Bringing Heaven to EarthBy Eknath Easwaran

In Keral a state, South India, where I grew up, the new year is ushered in with a ceremony many centuries old. The night before,

while most of the family is asleep, a spe-cial shrine is assembled with all kinds of lustrous objects – yellow flowers, brass-ware, gold jewelry, ripe fruits, lighted oil lamps – arranged around a mirror draped with garlands. The next morning, each member of the family is led to the shrine with eyes closed and asked, “Would you like to see the Lord?” We open our eyes, and shining in the midst of this bright setting we see our own face in the glass. It is a beautiful reminder of the divinity in each of us – the viewer and everyone else around.

Naturally, the reminder tends to get forgotten later, as life closes in again. But in my home, whenever one of us children began to misbehave, my grandmother had only to ask, “Do you remember where you saw the Lord on New Year’s?”

When you and I look into a mirror, we

e k na e a a r a n has been called one of the foremost teachers of medi­ta­ti­on i­n our ti­mes. From hi­s arri­val i­n the Uni­ted States i­n 1959 on the Fulbri­ght ex­change 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 benefits of hi­s teachi­ng. He conti­nues to teach through hi­s twenty­ei­ght books on spi­ri­­tual li­vi­ng – over a mi­lli­on copi­es i­n pri­nt i­n twenty­si­x­ languages – and through the ongoi­ng programs and publi­­cati­ons of the organi­zati­on he founded i­n 1961 to carry on hi­s work: the Blue Mountai­n Center of Medi­tati­on and i­ts publi­shi­ng arm, Ni­lgi­ri­ Press.

A J O U R N A L F O R S P I R I T U A L L I V I N G B A S E D O N

see a familiar face with a distressing ten-dency to show fatigue or age. But that is not what the mystics see. They look at us – through us, into us – and see something transcendent, luminous, timeless, “the Face behind all faces”:

I look into the mirror and see my own beauty;

I see the truth of the universe revealing itself as me.

I rise in the sky as the morning sun, do not be surprised . . .

I am Light itself, reflected in the heart of everyone.

– Fakhruddin Araqi

Eknath Easwaran’s commentaries for

Blue Mountain are drawn from previously

unpublished talks and writings in the

Blue Mountain archives – part of an

ongoing effort to make his teaching

freely available around the world.

Below, from our archi­ves: Eknath Easwaran, 1987

Conti­nued on page 4

BlueMountain

E S T A B L I S H E D B Y E K N A T H E A S W A R A N F O R

P R E S E N T I N G H I S E I G H T P O I N T P R O G R A M

A Journal for

Spiritual Living

Published by the

Blue Mountain

Center of Meditation

& Nilgiri Press

www.easwaran.org

Summer 2008

Volume 19, Number 2

�

1 Bringing Heaven to Earth In the lead article,

Easwaran reminds us of our true nature: “There is a divine source of love and wisdom, beauty and com-

passion, in every human being.” He offers guidance on how to tap that source.

6 Patient PersistencePassage meditation allows Janet L. to bring high ideals to everything from deal-ing with insurance snarls to facing a seri-ous health condition.

8 The Power of One-Pointedness

Three brothers describe an early experi-ence of unified attention and its effect on their lives.

11 Bringing Out the BestPrivate tutor Hallie M. relies on her spiritual tools to find the right approach for each student.

b lu e mo u n ta i nThe journal of

the Blue Mountai­nCenter of Medi­tati­on

Summer 2008

©2008 by The BlueMountai­n Center of

Medi­tati­on, Inc.

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.

f o u n d e r Sri­ Eknath Easwaran

b oa rd o f t ru st e e sChri­sti­ne Easwaran

Ni­ck HarveySultana Harvey

Di­ana Li­ghtmanTerry Morri­sonRobert Ni­chols

Beth Ann O’Connell

b lu e mo u n ta i n e x e c u t i v e e d i to r

Chri­sti­ne Easwaran

Blue Mountain i­s publi­shed quarterly

by Ni­lgi­ri­ Press

Please address allcorrespondence to

Post Office Box­ 256,Tomales, ca 94971

Telephone 707 878 2369E­mai­l i­nfo@easwaran.org

Web www.easwaran.org

Pri­nted on recycled paper

Blue Mountain Center of MeditationThe 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 reli-gious background to relieve stress, heal relation-ships, release deeper resources, and realize one’s highest potential.

Passage Meditation: An Eight-Point Program1 .  m e d i tat i o n   o n   a   pa s s a g e Silent repeti-tion in the mind of memorized inspirational pas-sages from the world’s great religions. Practiced for one-half hour each morning.2 .  r e p e t i t i o n   o f   a   m a n t r a m Silent repe-tition in the mind of a Holy Name or a hallowed phrase from one of the world’s great religions. Prac-ticed whenever possible throughout the day or night.3 .   s l o w i n g   d o w n   Setting priorities and reducing the stress and friction caused by hurry.4 .  o n e - p o i n t e d   at t e n t i o n Giving full concentration to the matter at hand.5 .  t r a i n i n g   t h e   s e n s e s   Overcoming condi-tioned habits and learning to enjoy what is benefi-cial.6 .  p u t t i n g   o t h e r s   f i r s t Gaining freedom from selfishness and separateness; finding joy in helping others.7.  s p i r i t ua l   f e l l o ws h i p Spending time regularly with other passage meditators for mutual inspiration and support.8 .  s p i r i t ua l   r e a d i n g   Drawing inspiration from writings by and about the world’s great spiri-tual figures and from the scriptures of all religions.

