Meditation is training the

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1 A Journal for Spiritual Living Published by the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation & Nilgiri Press Winter 2011 Volume 22, Number 4 Wisdom Through Meditation By Eknath Easwaran Meditation is training the mind: teaching attention to stay on a single focus until the mind becomes as concentrated as a laser, able to penetrate deep into consciousness without effort. This kind of absorption is not as alien as it may sound. All of us get absorbed in a hobby or activity we enjoy greatly so absorbed that we don t hear the cars outside or the dog barking or a call to dinner; we forget financial and family problems; we may even forget our body and our surroundings. At such times we are completely happy, though we may be aware of it only afterwards. Again, everybody gets concentrated when going through an emotional upheaval. That s why we can t attend to things outside very easily, can t pay attention to other people. That is what concentration does when it is compulsive. These are important clues. The reason we are happy, the Gita would say, is that we have forgotten ourselves if only for a short time, while we hold the outside world at bay. And the reason we are miserable in an emotional crisis is that we can t get our attention off ourselves; all we can think about is our problems. What we do in meditation is free attention from all conditioning so that we can direct it where we choose, and then turn it inwards so that instead of getting absorbed in what we like or caught in what we dislike, we lead attention deeper and deeper until it becomes absorbed in the Self: Blue Mountain ESTABLISHED BY EKNATH EASWARAN FOR PRESENTING HIS EIGHT-POINT PROGRAM OF PASSAGE MEDITATION Little by little, through patience and repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self. Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self. (6:25 26) Until we learn this art, however, the problem with attention is that we have virtually no control over it. The mind is like a television set that does whatever it wants. We are compelled to watch what it puts before us; it chooses its own channels and virtually never turns itself off. And we say, Isn t that wonderful? Our TV is spontaneous. Why should we try to control it? Continued on page 4 ek H W R has been called one of the foremost teachers of medi ta tion in our times. From his arrival in the United States in 1959 on the Fulbright ex change program until his passing in the fall of 1999, he taught to modern men and women his eightpoint program, based on his unique method of meditation on memorized inspirational passages from the world s great religions. Many thousands of people representing the full range of cultural and religious backgrounds attest to the bene fits of his teaching. He continues to teach through his thirty books on spiri tual living over a million copies in print in twenty-seven languages and through the ongoing programs and publica tions of the organi zation he founded in 1961 to carry on his work: the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation and its publishing arm, Nilgiri Press. To celebrate our fiftieth year, we have selected a photo of Easwaran from our archives, one of the few taken before his return to India in 1962.

2 BLUE MOUNTAIN blue mountain The quarterly journal of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation Winter by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, Inc. founder Sri Eknath Easwaran board of trustees Christine Easwaran Nick Harvey Sultana Harvey Diana Lightman Terry Morrison Beth Ann O Connell blue mountain executive editor Christine Easwaran Post Office Box 256 Tomales, ca Telephone Facsimile info@easwaran.org Web Printed on recycled paper The Blue Mountain Center depends on donations to carry on its work. Every gift, large or small, is much appreciated and put to good use. The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation is a 501(c)(3) California nonprofit corporation. Contributions to the Center are deductible from state and federal income tax. 1 Wisdom Through Meditation In this excerpt from Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, Easwaran describes meditation as an adventure requiring determination and discipline, and explains that his method of meditation is for going beyond the surface levels of the mind into the depths where wisdom can be found. 9 Talks on the Gita from 1961 These selections from our archives are taken from talks Easwaran gave in 1961 on the Bhagavad Gita. 10 Fiftieth Anniversary of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation Two pages from our scrapbook showing scenes of BMCM s beginnings in Berkeley in 1961, and 2011 events at our present headquarters in Tomales. 12 A Young Adult from India Finds a Meditation Practice in the US Arti knew that spiritual fellowship was missing in her practice, which was one motivation for attending a passage meditation retreat. Here, she shares with us the other benefits she was happy to find as well. The Blue Mountain journal is free. Postage costs apply for delivery outside the US. For a two-year subscription to Canada or Mexico the cost is $15. For all other countries the two-year subscription cost is $25. Please visit our Website to sign up to receive the journal. 2 Blue Mountain Center of Meditation The Center offers instruction in meditation and allied living skills, following the eight-point program of passage meditation developed by Sri Eknath Easwaran. The approach is nondenominational, nonsectarian, and free from dogma and ritual. It can be used within each person s own cultural and religious background to relieve stress, heal relationships, release deeper resources, and realize one s highest potential. Passage Meditation: An Eight-Point Program 1. meditation on a passage Silent repetition in the mind of memorized inspirational passages from the world s great religions. Practiced for one-half hour each morning. 2. repetition of a mantram Silent repetition in the mind of a Holy Name or a hallowed phrase from one of the world s great religions. Practiced whenever possible throughout the day or night. 3. slowing down Setting priorities and re duc ing the stress and friction caused by hurry. 4. one-pointed attention Giving full concentration to the matter at hand. 5. training the senses Overcoming conditioned habits and learning to enjoy what is beneficial. 6. putting others first Gaining freedom from selfishness and separateness; finding joy in helping others. 7. spiritual fellowship Spending time regularly with other passage meditators for mutual inspiration and support. 8. spiritual reading Drawing inspiration from writings by and about the world s great spiritual figures and from the scriptures of all religions. Eknath Easwaran Schooled in both Eastern and Western traditions, Eknath Easwaran took to the spiritual life amidst a successful career in India as a professor of English literature, a writer, and a lecturer. After coming to the University of California, Berkeley, on the Fulbright exchange program, he established the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in Northern California in His 1968 Berkeley class is believed to be the first accredited course in meditation at any Western uni versity. His deep personal experience and his love for his students have made the ancient art of meditation accessible to those who hold jobs and lead active lives among friends and family.

