Somerset Maughan & Ramana Maharshi

Today I thought I would tell you about a book which arrived here recently. It is called Points of View, a collection of five essays by W. Somerset Maughan. A first edition published by Heineman in 1958. The reason I ordered it was because I was particularly keen to read one of the essays which is called The Saint. It didn’t take me long to read the essay because it is only 39 pages long. In 1938 during a trip to India Somerset Maughan had a meeting with the Hindu sage Ramana Maharshi. The essay is an account of that meeting, together with a biographical portrayal of Ramana Maharshi’s life and teachings. In one of Maughan’s novels The Razor’s Edge in 1944 he had used a fictionalised version of Ramana as one of the books characters. I first became curious to learn about Ramana Maharshi because Eckhart Tolle has often mentioned him in glowing terms in his talks. 

This led me to reading a 22-page pamphlet called Who Am I? which was first published in 1923 and consisted of 28 questions put to Ramana by Sri Pillau. Then I read a 1985 paperback Be As You Are, The Teachings Of Sri Ramana Maharshi. This book which I recommend is edited by David Godman who has followed Ramana’s teachings since 1976 and became the librarian at his ashram.  I wanted to find out about Maughan’s meeting. It was in Madras that Maughan’s hosts told him that he should visit Ramana who was the most revered swami in India. It was a hot dusty drive of several hours to reach Ramana’s hermitage at Tiruvannamalai at the foot of the holy mountain of Arunachala. On arrival Maughan promptly fainted. He was carried unconscious to a hut and laid down on a pallet bed. When he regained his senses, he found Ramana sitting on the floor by his bed. He barely said a word except, “Silence is also conversation”, and remained sitting in silence for half an hour before finally leaving. Maughan immediately felt recovered. He was well enough to visit the hall where Ramana sat in silence on a dais and welcomed visitors.

I’ll just give you a quick little history of Ramana and his teachings which Maughan covers in the second part of his essay. He was born in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, India in 1879. In 1895, an attraction to the sacred hill Arunachala was aroused in him and in 1896, at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" or sudden liberation where he became aware of a "current" or "force" which he recognized as his true "I" or "self" that is Iswara.  Six weeks later he left his uncle's home after discovering that Arunachala was a real place and journeyed by train to the holy mountain where he remained for the rest of his life. For several weeks he stayed in the vaults of a temple, so deep in meditation he was unaware of being eaten alive by vermin and insects, and local children throwing stones at him. He was finally rescued by a local sage Seshadri Swamigal who cleaned him up and fed him. He moved to another temple called Gurumurtan where a sadhu called Palaniswami became his first attendant and provided food and cooked for him. His family who had been searching finally tracked him down, but he refused to return home even when his mother begged him to. Eventually his brother and mother became followers and moved to live near him at Virupakasha Cave where he stayed for 17 years. 

Arunachala

In later years, an ashram grew up around him, where visitors received spiritual instruction by sitting silently in his company or by asking questions. Ramana Maharshi recommended self-enquiry as the principal means to remove ignorance and abide in self-awareness. In 1902, a government official named Sivaprakasam Pillai, with writing slate in hand, visited the Ramana in the hope of obtaining answers to questions about "How to know one's true identity". The questions he asked formed Ramana Maharshi's first teachings on Self-enquiry, the method for which he became widely known, and were eventually published as Nan Yar?, or in English, Who am I?. (That’s the pamphlet I first read)

His mother died in 1922, so from 1922 until his death in 1950, Ramana Maharshi lived in Sri Ramanasramam, the ashram that developed around his mother's tomb. The ashram grew to include a library, hospital, post-office and many other facilities. Ramana Maharshi displayed a natural talent for planning building projects. The popular image of him as a person who spent most of his time doing nothing except sitting silently in samadhi is highly inaccurate. From the period when an Ashram began to rise around him after his mother arrived, until his later years when his health failed, Ramana Maharshi was actually quite active in Ashram activities such as cooking and stitching leaf plates.  

