This claim didn’t come from the mouth of the man himself, but rather his followers. But what makes Ramana Maharshi’s experience unique, is his experience of the Self was permanent and irreversible. And yet, you’re probably thinking that many people have had this experience. The young Venkataraman realized the Atman at the core of his being and his life was instantly transformed. He realized that his real nature is eternal, and it is unrelated to the body, mind, and personality.Īccording to Vedanta, he had a realization of the Atman, the Self with a capital S, which is the undifferentiated consciousness at the core of our being. During this experience, he became aware of his true nature for the first time. Suddenly, he had an intense fear of death, where for the next few minutes he went through a simulated death experience. One day, he was alone in an upstairs room inside his uncle’s house in Madurai. But everything changed for him at the age of sixteen. Nothing in his early life was out of the ordinary. He had a normal upbringing, just like any other young Indian. He was born on Decemin the small village of Tiruchuli in the south of India. Ramana Maharshi’s birth name was Venkataraman Iyer. But before we dive deep into these teachings and his own wisdom, how did Ramana Maharshi become a great sage? The teachings Ramana Maharshi expounded belong to one of the greatest teachings on the planet called Advaita Vedanta, which is one of the main schools of thought in Hinduism. He belongs to this ancient thread of enlightened masters. I believe he belongs in the honorable company of the Buddha, Lao-tzu, Chuang-tzu, Shankara, Patanjali, Bodhidharma, Nagarjuna, and Mahavira. I hold Ramana Maharshi in the highest echelon of sages who graced the Earth. He was one of the great sages who opened the door of Eastern wisdom for me. Personally, his teachings thrust me on the path of spirituality at a young age. Many people have heard the name Ramana Maharshi, but surprisingly most of them don’t know who he was and why he was one of the most important figures of the 20 th century.