Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950) was a revered figure in contemporary religious history, who has influenced many later teachers. He was born near Madurai, in southern India, and led an introspective and solitary youth. At the age of 17 he had a strong spiritual experience, confronting the reality of his own mortality and realizing that there was nothing to lose, therefore nothing to fear. This insight caused him to give up formal education and live as a hermit in a cave of Arunachala, one of the two most sacred mountains of India. Arunachala is a major place of pilgrimage, home to many saints and sages, but Ramana is the most renowned.
Ramana was an exemplary teacher who never called himself a guru, though he attracted many disciples who eventually formed an ashram around him. He was known as the ‘silent sage’, and his only writings were devotional poems to Arunachala. However, his peaceful yet powerful presence transformed many lives. Later he began to teach. The essence of his approach is that through observation or witnessing, the meditator will perceive the illusory nature of the false self (ego) and become reintegrated with the true self. His philosophy is in line with the non-dualistic advaita Vedanta tradition of Janana yoga, with the important addition of a simple but powerful technique: the repeated question ‘Who am I?’, which will eventually reveal truth. This technique has been widely adopted within the Human Potential Movement and other spiritual groups, and comprises the core of the enlightenment intensives created by Charles Berner.
Ramana Maharshi was important as a sage who helped make Hindu spirituality accessible and transformative to Westerners, and is admired by many teachers and psychologists. He can also be seen as a harbinger of the self-development movement. One of his most successful disciples was Poonja, who attracted many Western students, some of whom became gurus themselves, such as Andrew Cohen (see Cohen, Andrew). Although Ramana was not part of a lineage, he appears to have founded one. His combination of simplicity and charisma charmed all who met him, and there are many stories of healing and miracles, including animals attracted by his compassion.