Eknath EaswaranSchooled 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. He came to the University of California, Berkeley, in 1960 on the Fulbright exchange program and established the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in Northern California in 1961. His 1968 Berkeley class is believed to be the first accredited course in meditation at any Western university. His deep personal experience and his love for his students have made the ancient art of meditation accessible to those who hold jobs and live active lives among friends and family.

B L U E M O U N TA I N

We Welcome Your HelpThe 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. Contribu-tions to the Center are deductible from state and federal income tax.

�

Reflections

Te ceremony Easwaran describes in the lead article is known as Vishu. In Kerala state, where he grew

up, it is a major celebration, and I had the great privilege of participating in it when I lived in India.

Long before dawn, Easwaran’s mother, assisted by his sister with her infant daughter, came to where we were meditating with a tray that might be called a portable altar. Hold-ing the tray in front of me, she asked me in Malayalam to open my eyes to behold the Lord in the mirror.

Close to the mirror stood an oil lamp and a statue of the family deity. Beside this were a Kerala-style sari, a gold chain, coins, and offerings of a fruit, a vegetable, grains, and lentils. Around all this was piled a mass of blossoms.

This simple ritual expresses wis-dom as ancient as the Upanishads. Whether in rituals or in myths that have been told and retold down the ages, these timeless truths are deeply embedded in the culture of India. They continue to be expressed to this day and to find response in human hearts.

Sufi mystics, too, sometimes use the image of the mirror to describe the same experience in great poetry. Mahmud Shabestari says:

Every particle of the world is a mirror,

In each atom lies the blazing light of a thousand suns . . .

Though the inner chamber of the heart is small, the Lord of both worlds gladly makes his home there.

The seventeenth-century Chris-tian mystic Angelus Silesius refers to the mirror when he says,

If you wish to see God here or there, thy heart must become like a pure mirror.

The Bible and other great scrip-tures of the world also describe the mystical vision of the single underly-ing power that pervades all creation yet transcends it completely.

And even in the realm of science Easwaran has said, “There is no con-flict between the vision of a great sci-entist and the experience of a great mystic. One of the most fervent hopes of Einstein was to find an overriding law of nature in which all the laws of matter and energy would be unified. This is very much the

Christine Easwaran

driving question in some of the ancient Hindu scriptures, too. ‘What is That by knowing which all other things may be known?’ In samadhi [the goal of meditation] we have direct knowledge of this unity, which is both the source of the laws and the Lawgiver as well.”

In meditation we attempt to still the ceaseless chatter of our unruly minds, using appropriate spiritual passages from all religions in order to embark on a journey into inner space, beyond the senses and the mind, to find the divine spark at the core of our being.

Great mystics who have reached their destination tell us from personal experience that to get there we have to lighten our load of selfishness and self-will. The spiritual passages we use in meditation are for that purpose. The St. Francis Prayer provides a safe ticket for the journey.

For the Board of Trustees

P U B L I S H E R ’ S PA G E

A Vi­shu altar li­ke those used i­n Easwaran’s fami­ly i­n Kerala state, Indi­a.

�

C O M M E N TA RY

This is of fundamental importance, because it

touches the very heart of our image of ourselves – our idea of what the human being and human nature essentially are. The great mystics of all religions are telling us unanimously that at the very core of the human per-sonality, in the very depths of our con-sciousness, lies a divine spark that nothing can extinguish. Not all the mistakes we have committed, not all the problems we may have brought upon ourselves and others, can extin-guish this spark. Nothing can. It is, as Meister Eckhart says startlingly, an uncre-ated light – the essential core of divinity present in every creature.

If you can remember this every day in moments when you are inclined to look down upon yourself, this reminder will restore your faith and inspire you to put all your efforts into releasing this beautiful image from the mirror of possibility into your everyday life.

Original goodnessIn Western mysticism, discovering this divine core of personality is con-sidered superhuman – rising above the ordinary human level to a plane far, far higher. This is certainly true, but the point of view of Indian mysticism is just as accurate: we are subnormal now; our task is to become normal. Our natural condition is love; anger, hatred, animosity are unnatural. Our natural condition is to be a saint; any-thing less is a masquerade.

This sounds like Polyanna, but the mystics are not denying our negative side. They are well aware of the many serious flaws in human character. But it is refreshing and practical to remember that before original sin came original innocence. The core of

personality is original goodness. It is covered, if you like, by sin, but the covering can be removed, and when it is, the essential goodness of our nature is revealed.

In fact, I don’t use the word sin very much. You seldom hear me talk about sin unless I am quoting. It can become a kind of obsession, and any obsession is bad because it hinders spiritual growth. When we keep on deprecating ourselves, we can end up worthy of deprecation. By reinforcing a low

image of ourselves, we come to expect no better. “I’m just a sinner,” we say. “What can you expect?”

I have met many people who suffer from such a guilt complex that it hampers their spiritual progress. This is one of the cleverest aces the ego can play. “You – you’re no good! What can you possibly say in favor of yourself?” I don’t mean we should ignore our weaknesses; in fact, the purpose of meditation is to overcome them – all of them. But to do that, it’s simply not helpful to go about deprecating your-self. The best thing is not to think about yourself at all; give your atten-tion to those around you.

In our modern civilization, there are millions of people who have come to have such a poor, worthless image of themselves that they become accustomed to all kinds of unelevat-ing behavior. In spite of all our afflu-ence and all our technological achievements, the general image of the human being has been brought so low that we think we are merely phys-ical creatures whose only aims in life are self-preservation and pleasure.

