351. David Godman, 2nd Interview

David Godman has lived in India since 1976, mostly in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. He spent his time there studying and practicing the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. His anthology of Ramana Maharshi’s teachings, Be As You Are, is probably the most widely read book on Sri Ramana’s teachings. During his fourteen-year stay at Ramanasramam (1978-92), he managed the ashram’s library, cataloged its archives, and recorded the stories and experiences of devotees who had had direct contact with Sri Ramana. David is the authorized biographer of two devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Lakshmana Swamy and Papaji) who realized the Self in Sri Ramana’s presence and who later went on to become gurus themselves. He has written and published several other books that contain first-person accounts of devotees who moved closely with Sri Ramana Maharshi and who were transformed by his power and presence. In collaboration with two Tamil scholars, T. V. Venkatasubramanian and Robert Butler, he translated and edited several Tamil texts including two authoritative collections of Ramana Maharshi’s teachings that were originally recorded in Tamil verse. The three of them also joined forces to bring out Sorupa Saram, a translation of a text in which a 15th century Tamil saint and Guru, Sorupananda, speaks authoritatively of his experience of the Self. Earlier this year David and T. V. Venkatasubramanian completed a new book that will be entitled The Shining of my Lord. It will contain translations of Tamil verses by Muruganar, an enlightened devotee of Ramana Maharshi who wrote thousands of verses in which he praised his Guru, spoke of his own liberated state, and thanked Sri Ramana for bestowing it on him. It will be published later this year. In the 1970s David frequented Nisargadatta Maharaj’s satsangs in Mumbai. In the 1980s he was a regular visitor to the ashram of Lakshmana Swamy and Saradamma in Andhra Pradesh. When they moved to Tiruvannamalai in the early 1990s, he helped them to establish and landscape their new property at the foot of Arunachala, the holy mountain where Sri Ramana Maharshi spent all his adult life. For four years in the 1990s, he lived with Papaji in Lucknow and ended up writing or editing five books about him. David Godman is married to Miri Albahari, a philosophy lecturer who teaches in Perth, Australia. He is based in India, but nowadays spends part of the year with Miri in Australia. Last year David released a series of twenty-seven films on Youtube in which he spoke about Ramana Maharshi, the places where he stayed, his devotees, and his teachings. The series contains about fifteen hours of talks about Sri Ramana and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8hGc9OaVmFXOZDbRB3eP55FQtG1wKLNr Books: Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Compass) No mind, I am the self: The lives and teachings of Sri Lakshmana Swamy and Mathru Sri Sarada Living By the Words of Bhagavan Papaji: Interviews Nothing Ever Happened (three volumes): a 1,200-page biography of H. W. L. Poonja, also known as ‘Papaji’. Annamalai Swami Final Talks- teaching dialogues between Annamalai Swami and visitors to his ashram, recorded in the last six months of his life. The Power of the Presence -Transforming Encounters with Sri Ramana (Vol1) (three volumes): chapter-long accounts by devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi that record their experiences of living with and being transformed him. The Power of the Presence (Part Two) The Power of the Presence (Part Three) Padamalai: Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi: Recorded by Muruganar Ramana Puranam- an edited and annotated 540-line poem that was jointly composed by Ramana Maharshi and Muruganar. The Fire of Freedom, Satsang with Papaji (The Fire of Freedom, Volume 1)- dialogues between Papaji and visitors that took place in his Lucknow home in 1991. Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings)- a translation of 1,254 verses, recorded in Tamil by Muruganar, that record Ramana Maharshi’s teachings. Website:  www.davidgodman.org Blog:   http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com YouTube channel First BatGap interview with David Transcripts of this interview: English Czech French Discussion of this interview in the Batgap Community Facebook Group In this interview, David Godman speaks of Robert Adams, whom he never met. He makes some remarkable claims based upon Robert’s own account of his life, including years he claimed to have spent with Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj. It now appears extremely unlikely that Robert Adams ever met either, and that other claims David Godman repeats are highly improbable. Please see this article for details. David Godman has since taken down the YouTube talk he gave on Robert Adams. Interview recorded 6/26/2016 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha At The Gas Pump with Rick Archer 00:05:34 - The Extraordinary Journey of Maurice Frydman 00:10:28 - Finding Ramana in Tiruvannamalai 00:15:16 - Maurice Frydman: An Extraordinary Man of Action 00:20:01 - Maurice's Last Days and his Hidden Talents 00:24:50 - The Maurice and Nisargadatta Book Project 00:29:10 - Maurice's Self-Governance Project 00:33:28 - Maurice's Bold Actions 00:37:48 - A Karma Yogi with a Dual Strand 00:42:08 - Gandhi's Spiritual State 00:47:22 - Parallel Lives of Social Uplift and Transcendence 00:51:57 - Manifestation of Ramana's Appearance 00:57:31 - The Vision of Ramana and the Connection with David Godman 01:02:27 - Composing Tamil Poetry with Bhagavan 01:07:49 - Bhagavan's Thorough Copy Editing 01:13:42 - Seek out the Blessing of Others 01:19:19 - The Concepts of Kartrutva and Kartavya 01:25:08 - The Existence of Gods or Entities 01:30:25 - Feeling the Pain of Others 01:35:17 - Mysterious Visitors on Bhagavan's Birthday 01:39:42 - Conviction in the Presence of God 01:44:10 - Anecdotes about Papaji 01:49:10 - The Power of Meditation and Introversion 01:53:26 - The Mathematics Test and the Experience of God 01:58:58 - Ramana's Teachings From Experience 02:04:09 - The Power of Teachers and Lineage 02:08:44 - Accessing the Guru's Power through Words 02:13:31 - The Guru's High Standards 02:18:04 - Ramana Maharshi's Unusual Habits 02:22:35 - Ramana's Retelling of Miraculous Stories 02:26:56 - Stirring up bliss and intoxication