Reading this book, presented in question-and-answer format, evokes the feeling of being with this outstanding teacher at one of his intimate teaching sessions. Sri Ramana Maharshi is regarded as one of the most important Indian sages of all time. At the age of sixteen, he experienced a spiritual awakening and travelled to the holy mountain of Arunachala, where a community grew up around him.
From there, he touched the lives of influential writers, artists, and seekers such as Carl Jung, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Somerset Maugham. Today, millions around the world continue to be inspired by his teachings.
Self-inquiry is the key to liberation, Sri Ramana contends, as he invites us to detach ourselves from our illusions and set out on the path that leads toward enlightenment.
This work contains almost everything written by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, his inspired compositions, and a number of translations from ancient Advaitic texts, representing the essence of his teachings. They fall into two categories-those which exemplify the path of surrender through love and devotion to the Divine, and those which are more doctrinal.
The first group included the Five Hymns to Sri Arunachala, of which the first poem, The Marital Garland of Letters, "is among the most profound and moving poems in any language" and expressses the attitude of the soul aspiring for union with God. Sri Bhagavan has affirmed that seekers who study these works are certain to attain the Bliss of Liberation.
Sri Ramana Maharshi is widely thought of as one of the most outstanding Indian spiritual leaders of recent times. Having attained enlightenment at the age of 16, he was drawn to the holy mountain of Arunachala in southern India, and remained there for the rest of his life.
Attracted by his stillness, quietness and teachings, thousands sought his guidance on issues ranging from the nature of God to daily life. This book brings together many of the conversations Maharshi had with his followers in an intimate portrait of his beliefs and teachings.
Through these conversations, readers will discover Maharshi's simple discipline of self-enquiry: knowing oneself and looking inwards as the road to true understanding and enlightenment. This updated edition will appeal to anyone looking for peace, self-awareness, and guidance on how to embrace the self for well being and calm.
Who am I? Sivaprakasam Pillai, about the year Sri Pillai, a graduate in philosophy, was at the time employed in the Revenue Department of the South Arcot Collectorate. During his visit to Tiruvannamalai in on official work, he went to Virupaksha Cave on Arunachala Hill and met the Maharshi there.
He sought from him spiritual guidance and solicited answers to questions relating to Self-enquiry. As Bhagavan was not talking then, not because of any vow he had taken but because he did not have the inclination to talk, he answered questions put to him by writing. As recollected and recorded by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai, there were thirteen questions and answers to them given by Bhagavan. This record was first published by Sri Pillai in in the original Tamil , along with a couple of poems composed by himself relating how Bhagavan's grace operated in his case by dispelling his doubts and by saving him from a crisis in life.
Introduced to the West by Paul Brunton, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi is widely hailed as the greatest Indian saint and sage in modern times, whose teachings continue to influence thousands around the world today. This intimate biography by his disciple Arthur Osborne interweaves the story of Ramana's life with his spiritual journey, from his awakening as a teenager to his later teachings and writings, offering a detailed account of a unique life.
Osborne shares many of Ramana's lessons, including his emphasis on the importance of self-enquiry - that self-knowledge cannot be gained externally, but only through becoming aware of our own state of pure being. His point of view has for its aim Self-realization. The central path taught in this philosophy is the inquiry into the nature of Self, the content of the notional 'I-thought'.
He is genuine and, in addition to that, something quite phenomenal. In India he is the whitest spot in a white space. What we find in the life and teachings of Sri Ramana is the purest of India; with its breath of world-liberated and liberating humanity, it is a chant of millenniums. In dire need he comes to the rescue whether sought or unsought. He is the most intimate being, our very Self.
He taught the infallible way to Self-realisation through his unique method of 'Self-Enquiry' and the total devotional surrender of the egotistic mind to the inner Satguru dwelling in each one's spiritual heart. He always spoke from the high authority of direct Self-knowledge. He could, and still does, invoke the real Self of pure Existence-Consciousness-Awareness-Love through the Silence of his Presence in his devotees.
During his lifetime he led many to Self-realisation. His ashram at Tiruvannamalai is an active spiritual centre imparting the grace and knowledge of his Teaching. This brief biography acquaints you with significant details of his divine life and the essence of his Teaching.