When you are brought up to believe that this is your legacy as a human being, it can lead to serious problems later on in life. I believe this accounts for a great deal of the insen-sitivity and self-destructive behavior that seems so common today. That is why all our children need to be brought up with the lofty image pre-sented in all the world’s great reli-gions: that there is a divine source of love and wisdom, beauty and com-passion, in every human being, and

the purpose of life is not to make money or enjoy pleasure but to discover this spark of divinity in the depths of consciousness, which will help to establish peace on earth and good will among mankind.

Mistakes and growthFor myself, I don’t ever look back on the past and say, “Oh, I did so many foolish things! I committed so many mistakes, caused trouble to so many people, and so many people troubled me.” All this is gone. My mind doesn’t go to the past or to the future. I live right in the present, where all my attention goes into improving who I am today.

That’s why I am not afraid to con-fess to mistakes. I have committed most of the mistakes people make in going after things that are not worth going after. We don’t know they aren’t worth going after; we have to learn. Just as a toddler cannot walk, just as a child cannot jump hurdles, none of us can avoid making big mistakes until we learn to control the mind.

Then, once we have learned, to look back on our past and judge ourselves with our newfound wisdom seems utterly unfair. Everyone makes mis-takes; every ordinary person needs a certain amount of experimentation in order to learn. When we recall past

Conti­nued from page 1

“Within yourselves let grow a boundless love for all creatures. . . . Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;

your life will bring heaven to earth.” – The Buddha

C O M M E N TA RY

�

blunders committed in honest igno-rance, therefore, there is no need to get overcome by regret. The point is to learn not to go on committing those mistakes today.

That is why I say not to dwell upon the past. Don’t put your attention there. If you see graffiti on the wall of your mind, don’t read it; don’t dwell on it. Concentrate more and more upon the present. Instead of giving all your attention to what you did twenty-five years ago, give it to what you are doing now.

This is one reason why the approach of the Compassionate Buddha has such appeal today. The Buddha did not talk about sin; he talked about mistakes. The emphasis is much more positive and practical. We are not wicked; we just make mis-takes. We are ignorant – sometimes, I admit, a bit slow to learn, but still not wicked. If you fail a course in school, your teacher is not going to give you a W for wicked and send you to perdi-tion. A good teacher just says, “You haven’t learned yet. You haven’t done your homework. If you do your homework and learn, you will get a good grade.” Once we get a passing grade in life, we don’t have to go through the agony of repeating the same mistakes over and over. We have graduated – we have learned.

Then the burden of the past falls away, just as when we wake up from a dream. It is as though all those mis-takes have been cast into the depths of the sea. Afterwards, we don’t ask ourselves, “Why did I do those foolish things? Why did I not do better?” The person who made those mistakes is no longer the same. We have changed: the mask of our old personality has been taken off, revealing who we truly are.

Then all the energy of our full per-sonality – all the vitality that used to flow towards selfish satisfaction and the pursuit of personal pleasure and profit – flows freely in new, creative

channels. If you look back, you can see the old dry creek bed of past con-ditioning and say, “Yes, there must have been a river there once”; you can see the sand and pebbles. But there is no water coming. It’s all flowing towards the source now: health, hap-piness, love, wisdom, all the energy of a strong, new nature.

A little every dayWhen all is said and done, this is the glory of the human being: not techno-logical marvels, but the capacity to remove everything that hides this imprisoned splendor in our con-sciousness.

This is not theory. This is not meta-physics. Ordinary men and women in every great religion have turned all their resources inwards to make this supreme discovery. When one of these great pioneers, the thirteenth-century German mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg, was asked how she did it, she replied simply, “My mirror is pure and I am his reflection.” That is a pre-cious clue, for you and I can do the same.

The Bhagavad Gita uses the same image. Just as we cannot see our face in a mirror that is covered with dust, the Gita says, we cannot see the divine face in our consciousness because the dust from past condition-ing has settled on it. In order to see the Lord within us, we have simply to cleanse our consciousness of the dust and grime that cover it.

In your home, you probably clean your mirror every day. Suppose you looked while you were putting on makeup and you couldn’t see your face. Wouldn’t you go and wipe the mirror clean? Similarly, the Gita says, all you have to do to see your real beauty is to extinguish self-will, fill your mind with peace and your heart with love, and spend your time work-ing for the benefit of all.

This is something everyone can do. Of course, it is far from easy, but in my

own life I have found ways to do a little bit each day. Just as an artist per-fects a painting with little strokes, or a sculptor creates a statue with delicate touches from amorphous stone, you and I, little by little, can make our lives a work of art.

“Work on your statue” How can we do this? In a famous pas-sage, the third-century mystic Ploti-nus uses an image that I would have said he borrowed from me if he hadn’t anticipated me by so many centuries. “What then is our course?” he asks. “We must shut our eyes and awaken another way of seeing, which everyone has but few use” – a perfect descrip-tion of meditation.

“Then,” he continues, “withdraw into yourself and look” – look into the mirror of your heart. “And if you do not yet find yourself beautiful, then, just as someone making a beautiful statue cuts away here and polishes there, makes this line lighter and that place smoother, until a lovely face emerges, so you too must cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is dark, make the whole work glow with beauty, and never cease working on your statue until the divine glory of virtue shines out on you and you see complete self-mastery enthroned within you.”

“Cut away here” – a little jealousy, a bit of malice, a good deal of self-will, a lot more anger, first within conscious-ness and then, of course, outside, in daily living. In other words, for per-fecting this statue, it’s not enough to meditate regularly; we must also carry through in daily behavior. In all our relationships, instead of competing, we try to complete those around us. Instead of trying to get our own way, we try to put the other person first. Instead of always pursuing personal satisfactions, we gradually give more and more of our time to the welfare of the whole. And as

Conti­nued on nex­t page

C O M M E N TA RY

�

Patient Persistence

I come from an academic world, where being able to analyze things and think them through is one of my

strengths,” says Janet L., a professor with a passion for helping students write clearly and effectively. “But there’s also a time to stop analyzing, and that was a problem.

