Ramana Maharshi

Ramana Maharshi was born Venkataraman Iyer in Tamil Nadu. At sixteen he underwent a spontaneous, death-like experience that precipitated a lasting shift into self-realization. Shortly after, he left home for the hill of Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai, where he remained for the rest of his life. He taught primarily through silence, and, when he did speak, through the practice of self-inquiry: turning attention back onto the one who is asking any question at all, rather than pursuing the question's content.

Sri Ramanasramam grew up around him at the foot of Arunachala and remains active today. His teaching, recorded mainly through the accounts of visitors and a small number of his own writings, has become one of the central reference points for modern non-dual and Advaita teaching, cited by teachers across many later lineages.