188. Michael James

Between 1976 and 1985 Michael James studied the teachings of Sri Ramana under the clear guidance of one of his foremost disciples, Sri Sadhu Om. Together they translated into English all the original Tamil writings of Sri Ramana, and also Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) (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 verses composed by Sri Ramana) and various works of Sri Sadhu Om such as A Light on the Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: The Essence of Spiritual Practice Michael’s principal interest is the philosophy and practice of self-investigation (ātma-vicāra, ‘self-inquiry’) as taught by Sri Ramana, and he has written a detailed book on this subject: Happiness and the Art of Being: An introduction to the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana (Second Edition). Michael's website Transcript of this interview Chinese transcript of this interview Interview recorded 8/10/2013. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Michael James and his study of Sri Ramana 00:04:14 - Experiencing Happiness from External Objects 00:07:42 - Happiness and Peace 00:11:27 - The Indubitable Existence of "I Am" 00:15:02 - The Doctrine of No-Self 00:19:56 - Going Beyond Differences and Illusions 00:23:33 - The Power of Attention 00:26:53 - The Tendency towards Outer-directed Attention 00:30:24 - The Illusion of Self 00:33:38 - The Collaborative Process of Transformation 00:37:08 - Self-Attention and Effortless Effort 00:40:38 - The Power of Devotion to Krishna 00:43:53 - Seeking Happiness and the Experience of the Self 00:46:54 - The Compatibility of Self-Enquiry with Daily Activities 00:50:06 - Certain Lifestyles and Self-Enquiry 00:53:44 - The Happiness Within 00:57:07 - The Search for Happiness 01:00:30 - The Teachings of Arunachala 01:04:23 - The Different Stages of Spiritual Practice 01:07:20 - The Effort Towards Self-Inquiry 01:10:51 - The Mechanics of Self-Enquiry and Self-Attention 01:14:00 - Discovering Self-Attention and Self-Knowledge 01:17:07 - The Appeal of Enquiring Minds 01:20:28 - Starting with "What Is Happiness?" 01:23:34 - Understanding the States of Consciousness 01:27:18 - Sleep as a State of Consciousness 01:30:25 - The Dream State and the Waking State 01:33:55 - The Difference Between Waking and Dream States 01:37:49 - The Projection of the World 01:41:17 - Wrapping Up and Concluding Remarks 01:44:00 - Exclusive Interview with Michael