I waited for a summon from Shiva and it came in the form of a message from Mohanji when he visited Dubai. It just synchronized with my deep intent too. Arunachala is not just another hill or pilgrim spot. It is the body of Shiva while Kailash Parbat is where Shiva meditates in the light form.
“Arunachala is truly the holy place. Of all holy places it is the most sacred! Know that it is the heart of the world. It is truly Siva himself! It is his heart-abode, a secret kshetra. In that place the Lord ever abides the hill of light named Arunachala
 |
| Arunachala The plan to be in Arunachala coincided with my visit to Chikmagalur where we are planning to set up Kevala Celebration Center. The word spread quickly to my spiritual brother Parthibhan at chikmagalur. He promised to join us with his entire family and be a part of this sacred journey to cleanse our karmas. So this became the first spiritual retreat of Kevala Foundation.
We landed in Thiruvannamalai at about 10:30 am in the morning. It was the 11th of october. We watched several hundreds of people walking on the approach roads. I was told that this is the outer path around arunachala which is a paved one and dotted with shops, temples and attracts a lot of crowds including people driving past the trekkers in their fancy cars.
We quickly checked into a hotel, aptly called Arunachala Ramana Home. A board hung outside stated “Roof Top view of Arunachala”. I dumped my bags quickly in some of the rooms and raced up the stairs to the terrace. True to their word, the view of the hill was picture perfect. Arunachala was beckoning with its mighty grace. The magnetic pull of the hill was so powerful that I couldn’t take my eyes off the peak. The hues began to shift and there was something happening there which was beginning to reveal more.
I wanted to see more than what my eyes could gather. I just prayed to Shiva- please show me your real form. Within a few moments, there was a light form of shiva dazzling and blazing on the top of the hill, and I was revealed how to view the contour of hills. Shiva was indeed lying with his face up to the sky, as if gazing deeply into the immense vastness, with his consciousness pervading every atom of space in the physical universe. Soon i was joined by Vijaya, Bhuvana, Deepa, Akhila and Parthi on the terrace. They were also basking in the beautiful sight of Arunachala. I asked Deepa, if she wanted to know how it feels to be on the top of Arunachala. She said yes! I told her to place her hands above my head. Within a few moments, she said she could feel that her hands were chill and currents were passing through her.
We had lunch at Seshadri Swamingal Ashram. Most of us had a small helping of curd rice. A light meal was ideal as we wanted to take the “inner Core” path around Arunachala. In local lingo its called Girivalam which basically means circum-ambulation around the hill. We called upon the services of a local guide. Soon enough a tall, thin man called Jagan walked into our room. He claimed to know the inner path very well and cited that he was featured in the best blog site of arunachala by an explorer called Richard. I faintly recalled seeing his pic on the site and we instantly entrusted him to offer his services. The entry for the inner core path is behind the serene Ramana ashram. Walking past ramana ashram brought back fond memories of being with this great master. There is a statue of him seated on a platform in a meditation hall. The statue is so true to life that one can just visualize Ramana Maharishi seated with his gaze locked into Arunachala. I thanked the master again for inspiring me on the path of liberation. We were a group of 12 people who set foot on the inner core path of Arunachala. We must have walked about a mile inside when we saw a large rock. Our guide said this is where Ramana used to sit and watch Arunachala. I sat there for a while and enjoyed the vibrations of the space that once was occupied by one of the greatest enlightened beings to have walked on this plane.
