Eknath Easwaran

Born in a village in Kerala, India in December of 1910, Eknath Easwaran was an Indian-American professor, author, translator, and religious teacher. His translations of the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the Dhammapada are critially acclaimed. His best-selling book is called Meditation: A Simple Eight Point Program for Translating Spiritual Values into Daily Life. He was influenced by Gandhi, whom Easwaran met when he was a young man.

Eknath Easwaran developed a method of meditation that he called "Passage Meditation" - silent repetition in the mind of memorized inspirational passages from the world's great religions. As Easwaran says, "The slow, sustained concentration on these passages drives them deep into our minds; and whatever we drive deep into consciousness, that we become."

Easwaran's program for spiritual growth consists of eight points:

• Passage Meditation
• Japam, or mental repetition of a mantra'
• Putting others first
• One-pointedness
• Training the senses
• Slowing down
• Satsang, or a spiritual fellowship
• Reading the writings of the mystics

Easwaran founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation and Nilgiri Press. Easwaran died in October, 1999.

Quotations

"What we think about constantly, we become; that is the secret of meditation and prayer." --The Constant Companion

Bibliography

• Meditation: A Simple Eight Point Program for Translating Spiritual Ideals into Daily Life, 1978
• The End of Sorrow (The Bhagavad Gita for Living, Vol. 1), 1979
• Like a Thousand Suns (The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, Vol. 2), 1979
• To Love Is to Know Me (Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, Vol. 3), 1985
• The Bhagavad Gita (Translator), 1985
• The Dhammapada (Translator), 1986
• The Upanishads (Translator), 1987
• The Compassionate Universe, 1989
• Climbing the Blue Mountain: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey, 1992
• Dialogue With Death: A Journey Through Consciousness, 1992
• Love Never Faileth: The Inspiration of Saint Francis, Saint Augustine, Saint Paul, Mother Teresa, with introductions by Carol L. Flinders, 1993
• Seeing With the Eyes of Love: Relfections on a Classic of Christian Mysticism, 1993
• The Play of God: Visions of the Life of Krishna by Devi Vanamali, et al, 1995
• The Monkey and the Mango: Stories of My Granny (Illustrated by Ilka Jerabek), 1996
• Original Goodness: On the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, 1996
• Seeing With the Eyes of Love: Eknath Easwaran on the Imitation of Christ, 1996
• The Undiscovered Country: Exploring the Promise of Death, 1996
• Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day, 1996
• Gandhi the Man: The Story of His Transformation, et al, 1997
• In Quest of God: The Saga of an Extraordinary Pilgrimage by Swami Ramdas, 2002 (Introduction)
• A Higher Image, 2002
• Love Alters Not, 2002
• God Makes the Rivers to Flow: Sacred Literature of the World, 2003
• Your Life Is Your Message: Finding Harmony With Yourself, Others, and the Earth
• Conquest of Mind: Learning to Think in Freedom
• Take Your Time: Finding Balance in a Hurried World
• Thousand Names of Vishnu : a selection with commentary
• The Unstruck Bell: Powerful New Strategies for Using a Mantram
• A More Ardent Fire: From Everyday Love to Love of God
• Supreme Ambition: Life's Goals and How to Reach It
• The Mantram Handbook: Formulas for Transformation
• The Constant Companion
• A Man to Match His Mountains: Badshah Khan, Nonviolent Soldier of Islam
• Kabir: Stages of Desire
• With My Love and Blessings: The Teaching Years, 1966-1999, in Photographs & His Own Words
• Saint Francis: Becoming an Instrument of Peace

External Links

• Blue Mountain Center of Meditation and Nilgiri Press (http://www.nilgiri.org/)
• Easwaran biography (http://www.nilgiri.org/nilgiri.cfm?pageid=5001)