The last 20th century found a lot of great saints and masters in India. The one among them is Yogi Ramsuratkumar, a Spiritual Master who lived in Tiruvannamalai, India.

 

Who is Yogi Ramsuratkumar and what is he? Is he a saint, a sage, a spiritual master, a guru or God Himself?  Which religion does he belong to? What is his teaching? How does he help people? Religious people, seekers, intellectuals, believers, non-believers and even common people, whoever comes across Yogi Ramsuratkumar ask these questions. The people, who had close association with Yogi attempt to answer these questions in various ways. The author also likes to share his perception with the readers.

 

Some people claim that Yogi was a great saint. Perhaps it is true to some extent. But Yogi never exhibited his saintly features. He never performed any sort of religious rituals. He did not even take bath for years. He smoked cigarettes. He never allotted time for worship. He did not wear any saintly symbols. Yet he was saintly because he was holy. At the same time he could not be limited or conditioned within the boundaries of religions. Yes!  He was a ‘saint’ and more than a saint too. 

 

Some other people call Yogi as a sage. Perhaps it is also true to a certain extent. His wisdom was extraordinary. He was a great seer. His penetration upon the things was amazing. But still the word sage is inadequate to express his State. The people, who had close association with Yogi had felt and said that his state was beyond the reach of human minds and intellect. So this word ‘sage’ also is inadequate to describe his state of being.

 

Many of his devotees revere Yogi as a spiritual master. The author feels that this word also is not a perfect one. It doesn’t narrate his wholeness. Yogi talked about the day to day social life. He taught people to lead a simple and virtuous life that binds them in love and social structures. At the same time Yogi taught about his Supreme, all pervading Father in whom he lived all the time. His Father is beyond all religions and cannot be comprehended by normal human intellect. So, the word ‘spiritual master’ is also inadequate to express his state.

 

A few among the devotees call him a guru. It does contain some substance but at the same time this guru has no disciples. A guru without disciples shows the path to the mankind to move towards God. Yogi told several times, “This beggar has only friends. This beggar has no disciples or devotees.” Yogi initiated several people into divinity, but did not claim that he had disciples or devotees. The word guru means the person who shows the path. Yogi admitted his state as guru by asking his people to remember this mantra “Yogi Ramsuratkumara Jaya Guru Jaya Guru Jaya Guru Raya” but never claimed that he had disciples or devotees.

 

Yogi showed the path in a unique way, which was not conditioned by any religious rituals. The seekers should walk alone in the path. The people who carry the burden of religions, its rituals and some companions can never reach their destination. They shall become tired of carrying the heavy load. The persons who carry such conditioned religious rituals may get distracted from the path.  Yogi encouraged everyone in marching on the right path towards God, not depending upon any thesis, philosophy and religious rituals, but solely upon the faith on him, his name and his words of wisdom. This faith will facilitate the seekers dissolving them in the infinite ocean, God. Once they dissolve themselves in the divinity, their identity is gone. There is nobody there to be called a devotee or a disciple. Once the seekers merge with Yogi, they become Yogi in all aspects. So, Yogi was a guru with no disciples or devotees.

 

Each and every river has its own path and characters. But once it merges with the ocean, it becomes the ocean in all aspects and the identity of the river is totally gone. Yogi merged and became one with his Father long ago. Now one could call him Father, God or an avatar of God. Yogi came down to the level of normal mortals and showered his grace to uplift them into God consciousness. Yogi mysteriously protects the potential real seekers of God, facilitates and equips them with the required environment and energy to reach God and become Immortal.

 

Yogi stands as a huge fire. One, who is attracted, reaches him to be consumed by the holy fire and becomes the fire itself. Yogi incarnated in this world for this particular work of uplifting the eligible people towards God. He contributed his divine name Yogi Ramsuratkumar for the future generation to get salvation. All avatars did the same work as Yogi did.  So, one can call him God or an avatar. Pandit T.K.Sundaresha Iyer, a great devotee of Ramana Maharishi befittingly named Ramsuratkumar as ‘YOGI’ Ramsuratkumar. Yogi worked and lived for his FATHER throughout his life and was one with His FATHER eternally.

 

Yogi was born in Hindu religion. Occasionally Yogi said that he was proud to say that he was a Hindu. But still, Yogi, throughout his life never adopted any religious rituals in his life. Nor did he merge with his Father through any religious practice. Yogi chanted Ram nam as initiated by Swami Ramdas all the time. He loved Swami Ramdas. He considered Swami Ramdas as his God. His God asked him to chant and remember Ram nam all the time, so he chanted and remembered Ram nam. Swami Ramdas asked him to beg for his food and so Yogi called himself a beggar and begged. This love, faith, this passionate attachment to guru enabled him to reach his Supreme Father, God in whom he lived and towards whom he guided the people.

 

If somebody wants to call Yogi religious, yes he can, but one should understand that he belongs to the religion of his Father, who is the source of everything. Yogi’s religion has no rituals, no disciplines and no conditions. Conventional religions and their rituals have nothing to do with Yogi. Yogi never cared for any rituals. Yogi emphasized throughout his Life the value of chanting God’s holy name ‘Yogi Ramsuratkumar’. Yogi wanted that name should be remembered by his friends for their salvation. For all other common people, chanting of any God’s name of any religion would rescue them, Yogi assured.

 

The name, ‘Yogi Ramsuratkumar’ is a universal mantra. It is fresh and energetic and it can be tested by anybody, from anywhere in the world. Yogi gives assurance that if anybody remembers Yogi by his (Father’s) name ‘Yogi Ramsuratkumar’, the Supreme Father shall definitely come to the rescue of the person and in due course the person shall derive the supreme wisdom and attain God. Yes, it is the assurance made by Yogi himself.

 

Yogi Ramsuratkumar is beyond all religions and should not be identified with any particular religion. All religious people salute him, but he does not belong to any particular religion. He is really a mystic in its true sense. Yogi once said about his Father, “The one who controls the whole cosmos, the one who infuses energy to everything in the cosmos, the one who manifests in everything in the whole cosmos is this beggar’s SUPREME FATHER. This beggar is totally one with His Supreme Father. There is no division, no difference between this beggar and His Father.”