3 PUBLISHER S PAGE A Timeless Teacher Christine Easwaran The year 2011 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. Throughout 1961 Sri Easwaran gave talks on the perennial philosophy of India to twenty or thirty people six nights a week in the large front rooms of a gracious old house a few blocks north of the University of California campus in Berkeley. The very responsive audiences included a few students and a sprinkling of retired people, but mostly middle-aged men and women seeking spiritual meaning in life. Although Easwaran, a natural, charismatic teacher, had wide experience teaching academic subjects to students in Indian universities, this was his first opportunity to share the subjects closest to his heart: meditation and the scriptures of ancient India. He loved the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and Patanjali for their beauty and their philosophy but mostly because they gave him a vehicle for introducing meditation; he had a burning desire to share the profound experience that had come to him and of which the ancient seers spoke so eloquently. As a teacher, it had been natural for him to formulate his method, although it wasn t until later, in correspondence from India, that it became an eightpoint program. It was instructive to watch Easwaran refine this program over the years. One of the first things he did on arriving in the US, for example, was add a point that seemed unnecessary in India: Slowing Down. Later, on returning to Berkeley in 1966 and seeing the counterculture in full swing, he had to caution his students not to mix this method of meditation with other methods, or with mind-altering drugs. By the 1980s, when our retreats brought students to him from around the country and even across the seas, his seventh point Satsang, or Spiritual Fellowship came to mean regular association with others following his eight-point program and meditating along the same lines. And of course his outpouring of books gave richer meaning to the last point, Spiritual Reading. But these were all refinements: the method itself, as described in the book now called Passage Meditation, has remained the same, flexible, universal, and durable enough, he liked to say, to serve a thousand years. In 1960, perhaps partly influenced by his training in law school, but more likely because of friends in the legal profession in our audience, Easwaran found it advisable to organize and incorporate the work we were doing in order to encourage groups to meet together on a regular basis for meditation and the reading of the scriptures even after he returned to India. I remember well the evening in early December of 1961 when we proudly announced our formal status as a taxexempt nonprofit organization in the state of California. No longer am I The man I used to be; For I have plucked the fruit Of this precious tree of life. The Fruit of the Tree kabir Looking back, it is interesting to observe that two of the initial members present at that first formal meeting live in our ashram today and participate in the work of the BMCM. On pages you ll find a few photos from our scrapbook, from 1961 and 2011, giving a brief glimpse of our history from then till now. Finally, on this, the fiftieth anniversary of Easwaran s work in this country, we are happy to announce the publication of Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, drawn from material gathered in the last years of his life from his talks on the scripture that had been so dear to his heart and was a guidebook for daily life from his youth. A few excerpts from talks on the Gita in 1961 show that his essential message never wavered; but as he told us, his understanding of the Gita deepened year by year, and his last editorial meeting was to plan a distillation of the Gita s message from the vantage of pure mysticism and half a century of dedicated practice. Essence of the Bhagavad Gita is the result: the first book in our next round of publishing activity, which aims to fulfill Easwaran s desire to complete important works-inprogress that round out his contribution as a master teacher. Christine Easwaran For the Board of Trustees Go deeper and deeper in meditation To reach the seabed of consciousness. Through the blessing of my teacher I have passed beyond the land of death.

4 COMMENTARY Continued from page 1 The supreme adventure Mastering the mind is an adventure that should appeal to anyone with daring who wants to make a contribution to life. Meditation is an extremely difficult discipline; it cannot be mastered easily or in a short time. How many years does it take to become a world-class athlete or pianist or ballerina? It is the same story with meditation: it calls for sustained enthusiasm, unflagging initiative, and the capacity to keep meeting higher challenges with greater endurance. To illustrate with a bit of science fiction, I have read that when Einstein was a boy, he wanted to ride on a wave of light. I ve always enjoyed the thought of little Albert straddling a beam of light as if it were a Harley- Davidson, racing along at a hundred and eighty-six thousand miles a second. Similarly, we can imagine meditation as riding on a wave of thought from the surface level of awareness right through the preconscious and the personal unconscious and then breaking into the collective unconscious, leaping chasm after chasm until coming to rest on the very seabed of the unconscious with the mind completely still. But this isn t really science fiction. It has been done, and the adventure is timeless, open to everyone today as it was thousands of years ago. No adventure worth the name is without dangers, and meditation is no exception. I used to say this right at the outset when teaching meditation on the Berkeley campus. One student who had all the requisite daring came and asked if he could attend my class. I had heard reports about him from his friends, so I warned him, Yes, you will be able to learn to meditate. But I don t think you will be able to stay with it. I knew the division in his consciousness. When he reached a critical juncture in meditation and had to choose whether to resist his problems or hold on to them, he stopped meditating and left town. One more requisite for meditation should be mentioned: determination. St. Teresa put this right at the top of her list, and Sri Ramana Maharshi was partial to his British disciples because of what he called their bulldog resolve to stick it out whatever happens. Soon after I came to this country, an international team of mountain climbers set out to scale Mount Everest. As differences emerged, people from various countries started falling out with each other, and one by one they withdrew from the expedition before they were halfway up. The only two who stayed on were the British. This is the spirit that is required in meditation too, not for conquering mountains but for mastering the mind. Grasshopper minds The purpose of meditation is to make the mind what the Gita calls one-pointed : completely focused on a single point. Most of us have grasshopper minds, constantly jumping from subject to subject, from worry to worry, from fear to fear. That s the nature of the mind. Our job is to teach attention to remain on a single focus, not in the world outside but within consciousness, which will lead it to dwell on the Self : Those who aspire to the state of yoga should seek the Self in inner solitude through meditation. With body and mind controlled they should constantly practice one- 4 pointedness, free from expectations and attachment to material possessions. (6:10) Verse after verse like this tells us that meditation by itself is not enough. We can t train attention in meditation and then let the mind do as it likes the rest of the day. Imagine training a puppy that way! Training the mind is an all-day job, and all classical methods of meditation are part of a set of Our new book, excerpted here, has been produced by Eknath Easwaran s senior editors, longtime students who have worked closely with him since he began his first book in 1970 and who were charged by him with continuing to compile his books from transcripts of his talks after his passing. In his last editorial planning meeting, in 1998, Easwaran gave instructions about the books in progress that he wanted completed from his unpublished transcripts, outlines, and notes. Essence of the Bhagavad Gita is the first of those posthumous projects to be published. The material fell into his original plan surprisingly well evidence of the profound coherence of his teaching, which deepened over decades but never changed focus. Each page is infused with the passion of a man who spent his life trying to live out what the Gita means and convey to others what he learned. In this book Easwaran presents the Gita not as a manual for practice, as he did in his Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, but as a classic of what he called world mysticism : the belief, found in all major religions, that there is a changeless reality underlying the world of change, which can be experienced directly through the practice of spiritual disciplines. Essence of the Bhagavad Gita does not follow chapter and verse but threads its way through the Gita s universal themes. Read this supportive disciplines in Sanskrit, sadhana to be followed during the day. These disciplines are universal: in addition to meditation, they include keeping the mind one-pointed, reading the scriptures, protecting the senses from unnecessary stimulation, reducing self-will, voluntary simplicity, and selfless service. The program I follow has eight such points; it is essentially based on the regular practice of meditation and expresses itself in selfless service.

