Language of the heart The Sun Daily, Malaysia, 10 Feb 2010
Author Ramesh Sharma believes being spiritual is being human by Bissme S. Since young, Ramesh Sharma has been fascinated about finding out the true purpose of human life. As he grew older, he continued with his quest, even going on trips to India to meet up with spiritual gurus. Two years ago, the 53-year-old former salesman decided to write down his experiences. A Buddhist Disciple Muk Tho’s Journey of Spiritual Mystic (Pristine Books, RM33.80) tells of some experiences which might seem ‘miraculous’ and somewhat out of this world. For instance, there is the story about a garland his mother had placed on a photograph of Indian mystic Sathya Sai Baba which, his mother claimed, had grown longer. "When she first told me about it, I didn’t believe her," says Ramesh (bottom) at a recent reading of his book. "So when my mother told me again that the garland had grown longer, I was ready to prove her wrong." He decided to measure its length. To his surprise, he found the garland had actually grown longer! In the end, it grew so long that it touched the floor of the prayer room where the photo was placed. Ramesh, who was 12 then, was speechless and spellbound. Then when he was 15, he was stung on the hand by a bee. While getting ready to go to the hospital, his maid suddenly went into a trance and acted like she was possessed by the monkey god Hanuman (an Indian deity). She grabbed his hand and sucked out the poison. "I was trembling at that time," he recalls. "Amazingly, the swelling on my hand went down." Another story also concerned his mother. During a trip to see Sathya Sai Baba in India years ago, she was given a locket by this holy man. But on the day she died, the locket mysteriously disappeared and was never found. Of course, sceptics might have a hard time digesting some of these stories but Ramesh remains unperturbed. "Miracles and divine interventions are experienced by people of all religions and races," claims the author, who grew up in Penang. "In fact, such things happen every day. "Spirituality cannot be found in books nor can it be intellectualised. It needs to be experienced through self endeavour and enquiry. Do not take my word for it." He encourages people to go on their own journey to find the meaning of life, love and god. "You cannot look for those things from other people’s experiences," he adds. Ramesh also believes that the human race will always want to be one with the Creator. "But man must be sincere in his quest to be connected to God. Being sincere means not asking for material wealth all the time. The human race always asks for the wrong things from God. "Real happiness is not always equated to the material things in life but rather, it is within you – the way you feel and see things in life with contentment." He believes that God wants the human race to lead a fruitful life. "You should ask for virtues that will make you a better person. You should ask for strength and guidance. "When you leave this world, you’re going to leave your money behind and where you’re going will depend on your good deeds." He dismisses the notion that being spiritual is about wearing robes, chanting mantras and meditating in a cave. "Being spiritual is being human," he says. "And being human is about touching someone’s heart." Pointing to the late Mother Teresa as an example of a truly great human being, Ramesh says she once brought home a dying homeless man and bathed and cleaned him. She held his hand as he breathed his last. "Before dying, the homeless man apparently told her: ‘I had lived my life as a pauper but I’m going to die as a king’. "The man was grateful that there was someone who loved him enough to clean him up and hold his hand on his deathbed. It is love that everyone is craving for, and not material wealth." It was his mother, Nivedita Joshi, who triggered his interest in spirituality. She was an ardent reader of books on this subject. He was especially struck by a line in one book, Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi. It says: "Why do you search for me when I am within you," which he found very comforting. Years later, when he inherited most of her books after her death, he read all of them and they opened up a whole new world of experiences for him – one that he cherishes till today. http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=43355
