Between 1976 and 1985 Michael James studied the teachings of Sri Ramana under the clear guidance of one of his foremost disciples, Sri Sadhu Om. Together they translated into English all the original Tamil writings of Sri Ramana, and also Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru’s Sayings) (the most profound, comprehensive, and reliable collection of the sayings of Sri Ramana, recorded in 1255 Tamil verses composed by Sri Muruganar, with an additional 42 verses composed by Sri Ramana) and various works of Sri Sadhu Om such as A Light on the Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: The Essence of Spiritual Practice
Michael’s principal interest is the philosophy and practice of self-investigation (ātma-vicāra, ‘self-inquiry’) as taught by Sri Ramana, and he has written a detailed book on this subject: Happiness and the Art of Being: An introduction to the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana (Second Edition).
Interview recorded 8/10/2013.
Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
YouTube Video Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Introduction to Michael James and his study of Sri Ramana
- 00:04:14 – Experiencing Happiness from External Objects
- 00:07:42 – Happiness and Peace
- 00:11:27 – The Indubitable Existence of “I Am”
- 00:15:02 – The Doctrine of No-Self
- 00:19:56 – Going Beyond Differences and Illusions
- 00:23:33 – The Power of Attention
- 00:26:53 – The Tendency towards Outer-directed Attention
- 00:30:24 – The Illusion of Self
- 00:33:38 – The Collaborative Process of Transformation
- 00:37:08 – Self-Attention and Effortless Effort
- 00:40:38 – The Power of Devotion to Krishna
- 00:43:53 – Seeking Happiness and the Experience of the Self
- 00:46:54 – The Compatibility of Self-Enquiry with Daily Activities
- 00:50:06 – Certain Lifestyles and Self-Enquiry
- 00:53:44 – The Happiness Within
- 00:57:07 – The Search for Happiness
- 01:00:30 – The Teachings of Arunachala
- 01:04:23 – The Different Stages of Spiritual Practice
- 01:07:20 – The Effort Towards Self-Inquiry
- 01:10:51 – The Mechanics of Self-Enquiry and Self-Attention
- 01:14:00 – Discovering Self-Attention and Self-Knowledge
- 01:17:07 – The Appeal of Enquiring Minds
- 01:20:28 – Starting with “What Is Happiness?”
- 01:23:34 – Understanding the States of Consciousness
- 01:27:18 – Sleep as a State of Consciousness
- 01:30:25 – The Dream State and the Waking State
- 01:33:55 – The Difference Between Waking and Dream States
- 01:37:49 – The Projection of the World
- 01:41:17 – Wrapping Up and Concluding Remarks
- 01:44:00 – Exclusive Interview with Michael
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