Easwaran on Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ: Talk 25
Posted on May 30, 2011 by | Add Comment
This is the 25th in a long series of talks Eknath Easwaran gave on The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. In this talk Easwaran continues to read and discuss Book 2, Chapter 9, “Of the Want of All Comfort.”
For previous talks, see Easwaran on Thomas a Kempis, under Categories.
Note that all of the talks in this series are available for download from our store. The series is described on this page.
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Learn to Meditate: New Free Online Course
Posted on May 27, 2011 by | Read 7 Comments | Add Comment
Are you interested in meditation, but not sure how to start? Or do you know someone else who would like a clear, easy-to-use introduction?
If so, take a look at our new, self-paced, online course “Learn to Meditate on a Passage.” It’s free of charge, with no need to register or sign up. If you have been meditating but have been slipping a bit of late, this course offers an excellent opportunity to give your practice a boost!
Learn to Meditate on a Passage free online course
The highlights of the course are the short video extracts from talks that Easwaran gave to students over time. He taught meditation for more than forty years, and through his videos he continues to share his enthusiasm with us right now.
“The practice of meditation has been described marvelously as taking our evolution into our own hands,” he writes. You’ll find meditation tips that are valuable reminders for anyone who is practicing passage meditation, with detailed questions and answers, points to reflect on, and short readings.
Find out for yourself the benefits of Easwaran’s universal method of passage meditation, and many meditators around the world will be with you in spirit!
If you’d like to contact us with feedback on the new online program please write in the comment box or email us at info@easwaran.org. We’re always pleased to hear from you.
My Favorite Passage: “Unshakable Faith” to ground me in the moment
Posted on May 25, 2011 by | Add Comment
Do you find yourself troubled by worries or regrets? If so, you might like to see the passage that Candace uses to keep herself firmly in the present.
“My favorite passage of late has been ‘Unshakable Faith.’ I often use the line ‘Let nothing of the past or the future disturb you.’ This line really squelches those between-the-ears trips to the worrisome future or regretful past and grounds me in the moment. For me it is a very powerful and useful direction or statement.”
Here’s the passage, by Swami Ramdas, a mystic whom Easwaran and Christine visited when they were in India:
Unshakable Faith
Unshakable faith in God and His will:
Nothing short of this.
Take thorough refuge in Him.
Give up all fears,
All anxieties, all doubts,
All thoughts of weakness.
You have put yourself under the guidance and control
Of an all-powerful being.
Let Him do what he pleases with you.
Give up I and mine. Make no plans.
Let nothing of the past or future disturb you.
God is the sole doer and you are His child, His servant.
Your I and mine has no existence. It is all he, He alone.
Submit, resign, surrender yourself to Him.
Be always cheerful, peaceful, and blissful. In this state
You will always remain. This is your goal.
God is always in you and you always in Him.
He and you are one. This is the truth.- Swami Ramdas
Swami Ramdas (1884 – 1963) was born in Kerala, South India, and led an ordinary life as a householder and textile technician until, plagued by episodes of doubt and idleness, he was initiated by his father into the use of a mantram – the repetition with deep devotion of the name of God, whom he called Rama. The practice transformed his life: he became a pilgrim, accepting joyfully and with no little humor whatever befell him. This passage is from Poems, by Swami Ramdas (Anandashram, India, 1984).
Thanks, Candace, and if you’d like to comment on her choice, or if you have your own favorite passage that you’d like us to include in this series on the Timeless Wisdom blog, here’s how:
- Please choose a passage from one of Easwaran’s anthologies – either God Makes the Rivers to Flow, or Timeless Wisdom. If you don’t own these books, you can find many passages on our web site. (We recognize and respect the great inspiration from other spiritual writers, but for this blog we are requesting that you select a passage that has been explicitly chosen by Easwaran, as the mission of the www.easwaran.org web site is to publish Easwaran’s works.)
- Tell us why you particularly like this passage, and let us know if there’s a particular line, or stanza in a long passage, that appeals to you. You can give us your reason in just one sentence, or write more if you like.
