In 2014 I gave a series of talks on devotees who had been associated with Ramana Maharshi and who had been transformed by their encounters with him. I have added two films on other devotees that were recorded around 2004. The talks have all been posted on Youtube.
In part one I tell the story of Papaji’s early life, how he came to Bhagavan, and how Sri Ramana established him firmly in the state of Self-abidance, eliminating his desire to look for visionary experiences outside of the Self. In part two I answer questions from the interviewer which mostly pertain to his life after he met Sri Ramana.
Lakshmi the cow had her liberation confirmed by Ramana Maharshi when she passed away in 1948. In this film I tell the story of how she came to Ramanasramam in the 1920s, how she fell in love with Sri Ramana, and how she ultimately became one of his most outstanding devotees.
In this talk I narrate the life of Lakshmana Swamy: his early life, his Self-realisation in the presence of Bhagavan in 1949, his era as an ascetic yogi in Andhra Pradesh, his meetings with Saradamma, his own enlightened disciple, and their move to Tiruvannamalai in the early 1990s.
This is the story of Muruganar, the Tamil poet saint who was instrumental in getting Bhagavan to write down many of his teachings, who recorded many of Sri Ramana’s teachings in his own works, and who wrote thousands of verses that praised Bhagavan and thanked him for the liberation that he had bestowed on him.
Two devotees appear in this film: Annamalai Swami, who built many of the large buildings at Ramanasramam under Bhagavan’s direct supervision, and Lakshman Sarma, who had private lessons from Bhagavan on the meaning of Ulladu Narpadu (Forty Verses) and later recorded the essence of those lessons in Tamil and English books.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIo0AbN8LzA
Robert Adams was an American teenager when he first arrived in Tiruvannamalai in the late 1940s. This film tells the story of his remarkable early life and how his experience of the God within himself finally led him to Ramana Maharshi.
This is the story of Ramanatha Brahmachari who came to Sri Ramana as a young boy and then spent the remainder of his life joyfully serving both Bhagavan and his devotees.
This film, recorded in my house around 2004, focuses on Mastan, a Muslim weaver who came to Bhagavan in the early years of the twentieth century. He was an outstanding devotee who was, on the instructions of Bhagavan himself, buried with all the rites accorded to a Hindu Saiva saint when he passed away in 1931.
Natesa Iyer served in the Ramanasramam kitchen for many years. In this film I tell the story of how he came to Ramanasramam, how he tried to run away and how, ultimately he discovered and became one with the inner formless Ramana.
Mudaliar Patti is one of several women who were all determined to feed Sri Ramana every day. In this film I talk about her early years in Tiruvannamalai, the struggles she had to undergo to keep her vow to feed Bhagavan every day, and the recognition she received from Ramana Maharshi himself.
In these two talks, filmed in Palakottu, I talk about the devotees who lived there during Bhagavan’s lifetime. Included are S. S. Cohen, Guy Hague, Paul Brunton, B. V. Narasimhaswami, Kunju Swami, Munagala Venkataramaiah, Ganapati Muni and Viswanatha Swami.