The Chapters of Bryan Osborne

Dear Seekers of Truth,

During the last week of September 2011, Vallalarspace.com featured 2 chapters of Bryan Osborne of United Kingdom on Saint Vallalar. Bryan Osborne has made Theosophy as the message of Vallalar by his observations in pages 9 and 10 of his Light on Ramalinga. Bryan Osborne has actually recorded therein the declaration of Tholuvur Velayutham without mentioning his name.

“He (Vallalar) later remarked that there were some enlightened persons in the far north who will be coming here. They will present this philosophy and preach to you. Then perhaps you may listen.

The prophecy came to pass as Madame H.P Blavatsky who was the co-founder of the theosophical Society gave the lead in the western world’s renewed interest in spirituality. Their international headquarters was in Madras and declared in July edition 1882 of the Theosophist that Ramalinga Swamigal was indeed the the forerunner of this movement”

2. Any foreigner by land or by language seeking access to the philosophy of Saint Vallalar is left with no other alternative but to gain entry through the deposition made by Tholuvur Velayutham, the prime disciple of Vallalar before the Theosophical Society at Adyar in the year 1882 and the response made by Madame Blavatsky to such a deposition as printed in the publications of the Society. No wonder Bryan Osborne of UK, an admirer of Vinoba Bhave and Mahatma Gandhi when enamoured of the life history and philosophy of Saint Vallalar had to place reliance on the deposition available in the theosophical records in all faith.

3. What had necessitated the Theosophical Society to take on record the deposition by a disciple of Saint Vallalar is not far to seek. It was in the year 1881 when the Theosophical Society under Madame Blavatsky was undergoing virulent criticism from the members of Theosophical Society themselves for not fulfilling its objectives and holding the theory of Masters living in the Himalayas as the figment of imagination of the founders of the Society. In India Dayanand Saraswathi of the Arya Samaj who initially championed the cause of theosophy later engaged in vituperative criticism of the Society.

4. The letter dated 7^th December, 1881 by one of the members of the Society constituted the corner stone in the drift of confidence which necessitated the publication of “The Hints on Esoteric Theosophy” in seriatim as No.1 and No.2;

“Now I was for more than two years a Theosophist. I diligently read the Magazine of the Society. I have conversed with, and questioned something like one hundred Theosophists, of all races, creeds and nationalities. I have enquired and sought diligently, and I cannot discover that either I or any other Theosophist has learnt one iota concerning u the hidden mysteries of nature, or the psychical powers latent in man/ 1 in consequence, or as a result, direct or indirect, of our connection with the Society”.

“Therefore, I look upon the Society as a delusion. If I alone were left out in the cold I might attribute it to my own shortcomings; but it is not so. Dozens of men, cleverer than Madame Blavatsky, as beneficent, pure and self-devoted as Colonel Olcott, are in the same predicament; the whole Society is left out in the cold. There is plenty of talk, but nothing is done; it is vox, etpraterea nihil”.

5. “The Hints on Esoteric Theosophy, No.1” authored by A.O.Hume in the year 1882 is a compendium of a denigration by a member of the society as to its delusion and an answer by A.O.Hume that theosophy is not a delusion as fortified by letters of correspondence between the inmates, certificates and statements of 15 deponents. The deposition of Tholuvur Velayutham standing last in the queue of such witnesses appended to the second edition of the book is richer in details than all the others put together to bail out the society from the onslaught of its own members.

6. H.P.Blavatsky had recorded in the “Theosophist” July 1882 issue the following observation which was also reiterated in the book “H.P. Blavatsky, Tibet and Tulku” by Geoffrey A. Barborka.

“While at madras we were told that a well known Tamil scholar, a pundit in the Presidency College desired to have a private conversation with us. The interview occurred before witnesses. We are no more at liberty to repeat here all the questions put to us by the interviewer than we are to divulge certain other facts which would still more strongly corroborate our repeated assertions that our society was founded at the direct suggestion of the Indian and Tibetan adepts and that in coming to this country we directly obeyed their wishes”.