- Contact us with your passage choice in one of two ways. You can write a comment below this post, or below any of the “favorite passage” posts, with the title of your passage and a brief reason for your choice. We’ll then reproduce your comment, with the complete passage in a subsequent post.
Or, if you’d like to write more about your choice, email us at info@easwaran.org.
Either way we’ll be delighted to hear from you, and we’ll get back to you.
Using Right Speech
Posted on May 23, 2011 by | Read Comment | Add Comment
In this excerpt from a talk on right speech (one of the disciplines from the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path), Easwaran encourages us to try to focus on people’s positive qualities and to try not to dwell on their negative qualities. He mentions that one of the ways we can work on this is by being courteous to others in our everyday speech.
“The Buddha says that you can so learn the art of right speech, that you can say things that are pleasing to the ear and pleasing to the heart. It’s a very rare combination where we learn to please the ear and to please the heart.”
The complete talk, “Seeing Life Clearly,” can be found on DVD 30: The Spiritual Fight, available here.
Read about other talks here.
My Favorite Passage: “Living on Love” by a saint as strong as she was sweet
Posted on May 19, 2011 by | Read 2 Comments | Add Comment
Joe wrote: “My favorite passage is “Living on Love” by Therese of Lisieux. The passage appeals to me mainly out of my respect for Therese. Some people think she’s too sweet. I had one person tell me that she was so sweet he had to brush his teeth after reading her autobiography! But he missed the truth, which is that she’s one of the toughest people you’ll ever meet. There’s lots of proof of this in her “Last Conversations” book. I love the combination of her sweetness with her iron will and determination.
“A line from the passage that appeals to me is ‘Living on love is giving without limit, without claiming any wages here below. I give without counting, truly sure that when one loves, one does not keep count.’
“As a 40-year-old father of two, I’m in a phase in my life that requires a lot of work. This line helps me give a work effort more generously and to do it while complaining less.”
Here is an extract from “Living on Love” that includes Joe’s favorite line:
Living on Love
On the evening of love, speaking without parable,
Jesus said: “If anyone wishes to love me
All his life, let him keep my Word.
My Father and I will come to visit him
And we will make his heart our dwelling.
Coming to him, we shall love him always.
We want him to remain, filled with peace,
In our love...“
...
Living on Love is giving without limit
Without claiming any wages here below.
Ah! I give without counting, truly sure
That when one loves, one does not keep count!...
Overflowing with tenderness, I have given everything,
To his Divine Heart...lightly I run.
I have nothing left but my only wealth:
Living on Love.- Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Here’s a little more about Saint Thérèse, from the notes on pages 319 – 320 of Easwaran’s God Makes the Rivers to Flow:
“Thérèse Martin (1873 – 1897) was born into a profoundly devout Catholic family in which all five daughters entered religious life. She was admitted to a Carmelite convent in her hometown of Lisieux when she was fifteen and lived an utterly hidden existence there until her death at age twenty-four. These scant biographical details conceal an inner spiritual journey – narrated in her slender autobiography, The Story of a Soul – that places her among the great mystical pioneers in any era....
“Her last months were marked by the debilitating pain of tuberculosis and an interior trial of faith that continued till the end. All this she offered to Jesus as an act of love which asked for nothing but the capacity to keep on loving. ‘Living on Love,’ written when she had just received the first indications of her impending death and had been asked to begin work on her autobiography, conveys the full ardor of her soul. This passage is from The Poetry of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, translated by Donald Kinney...”
Thank you, Joe!
If you have a favorite passage that you’d like us to include in this series on the Timeless Wisdom blog, here’s how:
- Please choose a passage from one of Easwaran’s anthologies – either God Makes the Rivers to Flow, or Timeless Wisdom. If you don’t own these books, you can find many passages on our web site. (We recognize and respect the great inspiration from other spiritual writers, but for this blog we are requesting that you select a passage that has been explicitly chosen by Easwaran, as the mission of the www.easwaran.org web site is to publish Easwaran’s works.
- Tell us why you particularly like this passage, and let us know if there’s a particular line, or stanza in a long passage, that appeals to you. You can give us your reason in just one sentence, or write more if you like.
- Contact us with your passage choice in one of two ways. You can write a comment below this post, or below any of the “favorite passage” posts, with the title of your passage and a brief reason for your choice. We’ll then reproduce your comment, with the complete passage in a subsequent post.
Or, if you’d like to write more about your choice, email us at info@easwaran.org, with the address line: Timeless Wisdom blog – my favorite passage.
Either way we’ll be delighted to hear from you, and we’ll get back to you.
We’ll be publishing another favorite passage story soon.
The Buddha’s Birthday: May 17, the Wikipedia Home Page, and Twin Verses
Posted on May 17, 2011 by | Add Comment
This year, the day that is traditionally celebrated as the birthday of the Compassionate Buddha is May 17th. For several hours on May 17th, Wikipedia included a link on its home page to a new Wikipedia page that features Easwaran’s translation of the Dhammapada.
Easwaran’s translation of the Dhammapada
We can celebrate the Buddha’s birthday by reading an extract from one of the best-known chapters in The Dhammapada, titled “Twin Verses” in Easwaran’s translation:
Twin Verses
1 Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it.2 Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.
3 “He was angry with me, he attacked me, he defeated me, he robbed me” – those who dwell on such thoughts will never be free from hatred. 4 “He was angry with me, he attacked me, he defeated me, he robbed me” – those who do not dwell on such thoughts will surely become free from hatred.
5 For hatred can never put an end to hatred; love alone can. This is an unalterable law.
6 People forget that their lives will end soon. For those who remember, quarrels come to an end.
7 As a strong wind blows down a weak tree, Mara the Tempter overwhelms weak people who, eating too much and working too little, are caught in the frantic pursuit of pleasure. 8 As the strongest wind cannot shake a mountain, Mara cannot shake those who are self-disciplined and full of faith.
9 Those who put on the saffron robe without purifying the mind, who lack truthfulness and self-control, are not fit to wear the saffron robe.
10 But those who have purified their minds, who are endowed with truth and self-control, are truly fit to wear the saffron robe.
11 The deluded, imagining trivial things to be vital to life, follow their vain fancies and never attain the highest knowledge. 12 But the wise, knowing what is trivial and what is vital, set their thoughts on the supreme goal and attain the highest knowledge.
13 As rain seeps through an ill-thatched hut, passion will seep through an untrained mind.
14 As rain cannot seep through a well-thatched hut, passion cannot seep through a well-trained mind.15 Those who are selfish suffer here and hereafter; they suffer in both worlds from the results of their own actions. 16 But those who are selfless rejoice here and rejoice hereafter. They rejoice in both worlds from the results of their own actions.
17 The selfish person suffers here, and he suffers there; he suffers wherever he goes. He suffers as he broods over the damage he has done. He suffers more and more as he travels along the path of sorrow. 18 Those who are selfish suffer in this life and in the next. They suffer seeing the results of the evil they have done, and more suffering awaits them in the next life.
19 Those who recite many scriptures but fail to practice their teachings are like a cowherd counting another’s cows. They do not share in the joys of the spiritual life. 20 But those who know few scriptures yet practice their teachings, overcoming all lust, hatred, and delusion, live with a pure mind in the highest wisdom. They stand without external supports and share in the joys of the spiritual life.
Over the next few weeks we will be posting more extracts from Easwaran’s translation of the Dhammapada, in honor of one of the world’s best-loved teachers. Please feel free to write in to us by commenting on this post or by sending email to info@easwaran.org with the address line: Timeless Wisdom blog: Honoring the Buddha, to nominate your favourite extract from the Dhammapada — either from the translation itself, or from Easwaran’s introduction.
Thank you!
Easwaran on The Imitation of Christ: Talk 24
Posted on May 16, 2011 by | Add Comment
This is the 24th in a long series of talks Eknath Easwaran gave on The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. In this talk Easwaran reads and discusses Book 2, Chapter 9, “Of the Want of All Comfort.”
