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Passage Meditation - A Complete Spiritual Practice: Train Your Mind and Find a Life that Fulfills (Essential Easwaran Library, 1) Paperback – September 13, 2016
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Easwaran taught passage meditation for over forty years, and his class at the University of California, Berkeley was the first accredited course on meditation at any Western university. He is the author of the best-selling translation in English of the Bhagavad Gita, India’s best-known scripture.
In passage meditation, you focus attention on passages or texts from the world’s wisdom traditions that are positive, practical, and uplifting, and that fit with your own religious or non-religious beliefs. This universal method of meditation stays fresh and inspiring, prompting you to live out your highest ideals, and the mantram and six other spiritual tools help you to stay calm, kind, and focused throughout the day. This book shows how, with regular practice, you gain wisdom and vitality, and find a life that fulfills.
This fourth edition of Passage Meditation has been extended by over thirty percent to include Easwaran’s answers to more than 100 questions posed by his students in question and answer sessions. It gives all the instruction needed to establish a vibrant meditation practice and keep it going.
- Print length296 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherNilgiri Press
- Publication dateSeptember 13, 2016
- Dimensions5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
- ISBN-101586381164
- ISBN-13978-1586381165
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Review
"No extravagant claims, no pretentious jargon. Just a clear, insightful exposition of meditation, and an excellent guide to its practice." ― Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions
"Eknath Easwaran . . . sets forth the basics of meditation with gentle humor and the insights gained from a lifetime of spiritual practice . . . [and] integrates Eastern and Western approaches to the art of stilling the mind and opening the heart." ― Yoga Journal
"Excellent book . . . full of charming anecdotes and advice to those trapped in materialism. His chapter on mantrams is particularly helpful . . . Demonstrate[s] sound background knowledge in Oriental thought and meditative techniques, plus years of personal experience." ― Library Journal
From the Back Cover
"A clear, insightful exposition of meditation, and an excellent guide to its practice."
HUSTON SMITH, author of The World's Religions
Eknath Easwaran taught meditation for over forty years, and his class at UC Berkeley was the first accredited course on meditation at any Western university. He is the author of the best-selling translation in English of the Bhagavad Gita, India's best-known scripture. Passage Meditation, Easwaran's classic manual on meditation and spiritual living, has now been extended by over thirty percent with new material from question and answer sessions with his students. This book offers unique in-depth support for both new and experienced meditators.
In Easwaran's method of passage meditation, you focus attention on passages or texts from the world's wisdom traditions that are positive, practical, and uplifting, and that fit with your own religious or non-religious beliefs. This universal method stays fresh and inspiring, improving concentration and prompting you to live out your highest ideals. Meditation is supported by the mantram and six other spiritual tools, helping you to stay calm, kind, and focused throughout the day. With regular practice, you gain wisdom and vitality, and find a life that fulfills.
About the Author
Eknath Easwaran (1910-1999) is respected around the world as an authentic guide to timeless wisdom, and as the originator of passage meditation, a complete spiritual program. His Indian classics, The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, and The Dhammapada, are the best-selling English translations, and 2 million copies of his thirty-three books are in print. His 1968 class on the theory and practice of meditation at UC Berkeley is believed to be the first accredited course on meditation at any Western university.
Easwaran was a professor of English literature and well known in India as a writer and speaker before coming to the United States in 1959 on the Fulbright exchange program. In 1961, he founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, based in Tomales, California, which continues his work today through publications and retreats.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
I am going to suppose that your purpose in picking up this book is to learn to meditate; so I will begin straight away with some instructions.
I recommend beginning with the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. If you already know another passage, such as the Twenty-third Psalm, it will do nicely until you have learned this prayer. But over many years of teaching meditation, I have found that Saint Francis’s words have an almost universal appeal. Through them pulses the spiritual wisdom this gentle friar drew upon when he undertook the most awesome task a human being is capable of the total transformation of character, conduct, and consciousness. The prayer goes like this:
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.
I hope you will understand that the word Lord” here does not refer to a white-bearded gentleman ruling from a throne somewhere between Neptune and Pluto. When I use words like Lord” or God,” I mean the very ground of existence, the most profound thing we can conceive of. This supreme reality is not something outside us, something separate from us. It is within, at the core of our being our real nature, nearer to us than our bodies, dearer to us than our lives.
If you prefer a passage from another tradition, here are some other popular choices I recommend:
The Whole World Is Your Own
I tell you one thing
if you want peace of mind,
do not find fault with others.