We walked around in the path that was full of pleasant smells emanating from the bushes around. Jagan our guide said that many siddhars in astral form were operating in arunachala and the divine aroma that wafted through the air indicated their presence. Very few people undertake the inner core path, and its almost ordained as to who deserves to take up this path. The walk in outer path around arunachala is a karma cleansing kriya while the walking in the inner core path is taking a into the path of dissolution. I insisted Jagan not to miss out any single cave, even if it meant deviation from the route. He agreed and kept gliding over the rocks and negotiating through the thorny bushes as if it never existed. Jagan only stopped only when he wanted to point out significance of the rock formation in arunachala. The arunachala is easily the most stunning,natural rock formation I have come across. All the sacred symbolism, geometry is depicted in these formations which accentuates the age old cliche that truth is stranger than fiction. We saw a rock that the face of Nandhi- the vehicle of Shiva, and then as we passed, all the seven chakras came along the way. There was a deep inner churning happening within the spine. It is so easy to miss all these subtle aspects if our mind is lost in chatter, or occupied in the physical aspect of the walk. The trek may seem just like a breeze. But the 16 km track is more cleansing than any average mind can capture. A true aspirant on the path of exploration will appreciate every bit of the journey. CAVES ALONG THE PATH: Some of the caves that we visited are Virupaksha Cave(Virupaksha is deeply associated with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Ramana lived here for 17 years [1899-1916]. The cave is named after a famous saint, Virupaksha, who lived in this cave in the 1500′s, around the same time as Guhai Nama Shivaya lived nearby. At Virupaksha’s demise, called here ‘maha samadhi,’ it is said that his body was transformed into vibhuti (sacred ash). In the interior of this cave there is a mound in the shape of Arunachala. It is said to be made of this vibhuti.
Skandashram: We meditated at many rock caves and also mediated with a french baba whose amazing stillness baffled all of us. The caves are difficult to approach as there are many thorny bushes to negotiate, and they are so cut off from regular path that one does need a local guide to access them. We managed to spend good time soaking in the immense vibrations and it was definitely a treat to be there and seek the blessings of the siddhars.
There was a deep pull to do tapas in these caves, but the fact that we are in a group of children and women and had to return back to our hotel before dark stayed as a reminder in the sub-conscious when I immersed deeper in the meditation. Those precious moments just were a recall factor of meditating in past lives in these caves.
In one of the shakti caves, i received a message that we are going to be with Nagaraja (serpent king). It was not a physical encounter with a snake. We entered into a cave next day and all details of this serpent protected cave is in next blog of climbing arunachala.
We made our way through dense bushes and precariously aligned rocks at a rapid pace. The time we spent in the caves meant that we had to complete the walk before dark. I could sense many tired legs in our group, but the indomitable spirit took on.
Sainath was getting bogged down by the immense karmic churning happening within and add to it, he was under anti biotic medication. He seemed to get heavier every step. Thats when i came down to his assistance. There was an immense surge in my energy as I held his hand and guided him at a frenetic pace along the hill. The fact that he is 25 kilograms heavier than me and the ease at which i dragged him the steep rocks was enough for him to understand of how kundalini power comes to the rescue and the not to forget the unseen hands and unmistakable support of the siddhars.
As we treaded along the path, we saw katti shiva cave and a medicinal pool. we had hardly much time to spend at the cave as the setting sun reminded us of the pending journey.
Jagan relied on his ancient technique of restricting the pending distance to our hotel as 2 kms and everyone kept walking endlessly and joked with him that this measure must be most imaginative by any standards.
We saw the glorious full moon peeking out of the clouds. The devotees below were getting ready for walk along the outer path of arunachala. Jagan showed us the spectacular views of all significant angles of arunachala. In the fading light, the magnificent body of shiva was inviting me to take the climb the next morning at 5 am. When we reached the town limits after walking through the inner path, we saw crowds pouring into the streets. It was like a carnival that carried through the night.
There were street musicians raising the festive fervour, while temples and road side restaurants made quick business as the crowds swelled. The whole town is an extended temple, dotted by ashrams, hotels, road side cafes, street hawkers, and a lot of rubbish on overt display.
Despite all the noise, dust, rubbish on the streets, thiruvunnamalai continues to attract sincere aspirants who quickly learn to focus on their main objective of the journey,which is a lesson in itself. The first day of girivalam on full moon night was just a deep seated opening of flood gates of ascending currents that were waiting for us the next morning. We thanked Jagan for his guidance without which this trip to caves on the inner path would not have been possible. I have shared some images below of our journey:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111190197318669060612/ForWeb02?authkey=Gv1sRgCMGh7ZHchePIKA# Love
Pradeep Ullal
|
Just Wow
I want foregathering useful information , this post has got me even more info! .
“Can I simply just say what a comfort to discover someone that genuinely knows what they are discussing on the web. You actually realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important. A lot more people have to read this and understand this side of your story. I was surprised you’re not more popular since you certainly have the gift.”
https://tinyurl.com/y9vp48ur