The Leela of Disciplehood
Amidst the Smoke of Burning Bodies
Yogi Ramsurat Kumār also called Visiri Swamigal would always smoke the village beedi but around him, but you would never be suffocated by the smell of it. He was born in Varanasi on December 18, 1918 and from a young age, was always attracted to the dense spiritual life that existed in the sacred city. Like The Avatār, he also spent his childhood with many Sādhus and yearned for their lifestyle. In 1959, Yogi Ramsurat Kumār finally settled in Tiruvannamalai, the birthplace of The Avatār, as well as thousands of enlightened beings before and after him. The Avatār enjoyed the Presence of Yogi Ramsurat Kumār from very young.
You will pass the test of Life!
Visiri Swamigal had many well-known spots where he would be found sitting. One of them was on the steps of a building adjacent to Thermutti, where the temple chariot was parked; he would be comfortably sitting there amidst a pile of garbage. The first time I saw him, he asked Me if Saakkupai Swamigal had sent Me to him! I told him about how I got to know Saakkupai Swamigal, and how he sent Me to him.
Usually, people who passed by Visiri Swamigal would stop and ask him questions about their future. Many children on their way to school would stop and ask, “Swami, will I pass my exam today?” or, “Will I get a good report today?” But they rarely got a response from him.
On the way to school one day, I also stopped and asked if I would pass the test in school that day. I got the reply, “You will pass the test of life, my boy!”
An old lady who always sat by Yogi Ramsurat Kumār overheard these words and told Me, “Go, go! You will not understand these words now, but you will remember them later!”
Meetings in the burial ground
Those days, Yogi Ramsurat Kumār would always sit in the burial ground and meditate. He would be sitting on a large double tomb, and I used to hide and watch him and enjoy the mysticism that he radiated. He would shoo me away, saying, “It’s only me, go away!”
Every day, after walking around Arunācala Hill, I would go to the burial ground and sit at his feet to have his darśan. He used to wear a garland of ropes. Fortunately, I had such a love for him, I would just catch hold of his ropes; that is the way I used to talk to him!
You will pass the test of Life!
Visiri Swamigal had many well-known spots where he would be found sitting. One of them was on the steps of a building adjacent to Thermutti, where the temple chariot was parked; he would be comfortably sitting there amidst a pile of garbage. The first time I saw him, he asked Me if Saakkupai Swamigal had sent Me to him! I told him about how I got to know Saakkupai Swamigal, and how he sent Me to him.
Usually, people who passed by Visiri Swamigal would stop and ask him questions about their future. Many children on their way to school would stop and ask, “Swami, will I pass my exam today?” or, “Will I get a good report today?” But they rarely got a response from him.
On the way to school one day, I also stopped and asked if I would pass the test in school that day. I got the reply, “You will pass the test of life, my boy!”
An old lady who always sat by Yogi Ramsurat Kumār overheard these words and told Me, “Go, go! You will not understand these words now, but you will remember them later!”
He was beyond physical needs
My mentor Isakki Swami, he used to tell, “If you are having ‘one and two’, urine and excreta, you are eating more than you need.” I have never seen Isakki Swami going for ‘one-two’! Please understand: I lived with him twenty-four hours a day. It was the same with Yogi RamsuratKumār. I lived around him for more than six years. In India, you don’t have a bathroom and all that in villages, you know! And especially Yogi RamsuratKumār, did not have a bathroom; he was just lying in the burial ground only, in the smashaan. He had a house, but I don’t think it had a bathroom, and twenty-four hours a day, I lived with him.
Yogananda Puri prepared Me for Yogi Ramsurat Kumār
Fortunately, with Yogi Ramsurat Kumār, there was never a physical process I needed to go through. By the time I went to Ramsurat Kumār, My body had already been prepared by Yogananda Puri. So Ramsurat Kumār had the simple job of putting Zen koans into My system. It was because of Yogi Yogananda Puri that I was able to receive Yogi Ramsurat Kumār directly. Every word he uttered simply made realization happen in Me. When he put a single word into Me, I could see thousands of patterns getting completely bombarded. He would finish off thousands of patterns in one word. I have seen the great Yogi Ramsurat Kumār: truth-grinder, pattern-breaker! Of course, without Yogananda Puri’s support and help and training, I would have never been able to grasp Yogi RamsuratKumār’s words or his actions.
He challenges My whole parental conditioning
One day I just thought, ‘’He is a great enlightened master. Why is he smoking beedi?’’ The moment I had this thought, he just looked at Me and smiled, and took out the beedi and just turned it towards Me. He did not tell verbally, but he was signaling to me, ‘Smoke!’
My love for him and My parental conditioning were fighting each other at that moment. If you know the Mahabharata, It was like Krishna – the Guru – getting down from the chariot and taking the chariot wheel, and using it as Sudarshana cakra to kill Bhishma, who represents parental conditioning. Krishna is Guru, Bhishma is your parental conditioning. Guru cannot directly kill your parental conditioning.
My orthodox upbringing, My grandfather and My whole Shaivaite way of upbringing, and My devotion for Yogi Ramsurat Kumār were fighting! I had a deep respect and reverence for him, so that reverence was pushing Me towards him to take it, and My orthodox upbringing up was pulling Me backward – and I was just frozen. And that beedi was slowly moving, moving, burning, burning, burning
He gives Me a glimpse of his state
When the fire was about to touch his finger, he just dropped it and held Me by both My ears. I was a small kid; maybe ten years old. He just held Me by both ears and pulled Me towards him and blew that smoke on My face – phwoooo!
I tell you: That moment was like a whole movie going mute. I could see everything vividly, but no sound! I was just like a vast witness. After a few hours, I walked back to My house. My mother put a plate of food before me. I saw everything – but no sound.
But it was not that I had become deaf. Inside there was no sound! How do we explain all this? It was such vast peace.
Don’t miss the Master’s teaching
After two or three days, I slowly settled down. I went back to him and asked, “What do you want to convey to Me? What do you want Me to understand?” He said, “If this small blow can make that experience happen in you, then don’t you understand what is going on in this body? I need at least a small rope (beedi) to tie what I am into this body. Understand?”
So, what masters do, you should not pick it up; what masters do, you should not try to imitate, but what they teach, try to do – because, whatever they do, they are trying to bring themselves down. In your case, you are supposed to take yourself up! If you have the feeling-connection, nothing else is required.
THe Avatar seen behind a great enlightened being Yogi Ramsuratkumar (bearded Saint in the center) in Tiruvannamalai. This was taken in Oya mutt in Tiruvoodal street when He was 15 years old.