Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Jun 22, Guttersnipe Das rated it it was amazing. For decades he made himself available to all who visited. Although he maintained that his most important teaching was done in silence, he also responded frequently to questions and concerns of visitors and these interactions were duly jotted down by Venkataramiah, his attendant and translator. This book presents a spiritual biography very different from the Western idea of hagiography as pious pablum that does away with rough edges, dumb questions, and odd mysteries.
The Talks are a vast and rambling attic of the human spirit, in which days with the saint are preserved, as well as glimpses of the weird and wonderful people who passed by his couch. As this book displays, the Maharshi spoke to each visitor at their own level, in a way that particular person could understand and hear.
Sooner or later you, too, are bound to find yourself being directly addressed. What makes records like this one so fascinating, so important, and so valuable as primary source texts as well as so very long!
What beautiful fortune! Here is your chance for insights into the day-to-day life of a man believed by millions to be a saint, his spiritual instructions, as well as ashram gossip, peculiar visitors, and rural Tamil Nadu in the s. Thousands of people believed their lives had been changed simply by seeing and being seen by Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Reading this book is said to be, in itself, a form of spiritual practice or sadhana. I second that! Page after page, almost every question is subverted, turned inside-out, shot back at the questioner. The realization they seek is already present, here and now.
Recognize that! Be still! In one of the most startling talks, the Maharshi is brought a dead child to resurrect. He does not. I likewise wonder if he could have imagined or cared that he was about to fuel a highly unlikely boom -- the 21st century fad for Advaita in all forms, distortions, and styles.
Eckhart Tolle, Papaji, Mooji, ad infinitum. If you practice mindfulness or Insight meditation, the influence of Sri Ramana has probably colored the way you are taught Buddhism.
Any modern book on Advaita will contain references to this book, quotes and stories from it. Why should you settle for that? See for yourself. I remember that I was 19 the first time I read the Bible cover-to-cover. I was floored.
Give it a try? To me, the first quarter of the texts are less powerful and convincing than those that follow. If you feel bogged down in the first pages, try skipping ahead -- talk and those that immediately follow are particularly beautiful. Any talk at which they were present is especially profound. They knew what to ask, as well as how to listen. This review is a work in progress.
Revisions and additions will appear as I read and reread the Talks. Responses and suggestions are welcome. May 22, Rohit Bhoraskar rated it it was amazing. Maharishi Ramana : How did you remain in your sleep? Get rid of these thoughts which are the obstacles to happiness. Your natural state is one of happiness as was evident in your sleep. Actually, the main significance of the title is that the method is a technique for finding the answer. Sri Ramana didn't intend the question to be mysterious.
Early editions of the pamphlet began with the sentence "Who am I? He was born on December 30, in a village called Tirucculi about 30 miles south of Madurai in southern India.
His middle-class parents named him Venkataraman after Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati, the family deity. His family were Iyers, members of the Tamil Brahmin caste. His father died when he was twelve, and he went to live with his uncle in Madurai where he attended American Mission High School.
At age 16, he became spontaneously self-realized. Six weeks later he ran away to the holy hill of Arunachala where he would remain for the rest of his life. When he arrived he threw away all his property including the thread which marked him as a Brahmin.
For several years he stopped talking and spent many hours each day in samadhi. When he began speaking again, people came to ask him questions and he soon acquired a reputation as a sage. Eventually he became world-famous and an ashram was built around him. He died of cancer in at the age of At age 16, he heard somebody mention "Arunachala.
At about the same time he came across a copy of Sekkilar's Periyapuranam, a book that describes the lives of Shaivite saints, and became fascinated by it. In the middle of , at age 16, he was suddenly overcome by the feeling that he was about to die. He lay down on the floor, made his body stiff, and held his breath. Hundreds of books have been written about Sri Ramana, and some are much better than others. Among the many books of dialogs, in addition to Talks which we recommended in the preceeding paragraph, we especially like the one translated and compiled by Devaraja Mudaliar called Day by Day With Bhagavan because Ramana once said source :.
One of the most important categories of books for seekers are those that give detailed, concrete instructions for doing Self-enquiry and which were written by Sri Ramana or by his direct disciples.
At least three books of this type exist. The first and by far most important is Who Am I? Narayan Aiyer recommends the use of japa, pranayama, and attention to the Heart in a quasi-physical sense.
Both are edited by David Godman. We recommend these two books very highly. There are many books of reminiscences of Sri Ramana by people who knew him personally. Two other documents are of special importance although they may not be to the average reader's taste. Ulladu Narpadu , a poem of 42 verses, is regarded by many as Sri Ramana's most significant work.
Guru Vachaka Kovai , a collection of verses composed by one of Sri Ramana's closest disciples, Sri Muruganar, and checked for accuracy by Sri Ramana, is probably the most detailed statement of Sri Ramana's teachings. It is available in three different translations. In our opinion this superb collection of extracts from Ramana Maharshi's writings and dialogues is the best single-volume introduction to his teachings.
This is the book we recommend to people who want to read about Sri Ramana for the first time. The editor, David Godman, is probably the foremost living expert on Sri Ramana's teachings.
David has gone through dozens of books by and about Sri Ramana and collected passages which most clearly state various points of his teaching. These extracts are organized thematically into chapters with higher teachings first and less important ones last.
David has also provided informative introductions to each chapter and to the book as a whole as well as a glossary and notes.
For serious students of Ramana Maharshi there are two Bibles, one written in prose and the other in verse. This one is prose. The verse Bible is Guru Vachaka Kovai. It contains pages of conversations that occurred from to between Sri Ramana and his visitors who traveled to south India from all over the world to ask for advice from the man whom many regard as the greatest realized teacher of the twentieth century.
The text consists not of transcripts, as one might expect, but summaries and paraphrases recorded mostly from memory by the compiler. The reason for this strange format is that the compiler was prohibited by ashram rules from writing in the hall where Sri Ramana spoke.
If your shipping address is outside India please shop at our world store. Thank you! Description Additional information Description During the four years from to , Munagala Venkataramiah, a veteran devotee and the author of this work, painstakingly recorded the conversations that took place in the Old Hall between Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi and his devotees.
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