There are those sources who criticize Ramana Maharshi for a number of reasons including that his state was delusional what is seen as fatalism on religious grounds that he failed to take moral stands and seemed strangely detached on some world issues and believed there were greater powers governing the world even that he was a tool of alien consciousness etc But I fail to see how claims by Alan Edwards that his failure to disassociate himself from political followers demonstrates political views has any particular value here Ramana was distinguished by his openness to people of all sorts of views his tolerance his patience even when being hit by a thief and his tailoring his responses to their perspectives to the point where there is seeming literal contradiction It is well known that Gandhi sent some of his associates to Ramana Maharishi and that in response to questions about independence Ramana correctly predicted India would gain independence But Ramana s attitude is best demonstrated by when people came to him to complain about perceived unfairness in the running of his Ashram and where he replied in so many words by questioning whether they had come to reform themselves or the Ashram His responses to the first Westerner a policeman who saw him back in 1911 offer no evidence of the orientalism during this period claimed I do not see why we would add such poorly supported criticism based on his failure to distance himself from some followers just to have some criticism or how it would benefit casual readers