Rather learn to see your own faults.
Learn to make the whole world your own.
No one is a stranger, my child;
this whole world is your own.
Sri Sarada Devi
The Best
The best, like water,
Benefit all and do not compete.
They dwell in lowly spots that everyone else scorns.
Putting others before themselves,
They find themselves in the foremost place
And come very near to the Tao.
In their dwelling, they love the earth;
In their heart, they love what is deep;
In personal relationships, they love kindness;
In their words, they love truth.
In the world, they love peace.
In personal affairs, they love what is right.
In action, they love choosing the right time.
It is because they do not compete with others
That they are beyond the reproach of the world.
Lao Tzu
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.
Teresa of Avila
Radiant Is the World Soul
Radiant is the world soul,
Full of splendor and beauty,
Full of life,
Of souls hidden,
Of treasures of the holy spirit,
Of fountains of strength,
Of greatness and beauty.
Proudly I ascend
Toward the heights of the world soul
That gives life to the universe.
How majestic the vision
Come, enjoy,
Come, find peace,
Embrace delight,
Taste and see that God is good.
Why spend your substance on what does not nourish
And your labor on what cannot satisfy?
Listen to me, and you will enjoy what is good,
And find delight in what is truly precious.
Abraham Isaac Kook
Having memorized the passage, be seated and softly close your eyes. We defeat the purpose of meditation if we look about, admiring the bird on the sill or watching people come and go. The eyes, ears, and other senses are rather like appliances with their cords plugged into the mind. During meditation, we try to pull out the plugs so we can concentrate more fully on the words of the passage. To disconnect the senses to leave the world of sound behind, for instance is difficult. We may even believe that it is not possible, that everything has been permanently installed. But the mystics testify that these cords can be disconnected and that when we do this, we experience a serenity beyond words
Pace
If you have memorized the Prayer, you are ready to go through it word by word, and very, very slowly. Why slowly? I think it is Meher Baba, a modern mystic of India, who explained:
A mind that is fast is sick.
A mind that is slow is sound.
A mind that is still is divine.
Think of a car tearing along at ninety miles per hour. The driver may feel exuberant, powerful, but a number of things can suddenly cause him to lose control. When he is moving at thirty miles per hour, his car handles easily; even if somebody else makes a dangerous maneuver, he can probably turn and avoid a collision. So too with the mind. When its desperate whirrings slow down, intentionality and good judgment appear, then love, and finally what the Bible calls the peace that passeth understanding.”
Let the words, therefore, proceed slowly. You can cluster the small helper words with a word of substance, like this:
Lord . . . make . . . me . . . an instrument . . . of thy . . . peace.
The space between words is a matter for each person to work out individually. They should be comfortably spaced with a little elbowroom between. If the words come too close together, you will not be slowing down the mind:
Lord.make.me.
If the words stand too far apart, they will not be working together:
Lord . . . . . . . . . . . make
Here make” has put in its contribution, but me” simply won’t get on with it. Before long some other word or image or idea rushes in to fill the vacuum, and the passage has been lost.
With some experimentation, you will find your own best pace. I remember that when I learned to drive many years ago, my instructor kept trying patiently to teach me to use the clutch. I was not a terribly apt pupil. After a number of chugging stops and dying engines, I asked him how I was ever going to master those pedals. He said, You get a feeling for it.” That is the way with the words too: you will know intuitively when not enough space lies between them and when there is too much.
Concentrate on one word at a time, and let the words slip one after another into your consciousness like pearls falling into a clear pond. Let them all drop inwards one at a time. Of course, we learn this skill gradually. For some time we drop a word and it floats on the surface, bumped around by distractions, irrelevant imagery, fantasies, worries, regrets, and negative emotions. At least we see just how far we are from being able to give the mind a simple order that it will carry out.
Later on, after assiduous practice, the words will fall inward; you will see them going in and hitting the very bottom. This takes time, though. Don’t expect it to happen next week. Nothing really worth having comes quickly and easily; if it did, I doubt that we would ever grow.
Excerpt from Frequently Asked Questions on Meditation, answered by Eknath Easwaran
What about unusual experiences in meditation, such as strange thoughts or sensations?
Knowing the mind, I can assure you that it has a number of aces up its sleeve. The day you start to meditate seriously, the mind knows it is going to be told to listen to you, and the mind doesn’t like that at all. It may do its best to distract you with sensations such as nausea or an overwhelming urge to cough or other, more outrageous phenomena. In such cases, the very best strategy is to give more attention to the inspirational passage. When you give more attention to the words, you will not pay attention to these distractions. That’s the answer.