It is evident from the remarks above that the interview itself was conducted in a controlled manner and tailored to suit the convenience of the Society.

7. The statement of Tholuvur Velayutham after recounting the life history of Saint Vallalar opens with the following assertion:

“Though the Hindu people listened not to him, nor gave ears to his counsels, yet the esoteric meaning of the Vedas and other sacred books of the east would be revealed by the custodians of the secret-the mahatmas-to the foreigners, who would receive it with joy.”

“In the year 1867, he founded a society under the name of “samarasa Veda Sanmarga Sangham” which means a society based on the principles of universal brotherhood for the propagation of the true vedic doctrine. I need hardly remark that the principles are identically those of the theosophical society”.

“His whole occupation was the preaching of the sublime and moral doctrines contained in the Hindu Shastras”.

The statement of Tholuvur Velayutham appeared in

“The Theosophist”, July 1882

“Hints on Esoteric Theosophy” in 1882 by A.O.Hume

“Collected Writings of H.P.Blavatsky”- Vol.IV and

“H.P. Blavatsky, Tibet and Tulku” by Geoffrey A. Barborka in 1966.

8. The statement of Tholuvur Velayutham reads as if Saint Vallalar was advocating the secrets of the Vedas and other sacred books of the east or conversely it reads as if what was advocated by Vallalar was not anything new from the secrets available in the Vedas and sacred books of the east which were already known to the Mahatmas in their capacity as the custodians of such secrets. As Vallalar also shared such secrets Vallalar was connected with the said Mahatmas in the Himalayas and in that relationship Vallalar acted on the counsels of the Masters.

9. When Tholuvur Velayutham has declared that Vallalar dedicated his society

“for the propagation of the true vedic doctrine. I need hardly remark that the principles are identically those of the Theosophical Society” ,

it is evident that the declaration of Tholuvur Velayutham was recorded with a clear intention to link Vallalar to be in contact with the Mahatmas and to identify the philosophy of the Society with that of Vallalar as if the doctrines advocated by the Theosophical Society are not new to this land and accordingly, the Masters of such doctrines living in Himalayas are not aliens to this terrirtory and thus are not non-entities.

10. Wherefrom Tholuvur Velayutham has found foundation for such an assertion as that

“his (Vallalar’s) whole occupation was to preach the sublime and moral doctrines contained in the Hindu Sashtras?”

If the statement of the prime disciple is true then why Vallalar, his Preceptor, who has all along declared truth devoid of falsity and exaggeration as his teaching should record not only the contrary but also the diametrically opposite in his songs?

What Vallalar says?

“இயல்வேதா கமங்கள்புரா ணங்கள்இதி காசம்

இவைமுதலா இந்திரசா லங்கடையா உரைப்பார்
மயல்ஒருநூல் மாத்திரந்தான் சாலம்என அறிந்தார்
மகனேநீ நூல்அனைத்தும் சாலம்என அறிக
செயல்அனைத்தும் அருள்ஒளியால் காண்கஎன எனக்கே
திருவுளம்பற் றியஞான தேசிகமா மணியே”
( Courtesy Vallalarspace.com)

( 4177 )

To begin with Vallalar asserts in the above song as to how the Vedas Agamas Puranas and the Ithikasas to the book of magical delusion as the last have been classified and only the book of magic was known as the veil of delusion. The advice from the Almighty was to keep away from all these books right from the beginning as they are nothing but magical delusions. All the intention, the effect of the books, have to be considered only in the light of grace. This is actually the lesson received from the Almighty by Vallalar as recorded in the above song.

