A Master and

 
Swami Rama Tirtha

and His Communion with Mt. Shasta


by Silvia Baratta



It was during one of those hot summers in Rishikesh, when I was a full-time seva-sadhaka at SRSG (supporting guests — and there were not many guests to support), that I first delved into the spiritual classic In Woods of God Realization (Vol. 1) by Swami Rama Tirtha, first published in 1909.


It was a wonderful — and cooling! — delight to take in the inspiring teachings of this great sage through his simple, yet deeply profound, presentations on the glory of Advaita Vedanta. This was especially so with the knowledge that spiritual leaders in our tradition have stated that this one known as Swami Rama Tirtha was a previous birth of the force known to us as Swami Rama of the Himalayas.


The sattvic pleasure of reading In Woods of God Realization was also enhanced by learning that a substantial number of the lectures from which the essays in the publication were transcribed were given in my home state of California — and that an inspirational location there, for its author (and for this self!), was the mystical mountain called Mt. Shasta.

This mountain was and is considered very holy by the indigenous people. Its energy has attracted, and continues to attract, spiritual seekers from around the globe. So, it is no surprise that one such as Swami Rama Tirtha found his way (unintentionally) there. And, as one who had roamed the Himalayas and loved mountains, he entered a mountaineering competition to the top of Mt. Shasta. He won but declined to accept the first prize.


It was at Shasta Springs where Swami Rama Tirtha, as a guest of Dr. Albert Hiller, would cut wood in the forest to pay for his hospitality, at his own insistence. He was a great lover of nature, and ecstatic at the opportunity to commune in this way with Divine Mother Earth (or, as he was known to have said, “Divine Mother’s Love”). His time there, preceding his lecture tour, filled him with great joy, and it served as an allegorical centerpiece for the lectures given under the banner of “Practical Vedanta.”


Vedanta expounds, “Thou art That.” It teaches that our true, essential nature (Atman) is divine, infinite, eternal — or, as Swami Veda Bharati, disciple of Swami Rama of the Himalayas, would often remind us in his lectures: “Ever wise, ever pure, ever free.” This same One is everywhere, in all “things.” Swami Rama Tirtha taught of the ultimate unity of all life, the oneness of all existence, and invited us to see and realize that One in All.


Swami Rama Tirtha’s teaching was that the realization of Vedanta comes only when it is a lived experience.


“Vedanta, printed in books and placed on shelves to be eaten up by worms, won’t do. You must live it… If Vedanta does not remove your chill; if it does not make you happy; if it does not cast off your burdens, then kick it aside.”

— In Woods of God Realization, Volume 1


“Man is not meant to waste all his time in petty fears and cautions: how shall I live, and oh, what shall become of me, and all such foolish nonsense. He ought to have at least as much self-respect as fishes and birds and even trees have. They grumble not at storm or sunshine but live as one with nature. My Atman, I myself am the pouring rain. I flash. I thunder. How beautifully awful and strong I am. Sivoham songs gush forth from the heart.”


— Swami Rama Tirtha, from letters written while living as a monk in the Himalayas, quoted in The Story of Swami Rama Tirtha by Puran Singh, p. 180

And there is more he offers us, on this very mountain, on the nature of true spiritual power.


“There are the Shasta Springs here in California. It is said the water there is very fine. Everybody wants to go there. Shasta Springs ought not to be anxious about visitors; they ought not to have to issue any proclamations; they need not send any advertisements to people. People must and will seek them out.


“Similarly, the moment the pure, fresh springs of Knowledge, of Life, of Purity and Love gush forth from your heart, that very moment you are possessed of those Shasta Springs, as it were; visitors and people will seek you out. It is the unalterable, immutable law. The one thing needful is to get those springs within you; it matters not whether you remain in one place or go about from place to place. If you remain in one place, people will come to you; if you travel from place to place, people will seek you, when there is real Truth and Spirituality. Nothing is dependent on outside behavior; the whole effort in getting those springs there consists in letting Divinity flow fresh and free within you.”

— from the lecture/essay “The Spiritual Power That Wins” by Swami Rama Tirtha


May we all come to know the flow of Divinity as expressed by Swami Rama Tirtha and Swami Rama of the Himalayas. And should you ever find yourself called to that mystical peak in Northern California, may you pause there and feel what these two great masters once felt — the pure, fresh springs of Knowledge, Life, and Love gushing forth, not from the mountain alone, but from within your own heart. To stand where such realization once bloomed is no small thing; it is, perhaps, an invitation to let those same springs rise in us.

 

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