“Sometimes in the morning I could feel my mind revving up like a motor-cycle,” she describes. “Then during the day it would race through ruts – replaying old conversations and rehearsing future ones – trying to fig-ure it all out, make things happen.”

Janet saw that this “racing through ruts” wasn’t actually useful in preparing for difficult or delicate situations. “Being a parent to high schoolers, for example, when you’re trying to be attentive but hold them lightly, required a gentle touch, which the speeded-up mind was not very good at.

“I grew up on a ranch in Nebraska, and the big question there was: How do you make things work? So I have always watched for that, and if one thing doesn’t work, I try something else.

“In this case,” she says, “I knew I wanted some clear space, so I wouldn’t just keep doing what I’d always done. That’s where I thought meditation would help me.”

A new styleJanet began practicing Easwaran’s method of passage meditation, slowing her mind down in the morning by focusing silently on inspirational pas-sages and then using the other tools in the program during the rest of the day to start lifting her mind out of the ruts. “It wasn’t easy,” she admits. “But before long there were a number of small

we do this, we – and those we live and work

with – gradually see a beautiful face emerge.

This is the purpose of my method of meditation. The inspirational passages we use in meditation give us the model – the magic mirror that shows us our true face. And my eight-point program provides the tools [see page 2]. Meditation on a passage is our internal instrument; the other skills are for working on your statue during the day.

For the words of these passages are not just poetry. When we meditate on them with one-pointed attention and an open heart, they stir a response within us. We glimpse in them a reflec-tion of our own true Self. The wonder-ful potential latent in us begins to shine, as a possibility we can not only imagine but long for and begin to live by. Each passage is a mirror for help-ing us bring the lofty vision of the world’s great spiritual traditions into our daily lives.

Imagine beginning each day absorbed in meditation on passages like the Prayer of Francis of Assisi:

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.

Or this, from the Buddha:

Just as a mother with her own life protects her child, her only child, from harm,

So within yourself let grow a boundless love for all creatures. . . .

Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;

Your life will bring heaven to earth.

Then, when you step out into the workaday world, these words go with you. Gradually they become part of you, assimilated into your character and consciousness. In the stress and hurry of the day, they give examples to follow: patience, compassion, wisdom, courage, love.

More than that, they become your friends. When you get caught up in the heat of the moment, the words come to you and tug at the sleeve of your mind: “An instrument of peace, remember? As a mother protects her only child?”

For if this original goodness is within you, it is within everyone else as well. The way to reveal the divinity in ourselves is to keep our eyes focused on it in those around us, treat-ing everyone with respect, kindness, and compassion.

A little lamp“Bring light to all that is dark,” Plotinus says. There are dark corners of consciousness where light has never penetrated, corners where neg-ative emotions try to hide. That is why a person who has revealed the splen-dor within shines like a lamp in the dark, lighting the paths of others, throwing light on life. We don’t have to have a sticker on the back of our car saying “I am a lamp.” Our life – every word we say, every act we do – communicates this divine radiance to everybody.

When you live like this, the mirror of those passages gradually ceases to be a picture and becomes a window, a “magic casement” opening out onto the luminous world of reality. Then, very simply, we see ourselves as we are. We see for ourselves who lives in our heart, and in the hearts of everyone around us. Complete in ourselves, we need nothing from anyone else, noth-ing from the world, nothing from life but the opportunity to give. Then, as the Buddha says, our lives will bring heaven to earth. •

Conti­nued from previ­ous page

‘‘

PAT I E N T P E R S I S T E N C E

�

changes – things either I noticed or other people commented on.”

One of these early shifts in Janet’s thinking process related to her tele-phone manner when untangling bureaucratic jumbles. “I was the one in our family who tended to do the administration – anything from get-ting an international visa to trying to straighten out healthcare cover-age. It could take hours.

“It always felt like there was a huge problem to be solved, but I had no control. If some-one didn’t seem to be listening or giving a straight answer or coming up with a solution, I could get pretty cold and impa-tient.”

Some situations were quite serious and did call for firm-ness. Still, her responses to the stress of these calls felt uncom-fortably negative and rigid to her – one of those ruts. Search-ing for a more vivid descrip-tion, Janet laughingly remem-bers a film where a man strug-gles across a desert, dragging along a honey badger that had locked its jaws onto his foot. “I think I used to be rather like that animal,” she says. “When I got hold of something, I wouldn’t let go.”

It wasn’t just that her mind had fixed on getting a certain outcome; it had also latched on to a negative view of things. “I could always come up with the criticism, and I didn’t like how that sounded.”

Janet realized she could apply a tool that had worked in less stressful situations. Having chosen St. Francis’s mantram, My God and my all, Janet had practiced repeating it silently to herself to slow her mind down and refocus it on her highest ideals. It took some effort to stick with it. “One time I realized I had just repeated My mind and my all!” she remembers. “But I found the mantram helped me

get a little purchase on my mind.” She started remembering the mantram during those difficult phone calls.

“After that,” she says, “even when someone did not give me the infor-mation I needed or gave me the wrong answer, I began to see that often they had really tried to help. I would still be unreasonable some-

times, but afterwards I would realize it and say, ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘Thank you for being patient with me.’ Then slowly I began to do better earlier in the conversation.”