“தோன்றியவே தாகமத்தைச் சாலம்என உரைத்தேம்

சொற்பொருளும் இலக்கியமும் பொய்எனக்கண் டறியேல்
ஊன்றியவே தாகமத்தின் உண்மைநினக் காகும்
உலகறிவே தாகமத்தைப் பொய்எனக்கண் டுணர்வாய்
ஆன்றதிரு வருட்செங்கோல் நினக்களித்தோம் நீயே
ஆள்கஅருள் ஒளியால்என் றளித்ததனிச் சிவமே”

(courtesy Vallalarspace.com)

In the song above, according to Vallalar again the Almighty declares; “we have revealed that the Vedas and Agamas are magical illusions; the words meaning and literature unless scanned as of unreality, the message planted deeply into the Vedas, agamas will take roots as truth within you. Therefore realise that Vedas, agamas known to this world are patently untrue. We have presented to you the sceptre of the divine grace; you rule the realm of sanmarkkam with the light of grace; so said the lord Absolute”.

11. When Vallalar has made it very clear that all the Vedas and Agamas are only messages of magical illusion in no less unambiguous terms in the above songs (illustrative), it passes comprehension as to how the supreme Saint would have championed the cause of Vedas and Agamas and be concerned with the secrets of Vedas and Agamas and much less be in the counsels of any custodians of the secrets of such Vedas and Agamas. Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the contentions of Tholuvur Velayutham are his own presumptions which when allowed a safe passage has unquestionably bred conjectures in the devoted minds acting in good faith on his capacity as a prime disciple of the Saint.

12. The statement of Tholuvur Velayutham concludes with the following assertion;

“The prophecy has in my opinion, just been literally fulfilled. The fact that Mahatmas in the North exist, is no new idea to us, Hindus; and the strange fact that the advent of Madame Blavatsky and General Olcott from Russia and America was foretold several years before they came to India, is an incontrovertible proof that my Guru was in communication with those mahatmas under whose directions the Theosophical Society was subsequently founded.”

13. On this Madame H. P. Blavatsky had remarked :

"This Is one of those cases of previous foretelling of a coming event, which is least of all open to suspicion of bad faith. The honourable character of the witness, the wide publicity of his Guru's announcements, and the impossibility that he could have got from public rumour, or the journals of the day, any intimation that the Theosophical Society would be formed and would operate in India — all these conspire to support the inference that Ramalingam Yogi was verily in the counsels of those who ordered us to found the Society. In March 1873, we were directed to proceed from Russia to Paris. In June we were told to proceed to the United States, where we arrived July 6th. This was the very time when Ramalingam was most forcibly prefiguring the events which should happen. These facts speak for themselves, — H, X. “

14. The declaration of Madame Blavatsky reads as if Saint Vallalar has come to this world to pave the way for the Theosophical Society to take roots in the Indian soil as per the wishes of the Masters living in the Himalayas and Mettukuppam was the annexe of the Theosophical Society and Vallalar operated on the advice of the Masters and executed their directions. The response made by Madame Blavatsky was not to praise spiritual feat of the Saint but to use the statement of the prime disciple as a fall back to secure their evolution and sustain their existence in the stormy seas of spirituality which violently rocked the boat of theosophy.

15. One of the three objects of the Theosophical Society is

“to investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man”.

All the six volumes of “The Old Diary Leaves” of Henry S.Olcott, the “Collected Writings” and the volumes of “The secret Doctrine”, of Blavatsky, the works of Dr Annie Besant, the clairvoyant investigations of C.W.Leadbeater and all the Letters received from the Masters and sent to the Masters after 1882 by the most honourable members of the society as available in all the records of Theosophical Society, have never made any mention about the attempt of the society to understand the spiritual feat of Vallalar especially when they came to know about the immortality attained by Vallalar through the deposition of Tholuvur Velayutham and especially when it was mandatory on their part to have investigated and conducted researches on the unexplained powers latent in Vallalar.

16. The volumes of Henry S.Olcott covering the years 1874-1898 make it manifest that he had extensively travelled in India and met adepts and ascetics all the way along. Never once they visited Vadalur to conduct any research on the psychic capacity latent in Vallalar from the inhabitants of Vadalur and Mettukuppam and verify the extraordinary events hallowing the supreme Saint. Just as they did not sponsor Swamy Vivekananda to the Parliament of Religions in the year 1893 so also having known about the feats of Vallalar, they did not publish anything about the Saint with intention that it would not only belittle the occult phenomena of Madame Blavatsky but also undermine the very roots of the society in the Indian soil.

