tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73459188889537652412008-07-26T12:18:45.995+01:00Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-4998190972948954772008-07-17T10:08:00.001+01:002008-07-17T10:12:28.524+01:00

In continuation of three of my earlier articles, God as both nirguna brahman and saguna brahman, Experiencing God as he really is and God as purna – the one infinite whole, the following is the fourth extract from the second chapter, ‘God’, of The Truth of Otherness: Thus, these three verses of Guru Vachaka Kovai are an emphatic refutation of our separation from God, the one infinite purna, the

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-48486700523498642102008-07-07T09:40:00.004+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.640+01:00

In continuation of my earlier two articles, God as both nirguna brahman and saguna brahman and Experiencing God as he really is, the following is the third extract from the second chapter, ‘God’, of The Truth of Otherness: The reason why we said in the previous chapter [an extract from which is given in the article The world is a creation of our imagination] that this world is not created by God

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-23520674285580546042008-06-27T12:00:00.002+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.648+01:00

In a comment on one of my recent articles, Self-enquiry, personal experiences and daily routine, an anonymous friend wrote: “...uninterrupted self-attentiveness...” This is not quite possible in my daily work life. I work as a software developer where I have to constantly think to write programs. I try to do be self-attentive while using elevators, walking the corridors... sometimes even while

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-8097168581300522952008-06-22T18:38:00.002+01:002008-07-07T10:57:20.011+01:00

In a comment on my recent article Self-enquiry: the underlying philosophy can be clearly understood only by putting it into practice, Kirk Crist asked, “in death of the body what are the differences in the experiencing or knowing in the janni and the ajanni”. Though the answer to this question is quite simple, when I started to write it one idea led to another, as a result of which I ended up

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-20214942821049026552008-06-20T18:54:00.009+01:002008-07-07T10:58:55.088+01:00

The anonymous friend whose comment I replied to in my previous article, Self-enquiry: the underlying philosophy can be clearly understood only by putting it into practice, has replied to that article in another comment on the earlier article I think because I am, but I am even when I do not think. In this latest comment Anonymous writes: First of all, your reply in the form of a separate article

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-45736106829175931442008-06-17T15:24:00.007+01:002008-07-07T10:58:55.098+01:00

In his written and spoken teachings, Sri Ramana has given us a clear, subtle, profound and complete philosophy, which prompts us to think about our experience of ourself and everything else more deeply than we would ever do without such prompting, and which provides us with a truly satisfactory answer to all the most essential philosophical questions that we could ever ask. However, he did not

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-47140720146339307182008-06-15T02:48:00.007+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.653+01:00

In reply to my recent article, Which sat-sanga will free us from our ego?, Anonymous wrote a comment in which he or she said: Thanks for your reply to my (anonymous) concerns. “Merely being in the physical presence of a true guru is not the most efficacious form of sat-sanga” — yes I accept that, but I’ve heard so many stories of people experiencing the Self effortlessly in the presence of a true

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-54530999224785463242008-06-12T01:58:00.014+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.661+01:00

In another comment on an earlier article, Happiness and the Art of Being is now available on Amazon and other sites, Anonymous wrote: How do you find hope when you’ve made earnest attempts at Self-enquiry, not made any tangible progress (because there is no glimpse of the ‘I-I’ state), don’t have the Self in a human garb to say a few kind/harsh words to help you in your enquiry and have to remain

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-53340399108153136382008-06-09T00:20:00.000+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.668+01:00

In a comment on an earlier article, Happiness and the Art of Being is now available on Amazon and other sites, Anonymous wrote: I’ve been reading your book. I think most people would find it difficult to sink into the Self transcending body consciousness because they have to do some work everyday and hence their identification with the body remains and so do the vasanas. Holding onto a tenuous

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-30216741709086127682008-06-05T01:08:00.002+01:002008-07-07T10:57:20.099+01:00

In continuation of my previous post, God as both nirguna brahman and saguna brahman, the following is the second extract from the second chapter, ‘God’, of The Truth of Otherness: In order to experience the nirguna form of God — that is, God as he really is — we must experience ourself as we really are. In our essential nature we are just the one absolutely non-dual self-conscious being, ‘I am’,

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-66519727210256593132008-05-29T20:44:00.004+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.674+01:00

In continuation of my previous two articles containing extracts from the currently incomplete draft of The Truth of Otherness, the following is the first of several extracts from the second chapter, which is entitled ‘God’: The ultimate truth about God is that he is our own real self, our fundamental and essential self-conscious being, which we always experience as ‘I am’. That is, he is both

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-52268383926202262782008-05-23T10:30:00.002+01:002008-07-07T10:57:20.118+01:00

In continuation of my previous post, Introduction to The Truth of Otherness, the following brief extract from The Truth of Otherness is all that I have so far drafted for the first chapter, ‘The World’. Needless to say, if I ever happen to complete writing this book, I would include in this chapter a detailed discussion of many other important truths that Sri Ramana has revealed to us about the

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-88090707975620668212008-05-22T10:29:00.012+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.678+01:00

As I explained in the introduction to Happiness and the Art of Being, pages 55 to 58, I began to form it as a book by compiling some reflections on the teachings of Sri Ramana that I had originally written for my own benefit, because I find writing to be a valuable aid to the practice of self-investigation and self-surrender, since it helps me to deepen and clarify my understanding and is

