Michael James about Sri Sadhu Om :
(source: website Happiness of Being)
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Unfortunately, however, most of the people who had recorded or translated Sri Ramana's teachings in English, or who had written English books about his teachings, appeared not to have a very clear understanding either of the philosophy or of the practice that he taught. In fact some of the most popular English books that were then available gave confusing and misleading explanations about the practice of 'self-enquiry', so even after reading several such books, I was still unsure about the exact 'method' or 'technique' of practising 'self-enquiry'.
Fortunately, after I had been just a few weeks in Tiruvannamalai, I was lent the book The Path of Sri Ramana by Sri Sadhu Om. In this book, Sri Sadhu Om clearly explained that 'self-enquiry' is simply the practice of self-attention, that is, the practice of turning our attention or power of knowing away from all thoughts and objects, towards our fundamental consciousness of our own being, which we always experience as 'I am'. So clear and convincing was this explanation of Sri Sadhu Om that I was left in no doubt that this was the real meaning of the term atma-vichara or 'self-enquiry' used by Sri Ramana.
Soon after reading his book, I met Sri Sadhu Om, and I found that he was able to answer in an extremely clear, simple and convincing manner all the questions that I asked him about the philosophy and practice of the teachings of Sri Ramana. For the next eight-and-a-half years, until his passing away in March 1985, I was fortunate to be able to spend most of my waking life in the company of Sri Sadhu Om, and to imbibe from him a clear understanding of the philosophy, science and art of true self-knowledge as taught by Sri Ramana.
During those years that I spent in the company of Sri Sadhu Om, I was able under his clear guidance to study in minute detail and great depth all the original Tamil writings of Sri Ramana, and other important works such as Guru Vachaka Kovai, which is the most comprehensive and reliable collection of the sayings of Sri Ramana, recorded in Tamil verses by his foremost disciple, Sri Muruganar. Thus I had a unique opportunity to gain a deep insight into the teaching of Sri Ramana, learning directly from the source texts in their original Tamil with the personal help and guidance of one of his closest disciples (by which term I mean not merely those who were blessed to live close to him physically, but those who followed his teachings most closely and faithfully).
Like Sri Muruganar, Sri Sadhu Om was an inspired Tamil poet who dedicated his talents and his entire life to Sri Ramana. However, whereas Sri Muruganar lived with Sri Ramana for nearly twenty-seven years, and played an intimate and major role in his life, eliciting from him many of his most important works such as Upadesa Undiyar, Ulladu Narpadu and Anma-Viddai, Sri Sadhu Om lived with Sri Ramana for less than five years, and therefore played no significant role in his outward life.
Nevertheless, though he did not have the same opportunity as Sri Muruganar to enjoy an outwardly close and intimate relationship with Sri Ramana, inwardly Sri Sadhu Om surrendered himself entirely to him, turning his mind selfwards to merge in the clear light of pure self-consciousness, which is the true form of Sri Ramana. Thus his life is a fine example to those of us who never had the opportunity to associate with the physical form of Sri Ramana. As Sri Ramana himself taught, the true sat-sanga or association with the guru is not merely association with his physical form, but is association (sanga) with his true form, which is our own real self or essential being (sat), the infinite, indivisible, non-dual and absolute reality.
Sri Sadhu Om's unique clarity of understanding, which shone through all his spoken and written words, arose both from his wholehearted and single-minded devotion to Sri Ramana and his teachings, and from his own profound spiritual experience, which resulted from such devotion. Because he had thoroughly erased his own ego or sense of individuality, he was like a clear lens through which the teachings of Sri Ramana shone without obstruction as the perfect clarity of true knowledge.
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Om Shanti ...
