Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Arkana S.) Kindle Edition

In this book, Sri Ramana Maharshi presents a clear path and a workable plan -- a "System of Enquiry" as he calls it -- for overcoming anxiety, stilling the mind, finding eternal internal peace and contentment, and discovering your true Self -- or as he might put it better, "Being" Your Self.I have read literally hundreds of books hitherto to help me achieve these goals, and this book, in my humble opinion, is head and shoulders above the rest, in its directness, simplicity, and effectveness. He himself, without false modesty, claims in this book that the "atma vichara" approach that he shares is the one plan that will help a practitioner achieve these goals more than any other.I believe him. For this is what I have experienced.It does not require "controlling your thoughts," embracing an external Deity, following a specific arduous path of meditation, renunciation, or discipline, or any more of the heavy mind-and-body-stuff which often adds more a burden to your already established thought-baggage than it is worth.He helps you get directly to your soul -- to your Self.It is more like learning to let go of all the illusions and discover and resonate with and be the eternal Self that you are, at one with all life, underlying all. I have heard this put in many ways in many teachings old and new, quite well, before. But the difference here, with the "I Am That I Am" and "Who Am I?" (or "Who Is It That Is Experiencing This Difficult Experience?") approach (repeating one of these consistently when in the face of doubt over external object-identification problems or just as an awakening agent for the soul), as well as the stable, calm, Self-assured, egoless way in which Sri Maharshi presents his tools and philosophy, through this I have found great inner peace, possibly for the first time in my entire life --And I have just begun!Yes, I have put his teachings to work and they work for me -- wonderfully well -- in:* Finding peace of mind.* Overcoming all my fears, including the fear of ageing, illness, poverty, and death.* Discovering and being my true Self.And I can see myself becoming stronger and more stable and peaceful and happier all the time with these techniques.What more can anyone say than this?Except that I will continue to study and practice his teachings, and sooner or later, share them with my thousands of psychic astrology clients, for their health and happiness too.The world certainly needs peace at this time -- and there is no other place for it to begin than within.

Extremely well compiled by David Godman, this book is comprehensive in documenting and enabling the reader understand the teachings of Sri Ramana, most of whose teachings were through dialogues with people that visited his Ashram when he was around. Couple Ramana’s teachings with Eckhart Tolle’s Power of Now, it should be closest for the common reader to experience enlightenment.

David Godman set out to make a clear guide to Ramana Maharshi's teachings and he definitely succeeded. It makes much more sense to present the teachings by topic rather than in chronological order as Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi does.

I was introduced to spirituality through The Power of Now, and even though I found the book incredibly useful, one thing that annoyed me was that Eckhart Tolle refused to give concrete analogies for God because he said that it is not something we can understand with our mind. The analogies in this book were priceless, and I now have a much deeper understanding of the world and can communicate it to other people rather than speak about it in abstraction.Don't get me wrong. I am not the type of person who is caught up in notions. I am much more focused on the practical aspects, and this is what Sri Ramana preached throughout this book. He did not care too much about theory, and he always emphasized the importance of practice. I had trouble applying the techniques of The Power of Now as I found it nearly impossible to stop my mind from wondering and to focus my attention on the present moment, but Self Enquiry seems to be the best way to gradually disintegrate the Ego and to realize who you really are. While reading the book, it seemed to me that the basis of Eckhart Tolle's teachings were taken from Sri Ramana's, and this is not something Tolle denies. He did, however, leave out the most important bit for realizing your Self which is Self Enquiry. I suppose it is one of Sri Ramana's trademarks and cannot be touched.I find it amusing that this book only costs 13$. A book which contains the secret of life is worth merely a fraction of a fraction of a new iPhone, but that is the world we live in, isn't it? Buy the book. It may be the only one on the subject you will ever need.

One of the great challenges in understanding the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi and numerous other spiritual authors is that their teachings are passed on, for the most part, by books that record their conversations in question and answer format. That is, their answers to questions put to them by individual seekers. What most are unaware, is that the answers provided by spiritual teachers are different for different seekers to accomodate their level of development and differing interests. That is why some of the answers 'appear' contradictory. This can cause difficulty in adopting a spiritual practice strictly from reading a book, as we do not know which teachniques best fit us and may get confusted on the essence of their teaching. Well, after 12 years of study and practice of the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi and numerous other authors I recently 'happened' upon this wonderful puplication. The editor did a wonderful job of organizing the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi into chapters covering the essence of his different teachings that he tailored for each different type of seeker. He also provides an introduction to summarize the essence of his teachings. This book brought an amazing clarity to Sri Ramana's teachings as well as an improved understanding of all spiritual paths and practices. This book is a must read for anyone on the path of Sri Ramana Maharshi as well as for anyone on any other spiritual path as it covers the essence of all spiritual paths (e.g., surrender and self-enquiry). Enjoy.

Always enjoy the stillness and presence of his teachings.

I haven't read any other Ramana books but having read this one by David Godman, I have no need to explore anything else. When you are ready for it, this book can light the way towards liberation. Be awareness, knowingly. I heard Rupert Spira give this instruction many times but it didn't click with me until recently. Be awareness, knowingly. Or in Ramana's terms, "Be the Self". To know the Self is to be the Self, knowingly. Couldn't be simpler.

Resumen, realizado por David Godman, de las enseñanzas de Ramana Maharshi. Se lee fácil y sirve de introducción, bien estructurado.

For the truth seeker, this is one of the only book you’ll ever need. The mind is not pure enough to be satisfied with just this, but everything is in there. Ramana was not called Maharishi for nothing.

Insight is given to required depths.Reading again & again will clarify the concept. Simple language will help people with weak English understanding also.

So much wisdom. Beautiful translation, very easy to read, flows perfectly. A must for anyone on a spiritual path