To many people, the name Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950) will already sound familiar. Here, we have a master of advaita/non-duality of unique standing. Even if 60 years have now elapsed since the death of Ramana, there is a strong radiant power around his life and teaching.
In a large number of books and websites, you will find accounts of the decisive occurrence that happened to the 16 year old Venkataraman, the name given to Ramana at birth. In some way incomprehensible to the everyday mind, an intense experience of his own mortality resulted in a realization of a character that transcends all words. Not long after this, Ramana left his home and birthplace and eventually arrived at the area around Tiruvannamalai in Southern India. Over the years, an ashram was built around him and he received thousands of visitors and spiritual seekers. Undoubtedly, the encounter with Ramana Maharshi has been a landmark to a great number of people.
This is merely an attempt to briefly suggest a few circumstances related to Ramana Maharshi. You will be able to find heaps of material and stories about Ramana on the web. For instance, at the official Ramana Maharshi website administered by Sri Ramanasramam, i.e., Ramana's ashram in Tiruvannamalai. Here, you can also subscribe to newsletters with infomation on current activities at the ashram, accounts from people who have been with Ramana, and a lot more.
In the truly beautiful book "The Essential Teachings of Ramana Maharshi - A Visual Journey" you will find a large number of high-quality photos of Ramana. Most of these were taken in the ashram in Tiruvannamalai and they are accompanied by short and powerful statements from Ramana. As a prelude to that, there is a good short introduction to Ramana's teaching and a brief biography. Even if it should be said that the statements from Ramana appear out of their original context, this is indeed a heart-warming and deeply inspiring book that I warmly recommend.
Even if the book mentioned above actually points very well to the essence of Ramana Maharshi's teaching, you may of course also be looking for a more conventional discourse on the subject. Here, the probably most widely studied book is David Godman's "Be As You Are - The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi". David Godman was born in 1953 and thus, has not had any direct personal contact with Ramana himself. However, on the basis of numerous records of Ramana's answers to questions, David attempts to explain some essentials of the teaching - such as the two different spiritual practices of "Self-enquiry" and "Surrender", respectively. And from David Godman's website, you have the opportunity to e-mail him, if you would like him to elaborate on particular aspects of these "methods", for example. In my experience, the book does not convincingly answer the question of how to "use" non-duality in one's life here and now.
In a blog entry of September 2010, Gilbert Schultz maintains that there has not ever been an "official" successor to Ramana Maharshi and that Ramana had no lineage - even if many have claimed successorship. You may take a look at the entry and judge for yourself! In there, you will also find a beautiful quotation from Ramana that may be said to express his teaching in a nutshell.
This is merely an attempt to briefly suggest a few circumstances related to Ramana Maharshi. You will be able to find heaps of material and stories about Ramana on the web. For instance, at the official Ramana Maharshi website administered by Sri Ramanasramam, i.e., Ramana's ashram in Tiruvannamalai. Here, you can also subscribe to newsletters with infomation on current activities at the ashram, accounts from people who have been with Ramana, and a lot more.
In the truly beautiful book "The Essential Teachings of Ramana Maharshi - A Visual Journey" you will find a large number of high-quality photos of Ramana. Most of these were taken in the ashram in Tiruvannamalai and they are accompanied by short and powerful statements from Ramana. As a prelude to that, there is a good short introduction to Ramana's teaching and a brief biography. Even if it should be said that the statements from Ramana appear out of their original context, this is indeed a heart-warming and deeply inspiring book that I warmly recommend.
Even if the book mentioned above actually points very well to the essence of Ramana Maharshi's teaching, you may of course also be looking for a more conventional discourse on the subject. Here, the probably most widely studied book is David Godman's "Be As You Are - The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi". David Godman was born in 1953 and thus, has not had any direct personal contact with Ramana himself. However, on the basis of numerous records of Ramana's answers to questions, David attempts to explain some essentials of the teaching - such as the two different spiritual practices of "Self-enquiry" and "Surrender", respectively. And from David Godman's website, you have the opportunity to e-mail him, if you would like him to elaborate on particular aspects of these "methods", for example. In my experience, the book does not convincingly answer the question of how to "use" non-duality in one's life here and now.
In a blog entry of September 2010, Gilbert Schultz maintains that there has not ever been an "official" successor to Ramana Maharshi and that Ramana had no lineage - even if many have claimed successorship. You may take a look at the entry and judge for yourself! In there, you will also find a beautiful quotation from Ramana that may be said to express his teaching in a nutshell.
By following David's Spreaker show via the new Free App on iTunes, you can gain great insights into the true experience of non-dual Awakening. David has a miraculous way of moving far beyond an intellectual understanding of non-duality, with a deep Presence of direct experience with Oneness. non dual awareness
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