Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

If I could, i'd give it 100 stars. I have no words to describe this book. Buy it. Download it from the Net (its available for free on Ramana's website). Buy many copies. Give it to friends who are truly spiritualy minded. Buy other copies. Why?I could give many reasons: the sheer brilliance of his answers, the keen wits of his arguments, the love, humbleness and peace that flow from this pages like nothing i've seen before. But i'll give none. Someone said in a review above: this book is Rock bottom. Couldn't agree more. Thats the book i'd take to a desert island. For sure! This is it. The real thing.However, as well pointed by other reviews, its not suitable for everyone. It might be good to start with a smaller one (like "Who Am I?", available for free on Ramana's official website).You'll either LOVE this book or dislike it, like some previous reviews. Thats ok. Ramana would say: nevermind the others, let them be. Find out who you are. All others will be fine in due course. Brilliant. Truthful. Humble. Rock bottom.Examples? Just a few:God? Reply: Forget about God. You exist right here and right now. No one denies that. Find out who you are first, then inquire about God, if you feel inclined to do so.Siddhis (Occult powers)? Reply: Forget about siddhis. They are all manifestations of the duality, therefore ilusory. Do not seek them. Its imaterial to spiritual realization. Find out who you are.Help others? Reply: Realize your true Self. Interfere the least possible with the affairs of others and be compassionate. Thats the most effective help, indeed the only true help. The silence of the sages accomplishes more than all the speeches of men.Yoga and other practices? Reply: They are good as aids to Realization, but not essential. The Self IS always. Can you not exist now? Do you need to do anything to be as you are, to abide in your true nature? Simply turn the mind within and seek your source. Asanas, pranayama, etc, may be left aside. Self-enquiry alone will do.The guru? Reply: The guru is within. The guru is the Self. This body you call Ramana is not the guru. Do not prostrate before me with your body, but keep the mind in its source. THAT is true prostration.And right before his death: " They say i'm going to die. But i'm not going anywhere. I am here. Where else could I go?"If you grasp the depth of these words, then you will know why i took the time to review this book. Thats my only review, and probably the last.Like many said above: you simply can not go deeper.Do yourself a HUGE favor and get this book, even if you hate it afterwards. It is well worth the shot.

I have been reading this book off and on for the past few years. I have been through it a few times and think of it as another scripture. The only difference is that it was written in recent times.The great Sage Ramana Maharshi gives answers from the highest perspective -- namely from that of an enlightened soul. However, the answers as perceived by the ones questioning Him will only be grasped according to one's own viewpoint, which is dependent on the subtlety of one's intellect. This is the reason I find that my appreciation of the answers has grown with time. Since I have been practicing asanas, pranayama and mantra japa for over 6 yrs now, I find that my intellect is becoming more subtle and that when I read the same material that I read a few years ago, it makes much more sense to me now! It is much more clear to me now.This morning I came across this answer given by Ramana Maharshi to one question posed by a seeker.Ramana Maharshi: The state of the object is according to the state of the seer.This answer corroborates my own experience regarding the deeper or clearer understanding of the answers given to questions in the book. Pranayama is indeed a very powerful practice to bring about a subtler intellect to grasp the subtlety of the everpresent Truth.I believe the more earnestly we perform our pranayama and mantra japa practice, the subtler our intellect grows, and with it comes a clearer understanding of the answers provided by the great sage.It is a very good and inspiring book for a seeker of Truth. In some answers the sage powerfully dispenses with the necessity of too much erudition. The Truth has to be very simple to be pristine! For it to be the Truth it must also be present ALWAYS!Please read it and inspire yourself on this journey that will lead to a cessation of all sorrow -- that which is here and also that which is yet to come!

"Talks With Ramana Maharshi" remains the definitive source on Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings. There have been many other approaches to his teachings by many capable authors, but none touches the dynamics and intimacy of the direct meetings between Ramana and a wide range of questioners at this time when the ashram was at its peak and Ramana was in good health.Every questioner is supplied with the teaching most appropriate and useful for his/her personal situation and level of understanding; as in all good teaching, there is no "same answers for same questions". Ramana's wide-ranging use of different sources, metaphors, examples, stories, quotations, etc. ranging from the Bible to the Gita or Vedas, is engaging, effective and ever illuminating whether you are reading "Talks" for the first or the 100th time. "Talks" is richer with each visitation with something new revealed. It is also a great "open anywhere and read a page" book - every page is rich with insight and understanding requiring no prior chapter or verse as background.As Ramana spoke several languages, including English, and there were no tape recordings, only written versions, one might question whether these words represent his actual intent. In fact, what was entered for each day was checked that day personally by Ramana to verify that it was correct.This is the contemporary Western version created by Inner Directions and is more accessible for such folk than earlier versions which had some "British" English of the period, Sanskrit languaging which was not standardized, and repetitive passages. This most current version has an Index, much needed when a specific topic is covered in many different places in talks arranged in chronological order, rather than by subject.If one had to go to a desert island and could only take one book, as Ken Wilber mentions in his Foreword, this would be the one. It lives up to Wilber's billing; this is as good as it gets.

Wie einfuehlsam, klar und liebevoll Advaita sein kann wird in diesem Buch lebendig. Fuer mich ist es unmoeglich ueber Ramana Maharshi ein Urteil abzugeben - er ist fuer mich im Moment schlicht das was ich suche. Selbst wenn du (lieber Leser) gerade nach anderen "Bruecken" suchst, dann wirst du dieses Buch in den Schrank stellen - aber eines Tages wirst du diesen Schatz heben wollen, das wuensch ich dir.

Highly inspirational book on the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi through the written recordings of his actual conversations with devotees. An essential aid to those who seek Self realization.

Dissolving of Ego and resolving my problems. Sri Ramana Maharshi really inspire me.

What a great compendium. I'm so glad to have this book.