he was from the Army!)

We were to learn that the second bedroom was the sage UG's room - a hard bed, an old steel cupboard and an equally bare Indian toilet made that made it the definition of luxury - something that was bandied about with great gusto in every conversation of UG ... This sort of a description wantonly led fertile imaginations to believe these descriptions as immense possessions, of a life that toiled ceaselessly to gain them against great odds. Over the years, this description was to be a common theme which would describe the Major, his convictions and his way of life - something *so basic* - that it was enjoyed to the point of guiltful indulgence ; An Indulgence that stood on the principle and precipice of differentiating needs from wants.

It was here and at various chance meetings at Sri UG Chandrasekhar's house that the Major regaled us with unforgettable stories of greatness of Sri UG Krishnamurti,  his life and his journey into Sadhana. A Sadhana, that he came upon, on his own, by an earnest inner voice that listened to the Guru's guidance, in squaring out truth by living it in practice, every single moment - and carefully avoiding the danger and pitfalls of mental musings, lest it become mere theory. 

The Major had multiple Gurus, each of who offered him something that he gratefully made his own ; Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda, Sri Ramana Maharishi, Sri Anandamayi Ma, Sri UG Krishnamurti, Sri Puttur Ajja ..... and many many more. The common core in all his various sadhanas was the courage to face himself, unafraid of facing his internal contradictions while ceaselessly discovering and pursuing the goal of extinguishing the "Arishad Vargalu" of Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Mada, Moha,  Matsaryam within himself, and under all circumstances of conscious living. 

As many of us who have known the Major can helplessly accept, his Sadhana was arduous and desirably avoidable for any one less or more ordinary. The ingredients were explosive - Utter personal tragedy (from the viewpoint of the casual listener) of intimately witnessing the personal suffering caused by disability and loss of a loved one ; The restless demands of an unfulfilled sex drive and the never ending personal struggle to overcome it with an uncompromising moral code and spiritual way of life ; The sheer discomfort of facing the truth of one's own shortcomings that simply demolished years of many painstakingly built ideas of life and "how to live" .... The many unfulfilled desires to be like "everybody else" ... These were the same ingredients that make up each of our lives, but differently.

Really the list was formidable. It was a list that could have been for any of us, an opportunity to make life meaningful, purposeful and worthwhile - If only we were destined and blessed with such self-awareness, courage and fortitude to face similar circumstances. And yet, this very list defined and forced his life's circumstances - leaving him little choice on what to make of it. And this was his life's challenge, a challenge in which he simply converted circumstances of adversity into attitude and approach - and discovered life's secret mantra of complete unburdening and unquestioned happiness; 

During the course of his many Sadhanas and experiments, the Major invited circumstances of his own life based on inspirational readings of the lives of Sadhakas ; He chose never to remarry in-order to live a life all alone, and pursue Sadhana with solitude as his sole guide and companion ... His only deep desire was to live amidst nature so that he could entertain himself with mother nature's creations and to serve a living spiritual master in his limited capacity - something that happened as soon as he wished for it ; He was to be Sri UG Krishnamurti's driver and host till he passed away. From then on, life was itself a miracle, as he puts it ; He decided to give up his only source of livelihood as a District Sainik Welfare Officer that offered him a princely pension of 850 Rupees per month to pursue a full time pursuit of his Sadhana .... Unmindful of his means of livelihood, never to look back, ever. 

He found great pleasure in giving up - money, possessions, habits and ideas believing them to be absolute pre-requisites, to begin a journey on the spiritual path ; He experimented giving up varieties of food as he enjoyed good taste, He gave up  listening to Radio as he was fascinated by happenings of far away places, Gave up reading newspapers as he enjoyed gossip, Shunned auto magazines as he was fascinated by cars, and vowed never to travel since he longed for it all his life ... All these with great zeal and passion, never prompted by nostalgia or reminded of regret ... 

Infact, I am yet to recollect any single instance of a conversation wherein he paused or searched for a response when asked "How are you doing Major Garu ?" - Pat comes the response and always with great enthusiasm - "Excellent, couldn't be better!" .... And he means every word, every single time in all these years we have known him ... so much so that such an answer becomes your own, even after a brief conversation! Such is the infectiousness of this man's attitude and ordinariness ... of a life so beautifully lived .... that one has to meet him in person to know that it is even possible.

Respectful Namastes,

Satya

( Foot Note: 'Garu'  as in 'Major Garu', 'Babu Garu' is a way of endearingly addressing the elderly in the vernacular Telugu!)