Sunyata writes about his friend Per Westin (Ramanagiri)
- Sunyata
Per Alexander Westin
(Ramana Giri)
From the
book Dancing with the void by Alfred
Julius Emmanuel Sorensen (October 27, 1890 – August 13, 1984), Sunyata
•••
Per A. Westin, who was given the name Ramana
Giri by Ramana Maharshi in the mid- 1940, was often Wuji’s guest in his
Himalayan sanctuary in Almora. After eight years of intense yogic Sadhana, he
flew beyond as a real and full fledged Paramahansa.
Did Per try too intensively and too immaturely? After eight years in Himalayan
Bharat, Per’s body had to go, the physical one depleted by tuberculosis and
left behind for Sri Agni (God of
Fire) to consume. But Per himself had transcended body awareness, and he “came
through” and “beyond”. One in a hundred thousand, or perhaps one in a million,
comes to Realization like this.
-
Sunyata
It was on a
sunny winter day in holy Benares in the early 1940s that I met Per A. Westin.
He came gliding along by the shore where the washer men were busy splashing the
dirty linen of respectable egojies. I was sharing my leftover food with donkey
friends, as human friends would always give me too much to eat. Per seemed
touched by my donkey friendship. Birds of a feather and kindred asses flock
together! Per was in a body of some 25 summers – tall, dark-haired, and slim.
He was studious-looking, civilized, respectable and balanced. His upper lip was
slightly damaged by some explosion during military duty. I detected a slight
stoop, but no sign of T.B. then or later when he visited me in the Himalayas.
We went together to
see some sadhus, gurus and learned Pandits in the holy Benares. One Guru
fastened on Per the name “Sri Hanuman.” I was not much impressed by the
competence of that Guru nor with the name he gave to Per. Since Per had been in
holy Bharat only a brief while then, I felt he would eventually find his due
path. “Step by step as thou goest, the Way will open unto thee.”
Per came to my
Himalayan retreat in the spring when the heat came upon the plains. He stayed
in my upper Sunya cave on the hill’s crest. It had vast scenic views and a
vaster expanse of silence. He imbibed the gracious solitude in the pure,
Krishna blue akasha realm, while
Paramhansa wings grew and unfurled. He had the psychological urge towards stark
openness and nudeness. It was the need of being natural, without the rags of
ego deceit, artificial respectability or artistic hiding. In this purity, the
mental fig leaves become positively indecent or a kind of vulgar prudery.
Per felt right in
that Himalayan setting with nature, with books and a rich inner life. In the
outer play, there was the singing self-radiant Silence, the winds in the pines
below, and the crescending of Aums. I
left Per lovely alone except for an occasional service and chat. Sometimes we
played naturally, nakedly together raking pine needles or cutting grass or wood
– all part of our Himalayan contemplation.
Per Westin was
awarded a two-year scholarship in India to study religious and philosophical
lore, but he renounced it all when he took to yoga and intensive Self inquiry.
I had introduced him to Ramana Maharshi in Tiruvannamalai. In and through
Maharshi, he eventually came to full “awakening,” conscious “Self awareness” or
“Advaita experiencing.” “Hanuman,” the name given to him in Varanasi, dropped
off and “Ramana Giri,” conferred on him by Ramana Maharshi, emerged.
Comparisons are odious, yet Maharshi Ramana is Himalayan to many current
molehills and tinpot, claptrap gurus. Per was blessed in Maharshi’s grace and sahaja recognition.
When I met him
first, I asserted nothing. Himalaya and Sunyata have no need to assert. I could
sense in him a certain Swedish occultism and an intense longing to realize the
Truth. Ramanagiri later came through an ancient road, a homeward way,
frequented by the whole awakened ones. Here all mental concepts and ideals
vanish. Only awareness remains, bereft of all theories and ideal abstractions.
It is the serene state of exalted calm in absolute Silence. It has been called
nirvana or turiya or sunya. Ramanagiri was in this state of “advaita
experiencing.” I did pranam
[salutation] to Ramanagiri in glad homage, in karuna love and in Himalayan ananda
gratitude. Upon leaving my place, he went on a pilgrimage. His “Jiva Yatra” [soul’s journey] was lived
mostly in South India, by seashores, in jungles and at the grail glowing, holy
mountain Arunachala.
A few years later
when he was still in his 30’s, Ramanagiri left his body. He is deified and
worshipped in a shrine or small temple on the seashore near Madras. Ramanagiri
was in my Sunya cave in Almora and he is still here. Blessed be the name Sri
Ramana Giri.
The following
letter received by me was one of Per’s last:
Dearest Sunya,
In this letter I must tell you
that I have sailed away. I have sailed to a far-off place, a place which cannot
be described by words. To describe it is to pollute it. The steamer on which I
sailed is a very powerful one, but it rolls hard in the sea if the water is
stormy. The place is called by many names, but still no name can cover its
Reality. Some used to call the place Nirvikalpa,
others Satchitananda or Nirgun Brahman – some call it God or
Self, others call it Pure Consciousness, or the egoless state. To describe it
is to put up a big wall before it. The name of the Steamer is Mind. With the
help of Prana, one reached the place
that for the jiva seems so far away,
and really speaking, is nearer than one’s breath. If the sense weather is
stormy, the steamer will roll badly in the samsaric
ocean. By now, you must understand the art of my sailing and why I have been so
silent.
Let me tell you what happened and why I
have been so silent. The same day as I was going back to North India, I visited
the Theosophical library at Adyar, and while walking in the garden, Shri
Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi appeared before me. He asked me to follow him. I went
along the seacoast to a little place where I sat down for meditation, when there
Sri Bhagavan’s voice told me that my only duty (Dhrama) from no onwards was the Self. Futher, he gave me some upadesh [spiritual instruction] which I
followed for some days. One night – between 12 and 2 – Kundalini was aroused to Sahasrara
and the jiva merged into the Self. On
account of the sound Om from the
waves of the sea, I was brought back to body awareness; otherwise, I would have
left my body because in that state there is no one to come back – and no one to
make any effort. After having regained body consciousness, I discovered that I
had lost all my memory.
All events before the time of Sri
Bahagavan’s appearance in the garden had gone out of my mind. Friends who had
been very close to me looked like strangers. People whom I thought that I had
never met before came and told me that we had met in Madras only a few days
before. Everyone and everything looked so new and strange and unreal. Now I am
getting back my memory, but mostly recollections connected with spiritual
experiences and deep love. That is why I am writing to you, because those who
are near my heart turn up again in this mind, which is so very different from
the previous one.
The village people here have built a
little hut for me, but there is no post office in this little fishing village,
the name of which I do not even know, so I cannot give you any address yet. I
don’t think any postman will take the trouble to come down to the sandy beach,
but I shall let you know later.
With all my love
Ramanagiri in Him