Do I Need to Pick Up this Book?
Have you been practising Bhagawan's technique of "Who am I?" for a long time, but failed to obtain any significant positive result? Do you, at increasingly shorter intervals, catch yourself wondering or brooding whether the absence of a positive outcome might be because you aren't executing the method properly, or because you aren't trying hard enough, or attributable to some other, indiscernible reason? If so - this material is for you!

What is this Book All About?
This little booklet is a humble attempt-by pair of serious seekers of Realisation, who have spent close to a quarter of a century studying Bhagawan's teachings, both theoretically and implementing it in practice-to narrate the pitfalls and potholes that people who are likewise serious about Bhagawan's method of "Who am I?" definitely need to avoid. Having remained steadfast "implementers"-as against merely being "discussers"-of Bhagawan's method of "Who am I?" for close to three decades, Philip Renaud and M. R. Badrinarayana (fondly and monosyllabically known as "MRB" by his friends!) have generated certain insights, which they feel the impetus to share with the fellow Ramana devotees of the world. In particular, they wish to talk about Sri Ramana Maharshi's most important method for Realisation/Enlightenment: namely "Who am I?".

In offering this volume to the public, their intent is to clarify certain misconceptions about this practice that they feel people are prone to believe and get trapped in, especially Westerners, who they feel are particularly vulnerable to mistaking contemporary neo-Advaitic irrelevancies for Sri Maharshi's profound method of seeking oneself (and not one's Self!) This little booklet, therefore, is a humble attempt in that regard.

Using Bhagawan's own writings, as well as material garnered from several other sources forming part of the Ramana literature (including the "extra-canonical"-and hugely controversial-Aham Sphurana diaries purportedly written in 1936 by the mysterious and unverifiable Sri Gajapathy Aiyyer), the authors demonstrate what they-based on an intuition built up from years of meticulously practising-feel is the correct way for the practise of Bhagawan's method of investigating "Who am I?".

The Personalities Behind the Pages
A chance meeting at the serene Ashram of Sri Ramana Maharshi in 2015, no doubt orchestrated by the Divine Will of Sri Bhagawan himself, led these two gentlemen to embark on a sublime and magnificently fulfilling journey of exploration of the subtle and delightful mysteries embedded in Bhagawan's teachings, and they would like to narrate their fascinating journey to you, which is what this tidy little book is all about.

Philip Renaud is a retired professor from one of America's leading institutions for the study of metallurgical science and technology. Throughout the rigorous demands of a full-time academic career, Philip also managed to keep smouldering within him his keen interest in the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, in particular those of Sri Ramana Maharshi. At the conclusion of a highly meritorious career as an academician, Philip is now settled in St. Simons GA, where he happily leads a relatively secluded life together with his long-time companion, Viona.

MRB is a former employee of one of India's leading nationalised banks, and post his superannuation, he occupied himself productively by contributing as an independent paralegal expert on various challenging issues of legal contention pertaining to Intellectual Property Law, based in Hyderabad. He is passionately devoted to studying Bhagawan's teachings (especially in their original Tamil, which he has painstakingly acquainted himself with), deriving novel interpretations from them, and, most importantly, putting them into practice. MRB currently lives with his wife in a modest but gracious home of their own at Hough