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Happiness of Being: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

A collection of articles discussing the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, written by Michael James and forming an extension of his main website, www.happinessofbeing.com.

Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Why do I believe that ātma-vicāra is the only direct means by which we can eradicate the illusion that we are this ego?

In a comment on my previous article, Thought of oneself will destroy all other thoughts, an anonymous friend asked me ‘a couple of blunt and direct questions’, so this article is my response to those questions and also to some of the other comments on that article.

Read more »

Posted by Michael James at 11:21 260 comments  

Labels: 1898 note for his mother, Arunachala, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, ego, Nāṉ Yār? (Who am I?), sat-sanga, self-investigation (ātma-vicāra), self-surrender, śravaṇa-manana-nididhyāsana, Sri Muruganar, Sri Sadhu Om, Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu, Upadēśa Undiyār

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Articles Discussing the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana

Articles Discussing the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana
Bhagavan Sri Ramana

Contents of this sidebar

  1. About This Blog
  2. Copyright notice
  3. Search this blog
  4. Article Archive
  5. Index of Topics
  6. Subscribe to Posts and Comments
  7. Recent Comments
  8. Guidelines for Comments
  9. Videos and Audios
  10. About Michael James
  11. Support Michael’s work

About This Blog

Welcome to this blog, which is an extension of my main website, Happiness of Being, and which is dedicated to discussing the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of our sadguru, Bhagavan Sri Ramana.

This blog is a growing archive of articles that I have written from time to time containing my translations of verses and other passages from the writings of Sri Ramana and his closest disciples, particularly Sri Muruganar and Sri Sadhu Om, my recordings of some of the explanations that I heard from Sri Sadhu Om, and my own musings about the philosophy, science and art of true self-knowledge as taught by Sri Ramana.

An organised list of all the main articles in this blog, arranged under several different headings, is given on the Articles page of the main Happiness of Being website.

All the articles in this blog are also clearly indexed in two sections further down in this left margin, firstly according to date in reverse chronological order under the heading Article Archive, and secondly in greater detail according to subject arranged alphabetically under the heading Index of Topics.

Michael James
www.happinessofbeing.com

Copyright notice

Copyright © 2006-2022 Michael James

Creative Commons Licence

All articles, translations and other writings by Michael James on this blog are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Search this blog

The search box at the top left-hand corner of this page will only search for words in the articles, not in the comments, so if you want to search this entire blog, including the comments, you can use the following search box, which will do a Google search and return all the results in a separate tab:


Another benefit of this Google site search is that unlike the search box at the top left-hand corner of this page it will recognise a word without diacritics as being identical to the same word with diacritics, so for example if you search for ulladu narpadu, the search results will include all occurrences of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu.

Article Archive

  • ►  2023 (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2022 (22)
    • ►  December (2)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (2)
    • ►  July (2)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  April (4)
    • ►  March (3)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2021 (16)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (2)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (2)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  March (1)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2020 (28)
    • ►  December (2)
    • ►  November (4)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  June (4)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (3)
    • ►  February (3)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2019 (33)
    • ►  December (6)
    • ►  November (4)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  August (2)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2018 (15)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  March (1)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2017 (39)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (6)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  July (5)
    • ►  June (5)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (7)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ▼  2016 (34)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (6)
    • ►  August (4)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (4)
    • ►  May (5)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ▼  January (1)
      • Why do I believe that ātma-vicāra is the only dire...
  • ►  2015 (45)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (4)
    • ►  July (2)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (7)
    • ►  April (7)
    • ►  March (5)
    • ►  February (5)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2014 (55)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (5)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  September (5)
    • ►  August (5)
    • ►  July (5)
    • ►  June (4)
    • ►  May (5)
    • ►  April (4)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (6)
  • ►  2013 (2)
    • ►  December (2)
  • ►  2011 (4)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2010 (2)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2009 (23)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  July (6)
    • ►  June (9)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2008 (26)
    • ►  December (6)
    • ►  November (5)
    • ►  July (2)
    • ►  June (8)
    • ►  May (5)
  • ►  2007 (74)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (10)
    • ►  July (6)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  March (22)
    • ►  February (10)
    • ►  January (16)
  • ►  2006 (7)
    • ►  December (7)

