Michael Barnett

The first satori is always the strongest because of the contrast between the place that you were in and the place that you fell into. If that’s really a great leap then you feel,‘Oh this is an incredible experience!’Then, as you go on working on yourself, you get nearer and so then the jump into the same sort of space doesn’t feel so enormous as it did the first time. – Michael Barnett

Full Interview with Michael Barnett by John David

Michael had been known to me as Somendra in Osho’s ashram in Pune in the 1970s. We connected recently through two of his students. While driving through Germany I called him from my car to suggest an interview. He responded with an immediate, ‘Okay, come now.’ After a lovely dialogue and dinner he spontaneously put my team up for the night. Since then we have met several times in a pool of love. – John David

Questions and Answers

You have given us a profound discourse on awakening. When you meet a passion for awakening, what would your short advice be?

Seekers often have curious ideas about the enlightened state. Please describe your typical day and how you perceive the world.

Sri Ramana said that Self-enquiry is the most direct route to realising the Self. What do you say about Self-enquiry? How to conduct Self-enquiry?

It appears essential to meet a guru and stay with that guru. Who is the guru? What is the guru’s role? How to recognise a true guru?

What about Destiny? Do you expect things to simply happen or are you expressing your free will and choosing?

What about vasanas, the tendencies of the mind? Must these be removed before Self-realisation can become permanent? Is it enough to achieve a sattvic (calm and peaceful) state of mind and to know one’s vasanas so that they no longer bind? How to remove the vasanas?

It has been suggested that the mind must be destroyed for liberation to occur, Do you have a mind? Sri Ramana used the term manonasha to describe the state of liberation, meaning destroyed mind. How to destroy the mind?

When Sri Ramana was asked, ‘When will the realisation of the Self be gained?’ he replied, ‘When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realisation of the Self which is the seer.” What is the true understanding of the world? How to remove the world?

Sri Ramana said that Self-enquiry is the most direct route to realising the Self. What do you say about Self-enquiry? How to conduct Self-enquiry?

Are there any qualifications for enlightenment? Is sadhana (spiritual practice) necessary? If yes, what form do you advise?

Many Western seekers come to India looking for enlightenment as if it is an experience, What is enlightenment?

Sri Ramana proposed the fundamental question, ‘Who am I?’- Who are you?

Michael Barnett's teachings

Michael Barnett’s teaching is about direct transmission: a quiet, palpable field that settles the mind and opens the heart. Rooted in non-duality, it points beyond personal story to the living presence already here. His meetings are simple and experiential, inviting people to taste stillness rather than talk about it. He guides seekers to relax the “me” and allow awareness to expand until inside and outside are one seamless space. From there, action becomes natural and unforced—words, movement, and silence arising from the same source. The work is compassionate, playful, and ordinary: eye contact, a touch, shared silence—small doors to a vast shift. Barnett emphasizes authenticity over achievement. Self-realization is not a project or a peak moment to collect; it is the recognition of the ever-present awareness we are. His short pointers and gatherings offer clear, end-of-the-road guidance: be still, notice what does not come and go, and let life move from that freedom.

appears in

Blueprints for Awakening – European Masters

European Spiritual Masters

John David has been interviewing fourteen European Spiritual Masters. The result is a compendium of astonishing wisdom about the biggest secret of all times: the Nature of our True Self and how to realise it.

This book answers all questions of the spiritual search and is for everyone who has an inner passion to find out who they are.

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Other Ramana Maharshi Books

Aham Sphurana – A Glimpse of Self Realisation [Volume 1]

Fascinating dialogues and stories of Ramana Maharshi recorded by Sri Gajapathi Aiyyer in the summer 1936, at Ramana Ashram.

Start Reading

Vichara – Self Enquiry,
Who am I? [Volume 2]

Vichara offers a fresh and focused exploration of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi’s most profound teaching: Self-enquiry.

Start Reading

Sharanagathi – Surrender,
Letting go. [Volume 3]

Sharanagathi explores Bhagavan’s direct and powerful path of dissolving the ego through surrender.

In Editing Process

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All Books about Sri Ramana Maharshi

Biography

Michael Barnett was a British spiritual teacher and author whose work pointed unwaveringly to the living presence beyond the personal self. After his time with Osho, where he was known as Somendra, he stepped out on his own, founding The Wild Goose Company and later OneLife. His path moved from talk to transmission—an immediate, palpable alignment with universal energy that quiets the mind and opens the heart. Unaffiliated with any fixed lineage, Michael spoke from direct experience, cutting through spiritual strategies with disarming humor and simplicity. His meetings were less instruction than encounter: shared silence, an eye gaze, a light touch—ordinary gestures that opened an extraordinary field. Rather than perfecting the “me,” he invited a relaxation into spacious awareness, where inside and outside dissolve as one. From the 1980s onward he offered gatherings and retreats across Europe and beyond, alongside numerous books and recordings. His core message is strong and practical: what you are is already whole and free—the unmoving space from which all movement arises. Rest there, and let life act by itself.

Relax the ‘me’; the field takes care of the rest – Michael Barnett

“An ordinary moment opens an extraordinary door.” –Michael Barnett

Michael Barnett