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Happiness and the Art of Being: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana
Happiness is our true nature, our essential being. The transient happiness that we seem to derive from external experiences actually arises only from within ourself, and is experienced by us due to the temporary calming of our mind that occurs whenever any of our desires are fulfilled. So long as our mind is extroverted, attending to anything other than our own essential self-conscious being, we can never experience perfect, permanent and unqualified happiness. To experience true and eternal happiness, we must attain the experience of true self-knowledge — that is, absolutely clear consciousness of our own essential being, 'I am'. Such is the truth revealed by Bhagavan Sri Ramana.
The philosophy of Sri Ramana derives solely from his experience of true, absolute, non-dual self-knowledge, an experience that transcends all thought, both rational and irrational. However, since we imagine the existence of duality, multiplicity and relativity, we seem to lack the non-dual and absolute knowledge of our own essential self-conscious being that Sri Ramana experienced as his natural state. Therefore he presented his philosophy to us in terms of a rational and logical analysis of our present experience of ourself as a finite individual consciousness, in order to enable us to be firmly convinced of the absolute reality that underlies and supports this finite consciousness that we now mistake to be ourself.
However, the spiritual teachings of Sri Ramana are not only a rational philosophy, but are also a precise science and art. He intended his philosophy to serve only as the theoretical foundation upon which we should practise the empirical science of self-investigation ( atma-vicara ), which is the art of keenly self-attentive and therefore perfectly thought-free being.
This book, Happiness and the Art of Being , is an in-depth exploration of both the philosophy and the practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana. Though it is intended primarily to be an introduction to his teachings, it is not a brief one, because in a clear and simple manner it provides a very detailed and deep insight into their core. Therefore though it has been written with the intention that it should be easily understood even by readers who have no previous acquaintance with any form of spiritual philosophy, it should also be useful to readers who already have a good understanding of his teachings.
Like the aim of his teachings, the aim of this book is to prompt each one of us to think more deeply about the reality of all that we as a seemingly limited individual consciousness experience and know, to help us to understand that the only absolute reality in our entire experience of duality and relativity is our fundamental consciousness of our own essential being, 'I am', and thereby to reinforce our love and effort to attend keenly and exclusively to this essential self-consciousness 'I am' in order to discover its true nature.
The author of this book, Michael James, spent more than eight years studying the original Tamil writings of Sri Ramana and of his foremost disciple, Sri Muruganar, in minute detail under the clear guidance of another close disciple, Sri Sadhu Om. Therefore the central focus of this book is on the teachings of Sri Ramana as expressed in his own original writings, and hence it contains accurate and carefully worded translations by the author of the whole of Sri Ramana's prose treatise Nan Yar? (Who am I?) and of most of the verses of his philosophical poems such as Upadesa Undiyar , Ulladu Narpadu , Ekatma Pancakam , Anma-Viddai and Upadesa Tanippakkal .
This second print edition is a slightly revised version of the first print edition, and contains a detailed glossary.
For more information about Sri Ramana and his teachings, please visit the author's happinessofbeing.com.
The philosophy of Sri Ramana derives solely from his experience of true, absolute, non-dual self-knowledge, an experience that transcends all thought, both rational and irrational. However, since we imagine the existence of duality, multiplicity and relativity, we seem to lack the non-dual and absolute knowledge of our own essential self-conscious being that Sri Ramana experienced as his natural state. Therefore he presented his philosophy to us in terms of a rational and logical analysis of our present experience of ourself as a finite individual consciousness, in order to enable us to be firmly convinced of the absolute reality that underlies and supports this finite consciousness that we now mistake to be ourself.
However, the spiritual teachings of Sri Ramana are not only a rational philosophy, but are also a precise science and art. He intended his philosophy to serve only as the theoretical foundation upon which we should practise the empirical science of self-investigation ( atma-vicara ), which is the art of keenly self-attentive and therefore perfectly thought-free being.
This book, Happiness and the Art of Being , is an in-depth exploration of both the philosophy and the practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana. Though it is intended primarily to be an introduction to his teachings, it is not a brief one, because in a clear and simple manner it provides a very detailed and deep insight into their core. Therefore though it has been written with the intention that it should be easily understood even by readers who have no previous acquaintance with any form of spiritual philosophy, it should also be useful to readers who already have a good understanding of his teachings.