5 COMMENTARY You may remember my saying earlier that the movement of the mind is the mind. When the mind stays on a single focus and does not wander, so that the flow of attention is as smooth and unbroken as oil poured from one vessel into another, the activity of the mind quietly dissolves and the mind becomes still, as limpid and transparent as the still waters of a crystal-clear lake. This is the goal of meditation: way, patterns emerge that offer fresh ways of viewing current problems from a timeless perspective, while giving landmarks to watch for as we make our way through the Gita text. The overriding theme here is unity. Life is an indivisible whole, with its apparent diversity due to the level of consciousness of the observer. Indian religion calls this irreducible unity sanatana dharma, the eternal law. The practical theme of the Gita is how to live in harmony with this deep unity, which entails the resolution of conflict in all senses and at all levels within oneself, with others, between groups and nations, with our natural environment all of which is what the Gita means by yoga. In this book, Easwaran like the Gita itself moves from Arjuna s crisis to a chapter presenting these fundamental ideas and then, chapter by chapter, explores what yoga and the unification of consciousness mean, from the surface level of behavior to the deepest levels of the unconscious. In Easwaran s hands, this is not dry philosophy. Each page is infused with the passion of a man who spent his life trying to live out what the Gita means and convey to others what he learned. The result is something rare and precious: the legacy of a gifted teacher sharing a lifetime s immersion in a sacred text, conveyed in intimate sessions with some of his closest students. It is a privilege to pass such a work on to Easwaran s readers around the world. With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with the Self within, an aspirant attains nirvana, the state of abiding joy and peace in me.... Through constant effort, aspirants learn to withdraw the mind from selfish cravings and absorb it in the Self. Thus they attain the state of yoga. (6:15, 18) It is significant that here (and elsewhere) the Gita uses the same word that the Buddha chose: nirvana, literally the blowing-out or extinction of all self-centered thought. I like to put this positively: it is in forgetting our small self that we awaken to our real Self, in which we and others are one. Training attention The method of meditation I follow is inspired by the passage from the Bhagavad Gita that I just quoted. I will draw my illustrations from this method since it is the one I know and teach, but these comments should apply equally well to any other classical method that follows the Gita s guidelines. My approach uses universal passages from the scriptures or the world s great mystics as a focus, rather than something external, so that attention is drawn deep inwards, away from the world of the senses. To be appropriate for meditation, such passages should be positive, practical, inspiring, and universal. And they should express our highest ideals, because we become what we meditate on. My own first choices were from the Gita, but wisdom is universal, and I have found it helpful to have a repertoire of passages with universal appeal drawn from all the great religions. Meditation is a skill, not a ritual; it belongs to no religion and has nothing to do with doctrines or metaphysics or theology. Meditation involves sitting quietly while keeping attention on your chosen focus and not letting it wander. In the method I follow, this means going 5 slowly through the words of a passage such as the second chapter of the Gita, trying to give full attention to each word or phrase. For a long time, it is inevitable that distractions will come in; that is the nature of the mind. It has got to keep moving, from thought to thought, from desire to desire, from feeling to feeling, from memory to memory; that is simply the way it works. We are trying to teach it to stay put, but the problem is that resisting distractions like these as they arise simply gives them more attention and makes them stronger. A more effective strategy is simple: instead of resisting distractions, just give more attention to what you are meditating on. It is almost like training a dog: you bring it back, calmly and patiently, until it learns. Distractions Actually, in meditation, any kind of discursive thinking is a distraction. No matter what the mind turns to, it is not staying where we put it; it is doing what it wants instead. We call this thinking, but most of the time it is just yak-yak-yakking, the mind talking to itself. As your mind becomes onepointed, you will find this kind of thing quite bothersome. For me, this has gone to such an extent that when I go to the movie theater, I like to sit far away from people who bring in those big tubs of popcorn; it reminds me of the mind, munching, munching, munching all the time. We had a woman in our village who had a genius for discursive thinking. She would talk without a break, jumping from one subject to another almost sentence by sentence a hundred subjects in the course of one hour. She would ask my mother, Do you know what happened to Raman? and by the time my mother could say, No, what? she would be talking about Shankaran instead. It was an extreme case of a grasshopper mind. In most Continued on next page

