The Heart of the Hill

Ramakrishna Swami, a long-standing devotee, asked Sri Bhagavan the meaning of a stanza in,

“The Five Hymns to Arunachala.”

Sri Bhagavan explained it in detail, saying that the Universe is like a painting on a screen – the screen being the Red Hill Arunachala. That which rises and sinks is made up of what it rises from. The finality of the Universe is the God Arunachala. Meditating on Him or on the seer, the SELF, there is a mental vibration “I” to which all are reduced. Tracing the source of “I” — the primal “I”-“I” alone remains over, and it is inexpressible.

The seat of Realisation is within and the seeker cannot find it as an object outside him. That seat is Bliss and is the core of all beings. Hence, it is called the HEART.

The only useful purpose of the present birth is to turn within and realise IT. There is nothing else to do.