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