6 COMMENTARY Continued from previous page of us this is not so obvious because it doesn t spill over into speech, but once we start meditating and glimpse what the mind is really up to, we are likely to discover that our thoughts too are jumping all over the place. In meditation, therefore, whenever your mind wanders away to the movie theater or the swimming pool or the restaurant or the boutique don t get angry; just tap your mind on the shoulder and say, Please come back. Every time. It s a dull, difficult discipline. The mind may wander thirty times in thirty minutes a very conservative estimate. But even a little practice of this during meditation brings immediate benefits during the rest of the day. Many problems that we take for granted are not really necessary; they arise from attention getting distracted and caught without our consent. For example, all of us are familiar with the toll negative memories can take. When they come up, they simply won t let us alone. They claim our attention, and dwelling on them only makes them stronger. The mind gets upset until finally the body begins to suffer. But if you can turn attention away, just as you do in meditation, the memory will gradually lose its emotional charge. The memory itself is not lost; it simply loses its compulsive hold on you. Again, when a friend has offended you, it is not your friend that causes the agitation; it is dwelling on what happened. Attention is caught, and the mind cannot stop thinking about it. When you go to the theater, you can t pay attention to the film. When you go to bed, you can t stop thinking about what happened, so you toss and turn all night. Dwelling on resentment or hostility or any other negative emotion magnifies it; the answer is to turn attention away. One benefit of this deserves special mention. I said earlier that happiness comes when we forget ourselves, and misery when we can t think about anybody else. This is essentially a problem of attention getting trapped. One of the greatest benefits of meditation is that it releases the precious faculty of redirecting our love and attention from our little selves so it can flow towards other people. It s an exhilarating experience, because most of us have no idea the capacity for love we have imprisoned. Stay in the driver s seat You can get a glimpse of how powerful a distracted mind can be by seeing how it can affect others. Haven t you seen people who, when something happens to them, take it out on their partner, their children, their colleagues, even their dog? All right, the Gita would say, you had a mishap, but confine it to your own lane. Why weave off into other people s lanes and cause collisions there too? When I am out on the freeway, I sometimes see a driver weaving all over the road. The mind drives like that, darting from lane to lane for no apparent reason. In meditation, when you start to see what the mind does when it thinks no one is looking, it s almost like watching one of those Hollywood chase scenes where cars careen through traffic at breakneck speed until they jump off the road and crash into a tree. Why should we let ourselves be driven about like that? Meditation is getting behind the wheel and getting the mind under control. At first we may not be able to stay in the same lane all the time; we still get angry or afraid. But instead of getting really angry, we ll get half angry instead of throwing things, we ll be able to take them up, make a gesture, and then put them down. It s a beginning. Gradually we reach the point where the mind is tuned like a Ferrari and completely under our control. Then we set out for our destination and cruise along in one lane unbroken, effortless concentration. 6 Distractions may be weaving about, trying to get our attention, but that doesn t mean we have to look. Sometimes, even in the early years, waves of emotion can sweep over us in meditation. This too is a distraction: not always negative, but a distraction nevertheless. We are letting the mind grab the wheel. The emotion might be fear; it might be a profound catharsis that brings a flood of tears. At other times a great wave of love or gratitude may threaten to overwhelm us. Whatever comes, that is the time to concentrate more and not pay attention to the emotion by trying to analyze it or bask in it, which Catherine of Siena compares with a bee caught in its own honey. When we are able to concentrate even more on the passage during a wave of emotion, concentration is strengthened enormously, bringing great benefits during the rest of the day and protecting us from the inevitable emotional plunge when the mind swings the other way. Deeper meditation Training the mind like this in meditation calls for immense patience, but with practice, the great day will come when the mind does not wander at all. Then you will be able to give complete attention to anything you choose, which is the mark of genius in any field. Not only that, it is the secret of effective work and lasting personal relationships. With people, at work, everywhere, by not letting the mind get pulled and pushed about by circumstances, you are making yourself unshakable less and less fickle, and therefore more and more real, because what is real never changes. When concentration is complete like this, personal sorrow comes to an end: But when you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you live in the wisdom of the Self. (2:64 65)

7 COMMENTARY Distractions often seem small, but they pack tremendous power. All that energy is consolidated and harnessed as the mind becomes one-pointed. To get a sense of what power the mind has, when you have a powerful sexual desire, just try to sit down and write an essay on the benefits of yoga. The same test is equally effective with anger or fear. If you find it difficult to control a strong sexual drive even for a minute, imagine the power that can flow into your hands as your meditation deepens. It takes a while, of course, even to get below the surface of consciousness in meditation. One of the surest signs that this is happening is a confidence that your life is coming under your control, that circumstances can no longer hold you hostage. This brings a wave of hope which time and practice will turn to certitude. It is not that you expect life to go your way, but you know that in some deep sense, as Julian of Norwich said beautifully, All shall be well. All manner of thing shall be well. Yet challenges do come. When you reach a certain level in meditation, for example, there is a real danger that you will encourage your mind to wander. Sri Ramakrishna, comparing meditation with flying a kite, calls this letting go of the string, which can happen when we come across something in consciousness that we don t want to face. For some people, the easiest way of resisting going deeper in meditation is simply to fall asleep. Others get so restless in meditation that even if mentally they are making a good effort, physically all that effort is neutralized. If you are able to keep your body reasonably still for half an hour of meditation, it s a good sign that the mind is becoming still as well, which means that meditation is deepening. After some years of practice, when you have been making good progress, you reach the top of a peak thinking that you have reached the goal and everything is finished. Then you look and see an abyss, beyond which rises an even higher peak. Now how do you proceed? There is no path, not even any ground to walk on; there is nothing you can do. Eventually there is no choice but to leap, and however brave you may be, if there is a fear lurking in your mind at that time, consciousness will split and you won t be able to make it. Fortunately, simply reaching this point means that you do have the capacity to make the leap. When the mind is still In the early stages of meditation, concentration requires effort because so much attention is still on the activities of the day. You have got to sweep all that under the rug and then put the broom away, which takes a bit of time. Eventually, however, as your desires get completely unified, you reach a stage where no more effort is necessary. I don t know how to explain that; you can call it effortless effort. It isn t even concentration; it has gone beyond concentration because you are not really there. Attention is unbroken, which means there is really no movement at all: When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place. In the still mind, in the depths of meditation, the Self reveals itself. (6:19 20) It s beautiful poetry. Look at the flame of a candle unruffled by the slightest movement of air; it will burn like a hot gem. At this point, with concentration one-pointed, the mind is almost completely still. Some kind of whispering does go on in the corners of consciousness, but the chattering that passed for thinking has grown quiet. This brings such profound peace in your heart that it spreads to everyone 7 around you. The highest happiness comes to you happiness that cannot be captured; it comes to you unbidden. With no agitation in your mind, you are always able to give. And there is a loveliness about your life, your face, your eyes, all reflecting the peace in the depths of consciousness. At this depth in meditation, your mind is so concentrated that there is hardly any movement. Instead of chatter, wisdom wells up that needs no words. There is no compulsion, no conditioning, just a continuous stream of pure awareness. All consciousness has been withdrawn from the senses into the mind, so the eyes and ears don t register; the sensory world has been left behind. You are at the level of pure energy, the same energy that flows through all of life, untouched by time, by age, by death. It is by repeating this experience over and over again that you come to realize the words of the Gita: You were never born; you will never die. You have never changed; you can never change. Unborn, eternal, immutable, immemorial, you do not die when the body dies. (2:20) Once you realize this truth, the Gita says, there is nothing more the world can offer. You cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow. This is yoga, which breaks the connection with suffering. Perhaps the most amazing development in the final stages of meditation is the disappearance of the barrier between the world within and the world without, which means the barrier between yourself and others has fallen. Once that barrier falls, how can you be jealous? How can you be afraid? How can you be angry? In the language of the Gita, you will be seeing everyone in yourself and seeing yourself in all, which is the consummation of unconditioned love. d