17. All the letters received by the members of the society from the Masters in Himalaya as available in the archives of the society which contained so many commandments and advice to the members of the society never mentioned about anything of Vallalar especially when the deposition of Tholuvur Velayutham glows with resplendence of Vallalar being in the counsels of the Masters in Himalayas. And having seen the deposition of Tholuvur Velayutham in the records of theosophy none of the members fired by the objectives of the society and incessantly interacting with the masters in the Himalayas had ever considered it necessary to raise any question as to the person and philosophy of Vallalar who in the opinion of H.P. Blavatsky had prefigured the events of theosophy in India by fostering the principles of universal brotherhood and thus became a forerunner of the theosophical movement in India.

18. At the end of the book “The occult world” which was published in the year 1881 A.P. Sinnett wrote,

“Join the theosophical society- the one and only association which at present is linked by any recognized bond of union with the brotherhood of adepts in Tibet.”

The Tibetan adepts are Buddhists. Vallalar has classified Brahma, Rudra Narayana, Indhra, MahaVira, the Jina and Gauthama, the Buddha as religious heads hallowed in meagre light of grace and compared them to a crowd of children playing in the spiritual horizon in the following song; therefore it does not stand to any reason as to why Vallalar should be in the counsels of Himalayan Buddhist Masters who are of Tibetan Origin.

Arul Vilakka Malai

“நான்முகர்நல் உருத்திரர்கள் நாரணர்இந் திரர்கள்
நவில்அருகர் புத்தர்முதல் மதத்தலைவர் எல்லாம்
வான்முகத்தில் தோன்றிஅருள் ஒளிசிறிதே அடைந்து
வானகத்தும் வையகத்தும் மனம்போன படியே
தேன்முகந்துண் டவர்எனவே விளையாடா நின்ற
சிறுபிள்ளைக் கூட்டம்என அருட்பெருஞ்சோ தியினால்
தான்மிகக்கண் டறிகஎனச் சாற்றியசற் குருவே

சபையில்நடத் தரசேஎன் சாற்றும்அணிந் தருளே”

(Courtesy Vallalarspace.com)

4178 )

The Exposition of Grace

Brahma with the rudhras, narayana and the Indras

With the jina, the Buddha like heads of religion all over

Surfaced on the face of sky, meagre light they hallowed

Both in the space and on earth, while at their pleasure

They relished only nectar therefore, they are yet to play

As a pack of kids, so identified the grace of glowing glory

Most of it to check out, so advised the Master of truth

Dancer in the council, wear and grace my laudation

19. Vallalar has made it abundantly clear that he was provided with the sceptre to rule this world by sanmarkkam by the Almighty himself who holds sway over the entire cosmos, should such a saint who enjoyed the pleasure of Almighty Himself be in the counsels of the earthly masters confined to a geographical location on the earth considered holy by the Vedas and Agamas. When Vallalar has declared in all his songs as to how he was in direct communion with his Maker and none others Vallalar need not to be in communication with the masters of any origin living then in flesh and blood. There was also no necessity for Vallalar to declare that people would come from the north especially from Russia and America to uphold the principles of sanmarkkam. The Saint said that he would himself conduct sanmarkkam.