He also contributes to Ramanasramam's spiritual journal, the Mountain Path. A biography of the most important Indian saint and sage of this century. Introduced to the West by Paul Brunton, Ramana Maharshi's spirituality, simplicity, kindness and shrewdness had a great impact on many Westerners. New Enlarged Edition Sri Ramana Maharshi was still in his teens when he attained enlightenment through a remarkable experience, as if undergoing death of the physical body, while remaining in full consciousness.
He left home for the sacred hill of Arunachala where he taught the purest form of Advaita Vedanta non-duality through the simple discipline of self-inquiry. It has a special relevance to our age with its outlines of a religion based on the Indian scriptures which is essentially spiritual, without ceasing to be rational and ethical.
EVERY living being longs always to be happy, untainted by sorrow; and everyone has the greatest love for himself, which is solely due to the fact that happiness is his real nature. Hence, in order to realise that inherent and untainted happiness, which indeed he daily experiences when the mind is subdued in deep sleep, it is essential that he should know himself.
Neither am I that unconscious state of nescience which retains merely the subtle vasanas latencies of the mind , while being free from the functional activity of the sense-organs and the mind, and being unaware of the existence of the objects of sense-perception. Author : A. In this book the author compiles extracts from across his own writings that intersect and illuminate the key teachings of Ramana Maharshi.
While living at the Gurumurtam temple his family discovered his whereabouts. First, his uncle Nelliappa Iyer came and pleaded with him to return home, promising that the family would not disturb his ascetic life.
Ramana sat motionless and eventually his uncle gave up. In September Ramana moved to the Shiva-temple at Pavalakkunru, one of the eastern spurs of Arunachala. He refused to return even though his mother begged him to. Soon after this, in February , Ramana left the foothills to live on Arunachala itself. In , a government official named Sivaprakasam Pillai, with writing slate in hand, visited the young Swami in the hope of obtaining answers to questions about 'How to know one's true identity'.
The fourteen questions put to the young Swami and his answers were Ramana's first teachings on Self-enquiry, the method for which he became widely known, and were eventually published as Nan Yar? Many visitors came to him and some became his devotees. Kavyakantha Sri Ganapati Sastri, [note 9] a Vedic scholar of repute in his age, with a deep knowledge of the Srutis, Sastras, Tantras, Yoga, and Agama systems, but lacking the personal darshan of Shiva, [43] came to visit Ramana in After receiving upadesa from him on self-enquiry, he proclaimed him as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Ramana was known by this name from then on. Nevertheless, he was highly valued by Ramana Maharshi and played an important role in his life. In the first westerner, Frank Humphreys, then a police officer stationed in India, discovered Ramana and wrote articles about him which were first published in The International Psychic Gazette in In an appendix to Self realisation Narasimha wrote that in , while in the company of disciples, Ramana had an epileptic fit, in which his vision was suddenly impaired three times by a 'white bright curtain' which covered a part of his vision.
At the third instance his vision was shut out completely, while his 'head was swimming', and he felt his heart stop beating and his breathing seizing, while his skin turned blue, as if he was dead. This lasted for about ten or fifteen minutes, whereafter 'a shock passed suddenly through the body', and his blood circulation and his respiration returned.
In his mother Alagammal and younger brother Nagasundaram joined Ramana at Tiruvannamalai and followed him when he moved to the larger Skandashram Cave, where Bhagavan lived until the end of His mother took up the life of a sannyasin and Ramana began to give her intense, personal instruction, while she took charge of the Ashram kitchen. Ramana's younger brother, Nagasundaram, then became a sannyasi , assuming the name Niranjanananda, becoming known as Chinnaswami the younger Swami.
During this period, Ramana composed The Five Hymns to Arunachala , his magnum opus in devotional lyric poetry. The first hymn is Akshara Mana Malai. The Marital Garland tells in glowing symbolism of the love and union between the human soul and God, expressing the attitude of the soul that still aspires. Starting in , his mother's health deteriorated. She died on 19 May while Ramana sat beside her. From until his death in Ramana lived in Sri Ramanasramam, the ashram that developed around his mother's tomb.