8 TALKS ON THE GITA From talks on the Gita given by Easwaran in 1961 We are beginning our study of the Bhagavad Gita with the first chapter, which provides the historical background, the backdrop for the great dialogue that is to take place between Krishna and Arjuna. The title Bhagavad Gita means The Song of the Lord. Bhagavan is Lord, and Gita is song, and this is the song that can be heard by all of us, through the practice of meditation, if we are able to listen to the still, small voice within. Now, this dialogue does not take place outside; it takes place within us. Gandhi pointed out that the battle that came to pass in the Gita is the battle that takes place within every one of us from the day we are born to the day we die. There is a place called Kurukshetra, some hundred miles north of Delhi where the Gita battle is said to have taken place many centuries before the birth of Christ. That is the historical background, but, as Gandhi pointed out, the significant battleground is one s own body and one s own mind, where the conflict between the higher self and the lower self rages fiercely throughout our life. Here the Hindu concept of evolution throws brilliant light on this battle. The Hindu sages maintain that evolution is the upward journey of the lowest form of matter through a spiral extending over billions of years into the highest form, which is you and me. But though we may be the roof and crown of creation, as the poet calls us, we still bear the imprint of the lower levels from which we have arisen. Therefore, in our own daily life this battle rages. Any time we retaliate whether the wrong inflicted on us is fancied or factual does not matter the moment we return hatred for hatred, anger for anger, violence for violence, we have gone back to a lower level. It is possible for all of us to choose either to take this step back in evolution or to move higher and higher by transforming our anger, our hatred, and the violence that rages in our heart. A series of photos taken of Easwaran in his early days in the US, before his return to India in When Gandhi was asked what the source of his power was, he replied that this source of 8 spiritual power is in every one of us. But to free this power we have to eliminate the forces of personal ambition, greed, malice, and fear that work against us. In the Gita there is a beautiful verse: Neither agitated by grief nor hankering after pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and anger. Established in meditation, they are truly wise. If any person can conquer passion, fear, and anger, his or her power becomes limitless. Here again another terrifying truth is being hinted at that in most human lives there is great confusion because our bitter conflicts are often with those who are dear to us. Let us look at the modern world today. I don t think the Berlin crisis is as terrifying as the conflicts that can arise between husband and wife, mother and child, brother and sister. The most serious wars are often

9 TALKS ON THE GITA fought between those who are emotionally involved, between those who are near and dear. You re fighting with one hand, and you re embracing with the other, and this is what tears you asunder. Arjuna is asking that question, which is vital to all of us, because this is a situation that every one of us must face. guide our daily life. Gandhi called the Gita his spiritual reference book, and this is how I regard the Gita as a practical manual on the art of living. There is a simple Sanskrit proverb that says life is for living it is deceptively simple. In other words, life is neither for making money, nor for achieving success, nor for attaining fame. It is for the purpose of living so that we may fulfill the supreme aim of life, which is to know God experientially within our consciousness. myself with the spirit within me that is immortal, infinite, and immutable, then I will always be secure because I am identifying myself with something that does not change. This is the way we can banish our insecurity and become completely secure. The moment a person becomes secure, by the very fact of his existence he can make others secure. On the contrary, any person who is insecure, the moment he or she comes within the orbit of another person who is insecure, both will become more and more insecure. Insecurity produces more insecurity just as security produces more security. I n the Gita, Arjuna and Krishna represent the lower self and the higher Self in each of us. The lower self asks the higher Self, How shall I win this battle? How shall I ally myself with the divine consciousness and attain the perfection that is my right and my legacy? Lord Krishna, who is the personal god, by whatever name you call him you can call him Jesus or the Buddha or Shiva or Rama or the Divine Mother, it does not matter gives practical instruction on how this can be done. This is not a philosophical treatise at all. It is a practical manual to Krishna is also the changeless, immortal Self within, here called Purusha. My body is said to be prakriti, primordial matter, the nature of which is to change. But the Purusha that is within me, that is my real I, the divine spark, the Self, the eternal one beyond birth, beyond death, beyond change. If through meditation I learn to break through the wrong identification with the body and mind and begin to identify 9 Krishna is within us. Christ is within us. But they are hidden, covered by two curtains. The first curtain is the covering of the senses, and we can remove this curtain by training the senses not negating them but governing them. The second curtain is the sense of ego I, me, and mine. The ego demands that I use everybody and everything for my satisfaction. If this curtain also falls, then Krishna, or the Christ, stands revealed within the consciousness of every one of us. d