Index of Topics

  • 1898 note for his mother (14)
  • ahaṁ-sphuraṇa (6)
  • ahiṁsā (2)
  • ajāta (18)
  • Āṉma-Viddai (30)
  • Appaḷa Pāṭṭu (3)
  • Arunachala (34)
  • Bhagavad Gītā (7)
  • Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi (401)
  • bhakti (devotion) (48)
  • cit-śakti (5)
  • consciousness (76)
  • dream (102)
  • effort (46)
  • ego (206)
  • Ēkāṉma Pañcakam (22)
  • God (60)
  • grace (29)
  • guru (27)
  • Guru Vācaka Kōvai (59)
  • Happiness and the Art of Being (72)
  • just being (summa iruppadu) (44)
  • karma (18)
  • kuṇḍalinī (2)
  • manōnāśa (annihilation of mind) (29)
  • māyā (26)
  • Nāṉ Yār? (Who am I?) (202)
  • philosophy of Sri Ramana (151)
  • practice taught by Sri Ramana (192)
  • Sādhanai Sāram (3)
  • sat-sanga (8)
  • self-forgetfulness (17)
  • self-investigation (ātma-vicāra) (353)
  • self-love (22)
  • self-surrender (61)
  • silence (mauna) (11)
  • sleep (78)
  • śravaṇa-manana-nididhyāsana (9)
  • Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai (33)
  • Śrī Aruṇācala Aṣṭakam (21)
  • Śrī Aruṇācala Navamaṇimālai (7)
  • Śrī Aruṇācala Padikam (8)
  • Śrī Aruṇācala Pañcaratnam (9)
  • Śrī Aruṇācala Stuti Pañcakam (10)
  • Sri Muruganar (26)
  • Sri Sadhu Om (45)
  • Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai (4)
  • The Path of Sri Ramana (15)
  • The Truth of Otherness (6)
  • transitive awareness (suṭṭaṟivu) (14)
  • Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu (206)
  • Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu Anubandham (16)
  • Upadēśa Mañjari (4)
  • Upadēśa Nūṉmālai (9)
  • Upadēśa Sāram (6)
  • Upadēśa Taṉippākkaḷ (27)
  • Upadēśa Undiyār (171)
  • Vicāra Saṅgraham (3)

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Guidelines for Comments

As I said in my comment of 28 August 2020 at 10:26, I have closed this blog to all new comments (except ones that I may write from time to time), because even after I wrote a long article, Praising or disparaging others is anātma-vicāra, in which I appealed to everyone to abide by the Guidelines for Comments and desist from writing abusive comments, it was clear that there were people commenting here who were not willing to self-censor their own comments before posting them, as I had asked everyone to do.

The former Guidelines for Comments are therefore now redundant, but for the record I have pasted a copy of them as they were between 1st December 2018 and 24th August 2020 in a comment on 3 September 2020 at 21:13, and a copy of the revised version of them as they were from 24th to 28th August 2020 in a comment of 3 September 2020 at 21:16.

Videos and Audios

All the currently available videos of Michael James discussing the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi can be viewed on his YouTube channel:
Sri Ramana Teachings
There are currently more than five hundred videos on this channel, organised into the following thirty-one playlists:
  1. Sri Ramana Teachings: all videos (in reverse chronological order)

  2. Sri Ramana Jayanti, Aradhana and Advent celebrations

  3. ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல அக்ஷரமணமாலை (Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai): The Marital Garland of Syllables for Arunachala

  4. ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல நவமணிமாலை (Śrī Aruṇācala Navamaṇimālai): The Necklace of Nine Gems for Arunachala

  5. ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல பதிகம் (Śrī Aruṇācala Padigam), Eleven Verses to Arunachala

  6. ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல அஷ்டகம் (Śrī Aruṇācala Aṣṭakam): Eight Verses to Arunachala

  7. ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல பஞ்சரத்னம் (Śrī Aruṇācala Pañcaratnam): The Five Gems to Arunachala

  8. அருணாசலரமணன் (Aruṇācalaramaṇaṉ)

  9. நானார்? (Nāṉ Ār?): Who am I?