In December he did not return to Skandashram, and settled at the base of the Hill, and Sri Ramanasramam started to develop. At first, there was only one hut at the samadhi , but in two huts, one opposite the samadhi and the other to the north, were erected. The so-called Old Hall was built in Ramana lived there until Sri Ramanasramam grew to include a library, hospital, post-office and many other facilities.
Ramana displayed a natural talent for planning building projects. Annamalai Swami gave detailed accounts of this in his reminiscences. Sri Ramana led a modest and renunciate life.
However, according to David Godman, who has written extensively about Ramana, a popular image of him as a person who spent most of his time doing nothing except sitting silently in samadhi is highly inaccurate.
From the period when an Ashram began to rise around him after his mother arrived, until his later years when his health failed, Ramana was actually quite active in Ashram activities such as cooking and stitching leaf plates. Narasimha, was published. Brunton also describes how Ramana's fame had spread, 'so that pilgrims to the temple were often induced to go up the hill and see him before they returned home'.
I like him greatly because he is so simple and modest, when an atmosphere of authentic greatness lies so palpably around him; because he makes no claims to occult powers and hierophantic knowledge to impress the mystery loving nature of his countrymen; and because he is so totally without any traces of pretension that he strongly resists every effort to canonize him during his lifetime. While staying at Sri Ramanasramam, Brunton had an experience of a 'sublimely all-embracing' awareness, [57] a 'Moment of Illumination'.
In November , a tiny cancerous lump was found on Ramana's arm and was removed in February by the ashram's doctor. Soon, another growth appeared, and another operation was performed by an eminent surgeon in March with radium applied. The doctor told Ramana that a complete amputation of the arm to the shoulder was required to save his life, but he refused. A third and fourth operation were performed in August and December , but only weakened him.
Other systems of medicine were then tried; all proved fruitless and were stopped by the end of March when devotees gave up all hope. To devotees who begged him to cure himself for the sake of his followers, Ramana is said to have replied, 'Why are you so attached to this body? Let it go', and 'Where can I go? I am here. Visitors would file past the small room where he spent his last days to get one final glimpse.
He died on 14 April at p. Ramana Maharshi was, and is, regarded by many as an outstanding enlightened being. Many devotees visited Ramana Maharshi for darshan , [63] the sight of a holy person or God incarnate, which is advantageous and transmits merit.
Objects being touched or used by him were highly valued by his devotees, 'as they considered it to be prasad and that it passed on some of the power and blessing of the Guru to them'. The real feet of Bhagavan exist only in the heart of the devotee.
To hold onto these feet incessantly is true happiness. You will be disappointed if you hold onto my physical feet because one day this physical body will disappear. The greatest worship is worshipping the Guru's feet that are within oneself. In later life, the number of devotees and their devotion grew so large that Ramana became restricted in his daily routine.
Vasudeva reports: 'Bhagavan sat on a rock and said with tears in his eyes that he would never again come to the Ashram and would go where he pleased and live in the forests or caves away from all men. I tried to be free on a third occasion also. That was after mother's passing away. I did not want to have even an Ashram like Skandashram and the people that were coming there then. Thus all my three attempts failed. According to Krishna Bhikshu, one of his early biographers:.
As Kumarila he established the supremacy of the karma marga, as Jnana Sambandar, a poet, he brought bhakti marga close to the people and as Ramana he showed that the purpose of life was to abide in the Self and to stay in the sahaja state by the jnana marga. Many of these question-and-answer sessions have been transcribed and published by devotees, some of which have been edited by Ramana Maharshi himself.
A few texts have been published which were written by Ramana Maharshi himself, or written down on his behalf and edited by him. Ramana Maharshi also provided an example by his own devotion to Shiva, which has been extensively described by his devotees, such as walks around the holy hill Arunachala, in which devotees participated, and his hymns to Arunachala. Ramana Maharshi described his Self as a 'force' or 'current', which descended on him in his death-experience, and continued throughout his life:.
It was that current, force or centre that constituted my Self, that kept me acting and moving, but this was the first time I came to know it [ Ramana used various terms to denote this Self. According to David Godman, the essence of Ramana Maharshi's teachings is that the 'Self' or real 'I' is a 'non-personal, all-inclusive awareness': [83].
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