Like the aim of his teachings, the aim of this book is to prompt each one of us to think more deeply about the reality of all that we as a seemingly limited individual consciousness experience and know, to help us to understand that the only absolute reality in our entire experience of duality and relativity is our fundamental consciousness of our own essential being, 'I am', and thereby to reinforce our love and effort to attend keenly and exclusively to this essential self-consciousness 'I am' in order to discover its true nature.
The author of this book, Michael James, spent more than eight years studying the original Tamil writings of Sri Ramana and of his foremost disciple, Sri Muruganar, in minute detail under the clear guidance of another close disciple, Sri Sadhu Om. Therefore the central focus of this book is on the teachings of Sri Ramana as expressed in his own original writings, and hence it contains accurate and carefully worded translations by the author of the whole of Sri Ramana's prose treatise Nan Yar? (Who am I?) and of most of the verses of his philosophical poems such as Upadesa Undiyar , Ulladu Narpadu , Ekatma Pancakam , Anma-Viddai and Upadesa Tanippakkal .
This second print edition is a slightly revised version of the first print edition, and contains a detailed glossary.
For more information about Sri Ramana and his teachings, please visit the author's happinessofbeing.com.
500 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2007
145 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Michael James
525 books26 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Others:
Michael 2^ James: GR Author, Mystery & Thrillers
Michael 3^ James: GR Author, Fiction, Children's, Young Adult
Michael 4^ James: Children's, Brooks Berry series
Michael 5^ James: GR Author, Self Help, Spirituality, Nonfiction
Michael 6^ James: Children's
Michael 7^ James: Religion, Christian
Michael 8^ James: GR Author, Children's Rhyming Storybook
Michael 9^ James: GR Author, Fiction, Romance
Michael 10^ James: Design, Quilt
Michael 25^ James: Chef, Baker, Cookbooks
Others:
Michael 2^ James: GR Author, Mystery & Thrillers
Michael 3^ James: GR Author, Fiction, Children's, Young Adult
Michael 4^ James: Children's, Brooks Berry series
Michael 5^ James: GR Author, Self Help, Spirituality, Nonfiction
Michael 6^ James: Children's
Michael 7^ James: Religion, Christian
Michael 8^ James: GR Author, Children's Rhyming Storybook
Michael 9^ James: GR Author, Fiction, Romance
Michael 10^ James: Design, Quilt
Michael 25^ James: Chef, Baker, Cookbooks
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 21, 2014
On of the best explorations and commentaries on the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, and the ideas in Advaita Vendanta (traditional and modern). Although it is wordy and repetitive in some places, this is for a good reason- since most people skim through such spiritual material and absorb very little. There isn't likely another text which explains the process of self-inquiry or Ramana's teachings in such a detailed and clear manner. Highly recommended.
August 20, 2023
The excellent and highly recommended book "Guru Vacaka Kovai" contains a lot of insightful comments by Michael James and so provides an introduction to the author. This book "Happiness and the Art of Being" is like a compilation of the author's meditations on subjects related to the Truth of Being. Every so often there is enlightenment gold to be found by awake readers. The glossary is particularly useful to anyone bamboozled by all the Indian language words that abound in books of this nature. If you want to know what "Guru Vacaka Kovai" means, it is in the glossary of this book, "Happiness and the Art of Being". The author speaks of "non-duality" which is not-two, but not-one either, but more two than one. If the reader reads the book with this in mind then the underlying message may become more clear.
October 26, 2023
Bible for every seeker
Concise guide of Sri Ramana Maharishi's teaching. It answers many questions or doubts raised by the seekers. If you are not clear how you should live a spiritual life and attain absolute happiness, then you should read this book. A big thanks to Michael James, I also have read his articles published in his blog. We are fortunate to have such human beings like Michael in this world. When I completed reading the book, I felt like my seeking had ended. That's it.
Concise guide of Sri Ramana Maharishi's teaching. It answers many questions or doubts raised by the seekers. If you are not clear how you should live a spiritual life and attain absolute happiness, then you should read this book. A big thanks to Michael James, I also have read his articles published in his blog. We are fortunate to have such human beings like Michael in this world. When I completed reading the book, I felt like my seeking had ended. That's it.
June 11, 2021
Good points, but I don't need to read all 500 pages to get the point. Very circular text.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews