Notes on Spiritual Discourses of Shri Atmananda, taken by Nitya Tripta. This is a lively and substantial record, made by a close disciple, with Shri
Atmananda's approval. Long unavailable, because a weighty tome originally published only in small numbers, the copyright has now been transferred and the new holder wishes to make this wonderful document available to all seekers, as easily as possible. It consists of 1,450 notes of varying length, covering a wide range of subjects in his unique pithy and logical style. There is also a detailed biography. This version is still a little provisional, with some technicalities of proofing and scholarly checking remaining to be done. The file has been zipped for minimum size (1.7Mb), 509 pages including a comprehensive index with hyperlinked page numbers. Download. (Right-click mouse and select 'Save As'.) Readers are requested to
feed back any errors or comments on the document. Some quotations from these discourses may be read here.
"You will never succeed in bringing in light, if you insist upon removing all the darkness from your room before you do so. Therefore simply ignore the ego and try to understand, and the understanding itself will remove the ego."
The Nature of Man According to Vedanta, by John Levy. This is a book by one of Sri Atmananda's direct disciples and presents his teachings in the style of western philosophy. A quick look at the section on 'Time' suggests that this book is very good indeed.
Ramana Maharshi
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. This is the classic book of conversations recorded by Sri Munagala S. Venkataramiah over the period 1935 - 9. Very readable, yet full of wisdom. It has a comprehensive index and glossary. It is downloadable as three separate zipped files.
Maha Yoga by “Who” is essentially a book about Advaita as taught by Ramana Maharshi who, to my mind, bridges the gap between traditional and direct path methods. The author, only identified as “Who” on the title page, was Sri K. Laksmana Sarma, who studied for over twenty years with Ramana. He defines Maha Yoga as “the Direct Method of finding the Truth of Ourselves.” The key topics addressed are happiness, ignorance, world, soul, god, the nature of the Self and the means for realizing this, and the role of the Sage and devotion. Some difficult concepts are explained with transparent clarity and the entire book is readable and authoritative yet written with obvious humility. Highly recommended.
Other classic collections of material by or about Ramana Maharshi are available from the same site - - including The Collected Works, edited by Arthur Osborne and Day by Day with Bhagavan.
All (?) books by Osho are available at Osho World . They are displayed about 250 – 300 words at a time and could theoretically be copied and printed. But this would take a very long time – they are clearly intended to be read on-line. The website also appears to have a distinct preference for Internet Explorer over other browsers at the time of writing.
Ranjit Maharaj
The Way of the Bird : Commentaries on the Teachings of Sri Ranjit Maharaj by Andrew Vernon. Ranjit Maharaj was the less well-known disciple of Siddharameshwar Maharaj, along with the famous Nisargadatta Maharaj. This book consists of his terse words on a wide range of topics but, fortunately, these are elaborated and explained by Andrew Vernon in an exceptionally lucid manner making the whole book a mine of valuable knowledge.
