Hindu sages can be of diverse dispositions. They can achieve states of ecstasy, following paths laid down in different religions, like Ramakrishna. They can spread the message of Vedanta far and wide, like Vivekananda and Paramahamsa Yogananda. They can break free of ritualistic religion and intolerance like the Buddha and Sankaracharya.
Some may want to project themselves, garner much publicity, run successful businesses, and leave behind disciples aplenty and organisations that live after them. They can be short-tempered like Durvasa or gentle like Vasishta. And there are others, like Atmananda Krishna Menon, who make no great effort to gain prominence, live their lives frugally and yet leave behind a philosophy and spiritual practice that inspires generations.
Paul Brunton, the British author, based his best-sellers A Search in Secret India and The Secret Path on his encounters with spiritual masters across India. Brunton, a pseudonym of Raphael Hurst, came to Thiruvananthapuram in 1952 to meet Krishna Menon, whom he met again in Bengaluru in 1953. He wrote, "Only in Krishna Menon I find full satisfaction. It took me, however, four years from the time of meeting him to be absolutely sure he was the perfect guru I sought. Instead of enjoining celibacy, Krishna Menon rejects it. Moreover, he counsels disciples to get married, for love can be a means of helping spiritual growth as it leads to self-forgetfulness in the happiness of the other person."
Another visitor was Joseph Campbell, famous mythologist, author of A Hero with a Thousand Faces and the brain behind the renowned documentary, ‘The Power of Myth’, produced by George Lucas of Star Wars fame. Campbell wrote about his journey in 1955, "Once in India, I thought I would like to meet a major guru or teacher face to face. So I went to see a celebrated teacher named Krishna Menon." Campbell questioned him why there was so much bestiality, vulgarity and brutality in the world if the universe is itself a manifestation of divinity. Would it not mean that even the base elements in the world are manifesting divinity? Atmananda replied, "For you and me, the way is to say yes."
"We then had a wonderful talk on this theme of the affirmation of all things," Campbell wrote, "And it confirmed me in the feeling I had that who are we to judge? It seems to me that is one of the great teachings of Jesus as well." He describes his conversation with Krishna Menon in great detail in Baksheesh and Brahman: Indian Journal 1945-1955.
Krishna Menon was an outstanding student. He passed matriculation examination, first in the state of Travancore, then completed his FA examination and appeared for the BA degree examination as a private candidate even while working as a schoolteacher. He was drafted into the police as the then commissioner wanted promising new entrants into the force. He later acquired a Bachelor of Law degree, which resulted in his being made a prosecuting inspector, from which he was promoted to ASP, Kottayam.
He was devoted to his work; he revised and codified the police manual. He retired from the police in 1939 as the district superintendent of police in erstwhile Quilon. He married Parukutty Amma, who understood her husband's spiritual quest and supported him until the end of her life in 1952.
Unlike Ramana Maharshi, Atmananda did not renounce the life of a householder right from childhood. In this respect, he resembles more the other great luminary of Advaita, Nisargadatta, who was a small trader and, in four years with his guru, realised that consciousness was one, that the true path lies in self-inquiry and in penetrating the depths of one's being.
Atmananda Krishna Menon's Atma Nirvriti and Atma Darshan are brief but clear expositions of the basic principles of Advaita, where the universe is seen as one indivisible, indestructible, eternal reality. Consciousness pervades all and can be discovered as the entity that unifies the waking state, the dream state and deep sleep. It is the entity that can be perceived as the gap between successive thoughts. By relentlessly going inwards, the seeker can understand and, later, comprehend consciousness.
Happiness is the essence of consciousness. Happiness is not derived from objects. If that were so, the same object must generate the same joy at all times, whether one is a baby, an adolescent or an adult. It is not derived from the mind. If that were so, we should be able to summon happiness from inside our minds at will.
This is the ‘direct path’ to consciousness, as distinguished from the progressive path, which consists of rituals, meditation, penance and the painstaking renunciation of desires. This path is more akin to the principles expounded by the Upanishads, rediscovered and preached by the inimitable Sankaracharya, and carried to all parts of the world by Vivekananda and other philosophers. This is the same concept that is now catching the attention of thinking people through the efforts of new-age gurus like Greg Goode, Rupert Spira, Mooji, and Sarvapriyananda. In literature and fiction, these thoughts are reflected in the writings of Richard Bach, Paulo Coelho and others.
As physics progresses, as cosmology evolves, and as we grapple with quantum physics, similar thoughts are developing in the scientific world, too.
A particle remains a probabilistic wave until it is observed. Two particles can be mutually entangled even if they are millions of light-years apart. Space and time are interrelated and together form the fabric of the universe. Matter and energy are freely convertible.
Philip Renard, in his book I is a Door, written in Dutch, says of the three philosophers of the time, "All three teachers… are free from religious schemes and dogma, therefore making them suitable as a source of teaching for Westerners. I consider these three, Ramana Maharshi, Atmananda and Nisargadatta Maharaj, as the 'big three' of the 20th-century Advaita Vedanta. To me, they are the ones that reduced Vedanta to the heart of the matter: direct recognition of your true nature."
As mutual hatred and intolerance sweep across the world, it is time for a renaissance in spiritual thinking that transcends all religions and enables us to rediscover the essence of humanity.
K M Chandrasekhar
Former Cabinet Secretary and author of As Good as My Word: A Memoir
(Views are personal)