The Awareness Podcast, Ep.# 79: Living in Not-Knowing with Jenny Beal and Venkatesh Deshpande - The Ramana Way
Aug 10, 2023
Venkatesh describes how his upbringing in a religious Hindu family led initially to spiritual questioning about the nature of God and then to the practice of Transcendental Meditation. Venkatesh discusses how he came to give up his successful career in business to follow a path of self-knowledge.
He outlines the rigorous daily programme of work and study at the Sivananda ashram, where he followed a progressive path of both Jnana and Bhakti yoga. A spontaneous decision to visit the Ramana Maharshi ashram at Tiruvannamalai, resulted in him falling in love with Ramana’s teaching and seeing that all the sages were saying the same thing – that this inward journey is the most important purpose of life.
We go on to discuss a number of aspects of Ramana’s teaching, including the basic ‘who am I’ practice, how to overcome the frustration of thoughts that keep flooding back, and how to deal with blank states. He explains the importance of questioning, and the connection between questioning, openness and not-knowing. Supported by his faith in the teaching and a strong desire for liberation he describes how he discovered the unchanging, inner joy of living as pure consciousness, ‘an instrument in the hands of the Lord’.
For more information on the Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, including access to Venkatesh’s talks, visit their website http://www.ramanacentre.com/
If you are interested in exploring spiritual awakening, we invite you to register for our free 7 Days to Awakening self study course, created by Lisa Natoli and Bill Free.
About Venkatesh Deshpande:
Venkatesh N. Deshpande is an Electronics and Communications Engineer with an Executive Management degree. He has 30 years of experience in the Engineering and IT Industry. In his last professional assignment, he was the Global COO of a US Medical Solutions Company.
His spiritual journey started in 1977 with Transcendental Meditation. He was blessed in the spiritual path by Sadhus and Saints of The Divine Life Society (Sivananda Ashram), Rishikesh. His Guru is Swami Chidananda Saraswathi of Sivananda ashram.
In 2010, Venkatesh joined the Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning (RMCL) and is the Treasurer of RMCL and the President of the Research Centre.
Venkatesh is very active in daily satsangs and is a regular speaker in domestic and international seminars and workshops. He has dedicated his last 13 years to the pursuit of Self-Knowledge.
