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In a review of the first book, above, BE AS YOU ARE: The Teaching of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Elena Gutierrez of the very prestigious Realization.org writes:
"The venerated Chinese Zen master Te Shan (781-867) burnt all this commentaries and books on Zen within hours of his awakening to the truth. Why? Zen master Munan gave Shoju his sacred book on Zen that had been passed down through seven generations of masters. Shoju threw it into burning coals.
"Why?"
Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where
we differ is that we place a fog, a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience
and then make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself.
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As to the subject of donations, for those who may be so interested as it applies to the gratefulness of my works, I invariably suggest any funds be directed toward THE WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT and/or THE AMERICAN RED CROSS.
Elena Gutierrez starts HER review of the book by stating --- and I am pretty much in accord with what she says and why the recommendation --- "...(the book is) one of the best instruction manuals for getting Enlightened that (has) ever been written." Then she goes into a review posted in the Amazon.com Customer Review section that tears the book apart. Gutierrez then follows up with: Unfortunately, this reader's (that is, the Amazon.com review writer's) misunderstanding is very common. People think
enlightenment is about absorbing wisdom from wise sayings. Sorry, that's not how it works. The way it works is, the book tells you what to do.
The doing makes you wise.
Those few paragraphs make fairly clear my intentions in the matter. The above graphic shows a copy of Arthur Osborne's very first book on Sri Ramana titled RAMANA ARUNACHALA: Seven Essays published in 1951. Please note the cover photo of Ramana, taken either prior to or during 1951, is the same as the one used at the top of this page.
In the present day era in the bookstore it is not unusual to find amongst the myriad of Ramana themed books any number of works by Arthur Osborne. One of the books, titled The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words, with a first edition publishing date of 1959 --- a book I am quite familiar with --- carries a promotional review, at least in the later editions, of Osborne that usually accompanies the book in some fashion that goes like:
"Arthur Osborne (1906-70) was an ardent devotee of Sri Ramana Maharshi and particularly well known as the founder-editor of The Mountain Path, the spiritual journal of Sri Ramanasramam. An Oxford scholar, he was on the faculty of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, before he came to India in 1945 and had his darshan of Maharshi."
It was the complete lack of any books by Osborne in the ashram bookstore that played a huge role in my adult life. Please see:
The URL that offered the free PDF version is no longer active. For a several chapter overview please click HERE
You can also "borrow" a copy of the book to read free through Archive.org's online lending library. You do not get a book in the classical sense as if you borrowed in from a traditional library, but an online version you are given a certain time to read via your computer. To find out more click HERE
Be advised, if you search online for a PDF version, that you are not instead finding yourself in a search quagmire and or end up with the wrong book with a similar title. The Ramana book I make reference to, "The spiritual teaching of Ramana Maharshi," has within it's opening and is clearly marked as having a forward written by C.G. Jung. If the book does not have a forward by Jung then it is not the book you are looking for.
More information regarding the three books and their use or non-use thereof can be found by clicking the graphic below:
Enlightenment books -- the useful ones -- contain instructions for getting
enlightened. You're supposed to follow the instructions, get enlightened, and
become wise.
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TIME TRAVEL: MEETING YOURSELF
BIOGRAPHY OF ADAM'S MOTHER
ADAM OSBORNE
(please click image)