  10. உள்ளது நாற்பது (Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu): Forty Verses on What Is

  11. உபதேச வுந்தியார் (Upadēśa Undiyār): The Essence of Spiritual Instructions

  12. उपदेश सारः (Upadēśa Sāraḥ): The Essence of Spiritual Instructions

  13. ஆன்ம வித்தை (Āṉma-Viddai): The Song on the Science of Self

  14. அப்பளப் பாட்டு (Appaḷa-p-Pāṭṭu): The Appaḷam Song

  15. ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம் (Ēkāṉma Pañcakam): Five Verses on Oneself, the One

  16. Miscellaneous verses composed by Bhagavan Ramana

  17. The note that Bhagavan wrote for his mother in December 1898

  18. The five sheaths and three states

  19. Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK: general discussions

  20. Sri Ramana Center, Houston: general discussions

  21. Discussions with Ramana Kendra, Delhi

  22. Discussions with Sri Ramana Satsang group, Bay Area, California

  23. Discussions with Sri Ramana Satsang, Connecticut

  24. Discussions with Boston Ramana Satsang

  25. Discussions with Yo Soy Tu Mismo

  26. Discussions with San Diego Ramana Satsang

  27. Discussions with Ramana group, Helsinki

  28. Discussions with Seattle Ramana Satsang

  29. Sadhu Om and his songs

  30. Miscellaneous discussions

  31. Interviews on other channels
Several new videos are uploaded to this channel each month, so if you would like to be notified by YouTube whenever any new video is added to this channel, you can subscribe to it either by clicking on Subscribe to Sri Ramana Teachings or by visiting Sri Ramana Teachings and clicking on the red ‘Subscribe’ button that you will see in the upper right-hand corner just under the banner showing Arunachala hill.

Audio copies of all these videos are available on MediaFire in a folder called Discussions with Michael James, where they can be downloaded either as MP3 files, which are larger, or as Opus files, which are compressed and therefore much smaller but of more or less the same audio quality (and can be listened to in VLC media player and several other apps).

Audio copies of all the more recent videos (since 14th August 2021) and some earlier ones are also available on the Sri Ramana Teachings podcast, where they can be downloaded as MP3 files or listened to either online or through the Podbean app (recommended because it is guaranteed to be free of audio advertisements) or various other podcast apps.

About Michael James

The author of this blog, Michael James, lived in Tiruvannamalai from 1976 to 1996, and while there he spent more than eight years studying the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana under the clear guidance of one of his foremost disciples, Sri Sadhu Om, by assisting him firstly in the translation of Guru Vācaka Kōvai, and later in the translation of Bhagavan’s own writings. Since then he has continued to study and practise Bhagavan’s teachings, and to revise and refine many of the early translations he did with Sadhu Om. Among his latest refinements of those translations are:

Nāṉ Ār? (Who am I?)
Upadēśa Undiyār
Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu
Upadēśa Kaliveṇbā (the extended version of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu)

Support Michael’s work

If you would like to support me to continue writing for this blog and doing other related work, you may contribute to my living expenses by clicking on this button (or by choosing an alternative means as suggested in the note below):

Until December 2015 I was able to carry on writing this blog without needing to accept any of the kind offers of financial support that I received from friends and well-wishers, but I eventually reached a point where I seemed to have no option but to accept whatever support may be offered. Translating Bhagavan’s Tamil writings, writing articles for this blog, replying to emails asking questions about his teachings, discussing his teachings with fellow devotees by Zoom and other such means, and making videos of such discussions to share on my YouTube channel, Sri Ramana Teachings, is my full-time occupation (and one that I do solely for the love of this subject), so I have no other job and I receive only a small pension and some royalties from my book sales, which amount to far less than I need for rent, food and other essential expenses, so any financial help that any of you may be able to offer would be much appreciated.

However, I would like to emphasise that this blog and whatever else I write about Bhagavan’s teachings is still intended to be an entirely free service, because I believe his teachings are too precious to be sold and should not be used for financial gain, so any contributions to me should be entirely voluntary and no one should feel any obligation to contribute. I am sure that most of you have your own financial difficulties and constraints, because having given us the true wealth of his teachings, Bhagavan generally does not bestow material wealth on those of us who aspire to follow the path he has shown us, and because he has made us understand that money and material gain are not the aim or purpose of our life. Therefore please do not try to contribute anything more than you can comfortably afford, and if you are unable to contribute anything, please do not feel bad about it, because ultimately it is up to Bhagavan to decide how (or if) he wants to provide for my material needs, and I am sure he will take care of me in one way or another (whether or not I like the way he chooses).

Note: The ‘Donate’ button above is for giving contributions via PayPal, which is often the easiest but not necessarily the cheapest option, particularly if you live in the UK, where you can make a bank transfer free of charge, or if you live in a country where the use of PayPal is restricted. If you live outside the UK, you can use this comparison tool, which should show you the most cost-effective means to transfer any specified amount from your country to the UK.

If you would like to use any means other than PayPal you will need my bank details, in which case you may ask me for them by writing to me using the email link at Contact Michael James.