For previous talks, see Easwaran on Thomas a Kempis, under Categories.
Note that all of the talks in this series are available for download from our store. The series is described on this page.
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My Favorite Passage: “Let Nothing Upset You” and comments from three Easwaran readers
Posted on May 13, 2011 by | Add Comment
Teresa of Avila’s little “bookmark prayer,” found in her breviary after her death, is clearly a favorite of many of Easwaran’s readers.
Roy, from Australia, wrote: “Knowing that our daily lives are filled with problems that are ephemeral and that there is a whole dimension of God that is our refuge, that is available to us through meditation, is so comforting.
“In the sphere of ‘this too shall pass’ or ‘even bad times will end’ it is difficult to not get some peace and hope from these lines during difficult times.”
Let Nothing Upset You
Let nothing upset you;
Let nothing frighten you.
Everything is changing;
God alone is changeless.
Patience attains the goal.
Who has God lacks nothing;
God alone fills every need.- Saint Teresa of Avila
Colleen commented that she finds this passage to be very powerful, especially the line: “Who has God lacks nothing.”
And Sylvia, who at age 99 is possibly our most senior Easwaran reader, says that when she can’t sleep she recites this prayer to herself, and then “worries lessen, fears subside.”
Thank you all for contacting us!
Here’s a little more about Saint Teresa:
Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, born in Avila, Spain, in 1515, is one of the best-loved saints in the Catholic tradition and a spiritual figure of universal appeal. A vivacious, talented girl, she entered a Carmelite convent at eighteen and passed more than twenty years there in doubt and division before she was able to dedicate herself completely to God. After that, her life is one of intense practical activity – establishing convents, teaching, writing, traveling – centered in the deepest spirituality and inner peace. Her three books are classics of world mysticism.
We’ve been hearing from some of you that you’re finding these selections, and the comments that accompany them, very helpful. So please keep writing in!
If you have a favorite passage that you’d like us to include in this series on the Timeless Wisdom blog, here’s how:
- Please choose a passage from one of Easwaran’s anthologies – either God Makes the Rivers to Flow, or Timeless Wisdom. If you don’t own these books, you can find many passages on our web site. (We recognize and respect the great inspiration from other spiritual writers, but for this blog we are requesting that you select a passage that has been explicitly chosen by Easwaran, as the mission of the www.easwaran.org web site is to publish Easwaran’s works.
- Tell us why you particularly like this passage, and let us know if there’s a particular line, or stanza in a long passage, that appeals to you. You can give us your reason in just one sentence, or write more if you like.
- Contact us with your passage choice in one of two ways. You can write a comment below this post, or below any of the “favorite passage” posts, with the title of your passage and a brief reason for your choice. We’ll then reproduce your comment, with the complete passage in a subsequent post.
Or, if you’d like to write more about your choice, email us at info@easwaran.org, with the address line: Timeless Wisdom blog – my favorite passage.
Either way we’ll be delighted to hear from you, and we’ll get back to you.
Easwaran in India, 1963: An old letter, and the little selfish mouse
Posted on May 12, 2011 by | Read 9 Comments | Add Comment
Just recently we uncovered a remarkable letter dating from October 1963, that Easwaran wrote in Kotagiri, India, to one of his students in the West.
It’s easy enough to guess the question that prompted this gently humorous reply – and Easwaran’s wise answer can guide all of us reading this blog today, just as it must have guided those lucky recipients nearly forty years ago.
My dear ____,
Your loving letter arrived last evening and here is my reply. None of us would have come into this world if we had not a “deep-seated selfishness,” as you call it, in our consciousness. The sages of ancient India have given it the name of ahamkara or the principle of individuation by which each individual comes to consider himself or herself as separate from others. It will take us the tireless labor of our entire life to bring about the dissolution of this deep-seated selfishness known as the ego, and we must not get disappointed or even surprised when we see a selfish element in us as long as we are imprisoned in a physical body. What is much more important may be said to be our constant endeavor not to let this selfish element break out into action. So don’t scream if you see now and then a little selfish mouse scuttling across your consciousness!