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-53287771774318880642008-05-16T10:48:00.004+01:002008-06-13T00:44:15.337+01:00

Pedro Rodea has translated into Spanish many English books on the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, including Nan Yar? (Who am I?), Upadesa Undiyar, Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam (with the commentary by Sri Sadhu Om), Guru Vachaka Kovai (from the English translation by Sri Sadhu Om and me), Maharshi’s Gospel, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan and Be As You Are, and his

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-38180293977855479602008-05-15T08:16:00.006+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.687+01:00

In a post that I wrote on September 25th of last year, Sri Arunachala Stuti Panchakam — English translation by Sri Sadhu Om and Michael James, I announced the publication of the word-for-word meaning and English translation by Sri Sadhu Om and me of Sri Arunachala Stuti Panchakam, the 'Five Hymns to Sri Arunachala' composed by Bhagavan Sri Ramana, and I mentioned that within the next few months

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-46342871854225817572007-12-05T11:52:00.000Z2008-06-13T00:34:33.196+01:00

Happiness and the Art of Being: A Layman's Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana has been available on the publisher's website at www.trafford.com/07-0799 since the end of October, but because they recently moved their printing operations to a new location, it is currently taking more than one month for them to fulfill orders. However,

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-10631651652776401322007-11-23T03:25:00.000Z2008-07-07T14:33:20.695+01:00

Yesterday I posted an e-book copy of Part One of The Path of Sri Ramana on my main website, Happiness of Being, and in the near future I hope to add an e-book copy of Part Two. As a prelude to this e-book copy of Part One I have written an introductory page, in which I give a detailed overview of both Part One and Part Two. The following is a copy of the introduction and the overview of Part One

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-53076772373649414052007-11-01T07:45:00.000Z2008-06-12T03:02:55.850+01:00

Yesterday evening the Canadian publication of Happiness and the Art of Being - A Layman's Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana was released, and it is now available for purchase on the publisher's website at: www.trafford.com/07-0799 At present this webpage gives only minimum information about the book, but within the next few days more

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-65742476194165821492007-10-17T13:28:00.000+01:002008-06-13T00:34:33.204+01:00

Earlier today the first copies of the Indian edition of Happiness and the Art of Being were offered at the feet of Bhagavan Sri Ramana at his shrine in Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, and it has now been released for sale in Sri Ramanasramam Book Stall. On Monday I also received a bound proof copy of the Trafford edition from the publishers in Canada, but unfortunately it contained a few minor

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-6557586529240091572007-09-25T08:40:00.000+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.703+01:00

Recently the English translation by Sri Sadhu Om and me of Sri Arunachala Stuti Panchakam, the 'Five Hymns to Sri Arunachala' composed by Bhagavan Sri Ramana, has been published as a book, and it is now available for sale in Sri Ramanasramam Book Stall. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first book to contain the word-for-word meaning in English for each verse of the entire Sri Arunachala

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-55173432697977069812007-09-10T08:33:00.000+01:002008-06-12T19:13:02.064+01:00

In his comment on the post Happiness and the Art of Being will soon be available in print, Sivan asked when printed copies of Happiness and the Art of Being would be available in Sri Ramanasramam Book Stall. I have been informed that the printer in Bangalore expects to have the Indian edition of this book ready by the end of this month, and will immediately supply copies to Sri Ramanasramam Book

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-29473060779776895462007-09-05T08:07:00.000+01:002008-07-07T14:33:20.709+01:00

Yesterday I added an e-book copy of Guru Vachaka Kovai (English translation by Sri Sadhu Om and me) to my main website, Happiness of Being. The following is an extract from my introduction to this e-book: Guru Vachaka Kovai is 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

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-37499772387317202172007-09-01T07:46:00.000+01:002008-07-07T10:58:55.188+01:00

Today is the 111th anniversary of Sri Ramana's arrival in Tiruvannamalai, to celebrate which I have added my English translation of Nan Yar? (Who am I?) to my main website, Happiness of Being. I have also restructured my website, replacing the old Resources page with the following five new pages: What's NewTranslations of the Tamil Writings of Sri RamanaBooks by Sri Sadhu Om and Michael

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-86918334511190564912007-08-23T08:54:00.000+01:002008-06-13T00:34:33.215+01:00

Today I have posted on my website at www.happinessofbeing.com/happiness_art_being.html the third e-book edition of Happiness and the Art of Being, which is a revised and enlarged version of the second e-book edition, and an exact copy of the forthcoming printed edition. Since I published the second e-book edition on the 20th March 2007, I have further revised it, making many minor changes and

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-39014679729575831522007-08-22T17:15:00.000+01:002008-06-13T00:44:15.340+01:00

Pedro Rodea has translated into Spanish many English books on the teachings of Sri Ramana, including Nan Yar? (Who am I?), Guru Vachaka Kovai (from the English translation by Sri Sadhu Om and me), Maharshi’s Gospel, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan and Be As You Are, and his translations are posted as zipped Word documents on his website, www.ativarnashram.com. Some of his

Michael James (www.happinessofbeing.com)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.com