India has the full spectrum. On the one hand you get rare genuine sages like Ramana Maharshi who for the most part remain relatively unknown, then half a mile down the round there will be a village that practices brutal animal blood rituals! Then there's yogic 'flying' and all the rest of these tricks, gimmicks, or scams. As a percentage of population I don't think India is actually any different from other nations in terms of realized individuals.. they are literally one in a million. Anyway..
Couple of recommendations. First, my favourite, a short video of Ramana Maharshi readings/stories from a more lengthy documentary.
There's a dialogue in there that when I first heard it the words struck really deep; regarding a mans desire to 'see' God and asking Maharshi to oblige the request. There is something about his words there, and in general, that seem to reach and resonate deeply within.
Quote:Question: I begin to ask myself βWho am I?β, eliminate the body as not βIβ, the breath as not βIβ, and I am not able to proceed further.
Bhagavan: Well, that is as far as the intellect can go. Your process is only intellectual. Indeed, all the scriptures mention the process only to guide the seeker to know the truth. The truth cannot be directly pointed at. Hence, this intellectual process.
You see, the one who eliminates the βnot Iβ cannot eliminate the βIβ. To say βI am not thisβ or βI am thatβ there must be an βIβ. This βIβ is only the ego or the βIβ-thought. After the rising up of this βIβ-thought, all other thoughts arise. The βIβ-thought is therefore the root thought. If the root is pulled out all others are at the same time uprooted. Therefore, seek the root βIβ, question yourself βWho am I?β Find the source and then all these other ideas will vanish and the pure Self will remain.
This web-page has some good information on Ramana Maharshi and Self-Inquiry. David also has some good explanatory videos on youtube as well.
Who Am I?I'd also recommend Maharshi's 'Who Am I?' essay, which is a collection of verses that Maharshi gave when he was in his twenties, translated from Tamil into English. It is perhaps all that one really needs, it contains the philosophy and the instructions on how to achieve realisation:
'Who Am I?' EssayAlmost forget, I really like these youtube videos where the narrator reads various recorded dialogues between Maharshi and questioners. An example: