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A friend wrote to me recently asking, ‘Is there any way to ascertain whether the feeling of “I” is being attended to? Is it enough if the mind’s “power of attention” is brought to a standstill?’ He also quoted the following (inaccurate) translation of question 4 and Sri Ramana’s reply in the second chapter of Upadēśa Mañjari (‘A Bouquet of Teachings’, or ‘Spiritual Instructions’ as this English translation in The Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi is called), and asked ‘How can remaining still be considered as intense activity? Is being still a state of effort or effortlessness? I am slightly confused’: 4. Is the state of ‘being still’ a state involving effort or effortlessness? It is not an effortless state of indolence. All mundane activities which are ordinarily called effort are performed with the aid of a portion of the mind and with frequent breaks. But the act of communion with the Self ( atma vyavahara ) or remaining still inwardly is intense activity which is performed w...

This article is the second half of my explanation of the first verse of Upadēśa Undiyār , the first half of which I posted in my previous article: The karma theory as taught by Sri Ramana . According to Sri Ramana, what we should be concerned with is only being and not doing. We need be concerned with karma — that is, with what we do — only to the extent that we should try as far as possible to avoid doing any action that will cause harm ( hiṁsā ) to any sentient being, but our primary concern should be not with what we do but only with what we are. Therefore we need not investigate karma in any great depth or detail, but should focus all our effort and attention only on investigating the ‘I’ that feels ‘I am doing karma ’ or ‘I am experiencing the fruit of karma ’. As he says in verse 38 of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu : வினைமுதனா மாயின் விளைபயன் றுய்ப்போம் வினைமுதலா ரென்று வினவித் — தனையறியக் கர்த்தத் துவம்போய்க் கருமமூன் றுங்கழலு நித்தமா முத்தி நிலை. viṉaimudaṉā māyiṉ viḷaipayaṉ ḏṟuyppōm viṉai...

Since I started my website one of my long-standing aims has been to include in it detailed and explanatory translations of all of Sri Ramana’s original Tamil writings, but amidst all my other work I have not yet had time to do so. Last month I decided to make a start by writing such a translation of Upadēśa Undiyār (உபதேச வுந்தியார்), but I have so far completed writing only an introduction and a detailed explanation for the first verse. Due to circumstances that now make it necessary for me spend much more of my time working to increase my currently inadequate income, I will not have time to complete this translation and explanation of Upadēśa Undiyār in the near future, so I have decided in the meanwhile to post here my translation and explanation of the first verse, and since it is a very long explanation, I will post it as two consecutive articles, this and the next one: Why did Sri Ramana teach a karma theory? Incidentally, I have recently been spending most of my time replyin...

After I wrote my previous article, ‘Holy indifference’ and the love to be self-attentive , a series of interesting comments have been posted on it discussing the use of japa (repetition) as an aid to the practice of self-attentiveness. In the most recent comment in this series Hans wrote: ... To me it is important to understand the connection between japa which is an object and “I am”. As I do experience, the “me” practicing japa vanishes and some silent apperception of being appears which I am unable to describe. I suppose this is still another subtle object, however I can’t proceed any further. May be Michael will clear up this state of affairs. ... Other than our pure and absolutely non-dual self-consciousness ‘I am’, everything that we experience is ‘still another subtle object’, as Hans rightly calls it. That is, so long as we experience ourself as an individual (a mind or separate consciousness) who is practising self-attentiveness (trying to know ‘who am I?’), we have not ye...

In continuation of my previous four articles, which were explanatory paraphrases of Upadesa Undiyar , Ulladu Narpadu , Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham and Ekatma Panchakam , the following is the fifth of seven extracts from the introductory page that I have drafted for Sri Ramanopadesa Noonmalai : அப்பளப் பாட்டு ( Appala-p-pattu ), the ‘ Appalam Song’, is a Tamil song that Sri Ramana composed for his mother one day in about 1914 or 1915, when she asked him to help her make some appalams (a thin crisp wafer made of gram flour and other ingredients, also known as parpata , pappadam , poppadum or pappad , which can either be fried or toasted over a naked flame or in hot embers). He responded by composing this song, in which he compares each of the ingredients, implements and actions required to make an appalam to the qualities and practices required for us to experience true self-knowledge. In the pallavi or refrain (which completes the meaning of the anupallavi and each of the four vers...

In continuation of my previous three articles, Upadesa Undiyar – an explanatory paraphrase , Ulladu Narpadu – an explanatory paraphrase and Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham – an explanatory paraphrase , the following is the fourth of seven extracts from the introductory page that I have drafted for Sri Ramanopadesa Noonmalai : ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம் ( Ekanma Panchakam ), the ‘Five Verses on the Oneness of Self’, is a poem that Sri Ramana composed in February 1947, first in Telugu, then in Tamil, and later in Malayalam. The word ஆன்மா ( anma ) is a Tamil form the Sanskrit word atman , which means ‘self’, and hence in the title ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம் ( Ekanma Panchakam ) the compound word ஏகான்ம ( ekanma ) means ‘the one self’, ‘self, the one’ or (by implication) ‘the oneness of self’, and பஞ்சகம் ( panchakam ) means a ‘set of five [verses]’. Thus this title implies not only that self is only one (and not many), but also that self is the only one (that is, the only one existing reality), which is the true ...