"Yato vaacho nivartante APRAAYA manasaa sa:" - "Where from words retum, unable to be reached by the mind" - This is how the ancient sages have spoken about the Ultimate Reality "from which everything arises, by which everything is sustained and into which everything merges." To seek and realize the reality is the meaning and purpose of life according to the seers who proclaimed the Truth. Echoing the wisdom of the ancients, the great Acharya Shankara declares in Viveka Chudaamani:

"Three things are rare indeed and caused by the Divine Grace - a human birth, the longing for libera- tion and the protecting care of a great preceptor." One who obtains all the three is elevated to the status of the Divine and he becomes a tirthankara - one who enables other souls in bondage to cross over the ocean of samsaara.

Avataras do not descend from other planets or from the sky. They are human beings who raise themselves to that state through their sadhana in human life. Aatmaanam maanusham manye dasarataatmajam - "Know that I am a man, son of Dasaratha", proclaimed Sri Rama whom we adore as the maiyaadaa purushottama - the Ideal Man.

We live in the age of reason. Belief in God based on fear or urge for favour must today give way to the right understanding of the Ultimate Truth of all existence through one's probe into the physical and then from there into the metaphysical realms of existence. What the modem science has discovered today through its probe into the external world - that the Ultimate Reality is nothing but a Consciousness Force - was realized in their intuitive vision by the Vedic seers who gave us the Upanishads- their findings in their probe into their intuitive realm. But mere intellectual understanding of the Upanishadic Wisdom is not the goal of life. It must become everyone's experience in his or her intuitive consciousness. Thus the human reason starts its journey through the path of sadhana to seek the truth and that is mumukshatva.

Years ago, this sadhu asked his sikshaa guru, Swami Chinmayananda, a simple question to get a clarification on a sloka from Maandukya Kaarika. The Swami burst out.- "Enough of reading Upanishads. Throw your Upanishad books into a ditch and start doing sadhana." The great Advaitacharya, the noted exponent of Gita and Upanishads, did not mean any insult to the texts, but drilled into the mind of this student the truth that knowledge should lead to sadhana. Revered Rajaji also says: "Knowledge, when it becomes fully matured becomes Bhakti. If it does not get transformed into Bhakti, such Knowledge is useless tinsel."

Thus came Mother Mayamma, an apparently illiterate, dirty, beggar woman, who was sitting on the shores of the Indian Ocean at Kanyakumari into the life of this sadhu. The intellectual vanity which in the beginning stood in the way of prostrating before an apparently ugly, unclean, mad, beggar woman adored by many faithful devotees as Divine Mother, soon gave way under the irresistible spell of the Mother, impelled him to sit at her feet and pour out the feelings of his intense devotion to her. She then sent this sadhu to yet another 'mad beggar' sitting in the precincts of Lord Arunachaleswara at Tiruvannamalai. That evening when this sadhu presented himself before his Master who at the first sight appeared to be an "awe-inspiring eccentric beggar", the last vestiges of egoistic pride in the study and scholarship of philosophy started falling like dilapidated scaffoldings on the advent of a whirlwind. Little did this sadhu realize at that time that this Socrates-like personality was going to become his dikshaaguru soon.

As long as ego and ego-centric desires reside in the heart, the grace of the Guru will never enter. The Master held the hands of this humble disciple for hours together, the vibrations created by His divine touch sweeping and cleaning the inner cavities of the heart of all the vaasanaas that had accumulated through several births. That day was an unforgettable day in 1984.

The inaugural issue of TATTVA DARSANA, a quarterly edited by this sadhu, which came out on Feb 28, 1984, carried a picture of Sri Aurobindo, my Master's master and the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram with a short note under a titre "FIRST SUPRAMENTAL MANIFESTATION" and a subtitle "February 29, 1956, Wednesday, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondy". After making this sadhu read it thrice, my Master asked: "Did the First Supramental Manifestation occur only in 1956?" While this sadhu got startled, the Master burst into a hearty laughter. What a whipping revelation!

My Master used to sing often that this great land of Bharatavarsha is the land where kings and emperors have done their great yagas. This land is the Karma bhumi, Tapo bhumi, Moksha bhumi of the souls wending their way godward. Since times immemorial, this land bas been blessed by the advent of great sages and seers, sadhaks and savants of humanity. They have been the beacons guiding the ships of human lives on the vast ocean of samsara.

