SelfDefinition.Org
Awareness Watching Awareness
Mirror Site for "Awareness" pages, originally published on Tripod.
Awareness Home
"Not all spiritual paths lead to the Harmonious Oneness. Indeed, most are detours and distractions, nothing more."
– Lao Tzu from the Hua Hu Ching
"Only the liberated one can save the world. The blind cannot guide the blind."
– Sri Ramana Maharshi
Book: The Most Rapid and Direct Means to Eternal Bliss
Former title: The Impostor
"The ego controls all thinking."
"The ego creates arguments against the Direct Path as a preservation strategy."
(See below for more direct-path links.)
Authentic spiritual teachers never accept monetary donations, never charge any fees, and never have a collection plate or donation box. When money changes hands, that is business, not spirituality. "Spiritual teachers" who accept money are really just business people. Beware of them.
Other Pages
Pages marked * have been superseded by chapters in the book above.
* Awareness Watching Awareness - Practice Instructions
* Awareness Watching Awareness - Further Clarification
* The Abandon Release Method
* The Reminder Page - Read This Every Day
Five Sages Teaching the Direct Path
The original index for many of these pages, providing an overview of Direct Path Teachings. A good starting point or "home base" for the teachings on this site, with links to the other pages.
The 6 Rings
The most direct and the less direct paths
First Ring - Most Direct Means
* How I Discovered the Awareness Watching Awareness Method
Turning Inward - How to Look Within - How to Practice
From Garland of Guru's (Ramana Maharshi's) Sayings by Sri Muruganar
The World - 108 sayings - On ignoring and turning one's attention away from the world and towards Awareness watching Awareness.
Also from Garland of Guru's Sayings
Sri Ramana Maharshi's Teachings on the topics of Thinking About, Reading and Discussing Spiritual Teachings
Quotes by Sri Muruganar and by Ramana Maharshi (various sources)
Choice "A" - Quotes
Encouraging descriptions of realization by Ramana, Muruganar, others. Choice A is Infinite-Eternal-Awareness-Love-Bliss with no sorrow and no suffering. Choice B is being identified with a body subject to suffering, sorrow, disease, death, violence, fear, anger, etc.
Realization ("Sri Ramana Experience") - by Sri Muruganar
One of the most detailed, clearly communicated, profound and heart touching descriptions of the experience of Self-Realization ever written.
Experiences and Comments
The end of the illusion of the ego.
* Inquiry-Abidance
How to Practice Self Awareness - The Awareness Watching Awareness practice is best described as ""abidance in self-awareness"".
Second Ring
The journals of Sri Sadhu Om have been called the most detailed and clearly expressed instructions ever written on the practice of Self-inquiry as advocated by Ramana Maharshi. The following are from his book: The Path of Sri Ramana, which is available at Michael James' website (see below).
Self-Inquiry - Sri Sadhu Om (chapter 7)
Self-inquiry is only an aid to Self-Awareness; only Self-Awareness is the True Direct Path. ... Although we formally refer to [Self-attention] as 'directed', in truth it is not of the nature of a 'doing' in the form of directing or being directed; it is of the nature of 'being' or 'existing'.
The Technique of Self-Inquiry - Sri Sadhu Om (chapter 8)
Penetrating insight and detailed instructions on how to apply the principles of Self-inquiry.
Sri Annamali Swami
Sri Annamali Swami was closely associated with Ramana Maharshi for many years. There are currently no writings by him linked on this page. A copy of a very small (pocket edition) book "Annamalai Swami: Final Talks," edited by David Godman, published by AHAM, can be obtained via an internet search.
Third Ring
Who Am I? - by Ramana Maharshi
Español:
Truth Revealed - 40 Verses on Reality - by Ramana Maharshi
"The Divine gives light to the mind and shines within it. Except by turning the mind inward and fixing it in the Divine, there is no other way to know Him through the mind."
ramana-40-verses-on-reality.htm
Español:
ramana-40-versos-sobre-la-realidad.htm
Fourth Ring
Instructions and Encouragement by Nisargadatta Maharaj
Selected comments on how to practice from I AM THAT
Fifth Ring
Direct Path - by Mouni Sadhu
Whoever knows of the hidden Direct Path will not waste time following lesser ways.
Brief Biography of Ramana Maharshi
By T.M.P. Mahadevan, 1959, published by the Ramana Maharshi ashram.
"Sri Muruganar and Sri Sadhu Om" - by Michael James
A somewhat devotional tribute to these two "poet-saints" by the scholar/
michael-james-muruganar-sadhu-om.htm
Sixth Ring
Ceasing to Pretend One Wishes to be Liberated
A look at tricks the ego uses to preserve its imaginary self.
Spiritual Business - Why spiritual Truth is distorted into lies
Sahaja - What is Liberation according to Sri Ramana Maharshi?
Avoiding a false sense of liberation.
THE FREEDOM RELIGION, INC
Recommended books on the Direct Path teachings.
http://thefreedom
Also see the Author's Page
Other Writings
Comments on meetings with Vernon Howard
Videos
Michael Langford's channel at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTWQ0-QxiCGt3soVsLYHO7Q/videos
Satsang with Tom Das: help with the awareness watching awareness (AWA) method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUddPk4lb2M
Groups
SRI RAMANA COMMUNITY PAGE: Links to Sri Ramana groups around the world.
https://uarelove1.tripod.com/
Yahoo Groups (Historical)
Yahoo shut down all groups in 2020. The links remain below because with some diligence you may be able to find archives at the wayback machine or other places on the web. You may have success at Archive.Org Archive Team: Yahoo! Groups or Archive.Org Search: Yahoo Groups
Eternal Bliss
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/
First Ring Info
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/
The Path of Sri Ramana
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/
Or try: How to recover your Yahoo! Groups from the Internet Archive at DataHorde.Org
Arunachala - Ashram in India
Interesting information about Arunachala, the Ashram and the people associated with it.
https://uarelove1.tripod.com/
Maps and directions - This link opens a 5-page Word document file that will be downloaded to your computer or device [please exercise security precautions when downloading Doc files]:
http://uarelove1.tripod.com/
Translations
Michael James translated the material by Sri Sadhu Om linked on this page above. His translations of Who Am I? (Nan Yar?) and Forty Verses (Ulladu Narpadu) by Ramana Maharshi can be found in a copy of his book: Happiness and the Art of Being.
Happiness and the Art of Being by Michael James
Free eBook, PDF, 500 pages, 2.0 megabytes
His website, dedicated to teachings of Ramana Maharshi
https://www.happinessofbeing
Guru Vachaka Kovai (Garland of Guru's sayings) by Ramana, Muruganar, Sri Sadhu Om, edited by Michael James:
PDF of 472 pages, 1.2 meg, 2013 edition, free download
Direct link to PDF: Guru Vachaka Kovai
Web page for the book for more information:
https://www.happinessofbeing.
The Path of Sri Ramana (Part One) by Sri Sadhu Om, edited by Michael James
PDF of 626 KB, 233 pages:
Direct link to PDF: The Path of Sri Ramana Part One