Ramana Maharshi

Who was Ramana Maharshi?

Ramana Maharshi is widely acknowledged as one of the outstanding Hindu gurus of modern times. He was born Venkataraman Iyer, in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, South India, and given the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in 1907, by one of his first devotees, Ganapati Muni. This would be the name by which he became known to the world.

At the age of sixteen, Venkataraman lost his sense of individual selfhood, an awakening which he later recognised as enlightenment. Six weeks later he left his home to journey to the holy mountain Arunachala, Tiruvannamalai, where he remained for the rest of his life.

His first years were spent in solitude, but his stillness and his appearance as a sannyasin soon attracted devotees. In later years, he responded to questions, but always insisted that silence was the purest teaching. His verbal teachings flowed "from his direct knowledge that consciousness was the only existing reality." In later years, a community grew up around him, where he was available twenty-four hours a day to visitors. Though worshipped by thousands, he never allowed anyone to treat him as special, or receive private gifts. He treated all with equal respect.