Ramana Maharshi then became well known in and out of India after 1934 when Paul Brunton, having first visited Ramana Maharshi in January 1931, published the book A Search in Secret India. Brunton calls Ramana Maharshi "one of the last of India's spiritual supermen” and describes his affection toward Ramana Maharshi: “I like him greatly because he is so simple and modest, when an atmosphere of authentic greatness lies so palpably around him; he is so totally without any traces of pretension that he strongly resists every effort to canonize him during his lifetime”. While staying at Sri Ramanasramam, Paul Brunton had an experience of a "sublimely all-embracing" awareness, a "Moment of Illumination". The book was a best-seller and introduced Ramana Maharshi to a wider audience in the west. 

In November 1948, a tiny cancerous lump was found on Ramana's arm and was removed in February 1949 by the ashram's doctor. Soon, another growth appeared, and another operation was performed by an eminent surgeon in March 1949 with radium applied. The doctor told Ramana that a complete amputation of the arm to the shoulder was required to save his life, but he refused. To devotees who begged him to cure himself for the sake of his followers, Ramana is said to have replied, "Why are you so attached to this body? Let it go", and "Where can I go? I am here." By April 1950, he was too weak to go to the hall and visiting hours were limited. Visitors would file past the small room where he spent his last days to get one final glimpse. He died on 14 April 1950 at 8:47 p.m. aged 71. At the same time a meteor was seen which disappeared beyond Arunachala which his devotees saw as the passing of a great soul.. Although he passed away in 1950 I think that with the spread in popularity of  such things as non-duality, mindfulness and meditation in the modern world the teachings of Ramana Maharshi are more relevant than ever. So, thank you very much Eckhart Tolle for first introducing me to Ramana Maharshi. 

PS, Please watch David Godman's video interview below. He explains Ramana's teachings much better than I ever could do.

Who am I? The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

Black Dog.

 I accompanied a friend and her dog on a walk around Black Dog Woods on the outskirts of Westbury this afternoon. The woods got this name because around 300 years ago there were two local men both rivals for the affections of a young maid of the parish. They decided to fight a duel in the woods to see who would win her hand in marriage. One of the suitors was slain by his rival. His pet dog was so enraged to see his master killed that he attacked the victor and mauled him to death. When the young lady learned of this tragic outcome, she was so distraught she also took her own life. It is said that the ghost of the black dog haunts the woods to this day. I must say that this particular walk does have a quite lonesome eerie atmosphere, especially on a cold January afternoon. I was glad to have a companion with me, although I appreciated the exercise and the fresh air.

Silhouettes In The Snow.

It was about -2 degrees C here today. It had snowed overnight, but was a bright sunny day, perfect for a walk in the January sunshine. I joined a friend who was taking her dog for a walk around an area known locally as The Mead. Some parts of the ponds were frozen over, but in other areas there were plenty of swans and ducks busily foraging for food. Along the path I spotted a tiny wren hopping from branch to branch on a small tree. I tried to photograph him, but he kept moving too quickly. I had more luck with a robin who seemed curious about what we were doing on his land. It felt great to be outdoors communing with nature. 

Then we drove up to the White Horse. It was quite tricky driving up the frozen winding lane and avoiding other traffic coming down. It was worth the effort because there was lots to see. Sheep still grazed on parts of the hillside that were snow-free.  This is a very popular spot for Hang-gliding enthusiasts, and several of them floated quite spectacularly in the air above the White Horse. Also, a few months ago the army had installed several giant metal silhouette figures of soldiers to warn the public to stay away from the army firing range. There are also silhouettes of ordinary people engaged in ordinary activities. 

They have proved to be very popular with local people, quite iconic, like Westbury’s equivalent of famous statues like Anthony Gormley’s The Angel Of The North. They were meant to be a temporary installation, but Westbury Town Council has applied for planning permission to make them a permanent fixture. I had never seen them before, so went over to have a close-up look. I think they are amazing, so I hope they stay. After that I was getting a bit cold, so we made our way carefully back down the hill. I said cheerio to my friend and went home for a welcome hot cup of tea. I was pleased I had made the effort to get out and about.