Gradually Janet developed a new style: patient persistence. “I didn’t give up, but I didn’t get nasty either. Before, I often bulldozed into dead ends. But now I give people time. I answer their questions. I don’t dive in assuming I know the direction it needs to go. I can listen longer, listen for the help people are trying to give. Maybe things still won’t be going anywhere and I’ll have to call back and try again. But if I’m trying and they see I know they’re try-ing, it’s much better.

“And this will come as no surprise: people are so much nicer to me. It’s like day and night. The person on the other end often has a pretty difficult job, and a little consideration goes a long way. I feel calmer, I think I usu-ally get better results, and I don’t end up turning into someone I dislike.

“It’s not that I spend my life making these calls, but this example captures a lot of what has changed generally: I can be much more patient, and my relationships are better.”

Setting the right courseAt the time, Janet had no way of knowing how these benefits would come to her aid in more trying circum-stances. When recently diagnosed with a serious medical condition, Janet found these earlier efforts rewarding her with more patience, a broader perspec-tive, and a greater sense of control.

“I was halfway through a sabbatical in the Nether-lands when I returned to New York to teach for a month. Days later I learned that I would need surgery

and radiation. I had that one month to finish my teaching, understand my sit-uation, arrange the surgery, and figure out whether I could return to the Netherlands for follow-up treatment. I wanted to go back so badly, and it was so easy to think, ‘My problems are big.’ But every time I wanted to say, ‘I’ve got this special circumstance,’ I thought, ‘I’ve actually gotten off very lightly. And everybody who faces this sort of diagnosis has their life thrown into disarray. I’m not special.’ That made it much easier not to charge forward with ‘You’ve got to help me right now.’ ”

Janet was able to return to the Netherlands, where radiation appointments were

“In medi­tati­ng on passages I am, as noveli­st Anne Mi­chaels wrote, ‘li­ke a musi­ci­an who plays a pi­ece agai­n and agai­n unti­l suddenly he hears i­t for the first ti­me,’ ” says Janet. “Thi­s keeps happeni­ng to me. A di­fferent ti­me, a di­fferent need, and suddenly a li­ne from a fami­li­ar passage i­s speaki­ng di­rectly and urgently to me.”

Continuedon next page

�

scheduled for 28 days, 5 days a week. “I was deter-

mined not to resent them and let them wear me down. I sat down and thought about how to prevent that.

“What came to mind was a lesson Amsterdam had taught me one day when I headed off on my bike to a dis-tant neighborhood. The city is essen-tially a half-circle, with concentric canals. I had learned to orient by the canals, but this trip took me beyond them. When a street was blocked I turned into a residential area and kept going, ignoring clues that I wasn’t headed in quite the right direction. Given the way the city is laid out, if you start at the center and get the slightest bit off, when you finally fig-ure out where you are, it’s a long way from where you meant to be.

“I realized that these treatments were like that: a small change in how I approached them could set me off to a very different destination. Then I realized, ‘There’s a passage about this!’ ” Picking up her copy of God Makes the Rivers to Flow, she found the line she was looking for: “Make a thousandth of an inch distinction, heaven and earth swing apart.” The passage, “Believing in Mind” by Seng Ts’an, goes on to describe how to bring “heaven and earth” together:

Don’t get tangled in outward desireOr get caught within yourself.Once you plant deep the longing for

peace,Confusion leaves of itself.

In order to find some of that peace, she says, she went through the eight points, asking, “How can I shape this experience using the tools I’ve got?”

The passages. “During the treat-ments, I will have to lie still, but I have a persistent cough, and when I lie on my back it’s very hard not to cough and hence not to move.” She identi-fied meditation passages that spoke to this problem, such as one including

the words, “May quietness descend upon my limbs, my speech, my breath, my eyes, my ears.”

The mantram. “In the last year and a half in particular, the mantram has become something I take comfort in. It is much more a piece of my day-to-day consciousness. Before meditation or when I’ve been working for too long without a break, it’s restful to write the mantram. I decided to take my lovely blank book and fountain pen to the hospital with me.”

Slowing down. “In days of old, I would leave far too little time to get to appointments, but I decided to allow plenty of time. I noticed a meditation room in the atrium, and if I arrive early, I can go there.”

Putting others first. “Many people I will see at the hospital, whether patients or family members, are facing something quite frightening. I want to be kind and unobtrusive and to remember to smile.”

And so she continued with each point in the program.

“At the end I thought, ‘Well, this will be interesting.’ I felt much more positive about the experience.”

And in addition to reminding her of strength and inspiration she can find within herself, this situation is giving Janet a chance to appreciate how much her relationships with others have blossomed in the seven years she’s been meditating. Close bonds, such as those with her sons, have deepened, and she has formed many warm connections with others who share her spiritual path. “The other day I looked in my inbox at all the e-mails from people I am close to and thought, ‘How beautiful!’ These relationships have come to feel like an incredible web. This is not something I expected, but it certainly has come, and I’m sure that is because of the practice.

“My life has more clear space in it now, but it’s not empty,” says Janet. “It is so wonderfully full.” d

For Sam, Max, and Chris D., the power of unified attention had made an enduring impression long

before they knew what it was or how to cultivate it.

At the age of 5 the three brothers began coming with their parents to the Blue Mountain Center for summer family events, which put them in con-tact with Easwaran.

“The first time I remember meeting him,” says Sam, “there were at least 50 people standing around him and it was a little intimidating. I walked up and shook his hand, still distracted by all the people and looking around. But he was just talking to me; he didn’t seem to notice anything else that was happening. That was a very powerful feeling – to realize he was so com-pletely focused on me. Any nervous-ness, any bad feelings, any tension just went away and I became very calm.”

