David Godman - 2nd Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

Discussion of this interview in the Batgap Community Facebook Group:   / 2430530127172773  

Also see https://batgap.com/david-godman-2/

David Godman has lived in India since 1976, mostly in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. He spent his time there studying and practising the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. His anthology of Ramana Maharshi’s teachings, Be As You Are, is probably the most widely read book on Sri Ramana’s teachings. During his fourteen-year stay at Ramanasramam (1978-92) he managed the ashram’s library, catalogued its archives, and recorded the stories and experiences of devotees who had had direct contact with Sri Ramana.

David is the authorized biographer of two devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Lakshmana Swamy and Papaji) who realized the Self in Sri Ramana’s presence and who later went on to become gurus themselves.

He has written and published several other books that contain first-person accounts of devotees who moved closely with Sri Ramana Maharshi and who were transformed by his power and presence.

In collaboration with two Tamil scholars, T. V. Venkatasubramanian and Robert Butler, he translated and edited several Tamil texts including two authoritative collections of Ramana Maharshi’s teachings that were originally recorded in Tamil verse. The three of them also joined forces to bring out Sorupa Saram, a translation of a text in which a 15th century Tamil saint and Guru, Sorupananda, speaks authoritatively of his experience of the Self. Earlier this year David and T. V. Venkatasubramanian completed a new book that will be entitled The Shining of my Lord. It will contain translations of Tamil verses by Muruganar, an enlightened devotee of Ramana Maharshi who wrote thousands of verses in which he praised his Guru, spoke of his own liberated state and thanked Sri Ramana for bestowing it on him. It will be published later this year.

In the 1970s David frequented Nisargadatta Maharaj’s satsangs in Mumbai. In the 1980s he was a regular visitor to the ashram of Lakshmana Swamy and Saradamma in Andhra Pradesh. When they moved to Tiruvannamalai in the early 1990s, he helped them to establish and landscape their new property at the foot of Arunachala, the holy mountain where Sri Ramana Maharshi spent all his adult life. For four years in the 1990s he lived with Papaji in Lucknow and ended up writing or editing five books about him.

Last year David released a series twenty-seven films on Youtube in which he spoke about Ramana Maharshi, the places where he stayed, his devotees and his teachings.

Interview recorded 6/26/2016

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha At The Gas Pump with Rick Archer
00:05:34 - The Extraordinary Journey of Maurice Frydman
00:10:28 - Finding Ramana in Tiruvannamalai
00:15:16 - Maurice Frydman: An Extraordinary Man of Action
00:20:01 - Maurice's Last Days and his Hidden Talents
00:24:50 - The Maurice and Nisargadatta Book Project
00:29:10 - Maurice's Self-Governance Project
00:33:28 - Maurice's Bold Actions
00:37:48 - A Karma Yogi with a Dual Strand
00:42:08 - Gandhi's Spiritual State
00:47:22 - Parallel Lives of Social Uplift and Transcendence
00:51:57 - Manifestation of Ramana's Appearance
00:57:31 - The Vision of Ramana and the Connection with David Godman
01:02:27 - Composing Tamil Poetry with Bhagavan
01:07:49 - Bhagavan's Thorough Copy Editing
01:13:42 - Seek out the Blessing of Others
01:19:19 - The Concepts of Kartrutva and Kartavya
01:25:08 - The Existence of Gods or Entities
01:30:25 - Feeling the Pain of Others
01:35:17 - Mysterious Visitors on Bhagavan's Birthday
01:39:42 - Conviction in the Presence of God
01:44:10 - Anecdotes about Papaji
01:49:10 - The Power of Meditation and Introversion
01:53:26 - The Mathematics Test and the Experience of God
01:58:58 - Ramana's Teachings From Experience
02:04:09 - The Power of Teachers and Lineage
02:08:44 - Accessing the Guru's Power through Words
02:13:31 - The Guru's High Standards
02:18:04 - Ramana Maharshi's Unusual Habits
02:22:35 - Ramana's Retelling of Miraculous Stories
02:26:56 - Stirring up bliss and intoxication