Inge Friedrich-Rust (Divyadrishti)
Yoga teacher and psychotherapist
Kronberg, Germany
Teaching is finished
In the last twelve years, when Swami Atmananda withdrew to Rikhia, her teachings became more subtle. ‘I am nothing. I am less than an ant,’ she would say, and I did not understand. No dependency was tolerated any longer: ‘Use your own head. My teaching is finished,’ was her reply to childish questions. ‘Forget me. I want to be free when I leave.’
‘You and I are one’, she had said repeatedly in the early years, and now that she has left this earthly plane, this seems even more so. No hurt feelings, pride, jealousy, irritations, judgments can come between us now. She is closer than the breath, ever-present and immensely powerful.
Nevertheless, the loss on the physical plane hurts, and the tears flowing down my cheeks may be forgiven as natural…as illustrated in the following story that Swamiji told in Germany, on her World Tour in 1987:
Two hermits lived in the forest, renouncing all but their one dhoti (cloth), a bowl and a goat. When one of their goats died, the poor hermit howled and howled, so much so that his friend came running to him with words of wisdom: ‘Do not grieve! What is not born cannot die! Death is nothing more than shedding a worn-out cloth!’ But when the other hermit’s goat died, he, in turn, started howling. His friend was astonished. ‘When my goat died you consoled me with words of deep insight,’ he said. ‘If there is no need to grieve, why are you crying?’ The reply: ‘Last time your goat died, but this time it’s my goat!’
The teaching is important, not the teacher
‘The teacher is not important; the teaching is important’, Krishnamurti said shortly before his death. He cautioned his followers not to worship him, or to have any ceremonies or grave after his departure. Swami Atmananda ignited our love, we became attached and now we suffer, but the teacher is not important; the teaching is important. So let us remember Swamiji and feel her presence by living her teachings, putting into practice what she taught us with the patience and love which only a mother can have towards her children.
Let my sankalpa (resolution) be
To put your teachings into practice
with determination and a heart full of love
Let the mind be strong and balanced
Let there be clarity to know what is to be done
Let there be strength and courage to carry it out
Let us be healthy and happy, as you always wanted us to be
Let our devotion grow, like your devotion to your Gurudev, up to the last breath
In gratefulness for all you gave us
Divyadrishti
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