10 1961 A visitor to Berkeley, California, in the year 1961 would have seen an orderly town of pleasant streets, many leading to the campus of the University of California. Berkeley was a vibrant university community with an international atmosphere, and the students, intent on their various fields of study, gave the town a character and personality all its own. Yet the peaceful impression was not the whole story, because 1961 was the height of the Cold War, and the big news events of the year were the inauguration of President Kennedy and the Berlin Wall crisis. The year also saw the resumption of nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, and Berkeley, with the Rad Lab up on the hill, was at the center of nuclear research. Maybe it wasn t such a quiet town after all. In any case, the early rumblings of the earthquake that we call the sixties were only three or four years in the future. Even in the early sixties, Berkeley was noted for attracting exceptional foreign students, brilliant scientists, and hopeful writers and artists. There were also many seeking a spiritual path or teacher. In just a few years time a wave of interest in spirituality would bring forth a wealth of teachers and meditation methods, but in 1961 interest in meditation spread mostly among small groups like the new Zen Center in San Francisco and the well-established Vedanta Society. Eknath Easwaran came to this Berkeley of seekers and students, professors and artists, housewives (as they were called in those days) and businessmen as a Fulbright scholar attached to the university. He was on fire to teach meditation and world mysticism. Soon he had a small, earnest group gathering to hear him speak and to meditate together. Word got out in New Thought circles, at bookstores, on campus. There was something new on the scene. As Sri Ramakrishna says, the lotus had bloomed, and it didn t take long for the bees to begin to arrive. Christine met Easwaran in 1960 when he was giving a talk on the Upanishads in a San Francisco bookstore and quickly became his companion and indispensable right hand. Then, in 1961, as his speaking schedule increased, Easwaran decided to bring all his classes together at a convenient location near the Berkeley campus. Soon friends began to tell Easwaran and Christine that they would need an organization. This was America, after all, and they would need an official group so that their work could be recognized and grow. The result was the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, founded in Berkeley in 1961 with immense faith and courage, though, as Easwaran himself said many times, with no money in the bank. The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation Fifty years of hard work, deep fellowship, and enduring dedication It was a busy life, but there was time for fellowship and entertainment, which usually took the form of a movie Breakfast at Tiffany s was popular or a trip to Stinson Beach, or just a walk around the pleasant Berkeley streets. A stop at Edy s on Shattuck was a must on a winter day. Wooden booths, waitresses in white aprons, and hot chocolate Edy s had it all.

11 2011 Fifty years later, in 2011, the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation continues its mission as it always has, though now its headquarters is not in Berkeley but in Tomales, California. Looking back, those fifty years tell a story of countless people working together quietly, under Easwaran s guidance, to build the permanent headquarters, creating a publishing department and a retreat program. Through fifty years the Blue Mountain Center has enjoyed the companionship of two very special people, founders and elders whose dedication and enthusiasm for meditation has been an inspiration for all. Mary Davenport (at left in this photo) met Easwaran in 1961 at the Friends Meeting in Berkeley and was soon a pillar of support for the small group at Walnut Street. When Easwaran and Christine had to return to India for four years, it was Mary who kept the connection alive and helped to prepare for their return. For a remarkable fifty years, Christine has been the guardian of Easwaran s work and the polestar keeping the BMCM on course through good years and also those years that brought trials to test our mettle. Today, as the Life Trustee of the Blue Mountain Center, she continues to guide the daily affairs of the organization. In 2011 the fundamentals remain the same. Twelve years after Sri Easwaran s passing, our meditation retreats are held both in Tomales and at locations scattered around the country. The publishing department, Nilgiri Press, continues to publish Easwaran s books on meditation and his commentaries on the scriptures of all religions. The spiritual community he founded, which he named Ramagiri, Hills of Joy, prospers. And even now, extraordinary occasions amaze us at times and bring us renewed encouragement. In one such event, this time from the publishing department, Essence of the Bhagavad Gita has just reached bookstores, fifty years after those Berkeley days on Walnut Street when people from all over the Bay Area came together to hear a newcomer from the faraway land of India talk about the age-old dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and his spiritual teacher, Sri Krishna.

12 A MEDITATION PRACTICE A Young Adult from India I never wanted to celebrate my birthday, Arti explains. Her voice is warm and engaging as she elaborates: If I didn t have any purpose in life, I didn t want to celebrate. These feelings arose in early childhood, and Arti now a young woman remembers that time clearly. She was born and brought up in a Hindu family near Mumbai, India. Both her mother and grandmother were spiritually inclined, and Arti remembers a loving home, and especially her grandmother. My grandmother was a very loving woman. She was a homemaker all her life and spent all her time taking care of her family. She cooked and sang hymns, and was ever happy. Arti describes how she admired her mother and grandmother for fasting, while she herself gorged on sumptuous meals. She recalls the ceremonies that drew the family together, and how her mother and grandmother would pray every morning and evening. Arti and her sister were delighted to take part, although no one ever insisted or even asked. Her mother and grandmother would also tell wonderful stories about Krishna. They wanted us to feel closer to God, Arti explains, and I participated because it was fun and because the stories were intriguing. Yet despite the devotion and piety of her home, or perhaps because of it, Arti s questions soon began to arise. Restlessness As Arti got older, she became restless. I was good at studies and sports, she recounts, but I didn t get any satisfaction from my achievements. She started asking questions: Why don t I feel happy when I am first in my class? Is there something wrong with me? I constantly asked my parents why I was here on earth, since no achievement brings me joy. That only terrified them. Arti s beloved grandmother simply said, You will learn some day. But Arti s questions continued, and things only got worse when a close friend died. When I was in the eighth grade, one of my classmates was diagnosed with a terminal illness. I visited him a week before he died. I was shocked and disturbed to such an extent that I could barely gather myself to go back home, trudging every inch of the road. That was the first time I saw death so closely. Career Joining the corporate world, Arti became a process quality consultant focused on improving customers financial experiences. Arti says, I still had no answers to what I wanted to become or what I wanted in life. But I had the ability to become absorbed in anything and do my best with it. She had to understand each detail in a chain of financial procedures and make improvements to comply with the desires of the consumers. Arti laughs when she recalls the early days at her job. I would ask people in the office, What do you think is the purpose of life? Some people said, This girl is kind of crazy. 12 The Gita Then, on her birthday in 2007, when once again she was reminded of her fundamental questions, Arti found herself in a bookstore buying The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living. That is how I was introduced to meditation and the allied disciplines, Arti explains. Ever since, I haven t stopped reading it, and each time it reveals more of the secrets of life. I didn t know about meditation before and didn t know if I needed it. But after I started meditating, I saw that the benefits are immense. Although Arti had found an opening to some answers, the next steps were difficult and uncertain. In the beginning, I couldn t memorize a passage since I had a very weak memory due to an illness, she admits. So instead, I started with repetition of my mantram. Sleep and distractions were the major challenges. Then, after almost a year of practicing the mantram regularly, Arti realized she would be able to memorize the passages. I started with Be Aware of Me Always from Easwaran s translation of the Bhagavad Gita. It helped me overcome sleep and reduce the distractions. Spiritual Fellowship For the next four years, books alone would provide the foundation for Arti s practice. The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living was the book she returned to again and again, but soon she was reading other books by Easwaran as well. Books like the translations of the Upanishads and the Dhammapada, and Original Goodness, exposed me to the spiritual aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity, Arti says. They helped me see the unity of the teachings of these scriptures, and that they all lead us to the ultimate purpose of life. By this time, Arti was living in New Delhi, where there was no local satsang. No one she knew was interested