துதிசெயும் முத்தரும் சித்தரும் காணச்

சுத்தசன் மார்க்கத்தில் உத்தம ஞானப்
பதிசெயும் சித்திகள் பற்பல வாகப்
பாரிடை வானிடைப் பற்பல காலம்
விதிசெயப் பெற்றனன் இன்றுதொட் டென்றும்
மெய்யருட் சோதியால் விளைவிப்பன் நீஅவ்
அதிசயம் பார்க்கலாம் ஆடேடி பந்து
அருட்பெருஞ் சோதிகண் டாடேடி பந்து ஆடேடி
ஆடேடி பந்து ஆடேடி பந்து
அருட்பெருஞ் சோதிகண் டாடேடி பந்து

(Courtesy Vallalarspace.com)

20. I am just wondering as to whether Saint Vallalar who has been chosen by the Almighty as his eldest son blessed with immortality and who has been destined by the Almighty to alter the bearings of the world and the cosmos at will, had to be in counsels of the earthly masters who are instrumental in creating a society basically religious in character- Buddhism without Buddha and Christianity without Jesus in their own words. Actually not only Theosophical Society but also all such others till date are in the status of witnesses to see the miracles of what Vallalar is to carry out up to eternity. Therefore, it passes comprehension as to why the prime disciple of Vallalar should choose to reduce the supreme stature of the Saint basking in the warmth of the Almighty Himself to be in the counsels of the earthly masters confined to Himalayas.

21. It could be placed on record in all fairness that the report of the collector J.H.Garstin in The South Arcot District Manual 1878 dated 9^th Feb, 1878, a foreigner, alien to the spiritualism of Vallalar has served the cause of Vallalar in a more truthful and meaningful acclamation than the deposition of the prime disciple of Vallalar made in the year 1882. The very quintessence of the philosophy of vallalar glows in the following song under the caption “Kandukonden, Kalanthugonden”;

“கோணாத நிலையினராய்க் குறிகுணங்கண் டிடவும்
கூடாத வண்ணம்மலைக் குகைமுதலாம் இடத்தில்
ஊணாதி விடுத்துயிர்ப்பை அடக்கிமனம் அடக்கி
உறுபொறிகள் அடக்கிவரும் உகங்கள்பல கோடித்
தூணாக அசைதல்இன்றித் தூங்காது விழித்த
தூயசதா நிட்டர்களும் துரியநிலை இடத்தும்
காணாத வகைஒளித்த கள்வனைஎன் கண்ணால்
கண்டுகொண்டேன் கனிந்துகொண்டேன் கலந்துகொண்டேன் களித்தே”

(Courtesy Vallalarspace.com)

Vallalar in this song lists out the seekers from different spiritual disciplines and shows how they have failed to access the grace of Almighty; the list entails the following,

Those who are not faulted but perfect in all respects unable to sense the quality and quantum of god, still striving to find Him in penance performed in mountainous caves,

Those who abstain from food,

Those who control the life force,

Those who control the mind,

Those who control the physical and the mental,

Those who do penance like pillars without any move for infinity,

Those who are ever wakeful without sleep,

Those who are always in the trance,

Those who are at the state of thuriya,

who have not been given access to experience the Almighty, the light of Him. But that Almighty was experienced by Vallalar who remained united in Him and spread in Him even before 30^th January, 1874 and his songs are such experiences of unison and consonance powerfully portrayed in words.

22. Vallalar makes it abundantly clear that the spiritual methods actively pursued by Masters and their disciples in any spiritual tradition in this world are inadequate to become the disciple of the Almighty to be conferred with the blessings of immortality. If what Vallalar had attained was not to be achieved by anyone or all of the above methods which have been attributed as the methods to attain the Godhead in the Vedas and Agamas, then, by what method Vallalar would have attained the discipleship with the Almighty? The theory of the adyatma yoga advised by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, Siddha Agasthiya, Patanjali, Sage Thirumoolar, and the kriya yoga tradition of Babaji based on the Siddha Agasthiya, the theory of Yogananda, the Supramental yoga of Aurobindo which was to dawn after Vallalar, were struck at one stroke as null and void in the land of Vallalar which transcends that of the Vedas and Agamas. In that sense, the philosophy of Vallalar is different from other schools of thought.