In Chris’s case, the overriding feel-ing was one of happiness. “It’s hard to put into words, but when you were near him, you were always peaceful and smiling, no matter what had gone on during the day or week or year.”

For Max, a deep sense of connec-tion was the most noticeable effect of that one-pointedness. “Easwaran understood people and he got you. He took interest in whatever we were doing” – and for these boys, that usu-ally meant soccer. “He would always play a game with us and ask how soc-cer was going.”

On one of these occasions, after the boys had been coming for several years, Easwaran made a comment that captured Sam’s attention. “One day we were talking and he said something

Conti­nued from previ­ous page

PAT I E N T P E R S I S T E N C E

The Power of One-Pointedness

like, ‘The mental things you find through soccer – like focus and deter-mination – could be enhanced with some of the skills you can learn here.’ ”

Now 17, Sam, Max, and Chris are at least as avid soccer players as they were then. And in the past few years in particular, they have taken Easwaran’s suggestion to heart, applying the tools in his eight-point program of passage meditation. As they do so, they find themselves making progress, on and off the field, toward the unified atten-tion that made such an impression.

“When Easwaran first told me that the eight points were made to be used in everyday life,” says Sam, “I thought, ‘That’s true.’ But now especially, I see that you can apply them to any aspect of your life, and you’ll be able to do everything more simply and just better all around.”

Transforming stressEach of the boys, when asked how these tools have been most useful, points to the ability to han-dle stressful situations. Max, for exam-ple, uses the mantram to calm his mind before exams.

Now, with their junior year drawing to a close, the stakes are rising as they face decisions that will shape their future. “Looking at universities and applying to them is kind of a scary thing for me,” says Chris. “There are hundreds, thousands, to choose from.”

And since, like his brothers, Chris wants to continue to play soccer when he goes away to school, the selection process from the other side is very intense as well. “Some college coaches can pick from thousands of players,” he explains. “Before getting looked at

by one of them, you’re pretty scared about what they’re going to think of you: if you’re good enough, if you’re not good enough.”

When facing one of these tryouts, rather than allowing anxious thoughts to splinter his attention, Chris uses the mantram to focus it. He can then direct that concentration to whatever the tryout demands of him when the time comes. “The mantram gives you the sense of strength and belief in yourself that you need when you’re going through that process.”

And the aspects of the college appli-cation process that don’t require cleats and shin guards are stressful in a dif-ferent way. The tasks are more com-plex and demand sustained attention over a longer period. And between the unsettling unknowns and the paper-work, they’re frankly not as fun. Con-centrating takes more determination.

“Applying to college is such a daunting, huge process,” says Chris. “Meditation helps me slow my mind down, and I realize, ‘I can do this.’ ” Then he sets a realistic goal and makes time in his schedule. “Every day, I take half an hour and do something to help me get into college, whether it’s look-

ing at scholarships or applying to a school. Otherwise it would be so hard and confusing.”

Quite often, of course, that half hour rolls around and Chris doesn’t feel up to the task. But he has learned to chan-nel that anxious energy in a positive direction by getting started on the work anyway. As with any other skill, he says, practice pays off. “With each coach I contact, each letter I send, it gets easier.

“We talked to a coach about a year ago and I was quite frankly scared out of my wits. There I was, a 16-year-old

boy talking about my going to college and him paying for it,” he remembers with a laugh. “But every time I’m able to fight through that and talk to the coach or what-ever it may be, it makes me stronger. It’s the same in lifting weights or learning a hard song on the gui-tar or anything in life.”

Finally, just as there is a time for focusing on his responsibilities, there is a time for set-ting them aside, not just physically, but mentally. “In high

school there is a lot of hectic running around and stuff happening in every-body’s lives, and you can tell that if peo-ple could just stop everything for a moment and have some peace in their life, that would really help.”

In addition to his spiritual tools, recreation is an important part of find-ing that peace, says Chris. “I love sing-ing, dancing, playing the piano and guitar – anything with music.”

And it doesn’t have to take a lot of time, he says, to step out of the pressure of personal goals and concerns and share some relaxation. “One of my friends gets stressed out a lot because she has so much going

P O W E R O F O N E - P O I N T E D N E S S

�

Continuedon next page

“Easwaran always sai­d to make your li­fe a work of art, and that’s a bi­g one wi­th our fam­i­ly,” says Max­ (c.), pi­ctured here wi­th hi­s brothers, Sam (l.) and Chri­s (r.). “We always try to remember that – that what we do affects other people and we don’t want to affect them i­n a negati­ve way.”

10

P O W E R O F O N E - P O I N T E D N E S S

the passage during meditation, so meditation has definitely helped a lot with keeping my focus during the day.”

Chris agrees that maintaining a calm mind is a tough challenge, and some-times the best one can do is ease ten-sions after the fact. Having enough concentration to catch these slipups early, however, makes a difference. “Maybe you make a bad pass and you get a look from someone and you give a look back,” describes Chris. “If I’m the one giving that look to my brother or my teammate, usually I know the min-ute I do that I probably shouldn’t have done that. It’s not a very good feeling.

“So when I get a chance – after the play is over or at half time or after the game – I go over to the guy and say, ‘Hey, my bad – sorry. You’re doing great.’ Just try to pick them back up instead of putting them down.”

And sometimes words aren’t neces-sary, Sam points out, for regaining a positive atmosphere. “Even if only one person is completely focused on the game, it spreads around to the rest of the team. Usually by the start of the second half, there’s that feeling of calmness about the team: no one’s arguing, no one’s yelling, just simple directions between team members.

“Once we were losing 4–0 and a few of us had kept that focus. During the half-time talk, I think it was kind of spread around to the rest of the team. We improved as a group so much that we ended up winning 5–4.

