SOURCE: Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge, Samuel Weiser, 1973, 207 p.

In the following excerpt, Osborne presents a detailed overview of the life and teachings of Ramana Maharshi, and includes a glossary of Hindu terminology.

Early Years

Arudra Darshan, the day of the 'Sight of Siva', is observed with great devotion by Saivites, for it commemorates the occasion when Siva manifested himself to his devotees as Nataraja, that is in the cosmic dance of creation and dissolution of the universe. On this day in 1879 it was still dusk when Siva's devotees in the little town of Tiruchuzhi in the Tamil land of South India left their houses and padded barefoot along the dusty roads to the temple tank, for tradition demands that they should bathe at daybreak. The red glow of sunrise fell upon the brown torsos of the men, clad only in a dhoti, a white cotton...