The ego has a number of clever tricks up its sleeve, and one of them may be said to be to get us to dwell on our faults, factual or fancied. We are not helping to dissolve our ego when we try to probe into our drawbacks and self-deprecation is to be avoided as much as self-appreciation by all of us who are treading the spiritual path. . . .
With my deepest love to you both,
Yours ever,
EaswaranKotagiri, Nilgiris, India October 10, 1963
Next time we see that little selfish mouse we should have our mantrams ready and remember not to dwell on our drawbacks.
Did you like this letter as much as we did? If so, do write a comment in the box below, or email us at info@easwaran.org with the address line: Timeless Wisdom blog: The little selfish mouse. We’d love to hear from you!
My Favorite Passage: “Do Not Look with Fear” for faith and detachment in hard times
Posted on May 10, 2011 by | Read Comment | Add Comment
Peter wrote in with the following story from a Setu retreat for seniors. His comment opens with the page number for this passage in our 2003 and 2010 editions of God Makes the Rivers to Flow.
“Page 207! That’s all that needs to be said among us Setu folks to remind ourselves of the miracle we know as the passage of St. Francis de Sales, ‘Do Not Look with Fear.’
“In order to gain detachment from some of the self-destructive behavior our grown children were going through at the time of a Setu retreat some years ago, many of us decided to take that passage into our daily meditation and really learn how to NOT ‘anticipate what will happen tomorrow.’
“At the following Setu retreat six months later we compared notes, and guess what? We had gotten better...and so had the kids!”
Do Not Look with Fear
Do not look with fear
on the changes and chances of this life;
rather look to them with full faith that as they arise,
God — whose you are — will deliver you out of them.He has kept you hitherto.
Do not but hold fast to His dear hand,
and he will lead you safely through all things;
and when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms.Do not anticipate what will happen tomorrow.
The same everlasting Father who cares for you today
will take care of you tomorrow and every day.
Either He will shield you from suffering or
He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts
And imaginations.- St. Francis de Sales
Thanks, Peter! These passages have such a ring of authenticity about them – not just spiritually, but personally, too. Saint Francis de Sales had to overcome problems in his own life, and perhaps that is why this particular text is such a wonderful source of strength in hard times.
Here’s an extract from the notes on this mystic at the back of God Makes the Rivers to Flow:
“This French Catholic saint, (1567 – 1622), a Bishop of Geneva, was noted for his sermons to ordinary people urging the pursuit of sanctity amid worldly responsibilities… A period of profound despair in his early years – which he overcame through prayer – deepened an already compassionate outlook. “Do Not Look with Fear” is a widely popular distillation of a chapter in his An Introduction to the Divine Life.”
We’ve been hearing from some of you that you’re finding these selections, and the comments that accompany them, very helpful. So please keep writing in!
If you have a favorite passage that you’d like us to include in this series on the Timeless Wisdom blog, here’s how:
- Please choose a passage from one of Easwaran’s anthologies – either God Makes the Rivers to Flow, or Timeless Wisdom. If you don’t own these books, you can find many passages on our web site. (We recognize and respect the great inspiration from other spiritual writers, but for this blog we are requesting that you select a passage that has been explicitly chosen by Easwaran, as the mission of the www.easwaran.org web site is to publish Easwaran’s works.
- Tell us why you particularly like this passage, and let us know if there’s a particular line, or stanza in a long passage, that appeals to you. You can give us your reason in just one sentence, or write more if you like.
- Contact us with your passage choice in one of two ways. You can write a comment below this post, or below any of the “favorite passage” posts, with the title of your passage and a brief reason for your choice. We’ll then reproduce your comment, with the complete passage in a subsequent post.
Or, if you’d like to write more about your choice, email us at info@easwaran.org, with the address line: Timeless Wisdom blog – my favorite passage.
Either way we’ll be delighted to hear from you, and we’ll get back to you.
We’ll publish another favorite passage story on Friday.
