ARTHUR OSBORNE has collected in this small volume all of the essential information relating to the life and teachings of Sri Raman Maharshi (1879–1950), one of the foremost sages of modern India. As a teenager, Sri Ramana realized the Self through a spontaneous act of self-enquiry without conscious effort or special training imparted by a teacher. In 1896 he left his home at Madurai and came to Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai), where he lived as an all-renouncing sage in a state of continuous Self-realization for fifty-four years—until his mahanirvana in 1950. Included in this volume are instructions given by Sri Ramana to early devotees, such as Sivaprakasam Pillai, Frank Humphreys, Kavyakanta, Natesa Mudaliar, and others, as well the experiences of Paul Brunton and other later devotees. Sri Ramana's central message is that Self-knowledge us not something to be acquired afresh but rather a becoming aware of one's own natural state of Pure Being through Self-enquiry. The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi represent the essence of the Advaita Vedanta, the quintessential expression of Hindu spirituality.