Per Alexander Westin

Sunyata writes about his friend Per Westin (Ramanagiri)

 - Sunyata

Per Alexander Westin

(Ramana Giri)

From the book Dancing with the void by Alfred Julius Emmanuel Sorensen (October 27, 1890 – August 13, 1984), Sunyata

•••

Per A. Westin, who was given the name Ramana Giri by Ramana Maharshi in the mid- 1940, was often Wuji’s guest in his Himalayan sanctuary in Almora. After eight years of intense yogic Sadhana, he flew beyond as a real and full fledged Paramahansa. Did Per try too intensively and too immaturely? After eight years in Himalayan Bharat, Per’s body had to go, the physical one depleted by tuberculosis and left behind for Sri Agni (God of Fire) to consume. But Per himself had transcended body awareness, and he “came through” and “beyond”. One in a hundred thousand, or perhaps one in a million, comes to Realization like this.

-          Sunyata

It was on a sunny winter day in holy Benares in the early 1940s that I met Per A. Westin. He came gliding along by the shore where the washer men were busy splashing the dirty linen of respectable egojies. I was sharing my leftover food with donkey friends, as human friends would always give me too much to eat. Per seemed touched by my donkey friendship. Birds of a feather and kindred asses flock together! Per was in a body of some 25 summers – tall, dark-haired, and slim. He was studious-looking, civilized, respectable and balanced. His upper lip was slightly damaged by some explosion during military duty. I detected a slight stoop, but no sign of T.B. then or later when he visited me in the Himalayas.

                             We went together to see some sadhus, gurus and learned Pandits in the holy Benares. One Guru fastened on Per the name “Sri Hanuman.” I was not much impressed by the competence of that Guru nor with the name he gave to Per. Since Per had been in holy Bharat only a brief while then, I felt he would eventually find his due path. “Step by step as thou goest, the Way will open unto thee.”

                             Per came to my Himalayan retreat in the spring when the heat came upon the plains. He stayed in my upper Sunya cave on the hill’s crest. It had vast scenic views and a vaster expanse of silence. He imbibed the gracious solitude in the pure, Krishna blue akasha realm, while Paramhansa wings grew and unfurled. He had the psychological urge towards stark openness and nudeness. It was the need of being natural, without the rags of ego deceit, artificial respectability or artistic hiding. In this purity, the mental fig leaves become positively indecent or a kind of vulgar prudery.

                             Per felt right in that Himalayan setting with nature, with books and a rich inner life. In the outer play, there was the singing self-radiant Silence, the winds in the pines below, and the crescending of Aums. I left Per lovely alone except for an occasional service and chat. Sometimes we played naturally, nakedly together raking pine needles or cutting grass or wood – all part of our Himalayan contemplation.

                             Per Westin was awarded a two-year scholarship in India to study religious and philosophical lore, but he renounced it all when he took to yoga and intensive Self inquiry. I had introduced him to Ramana Maharshi in Tiruvannamalai. In and through Maharshi, he eventually came to full “awakening,” conscious “Self awareness” or “Advaita experiencing.” “Hanuman,” the name given to him in Varanasi, dropped off and “Ramana Giri,” conferred on him by Ramana Maharshi, emerged. Comparisons are odious, yet Maharshi Ramana is Himalayan to many current molehills and tinpot, claptrap gurus. Per was blessed in Maharshi’s grace and sahaja recognition.

                             When I met him first, I asserted nothing. Himalaya and Sunyata have no need to assert. I could sense in him a certain Swedish occultism and an intense longing to realize the Truth. Ramanagiri later came through an ancient road, a homeward way, frequented by the whole awakened ones. Here all mental concepts and ideals vanish. Only awareness remains, bereft of all theories and ideal abstractions. It is the serene state of exalted calm in absolute Silence. It has been called nirvana or turiya or sunya. Ramanagiri was in this state of “advaita experiencing.” I did pranam [salutation] to Ramanagiri in glad homage, in karuna love and in Himalayan ananda gratitude. Upon leaving my place, he went on a pilgrimage. His “Jiva Yatra” [soul’s journey] was lived mostly in South India, by seashores, in jungles and at the grail glowing, holy mountain Arunachala.

                             A few years later when he was still in his 30’s, Ramanagiri left his body. He is deified and worshipped in a shrine or small temple on the seashore near Madras. Ramanagiri was in my Sunya cave in Almora and he is still here. Blessed be the name Sri Ramana Giri.

                             The following letter received by me was one of Per’s last:

Dearest Sunya,

In this letter I must tell you that I have sailed away. I have sailed to a far-off place, a place which cannot be described by words. To describe it is to pollute it. The steamer on which I sailed is a very powerful one, but it rolls hard in the sea if the water is stormy. The place is called by many names, but still no name can cover its Reality. Some used to call the place Nirvikalpa, others Satchitananda or Nirgun Brahman – some call it God or Self, others call it Pure Consciousness, or the egoless state. To describe it is to put up a big wall before it. The name of the Steamer is Mind. With the help of Prana, one reached the place that for the jiva seems so far away, and really speaking, is nearer than one’s breath. If the sense weather is stormy, the steamer will roll badly in the samsaric ocean. By now, you must understand the art of my sailing and why I have been so silent.

                             Let me tell you what happened and why I have been so silent. The same day as I was going back to North India, I visited the Theosophical library at Adyar, and while walking in the garden, Shri Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi appeared before me. He asked me to follow him. I went along the seacoast to a little place where I sat down for meditation, when there Sri Bhagavan’s voice told me that my only duty (Dhrama) from no onwards was the Self. Futher, he gave me some upadesh [spiritual instruction] which I followed for some days. One night – between 12 and 2 – Kundalini was aroused to Sahasrara and the jiva merged into the Self. On account of the sound Om from the waves of the sea, I was brought back to body awareness; otherwise, I would have left my body because in that state there is no one to come back – and no one to make any effort. After having regained body consciousness, I discovered that I had lost all my memory.

                             All events before the time of Sri Bahagavan’s appearance in the garden had gone out of my mind. Friends who had been very close to me looked like strangers. People whom I thought that I had never met before came and told me that we had met in Madras only a few days before. Everyone and everything looked so new and strange and unreal. Now I am getting back my memory, but mostly recollections connected with spiritual experiences and deep love. That is why I am writing to you, because those who are near my heart turn up again in this mind, which is so very different from the previous one.

                             The village people here have built a little hut for me, but there is no post office in this little fishing village, the name of which I do not even know, so I cannot give you any address yet. I don’t think any postman will take the trouble to come down to the sandy beach, but I shall let you know later.

With all my love

Ramanagiri in Him