13 A MEDITATION PRACTICE in passage meditation or the allied disciplines, so although Arti was trying to practice all eight points, spiritual fellowship took a backseat. Then, in 2010, she joined the Young Adult esatsang through the Easwaran.org website and began communicating with other passage meditators her age. To Arti s delight, others were asking the very questions she was trying to understand. She explains, People were talking about actual problems in daily life. Like being expected to have alcohol when going out with friends. If I say no, they feel that I am different, and some will turn their backs. Or if I tell my friends I eat vegetarian food because I respect life, often they don t understand me. They feel like I m different. People in the esatsang were writing about how to avoid these situations and still spend time with friends. They would give very practical suggestions. A newcomer at a retreat Finally, in 2011, Arti moved to Colorado with her husband, who was working for an international software company. She describes how she decided to attend her first retreat in Golden, Colorado. In his books, Easwaran had mentioned meditating in a group. I wanted to experience how that was different from meditating alone. Besides, I wanted to know how others practiced the eight points and how they dealt with other challenges. Like all newcomers, Arti had concerns about the retreat. She wondered whether the schedule made good use of participants time and whether enough activities were planned. Also, Arti says with characteristic honesty, I was a bit apprehensive to be sharing my room with someone whom I had never met. Arti s fears rapidly disappeared. The activities were so well paced and managed that I hardly had any time to myself. And my roommate was an absolute delight. She was so warm and welcoming that I didn t once feel that I was with a stranger. Back at home, Arti was eager to share her experiences at the regional retreat with the members of the YA esatsang. In a nutshell, whatever we did meditate, read, eat, walk every act portrayed a point or a combination of points. Our retreat presenters were always patient, giving everyone a chance to express themselves, especially me, as I had numerous stories to tell. It was a room filled with positive energy, with every inch swept with mantrams and utter bliss! I m indeed very thankful to Sri Krishna to have put me in the right place at the right time with the right people. Finally, Arti found mantram writing, one of the activities at the retreat, especially helpful. I was introduced to writing the mantram at the retreat. Before that, I repeated my mantram silently or aloud but had never written it. But once I got to writing, I was able to give one-pointed attention and to slow down the endless rush in my mind. A lasting influence When asked how the eight-point program has affected her life, Arti lists how different points have had different influences, beginning five years ago. Meditation, she explains, has not only helped me slow down but also improved my health. As I mentioned earlier, in the beginning I couldn t memorize a paragraph, but now I meditate on The Way of Love, which is over two pages long. Training the senses and repeating the mantram has helped me overcome my anger and restlessness. Arti gives an example from the corporate world. I am more patient. People at work saw a marked difference from what I was before. I can listen to people s problems and not get agitated or angry. People used to be afraid to approach me. Now they come to share 13 their personal problems with me. But, for Arti, one of the most profound benefits of Easwaran s teaching has been her deeper understanding of the Hindu faith she had imbibed in her childhood. Only after studying Easwaran, she says, did she begin to understand her grandmother s devout faith. At the age of ninety-three my grandmother left her body. In my family we usually were not taken to funerals, so hers was the first I had ever attended. I saw her serene face and wondered what her purpose in life was. Now, many years later, Arti says she thinks she has begun to get an answer to that question. She lived her life the way it is meant to be lived, by forgiving the past, living in the present, and leading a selfless life. Not by doing something heroic, but by doing simple little acts of selflessness, love, and kindness. Advice to other young adults Despite all these positive results, Arti openly admits that the spiritual path is sometimes very tough. I would forget what they say in Hinduism, how spirituality is not taught but caught. Eagerly she would tell stories and experiences to friends and loved ones. For Arti, stories are a great way to help others feel and understand what she might be going through. But she began to see that sometimes her listeners were not appreciative, and she is more careful now when speaking on these subjects. At times the spiritual life can be lonely, she says, and we need to look actively for understanding companions. When you ask what advice she would give to a young person considering this path, Arti does not hesitate: Be compassionate, giving, and selfdisciplined. Take some time out and evaluate what you are doing. Be awake in whatever you do and don t do anything just because it is done by others in the world. d

