Ramana Maharshi (30 December
1879 – 14 April 1950) is widely acknowledged as one of the outstanding Hindu gurus of
modern times. He was born Venkataraman Iyer, in Tiruchuli, Tamil
Nadu, South India, and given the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in
1907, by one of his first devotees, Ganapati Muni. This would be the name by
which he became known to the world.
At the age of
sixteen, Venkataraman lost his sense of individual
selfhood, an awakening which he later recognised as enlightenment. Six
weeks later he left his home to journey to the holy mountain Arunachala, Tiruvannamalai,
where he remained for the rest of his life.
His first
years were spent in solitude, but his stillness and his appearance as a sannyasin soon
attracted devotees. In later years, he responded to questions, but always insisted that
silence was the purest teaching His verbal teachings flowed "from his direct knowledge that
consciousness was the only existing reality." In
later years, a community grew up around him, where he was available twenty-four
hours a day to visitors. Though worshipped by thousands, he never allowed anyone to treat him
as special, or receive private gifts. He treated all with equal respect. Since
the 1930s his teachings have also been popularised in the west.
In response
to questions on self-liberation and the classic texts on Yoga and Vedanta,
Ramana recommended self-enquiry as the principal way to awaken to the "I-I", realise
the Self and attain liberation. He also recommended Bhakti, and gave his approval to a variety of paths and practices.
No comments:
Post a Comment