Sri Ramana Maharshi

‘You must have heard a television interview, some time ago, with some Tibetan lamas who declared that all the greatest sages were people who knew how to laugh. And if you read Paul Brunton’s books, A Search in Secret India and A Search in Secret Egypt, you will learn a great deal from this extraordinary writer. Amongst other things, you will learn how he went to India to find a master and, although he met many, they were all very serious, grave, severe and distant, and he felt that something was lacking with each one.

Meeting an advanced, wise and luminous guru
Then, one day, he met a guru who was very simple in his manner, very friendly and happy, always laughing and making jokes, and after observing him more closely, he realized that he was more advanced, wiser and more luminous than all the others, and he became his disciple.

And this guru was Ramana Maharshi. It is said that he radiated such light and emanated such love and joy that his skin was like gold. I visited his ashram in Tiruvannamalai while I was in India. Unfortunately, Ramana Maharshi was no longer alive, but I met his disciples and they were truly like their master: full of love and light and full of smiles.

No one has ever welcomed me more warmly than they did. Their master’s room had been kept intact as a sacred shrine and nobody was allowed to enter it, but they let me go in and meditate in that room for as long as I wanted. I have an unforgettable memory of that ashram.

A serious person does not have to wear a serious expression, they must have a serious character
I know very well that, whatever I say, you are going to stick to your present attitude, thinking, ‘That is all nonsense. We are serious people.’ All right, but then why are you always so unhappy? The truth is that you do not really know what it means to be serious. You can try, but you will never find anyone more serious than me. I assure you, I am one of the most serious people in the whole world. The only thing is that I am fortunate enough to understand that it is not a serious expression that makes a serious man.

A really serious person does not always have to wear a serious expression; they have to have a serious character. In other words, they have to be strong and stable; they have to be someone who can be relied on. Serious people should be firm and unshakeable in their convictions and ideas, but always like children in their hearts, simple, resilient, loving and full of smiles.’

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

To be continued…

From a lecture given at Sevres, on April 18, 1970
Complete Works Volume 18, Jnana Yoga Vol 2
Chapter 8, Love