King Vallalan was a South Indian ruler who was based in Tiruvannamalai in the first decades of the 14th century. His exploits are chronicled in the Arunachala Puranam. In this article I compare the puranic version of his life with the known historical facts.
Glimpses of the Self
In 2008, in response to some comments and queries that had appeared on my blog, I put together this post in which I outlined what I had learned from Ramana Maharshi, Lakshmana Swamy and Papaji on the nature of temporary experiences of the Self.
Poetic combat
This is the story of how Ganapati Muni gained his title ‘Kayvakantha’ (‘One who has poetry in his throat’) from an assembly of pandits while he was still a teenager.
Lakshmi the Cow
Lakshmi the cow was one of the two devotees of Bhagavan to have her liberation publicly confirmed by Bhagavan himself. This article contains a long account I wrote on her about fifteen years ago. I originally posted it on my blog to refute a highly misleading account of her life that had appeared online.
Akhilandamma, Ganapati Muni and Jealous Sadhus
When Ramana Maharshi lived at Virupaksha Cave in the early years of the last century, there were several sadhus who tried to drive him away because they were jealous of the numbers of devotees he was beginning to attract. This is an account of those early turbulent years.
Robert Adams on Self-enquiry
Here is an account of how Robert Adams met Ramana Maharshi, followed by a dialogue in which he explains the process of self-enquiry.
Relations with the Guru
In this article I discuss the relationship that should exist between the Guru and disciple. The primary sources are Bhagavan himself and some of his senior devotees such as Muruganar, Lakshmana Sarma and Annamalai Swami.
Revisions to ‘Spiritual Instruction’
In 2006 I helped T. V. Venkatasubramanian make some changes to Spiritual Instruction (Upadesa Manjari), a small book of dialogues with Ramana Maharshi that was compiled by Sadhu Natanananda. Since they were never published, I have included them here.