“There are times when the negativ-ity takes over, but then there are times when the focus wins. The level of play and the cohesion of the team gets much better when we’re all feeling that same calmness.”

Beyond winning and losingThat calmness, says Sam, has become the best measure of how he’s playing. “The games when I’m less focused are more about winning. But when I can really focus – and not just in soccer – the outcome isn’t so important.

“It’s a feeling that things will happen when they do and that they’ll be the right things at the right time. You’re not thinking about the results, but things eventually do come out much better. On those days, my coach and my dad will say, ‘You played really well.’ ”

And when tensions about winning and losing recede into the background, Sam himself has been surprised by what occurs. “Freshman year there was a game that was tied 0–0. I was about 20 yards away from the goal and one of my teammates passed me the ball. I’d been pretty focused all game, and when he played me that ball, there was noth-ing else in the world. Every sound, everything else just disappeared. I ended up taking a shot as soon as it came to me, and right when I kicked it, I knew it was going in.”

The experience lasted only a second, but that sense of mastery left a deep impression. “It was such a powerful feeling – one of the greatest moments of my life.”

And that one-pointedness, he says, is not a skill he develops just for him-self. In fact, as he and his brothers experienced early on, concentrated attention directed towards others can create a sense of unity. “The times that you spend with people, if you’re able to just focus on them and not think or worry about anything else, you get a much stronger connection with them. I think it draws them in and then you’re able to talk to each other or just be with each other on a much deeper level. Certainly Easwaran was able to do that every time I was with him, and it’s a very cool feeling when that happens to you.”

Though the three boys aren’t sure what the next couple of years will bring, it has helped them to know someone for whom concentration and an awareness of unity had become sec-ond nature. “I see the power Easwaran had over his mind and actions,” says Sam, “and what that was like for him and for the rest of us around him.” •

on in her life. During one of our breaks we go out to her

car and sing a couple of songs together. Some people will say we’re good and some will say we’re not good. But we’re just smiling and singing and having a good time. Those few minutes make a difference in the rest of her day.”

One-pointedness & working togetherIn fact, the boys have observed, it’s these connections between people that are often the first to suffer when stress takes over. Whether Sam is trying to help get his team into the playoffs or Max and Chris are guiding others through an exercise they designed for their leadership class, they’ve experi-enced the same dynamic: attachment to a particular result divides concen-tration between the present and future. The tension this creates in the mind spills over into relationships.

It’s a dynamic they’ve learned to watch out for in themselves. “If Max, Sam, and I end up competing against each other for playing time or a partic-ular position instead of working together, it ends up being detrimental to our team and ourselves. We really notice when that happens,” says Chris.

Sam explains, “When I lose my focus, I start thinking thoughts like ‘What if this person doesn’t do their job and we all fail?’ ” Ironically, those anxieties, left unchecked, can help bring about unwanted results. “There have been many games over the years where people on our own team have been yelling at each other and arguing on the field, and it takes away from the focus of the team a lot.”

It’s easy to see how this happens, he says. “Keeping your focus for an entire game is hard, and in the last couple of years, the mantram has become a much more important part of getting that concentration I need, especially when things don’t turn out the way I wanted them to. The ball goes out of bounds and thoughts pop in and I have to refocus. It’s like going back to

Conti­nued from previ­ous page

11

B R I N G I N G O U T T H E B E S T

Bringing Out the Best

When private tutor Hallie M. sits down with a student, they might end up outlining

the plot of Hamlet or committing to memory every god and goddess in the Greek mythological pan-theon. That’s the easy part.

The hard part – her favorite part – is helping the student enjoy it.

From a high school science whiz heading for burnout to a sixth grader for whom compos-ing a paragraph is a heroic achievement, every pupil presents a unique challenge. Hallie tailors each session to the student’s learning style, temperament, needs, and goals.

It’s an approach that requires sensitivity and flexibility on her part, and that’s where passage meditation has been so helpful. “Without my spiritual practice, I would be more scripted,” she says. “Maybe I’d pull out some fat files and we would go through our worksheets. But I think medita-tion gives me the confidence in my capacities and theirs so as not to have to fall back on that.”

Understanding deepensAs she directs a session, Hallie pays keen attention to discovering “What does this person need to tackle this assignment with enthusiasm?” She might coax a student out from under a mound of flashcards and show her the mystery or the practicality of what she’s learning. Or if a student’s eyes are glazing over from too many rules about comma usage, she might re-energize him with something he finds

fascinating, such as a five-minute tour of Native American animal imagery.

For an award-winning poet like Hallie, that kind of playful explora-tion comes naturally – but she has learned that it’s not always what’s called for. Meditation and the other tools in Easwaran’s program have helped her enjoy the challenge of directing her creativity to whatever the student needs.

“I have a sixth grader with learning

disabilities, and when he comes in, it’s like he’s at a job,” she explains. “To his credit, he just wants to work on his assignment, and he wants it com-pleted by the time he leaves.”

The problem, however, is that this boy tends to underestimate what the assignment requires. “He might bring in half of what the teacher is asking for, and he has difficulty writing clearly. But because he has spent a great deal of time on what he has on the paper, he has a tremendous investment in it.”

At first, Hallie matter-of-factly

pointed out the assignment’s incom-pleteness, but she sensed the effect on him. “He would keep a very neutral facial expression, but he would turn away from me and his body language would cave in ever so slightly,” she says. “So I knew I needed to be very careful with him.