Let mankind all over the world learn the meaning and purpose of their lives from the preceptors of this holy land." This was the call of the great rishis. My Master, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, has also come in the lineage of those great masters. And, like the great preceptor of preceptors who sits under a big banyan tree and imparts the greatest wisdom through the language of silence, my Master also speaks through his eyes and kindles wisdom and devotion in the hearts of those who throng to Him. "Mount Arunachala never moves", He says whenever someone approaches Him to visit his or her place to confer grace on devotees. And He never gave discourses nor did He write books or articles. A couple from South Africa came to Him a decade ago and prayed that He grace the Indian's settled in their distant land by His presence and impart spiritual knowledge to them who were far away from their Motherland. My Master laughed aloud and uttered jovially: "This beggar is no teacher. His Master has taught him only one line - AUM SRI RAM JAI RAM JAI JAI RAM and said that is enough for him." Casting a glance at this sadhu sitting by His side, he remarked with an apparent sarcasm - "You take Professor Rangaraja. He will give lectures". This sadhu took it as a joke. But, to our utter surprise, it did materialize. This sadhu left the shores of this land the very next year to spend three months in South Africa to give lectures and discourses under various institutions and organisations, and to edit the Yoga Lessons for Children, a prestigious publication of the Divine Life Society of South Africa, brought out to commemorate the Centenary of Swami Sivananda. This visit abroad enabled this sadhu to realize the superiority of sadhana and bhakti over sheer intellectual knowledge. The poor and illiterate people who went to the distant lands like South Africa, Mauritius, Trinidad and Fiji, as indentured labour, carried with them only Ramnam, Shivanam and Hanuman Chalisa with which they were familiar through ages, and their simple methods of devotional worship have transformed their lives tremendously not only materially, but also spiritually and enabled them to keep up the glorious cultural heritage of the ancient Bharat which they carried to their colonies in the distant lands.

The right mission in the life of this sadhu was pointed out by the great Master on the auspicious occasion of the birthday celebrations of Papa Ramdas in the Banyan Tree Cave on Mount Arunachala on April 26, 1988. This sadhu was invited to be a speaker on the occasion, but that day's celebration sprang a great surprise and thrill to the devotees who had gathered there in the Cave Ashram. It was the sudden and most unexpected appearance of Yogi Ramsuratkumar there. He announced the purpose of His sudden visit as to spend sometime with the 'Professor'. Little did this 'Professor' imagine that there was something most unexpected to happen in his life in the next few hours. The Master coolly told the organizers that there were so many others who could speak and he virtually dragged this sadhu from the meeting place to the cave. And then happened the greatest 'nuclear explosion', in the life of this sadhu. The Master initiated him into the sacred mantra - Aum Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram whieh He himself received from Papa Ramdas who had sat and meditated in the very cave where we were sitting. What else other than the punya accumulated in the past births could bring in such a great fortune! Mahapurusha samsmya is not merely sitting in the presence of a great preceptor. To transform oneself into a humble and effective instrument for the Master's work is the summum bonum of this contact. This humble servant got the blessings of the Master for that transformation that day when He declared him as a sadhu' and an instrument for His Fathers work. The timing of this event was also most significant. It happened hardly ten months prior to the Mahasamadhi of Mataji Krishnabai of Anandashram in February 1989. After the initiation while taking leave of Him, this sadhu was told by the Master-. "My Father will guide you. Now you can go back and continue to do what you have been doing all these days. Renunciation is not giving up anything. It is just changing your attitude towards the world. My Father alone exists, nothing else, nobody else." My Master used to say: "It is not easy to get a Guru, a spiritual master. It may take sometimes many births to get a spiritual master." But the Master Himself comes into the life of the disciple when the appointed hour comes, or, in other words, when the instrument is ready for His work.

After the Mahasamadhi of Pujya Mataji Krishnabai on Feruary 12, 1989, my Master pointed out the great mission in this sadhu's life to which his whole lifetime was to be dedicated. Mataji had started the massive japa yajna of chanting 15,500 crores of the Ramnam Taraka, Aum Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Rwn for World Peace, of which 1757 crores had been completed before Her departure from the physical body. My Master suggested to this sadhu to take up the task of spreading Her mission of the nama japa-yajna all over the country and abroad, for the completion of the astronomical target fixed by Her.