The inspirational passage, let me keep repeating to you, is your safety net. Never let go of the inspirational passage whatever the temptation or the difficulty. Ignore all distracting phenomena and keep your mind on the passage. On a deeper level of consciousness there is a kind of Alice’s Wonderland on either side where you cannot distinguish between fancy and fiction. This can be quite harmful, so it is best to be scrupulous about holding on to the passage right from the beginning.
One reason we may find lights and sounds and so on intriguing is that we take them for evidence of progress. Something is happening! Beneath my gentle ways, however, I am a very hard-nosed mystic. I’m not impressed by supernatural experiences; I look for changes in character and conduct. How selfless can you be? Can you restrain your senses when necessary? Can you go against your self-will when it benefits those around you? How long is your span of attention? These are the signs of progress in meditation.
How about overwhelming emotions that come up during meditation?
We should never forget that meditation is a superb discipline and the emphasis is always not on superb, but on discipline.
Even in the early years of meditation, there are many times when waves of emotion can sweep over us. That is the time to concentrate more and not to observe the emotion or analyze it, either during meditation or during the day. Don’t try to bask in the emotion or wallow in it. I think it is Catherine of Siena who warns that in such cases we can be like a bee that is caught in its own honey. When you are able to concentrate even more on the passage during a wave of emotion, it becomes a valuable aid. You are able to harness it not consciously, but because it is absorbed into your concentration. Instead of letting it act as a deterrent, it becomes a valuable factor in your progress.
Even after meditation, some of the backlog of such experiences may follow you into the day. Don’t dwell on them, don’t describe them to others, don’t write about them. Every time that wave of emotion comes up, repeat the mantram.
Recently I’ve become much more sensitive to the suffering in the world. Does our meditation really help others? I’m beginning to doubt it.
Nobody suffers like the lovers of God, because they are one with others in their suffering. But they are granted an equal measure of joy, too, because God gives them the capacity to help.
I keep in close touch with what happens in the world. I read a wide assortment of periodicals each week just to do so. And there are times when I feel deeply grieved by the suffering I read about, and I wonder why life has to be this way. But I never despair. At those times I go deep, deep into meditation until I reach the very source of love and wisdom that exists in each of us. When I do, I am reassured that all is well.
This is not merely some sentimental notion. I return from this awareness charged with the energy and vision I need to continue to try to alleviate this suffering.
So what I would tell all of you is this: meditate every day, throw yourself into some form of selfless work, and use your sense of suffering as a powerful motivation to help relieve the suffering of others. It is a wonderful gift to be able to give.
Product details
- Publisher : Nilgiri Press; Fourth edition (September 13, 2016)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 296 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1586381164
- ISBN-13 : 978-1586381165
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #96,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #23 in Bhagavad Gita (Books)
- #644 in Meditation (Books)
- #2,544 in Personal Transformation Self-Help
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Eknath Easwaran (1910-1999) is one of the twentieth century's great spiritual teachers and an authentic guide to timeless wisdom.
He is a recognized authority on the Indian spiritual classics. His translations of the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the Dhammapada are the best-selling editions in the USA.
His books on meditation, spiritual living, and the classics of world mysticism have been translated into sixteen languages. His book Passage Meditation (originally titled Meditation) has sold over 200,000 copies since it was first published in 1978. Two million copies of Easwaran's books are in print.
Born in Kerala, India, Easwaran was a professor of English literature at a leading Indian university when he came to the United States in 1959 on the Fulbright exchange program. A gifted teacher, he moved from education for degrees to education for living, and gave talks on meditation and spiritual living for 40 years. His meditation class at UC Berkeley in 1968 was the first accredited course on meditation at any major university.
In 1961 he founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, a nonprofit organization that publishes his books, videos, and audio talks, and offers retreats and online programs.
Easwaran lived what he taught, giving him lasting appeal as a spiritual teacher and author of deep insight and warmth.
Discovering Meditation
Easwaran discovered meditation mid-life, while he was teaching on a college campus in central India. In the midst of a successful career he found himself haunted by age-old questions: Why am I here? What is life for? What will happen when I die?
