Have you no dreams (true dreams of life)?-Ramana Maharshi

Friday, September 17, 2010, 18:16

We are so preoccupied with the momentum of life (especially modern life) that one wonders whether those happy days are over when could sing with Judy Garland 'somewhere over the rainbow" and dance with the 'Wazard of OZ". Can we join Sarada singing “I dream of you, I dream of you still"? The restless mind keeps prompting about the long list of jobs to be done. The vast movement of the spacious mind dreaming of the limitless sky, the deep ocean, the stars, such thing have no value.

Every bit of Iswara"s wonderous world of creation has its beauty. But life has become such a hum-drum affair. The simple fun (the dreams of life ) of letting the waters of the ocean come in to wet your feet and clothes and receding is a thing of the past, the joy of climbing to the Virupaksha Cave and Skandasramam not because they are sacred places hallowed by Ramana Maharshi living there for 23 years but just to enjoy the climb, the view of temple towers from Skandasramam in the Eastern slopes of Arunachala is a faint memory.

We seem to reserve the good fun of these simple acts or dreams of life for the annual holiday. One may deny this to oneself and his family due to the last minute temptation of the encashment of this perquisite! Apparently no one seems to bother about it. One carries on with his thought loads, unmindful of their deadly weight.

Ramana Maharshi does offer to take on this burden. In one of his verses in 'Decad on Arunachala", he states, “I have had enough of being in the crowd of those who are suffering from their daily burden. How trivial are they to you, O! Arunachala, who are shouldering the burden of all life?" One might even include this verse in the daily 'parayana" (sacred reading) thus adding one more concept to the list of those that are not reflected upon and made one"s own.

The Disastrous Consequence of Modern life

The consequence of such a life (especially modern life) might go undetected and undiagnosed like cancer till it is too late. Natural joy, our own and inherent, which no one can deny us is forgotten. This amnesia of the life giving spring of joy in the heart is complete. Where are the ears to hear the reminders and the constant clarion call of Ramana Maharshi, the Sadguru? “You have forgotten the garden of heaven in your own heart and complain smitten by sorrow" he declares. None is so deaf as those who will not hear. The blare of rock music, the drums in an orchestra hold the roost in modern life. Is there none to hear the lullabies or the gentle moving melody of Ramana Maharshi?

To be continued

About the author

A.R.Natarajan, the founder of Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning says that the real dreams of life,the simple joy of life, realised with a relaxed pace have been pledged for a modern hectic life. This article is an excerpt from the work 'Darkness at Noon'