death_place death_date birth_place philosophy nationality name literary_works quote article_title guru birth_name
sri ramana ashram , tiruvannamalai , india 14 april 1950 tiruchuzhi , tamil nadu , india advaita vedanta indian bhagavan sri '' i ? '' -rrb- '' five hymns to arunachala '' nān yār ? '' -lrb- `` who am of , the thought ` i ' is the first thought all . the thoughts that rise in the mind ramana maharshi
 arunachala venkataraman iyer
ramana maharshi

ramana maharshi -lrb- 30 december 1879 -- 14 april 1950 -rrb- was an indian sage and jivanmukta .
he was born venkataraman iyer , in tiruchuli , tamil nadu , south india , and given the name bhagavan sri ramana maharshi in 1907 , by one of his first devotees , ganapati muni .
this would be the name by which he became more widely known .
in 1896 , at the age of 16 , he became aware that `` his real nature was formless , immanent consciousness , '' resulting in a state which he later described as enlightenment .
six weeks later he left his family home in madurai , and journeyed to the holy mountain arunachala , in tiruvannamalai , where he would remain for the rest of his life .
although his first years in tiruvannamalai were spent in solitude , he soon attracted devotees , and in later years a community grew up around him , where he was available twenty-four hours a day .
although worshipped by thousands , he never received private gifts , and treated all with equal respect .
since the 1930s his teachings have been popularised in the west .
throughout the years , ramana maharshi responded to many questions on spiritual matters , but always insisted that silence was the purest teaching .
in response to questions on self-liberation and the classic texts on yoga and vedanta , ramana recommended self-enquiry as the principal way to awaken to `` i-i '' , realise the self and attain liberation .
he also recommended bhakti , as well as giving his approval to a variety of paths and practices .
