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Happiness and the Art of Being: A Layman's Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana
 
 
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Happiness and the Art of Being: A Layman's Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana [Paperback]

Michael James (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Book Description

October 30, 2007
Happiness is our essential being. The transient happiness that we seem to derive from external experiences actually arises 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 attends to anything other than our own essential self-conscious being, we can never experience unqualified happiness. To experience infinite happiness, we must experience true self-knowledge — absolutely clear consciousness of our essential being. Such is the truth revealed by Bhagavan Sri Ramana.

The philosophy of Sri Ramana derives solely from his experience of self-knowledge, an experience that transcends all thought. However, because we imagine the existence of duality, we seem to lack the non-dual knowledge of our essential self-conscious being that Sri Ramana experienced as his natural state. Therefore to enable us to be firmly convinced of the absolute reality that underlies the finite consciousness that we now mistake to be ourself, he presented his philosophy to us in terms of an analysis of our present experience of ourself.

However, the spiritual teachings of Sri Ramana are not just 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 practice the empirical science of self-investigation, which is the art of keenly self-attentive and therefore perfectly thought-free being.

This book is an in-depth exploration of both the philosophy and the practice of the spiritual teachings of Sri Ramana.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael James spent more than eight years studying the original Tamil writings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana and of his foremost disciple, Sri Muruganar, in minute detail under the clear guidance of another close disciple, Sri Sadhu Om, and since the passing away of Sri Sadhu Om in 1985 he has continued to study and practise the spiritual path revealed by Sri Ramana. Together with Sri Sadhu Om, Michael has translated into English most of the original Tamil writings of Sri Ramana, and also Guru Vachaka Kovai, which is the most 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 himself. Their translations of these works, which include detailed word-for-word meanings of most of the original verses composed by Sri Ramana, and their translations of many of Sri Sadhu Om's own Tamil verses, have been published in several volumes. This book contains Michael's own translations 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 Panchakam, Anma-Viddai and Upadesa Tanippakkal. An electronic copy of this book is available for free download on Michael's website, www.happinessofbeing.com, and many of his other writings are available on his blog, www.happinessofbeing.blogspot.com.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 660 pages
  • Publisher: Trafford Publishing (October 30, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1425124658
  • ISBN-13: 978-1425124656
  • Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 1.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,110,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource on Advaita Vedanta as explained by Bhagavan, January 8, 2008
This review is from: Happiness and the Art of Being: A Layman's Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana (Paperback)
I was blown away by David Godman's "Be as you are". It provided all the answers to the basics on man's apparent problems & solutions. However I could not find a single book that explained all the nitty, gritty of Advaita Vedanta direct from a master like Sri Nisargatta. They were all scattered in a zillion books on Sri Ramana & other Saints from India. Michael James has done an excellent job of consolidating all the relevant teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana in his magnum opus must have book for a spiritual aspirant at any stage of his apparent journey.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars From the source ..., August 29, 2008
This review is from: Happiness and the Art of Being: A Layman's Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana (Paperback)
Based on what i read from the website http://www.happinessofbeing.com about this book, I immediately ordered and have begun reading it.

I'm very much attracted to this book due to the science/practicality of how to know one's Self and that is enough for me.

My recommendation? Check the site first and if you're open minded enough to understand and accept what is there, you will not have a second thought to invest in this book.

And if you want to quickly get started, get this book first:
THE MOST DIRECT AND RAPID MEANS TO ETERNAL BLISS - Michael Langford

Thanks Michael James!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The art and science of "being", June 17, 2010
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This review is from: Happiness and the Art of Being: A Layman's Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Spiritual Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana (Paperback)
I'm loving this book. I read the introduction and last chapter and am now re-reading a page-a-day and making notes. If your intention is to just "be", author Michael James analyzes everything Bhagavan Sri Ramana (an adept at existence) ever said, wrote or did, repeating over and over in every conceivable way, that happiness IS our essential being. To attain true and eternal happiness, we must attain the experience of true SELF-KNOWLEDGE--absolutely clear consciousness of our own essential being.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
nan yar, precise present moment, own essential consciousness, mistake ourself, false individual self, imagining ourself, separated ourself, surrendering ourself, sattvika food, delude ourself, own mere being, infinite real self, attention selfwards, finite individual consciousness, seemingly external world, dualistic devotion, present waking state, experiencing ourself, other thoughts rise, vyavaharika satya, pratibhasika satya, knowing ourself, asking ourself, own real self, unadulterated consciousness
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sri Ramana, Ulladu Narpadu, Upadesa Undiyar, Guru Vachaka Kovai, Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai, Upadesa Tanippakkal, Sri Muruganar, Sri Krishna, Lord Buddha, Avarana Sakti, Vikshepa Sakti
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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