A January Walk.

The news has been full of reports about the weather today. In some areas heavy snow, and flooding in other places. We have had a lot of wind and rain where I live, but not too bad. Finally, today on January 6^th I got out for a walk around Fairwood Lakes. I enjoyed it after being inside for days on end. It was wonderful to feel the wind on my face and breathe some fresh air.

“Go outside. Don’t tell anyone and don’t bring your phone. Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand … Just walk, see, sit down if you like. And be. Just be whatever you are with whatever you have, and realize that that is enough to be happy. There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it.” – Charlotte Eriksson

A Case Of Lone Star.

It is a rainy dark Sunday evening. I haven’t ventured out much recently because I’ve been recovering from a nasty virus. So, I haven’t got a lot to tell you about. When there wasn’t anything worth watching on the telly, I passed the time reading. A few days ago, because I felt quite ill I didn’t want to read anything too taxing for my brain so I picked up this book called The Kinky Friedman Crime Club by Kinky Friedman. I had bought the book for £1 in a charity shop in Warminster several months ago and had forgotten about it. The reason I bought it was because it was signed ‘For Shirley, All Best Wishes, The Kinkster 6.22.92’ (See picture) I didn’t know anything about this writer, but something in the back of my mind thought there was a vague connection with Bob Dylan. I thought it might be worth a few quid, and when I looked on eBay was pleased to see that signed copies were on sale for £25. The book is a collection of three of his previous novels in one UK edition published by Faber & Faber in 1992. 

Before I started reading it, I looked up Kinky Friedman on Wikipedia to learn more about him. It told me that Richard Samet "Kinky" Friedman (November 1, 1944 – June 27, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humourist, politician, and columnist for Texas Monthly, who styled himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. Friedman was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election. Receiving 12.6% of the vote, Friedman placed fourth in the six-person race. In early 1976, he joined Bob Dylan on the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour. In 1973, Friedman had formed his second band, Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys, which many took to be a play on the name of the famous band Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. When I looked on youtube I was pleased to find a video of Kinky and Dylan playing together although I didn’t think the song was all that great. (See video below) Wiki also said that after his music career stalled in the 1980s Kinky shifted his creative focus to writing detective novels. His books have similarities to his song lyrics, featuring a fictionalized version of himself solving crimes in New York City and dispensing jokes, wisdom, recipes, charm, and Jameson's whiskey in equal measure. They are written in a straightforward style which owes a debt to Raymond Chandler. 

The Kinky character views himself as a latter-day Sherlock Holmes and he is aided in his investigations by his close friend Larry Sloman aka Ratso who assumes the role of Dr. Watson. The first book in the collection is called A Case Of Lone Star. It involves a series of killings in a New York Country Music club. The killer leaves clues to taunt the investigators by sending them lyrics from Hank Williams songs. I quite enjoyed it and it held my attention to the end because I was as keen as Kinky to find out who the killer was. Kinky certainly isn’t in the same class as Chandler or Dashiell Hammett in the genre of hard-boiled fiction, but he was quite amusing. There are two more stories in the collection which I haven’t read yet, and I don’t know if I ever will either, but you never know.

Kinky was quite a character. In 2004, he began an ostensibly serious, though colourful, campaign to become the Governor of Texas in 2006. One of his stated goals was the "dewussification" of Texas. Among his campaign slogans were "How Hard Could It Be?", "Why The Hell Not?", "My Governor is a Jewish Cowboy", and "He ain't Kinky, he's my Governor", a play on "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". His heart was in the right place though because he founded Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch located near Kerrville, Texas whose mission is to care for stray, abused and aging animals; to date, the ranch has saved more than 1,000 dogs from animal euthanasia. On June 27, 2024, it was announced that Friedman had died at his home at Echo Hill Ranch, Medina, Bandera County, Texas, from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 79.

Kinky & Bob.

 

Bob Dylan & Kinky Friedman, Sold Americans 1991