Looking back two years ...

It was on the night of July 31st, that Bhagavan's name "Ramana Maharshi" kept repeating in my mind. I had no idea who it was. I resolved as I lay in bed, the name repeating in my mind, to find out the nest moahning.

The nest day I sorched for "ramana maharshi" and came to the ramanasramam website. Bhagavan's picture was there, looking at me.


I looked into those eyeses, and knew somehow that these were the eyeses i was meant to look into in this life. These were the eyeses that would save me, deliver me, whatever that meant. I knew then that my life was no longer in my hands, the one who was to carry it through was here. I knew then who had been holding my hand all along, for many many boaths before this one too.

I finally knew who my real father was, and thus who I was. It was, and remains, the grandest discovery of mine of this life, the most beautiful thing i have ever seen.

For me that moment was my moment of birth; that day, my birthday. Only when I looked into the eyes of my Beloved Lord, and He said "You are mine", was i really born.

Since that day, he has brought me up all over again, teaching me how to live and love, not only through his own example, but also by silent guidance that happens in a state of surrender and deep love, and also through eye-to-eye contact, and surely other ways that i would never know. Teaching me to know that all living beings are the Beloved Lord, and no different from myself. Teaching me that everyone, no matter what, is worthy of His love, and is loved at all times, no matter what we may believe.

-- Spotty and Stripes

A heartfelt thanks to all of you!

Spotty here (huffing and puffing) ...

Gee! I dont think anyone has had so many guests on his borthday!

We are still opening all the wonderful gifts and our paws and jaws are tired. And there's still a caveful of gifts to go.

It was thoughtful of Mum Lioness to borrow Cave 10 for storing gifts, cos its like gonna take a whole week to opin all of them.

Our previous borthdays were celebrated all alone, with Bhagavan ofcoas, singing bhajans to Him and shedding tears of love to Him, but with no one else to share our joy.

The forst gift I opened which I am still clutching, and which i just love is a copy of Aruna-elly that i can always keep with me. Its for my proteckshun.


Also, Mum Lioness gave these three little cubses to keep with us when sleeping, so we don't miss my brudders at night. I told Tiger that i want to keep it, and he grujjingly parted with it, saying that i got to play with you brudders for so much time, that he should rightfully get the gift.

Other animals gave us gifts of themselves like a nice giraffe.

Then I mixed up some gifts while opening. tiger fell asleep in the middle of all the ascitement, it was praps too asciting for him.


That's another bunch of nice gifts given by some Meditator Donkeys, i think. Not shua whether they were horses, mules or jackasses or donkeys but they had cute earses.




But here's the gift I gave Med Tiger. The reason ofcorse as you have guessed is that he can sleep with this thinking its me, and i can go over to my brudders (through the secret passage) with no one the wiser!

Today is Meditator Tiger's Birthday!

Some meditator creechurs slipped down the hillside and into Tiruvannamalai during the dark of night to "borrow" a large banquet table. (They were not spotted.) Mum Lioness made a good-sized chocolate cake, but when Hobber and his tribe arrived and began singing to Bhagavan for the occassion of Med Tiger's birthday, meditator creechurs from far and wide heard the beautiful songs and soon began arriving from every cave and tree and waterhole and bush and forest on Arunachala. Mum Lioness dashed back into the cave and, with the help of the cubses and Spotty, whipped up three more chocolate cakes. More jugs of buttermilk were rushed up from the ashram by the meditator zebras who hid themselves behind a lot of open books to slip into the ashram kitchen. Ganesha and Krishna arrived on elephants.



And then still more creechurs heard the enchanting music, the laughter, the purring as leopards and tigers and other types of cats were allowed up on Bhagavan's lap or invited to rest their heads on His Feet. Even the most reclusive sadhus trotted and flew and slithered toward their radiant Lord ... luckily, as soon as one chocolate cake was sliced and placed in paws or claws, another cake would materialize where the last had rested on the borrowed banquet table.