Meanwhile in a few short months he lost two people passionately dear to him: Mahatma Gandhi, whom he’d visited in his ashram, and his beloved grandmother, who was his spiritual teacher. Finally he came home one day to find his dog had been killed by a passing truck, and his sense of loss would not subside. His dog stood for death itself, for all who had passed away.
“Almost instinctively,” Easwaran said, “I went to my room and picked up my Gita, most of which I knew by heart. I closed my eyes, and as I began to repeat the verses silently to myself, the words opened up and took me deep, deep in.” Over the next weeks he continued in the same way, seated in silence in the early morning. His meditation practice had begun.
Still leading a full life at the university, Easwaran looked for guidance in this new inner world. He read the Upanishads, Patanjali, the Catholic mystics, the Buddhist scriptures, the poetry of the Sufis. In addition to his Bhagavad Gita, he found passages for meditation from every major spiritual tradition. Some of the mystics he studied had chosen not to retire into monasteries but, like himself, to seek the spiritual path in the midst of everyday life.
In meditation, he found a deep connection between the wisdom in the passages and the way he conducted himself throughout the day. It was a thrilling discovery. “The passages were lifelines, guiding me to the source of wisdom deep within and then guiding me back into daily life.”
Years passed, and Easwaran’s inner and outer life became richer and more challenging as his meditation deepened.
In 1959 he came to the US on the Fulbright scholarship and lectured widely on the spiritual heritage of India. Some students were eager to learn about meditation, and Easwaran loved teaching. He developed a simple, effective eight-point program of passage meditation based on his own spiritual experience. Thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds now follow this program all around the world.
Easwaran as a Teacher
In the introduction to one of his key books, Easwaran described his approach as a teacher. He appealed to people, he said, “partly because I have not retired from the world – I live very much as a family man, a good husband, son, and friend – but also because I have tried to combine the best of West and East.
“I live together with forty friends at our ashram, or spiritual community, and though I have heavy responsibilities in guiding our work, I take time for recreation. I go with friends to the theater; I am fond of Western and Indian classical music; I like to take the children to the ice cream parlor and the dogs to the beach for a run.
“But perhaps what appeals most deeply is that I understand the difficulties of living in the modern world. Before taking to meditation, in my ignorance of the unity of life, I too committed most of the mistakes that even sensitive people commit today. As a result, I understand how easy it is to make those mistakes, and I know how to guide and support those who are trying to learn a wiser way of living.”
Easwaran Now
Since Easwaran’s passing in 1999, interest in his work has only increased. People choose to relate to him today in various ways: as an authority on world mysticism; as a wise spiritual writer; as an experienced teacher of meditation; and as a personal spiritual guide.
The meditation programs that Easwaran created for every stage of life are reaching growing audiences in person and online. He left a vast legacy of video and audio talks which will be shared increasingly over the next years through our website, programs, publications, and digital library.
For those who seek him as a personal spiritual guide, Easwaran assured us that he lives on through his eight-point program.
"I am with you always”, he said. “It does not require my physical presence; it requires your open heart."
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Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2024
Nope, it's meditation on a selected passage from sacred literature, which strikes me as a new idea, and one which is very likely to work.
In fact, it reminds me of books like Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich," which also emphasize the importance of repeating your goals to yourself two or three times a day. This book about money has never gone out of print, and millions testify that it works.
Easwaran's book is of course not about money, but about spiritual growth. Yet the basic technique is the same, and it apparently works. You might want to look at How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist for some scientific evidence that meditation does indeed cause changes in the brain which appear to be beneficial and permanent.
So I suspect that Easwaran's techniques work. His Blue Mountain retreat appears to be well & functioning, and he's one of the few gurus who appear to be utterly sincere.
I love the simply practicality and grace with which Easwaran writes. His several works are brilliant, counter cultural, and he invites us to slow down our lives, and be mindful of the books we read and the movies we watch. It brings to mind a phrase I once heard; thoughts lead to actions, actions lead to behavior, behaviors lead to character, character leads to destiny.
Highly recommended. You will not be disappointed.
The new content is in the form of questions and answers that will help many take meditation and the other points more deeply into their lives.
For example, the first question is "There are so many methods of meditation today that I get confused. Could you explain what you understand by meditation?
The response is well thought out and gives the reader a great overview of the many approaches to meditation.
I've been meditating with Passage Meditation for many years and these questions have come up many times. I've never seen such great responses all in one place
Top reviews from other countries
Surpreendeu e superou minhas expectativas. É muito mais do que um livro sobre meditação. Impacta todas as áreas da vida