The Hitopadesa gives the story of a little tittiba bird which tried to empty the ocean with the help of a blade of grass, to recover its lost eggs carried by the waves. When all other members of the feathered race laughed at her or pitied the poor bird, the mighty Garuda, seeing the plight of a member of his own ilk, spread his wings and threatened the King of the seas who at once surrendered the eggs to the bird. This story flashed in the mind of this sadhu when the Master asked him to take up this 15,500 crore japa yajna as a mission in life. This little tittiba bird started the work of spreading Ramnam for achieving the Divine Mothers target, with the mighty Garuda in the form of the Master standing by his side, waiting for the appropriate moment to spread His wings and see the completion of the target. By His grace and blessings, the World Ramnam Movement has spread all over the globe, though we have yet to go a long way to reach the goal. But Master is there and He now conducts this sadhu again to the distant lands for spreading His work.

No one can intellectually comprehend the power and greatness of the Ramnam Taraka Mantra. But the significance that Master attaches to the Japa sadhana has been manifest many a times in His actions and expressions. Referring to the initiation of my Master by Papa Ramdas into the Mantra, my Master has uttered many times, "Papa gave this madness to this beggar" and "This beggar died at the feet of Papa Ramdas in 1952". Shastras say that one becomes what one thinks intensely and constantly. Immersed in the japa sadhana right from the moment of His initiation, my Master has become 'That'. The 'death' that He speaks of is the cessation of the subject or individuality in Him and its merger into the object of His meditation. The salt doll merged into the ocean. Yogi Ramsuratkumar became Rama. "Yogi Ramsuratkumar is the name of my Father", says my Master often. And in the Nama japa yajna also, the name of Yogi Ramsuratkumar is considered to be carrying the same 'sphota' or potency of the Ramanama Taraka mantra and is taken for the japa counts. On the occasion of the Upanayanam of the son of a devotee, my Master declared in the presence of many of his devotees: "This beggar initiated this mantra to Rangaraja and He suggested to him to spread the mantra to help fulfilment of 15,500 crore Nama Japa Yajna of Mataji Krishnabai. Rangaraja took it seriously and he is doing Papa's work."

Once Ma Devaki, the spiritual sister of this sadhu, wanted to record Master's discourse to this sadhu on the greatness of Ramnam. Master prevented her, telling that He wanted His message to go into this human instrument of Sadhu Rangaraja and come out through him and not through the tape recorder. He is very particular that this Ramnam work should on no account be disturbed and should continue incessantly. On the day He commanded this sadhu to introduce Ma Devaki, His 'Etemal Slave' to the devotees through TATTVA DARSANA, He declared: "Papa Ramdas gave initiation to this beggar and then He wanted this beggar to go away to spread this Ranmam. When this beggar gave initiation to Rangaraja, He also expected Rangaraja to go away from Him and spread Papa's work. But this beggar is always with Rangaraja." To one who revels in God-consciousness no idol is needed. So also to one who feels the presence of the Master in his bosom ail the time, the physical presence or proximity of the Master is hardly needed. Therefore this sadhu had no hesitation to accept gladly the Master's command. However, the Master called this sadhu to His abode again at the time of the laying of the foundation stone of Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram at Tiruvannamalai in the presence of Swami Satchidananda, on February 26, 1994. Then certain developments made the Master ask this sadhu to take over as a Trustee of the Ashram. He wanted some more persons as trustees to carry on the work and three more were chosen. He wanted the presence of this sadhu in Tiravannamalai for some days and retained him there for about a month. However, he was very clear as to the prime purpose of this instrument and declared that the Ramnam work which is the work of His Master, Papa Ramdas is much more important than construction of ashram and temple. He wanted that His Father's work should not be affected by any diversion of attention of this sadhu and He made this clear to other devotees involved in the work of construction of the ashram.

Rama Nama Taraka Japa and the Japa of Yogi Ramsuratkumar nama will provide immense solace, inspiration and strength to all those involved in the work of setting up the Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram and make the Ashram a haven of divinity, peace and bliss, attracting the spiritually hungry souls from all over the world. It is certainly the Divine Power of the Master that works the miracle of setting up of such a mighty and glorious temple in the modem times, but the role and importance of the dedicated devotees fully surrendered to Him and sincerely pursuing the path of sadhana shown by Him is no less important. Let the Divine Master guide us in moulding ourselves into His fittest instruments!
Salutations to my diksha guru!

Vande Mataram

Aum Namo Bhagavate Yogi. Ramsuratkumaraya! Aum Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram!