Between 1976 and 1985 Michael James studied the teachings of Sri Ramana under the clear guidance of one of his foremost disciples, Sri Sadhu Om. Together they translated into English all the original Tamil writings of Sri Ramana, and also Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) (the most profound, comprehensive, and reliable collection of the sayings of Sri Ramana, recorded in 1255 Tamil verses composed by Sri Muruganar, with an additional 42 verses composed by Sri Ramana) and various works of Sri Sadhu Om such as A Light on the Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: The Essence of Spiritual Practice

Michael’s principal interest is the philosophy and practice of self-investigation (ātma-vicāra, ‘self-inquiry’) as taught by Sri Ramana, and he has written a detailed book on this subject: Happiness and the Art of Being: An introduction to the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana (Second Edition).

Michael's website

Transcript of this interview

Chinese transcript of this interview

Interview recorded 8/10/2013.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Michael James and his study of Sri Ramana

00:04:14 - Experiencing Happiness from External Objects

00:07:42 - Happiness and Peace

00:11:27 - The Indubitable Existence of "I Am"

00:15:02 - The Doctrine of No-Self

00:19:56 - Going Beyond Differences and Illusions

00:23:33 - The Power of Attention

00:26:53 - The Tendency towards Outer-directed Attention

00:30:24 - The Illusion of Self

00:33:38 - The Collaborative Process of Transformation

00:37:08 - Self-Attention and Effortless Effort

00:40:38 - The Power of Devotion to Krishna

00:43:53 - Seeking Happiness and the Experience of the Self

00:46:54 - The Compatibility of Self-Enquiry with Daily Activities

00:50:06 - Certain Lifestyles and Self-Enquiry

00:53:44 - The Happiness Within

00:57:07 - The Search for Happiness

01:00:30 - The Teachings of Arunachala

01:04:23 - The Different Stages of Spiritual Practice

01:07:20 - The Effort Towards Self-Inquiry

01:10:51 - The Mechanics of Self-Enquiry and Self-Attention

01:14:00 - Discovering Self-Attention and Self-Knowledge

01:17:07 - The Appeal of Enquiring Minds

01:20:28 - Starting with "What Is Happiness?"

01:23:34 - Understanding the States of Consciousness

01:27:18 - Sleep as a State of Consciousness

01:30:25 - The Dream State and the Waking State

01:33:55 - The Difference Between Waking and Dream States

01:37:49 - The Projection of the World

01:41:17 - Wrapping Up and Concluding Remarks

01:44:00 - Exclusive Interview with Michael