23. The writings of Paul Brunton about Ramana Maharishi are first hand experiences. It opened the floodgates of Thiruvannamalai to the west. But Bryan Osborne did not have the advantage of living with Vallalar. And he is not conversant with Tamil to understand the philosophy of Vallalar on his own without any distortion as done reverend G.U. Pope and others in the case of Thirukkural. Therefore, there was no other alternative available to Bryan Osborne who had to place reliance on the writings about Vallalar in English in the theosophical archives and acted in good faith that they are correct.

24. Bryan Osborne is under the impression that the universal compassion advocated by Vallalar sails in the same boat as that of other saints who also preached the same thing. The universal Brotherhood of theosophy is different from that of Vallalar’s cosmic integration of all the souls before their embodiment. The philosophy of Vallalar never dwelt on the relationship between god and soul. Vallalar preached the integration of the souls in the world as a precondition to progress in the path towards His grace. The The right to compassion on soulful integration as advocated by Vallalar was neither a repetition nor a reiteration as contained in other philosophies of the land or of this world but modified by Vallalar.

சதுமறை335 ஆகம சாத்திரம் எல்லாம்
சந்தைப் படிப்புநம் சொந்தப் படிப்போ
விதுநெறி சுத்தசன் மார்க்கத்தில் சாகா
வித்தையைக் கற்றனன் உத்தரம் எனுமோர்
பொதுவளர் திசைநோக்கி வந்தனன் என்றும்
பொன்றாமை வேண்டிடில் என்தோழி நீதான்
அதுஇது என்னாமல் ஆடேடி பந்து
அருட்பெருஞ் சோதிகண் டாடேடி பந்து ஆடேடி

(courtesy Vallalarspace.com)

Vallalar has declared with all certainty that the knowledge attained by him was not from the Vedas and agamas available as commodities for sale. They are not our study in original.

25. When the entire country was orchestrating for the independence of the country, the Saint confining himself to a small hamlet had prayed for the souls of this world. When Vivekananda addressed the Sisters and Brothers of a country at the Parliament of the Religions in September 11, 1893, Vallalar had addressed 20 years earlier to him to all the souls of this world on 22^nd October 1873. Let us understand that the cosmic vision and the universal mission of Vallalar have no parallel in the spiritual history of this world. Vallalar was not in agreement with any of the religions. At the same time, the Saint did not start any religion because in his wisdom every religion dismembers the integration of souls which is mandatory for peace on this earth. Vallalar has marched us to the land of peace by the integration of souls and their right to be in unity without shedding blood to possess what does not belong to one but to give what belongs to one to others who do not have it.

26. There are fundamental differences between Vallalar’s philosophy and that of others. Vallalar has transcended the cardinal principles of Advaitham, Vishitadvaitham, Dvaitham and the Upanishadic Maha Vakya, “I am That”. The karma theory preached by Vallalar is diametrically opposite to that of Vedantha in the case of prarabtha declaring the freedom to soul available in this birth despite of karma accrued to it in its past life to shape its destiny as early as 1854 in “Manumuraikanda Vasagam” and the manual of compassion of the souls in three parts. The Saint’s call for the right of the souls to integration without distinction forms the basis for the integration of the humanity in its entirety does not find parallel in the coffers of all religions and spiritual traditions around this world as on date.

27. It is quite natural that a time tested statement seen on the records of theosophy becomes unimpeachable evidence and as we have allowed to such a distortion from truth an interminable visa in the land of the philosophy of Vallalar for more than a century and a quarter, foreigners like Bryan Osborne have made the deposition as their home page to open the life and philosophy of Vallalar. Therefore, is it not our duty in our capacity as the devotees of Vallalar to sift the grain of truth from the falsehood and exaggeration and present the correct philosophy to the earnestly striving souls foreign to this land and language like Bryan Osborne to distinguish and appreciate the actual dimension and mission of the supreme Saint Ramalinga Vallalar?

28. If the will of grace so pleases, anyone around this world is at liberty to object to, modify and correct the contents of this article.

Written on behalf of the seeker of truth in every one,

With regards

sivajayakumar