14 Essence of the Bhagavad Gita A Contemporary Guide to Yoga, Meditation, & Indian Philosophy by Eknath Easwaran The Bhagavad Gita is India s best-known scripture magnificent poetry couched as a dialogue between a warrior-prince named Arjuna and his charioteer and spiritual guide, Sri Krishna. The Gita opens with a crisis Prince Arjuna despairs on the battlefield, unsure if he should fight his kinsmen in a dreadful war. For Easwaran, the Gita s epic battle represents the war in our own hearts and Arjuna s anguish reflects the human condition: torn between opposing forces, confused about how to live. Sri Krishna s timeless guidance, Easwaran argues, can shed light on our dilemmas today. Like Mahatma Gandhi, Easwaran sees the Gita as a sure guide to human affairs one that could throw light on the problems I faced in my own times of crisis. A foremost translator of the Gita, he taught classes on it for over forty years. Placing the Gita s teachings in a modern context, Easwaran explores the nature of reality, the illusion of separateness, the search for identity, the meaning of yoga, and how to heal the unconscious. The key message of the Gita is how to resolve our conflicts and live in harmony with the deep unity of life, through the practice of meditation and spiritual disciplines. Sri Krishna doesn t tell Arjuna what to do. He points out the prince s choices and then leaves it to Arjuna to decide. Easwaran shows us clearly how these teachings still apply and how, like Arjuna, we must take courage and act wisely if we want our world to thrive. Ultimately, as Easwaran writes, the dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna is a searching of the soul the heart s appeal for wisdom, answered, as it only can be, from within. This book is Easwaran s distillation of the Gita s teachings from the end of his life, based on talks given to his close students and published here for the first time. Essence of the Bhagavad Gita A Contemporary Guide to Yoga, Meditation, & Indian Philosophy by Eknath Easwaran 304 pages $14.95 Also available in an ebook edition from Amazon, B&N, Google, Apple, and Kobo

15 Nilgiri Press Books & Audios Special Offers NEW! Essence of the Bhagavad Gita $ Collector s Items Hardcover editions, generally no longer available in bookstores while stocks last The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, Vol. 1 $30.00 The Constant Companion $17.95 Love Never Faileth $17.95 A More Ardent Fire $17.95 Seeing with the Eyes of Love $17.95 The Undiscovered Country $12.95 Meditation: A Complete Audio Guide (2 CDs) Step by step, Easwaran shows us how we can practice the eight-point program of passage meditation and begin leading fuller, healthier, happier lives. $12.95 (⅓ off) The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living (Three-Volume Set) India s timeless and practical scripture presented as a manual for everyday use. This commentary is Easwaran s magnum opus. This price covers volumes 1 and 2. Volume 3 is free. It is slightly imperfect: the center margins are extra wide. $43.90 Stock Clearance while stocks last Gandhi the Man 3rd edition, paper $4.95 Conquest of Mind 2nd edition, cloth $4.95 Title Paperback Hardcover Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living The End of Sorrow $21.95 $30.00 Like a Thousand Suns $21.95 To Love Is to Know Me $21.95 $30.00 Classics of Christian Inspiration Love Never Faileth $10.95 $17.95 Original Goodness $10.95 Seeing with the Eyes of Love $10.95 $17.95 Set of above 3 vols. $30.00 Classics of Indian Spirituality (translations) The Bhagavad Gita $10.95 The Dhammapada $10.95 The Upanishads $11.95 Set of above 3 vols. $29.95 Climbing the Blue Mountain $14.95 The Compassionate Universe $13.95 Conquest of Mind $14.95 The Constant Companion $8.95 $17.95 Title Paperback Hardcover Essence of the Bhagavad Gita $14.95 Essence of the Upanishads $14.95 Gandhi the Man (4e) $16.95 God Makes the Rivers to Flow $17.95 The Making of a Teacher $14.95 The Mantram Handbook $14.95 The Mantle of the Mystic $10.00 The Monkey and the Mango $10.00 A More Ardent Fire $14.95 $17.95 Nonviolent Soldier of Islam $16.95 o r d e r * on the Web: * by info@easwaran.org * by phone: * by mail: Box 256, Tomales, CA Free Media Mail shipping in the US on orders of $25 or more. If shipping to CA, add 8% sales tax. Thank you! Title Paperback Hardcover Passage Meditation $14.95 Strength in the Storm $14.00 Take Your Time $15.00 Timeless Wisdom $14.95 The Undiscovered Country $9.95 $12.95 With My Love & Blessings $40.00 Words to Live By $16.95 Pocket Wisdom Series Patience $9.95 Renewal $9.95 Cookbooks Laurel s Kitchen Bread Book $21.95 New Laurel s Kitchen $22.95 Audio Talks on CDs Meditation Audio Guide (2 CDs) $12.95

16 BLUE MOUNTAIN Page heading MEDITATION RETREATS Blue Mountain Center of Meditation Nilgiri Press Box 256, Tomales, California Nonprofit U.S. Postage paid Santa Rosa, CA Permit #191 A JOURNAL FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING BASED ON EKNATH EASWARAN S EIGHT-POINT PROGRAM OF PASSAGE MEDITATION To receive an electronic edition of this journal, please visit or contact us at info@easwaran.org or at The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation Fifty Years Retreats in Tomales, California, and across the U.S. in 2012 Spend a day, a weekend, or a week learning how passage meditation can help you to increase your concentration and meet life s challenges more effectively. We offer programs at our retreat house on California s beautiful North Coast & at various locations around the US. Weekend retreats run from 4:00 p.m. Friday to 2:00 p.m. Sunday. For full information, or to enroll, visit us at or contact us at or info@easwaran.org In Tomales, California February 4 10: In-Depth Weeklong February 17 19: Young Adult Weekend March 23 27: Senior Half-Week March 30-4/1: Returnee Weekend April 13 15: Introductory Weekend April 21 27: In-Depth Weeklong May 19 25: In-Depth Weeklong June 8 10: Returnee Weekend July 7 13: In-Depth Weeklong August 4 10: In-Depth Weeklong w/ya August 17 21: Senior Half-Week August 24 26: Introductory Weekend September 21 23: Returnee Weekend September 29 10/5: In-Depth Weeklong October 13 19: In-Depth Weeklong November 2 4: Young Adult Weekend November 9 11: Introductory Weekend Across the U.S. January 21: Petaluma, CA One-Day January 28: Phoenix One-Day February 11: Los Angeles (Encino) One-Day March 16 18: Dallas Weekend March 17: Dallas One-Day April 13 15: Oregon (Mt. Angel) Weekend April 14: Oregon (Mt. Angel) One-Day June 15 17: New York (Ossining) Weekend June 16: New York (Ossining) One-Day August 24 26: Colorado (Allenspark) Weekend August 25: Colorado (Allenspark) One-Day September 28 30: Chicago Weekend September 29: Chicago One-Day November 10: Sacramento (Auburn) One-Day