“Now when he brings in a draft, I offer to type it for him. That’s how I get him to look at it. He reads a sen-tence out loud, and I say, ‘Boy, that’s a

really good sentence!’ Then he reads the next and I say, ‘I don’t know what that means. Can you give me another word for this?’ Because it’s a linear approach, he can stay with the task, and I can get him to reflect on his writing without his feeling judged,” she explains. “When I can put the needs of the student first, it’s much easier to see what to do.”

Knowing what is best for a student and being able to offer it, however, are two dif-ferent things. “This young man demands a lot of focus from me. Sometimes I real-ize I’m getting impatient that he’s not clicking along as fast as I’d like. He also requires a lot of long quiet gaps, and I love to talk. Saying two or three mantrams helps

me get out of my ego spot and refocus.”

And with a slower, more concen-trated mind, she finds her under-standing deepening. “I learned to trust that he wasn’t being uncoopera-tive if he didn’t respond. Now I can see that he is really trying to work something out during those long silences. Sometimes I’ll suggest some-thing and he’ll say, ‘No, that’s not what I want,’ and then a whole sentence will come out. So he’s engaged; it’s just a different type of engage-ment, and a few mantrams

“I’m always just struck by the mystery of medi­tati­on,” says Halli­e. “I’ve been doi­ng thi­s for 20 years and there’s sti­ll thi­s unfoldi­ng. I don’t know ex­actly how i­t works. I just know that i­f I keep at i­t, my li­fe stays pretty stable: wi­thout the drama, but wi­th all the bri­ght colors.”

Continuedon next page

1�

B R I N G I N G O U T T H E B E S T

here and there really help me not to rush him.”

Gentle firmness“Many of these youngsters come to me with issues,” says Hallie. “Maybe they have ADD, or language-processing problems, or cases of asthma that put them in bed for weeks at a time. They’re clever kids, and they manage these issues very well.” Yet in addition to the creativity and flexibility she strives to bring to each session, kind firmness also plays an important role – especially if she feels that the kids are putting undue attention on their prob-lems rather than trying to live up to their potential. “I try to strike a respectful balance. I might say, ‘Oh no, the teachers made you do that?’ and offer them a little bit of sympathy – but not much.

“Sometimes the students are being silly about their own capacities or about wanting to manipulate the hour in a way that doesn’t serve them,” she says. When she needs to draw a line, Easwaran’s definition of “putting the welfare of others first” gives her confi-dence that she is acting in the interest of the student – even if it creates a lit-tle tension in the moment. “I see myself as a coach and cheerleader, telling them, ‘You can do this!’ But putting others first doesn’t mean doing what they want if that’s not going to help them.

“If they’re in a bad mood, for example, I’ll try two or three different approaches to the assignment. Then if they still don’t want to do the work, I just pull rank. ‘We’re here to get something done. Let’s get on with it.’ I bend to their needs at the moment, but if they’re taking advantage of the situation, I tell them that. So far, gratefully, I haven’t had to do that much.”

Her experience with strengthening her own self-discipline through her spiritual practice also has been invaluable in helping students who

are having difficulty facing up to a challenge. She can offer the students both empathy and a deep sense of the importance of “getting comfortable with being a little uncomfortable” when that will move them closer to their goals. “For example, it’s so much easier for me to stick with the pas-sages I’ve said for many years, but I know that when I memorize a new passage, I am more engaged in the meditative process. It’s harder to con-centrate and therefore I work harder and I’m there more consistently. It’s wonderful to get a new passage mas-tered.”

And as she conveys this faith in self-discipline, her students’ positive responses encourage her that the message is a healthy one. Many choose to stay with her until they go off to college. “When one of my seniors had gotten his college accep-tance and finished his AP exams, I told him he could have the semester off. But he said, ‘No. Our conversa-tions are very important to me.’ ”

Giving full effort – and letting goFinally, once Hallie has done her best to be accommodating, firm, or encouraging as each session demands, she tries to let go of the results. When facing an apparent failure or success – a parent decides a cram course would be more effective or a student wins an academic award – Hallie makes an effort to keep her mind from dwelling on it.

She credits her spiritual practice with giving her a deeper sense of her own identity: as important as these tutoring sessions are, they are not a measure of her whole worth.

As a result, she says, “I’m very engaged with the children, but I don’t feel ensnared. And that makes it eas-ier to help if they themselves get tan-gled up in results.

“For example, I have a bright high school freshman who has poured long hours into this research paper,

but the assignment is just over his head – I wouldn’t have touched it until my sophomore year in college. He’s been told it could get a D, which would break his heart, but he’s too embroiled in it to see what needs to be fixed.

“I said, ‘Come back to this in a cou-ple of weeks and then you’ll see some of the things your teacher is talking about.’ I basically told him, ‘You can do this, but it’s not happening now. Don’t beat yourself up about it.’

“Then we moved on to a novel he was to be tested on. In the story, the characters struggle and they take risks that don’t always seem to work out, but the book ends on a very posi-tive note. As we went through the plot line, I brought out how these strug-gles proved worthwhile. I was just winging it, but he was participating and asking questions. His mood light-ened, and at least on the fictional level, he got the message.”

She’s always on the lookout for appropriate ways to communicate her confidence in their deeper capacities. “I want these children to know that every one of these papers – I don’t care how much red ink they’re bleed-ing – is just a snapshot. It’s a moment in their lives – a significant one at this time, maybe – but that’s not who they are. And I think that is Easwaran’s message: you are in the continual process of creating your life and mak-ing it into something more.” d

Further Resources

To learn more about meditating

on a passage, using the mantram,

and applying the other tools in the

eight-point program – or simply

to explore Easwaran’s work –

please visit our Web site,

www.easwaran.org

Conti­nued from previ­ous page

Passage Meditation Bringing the Deep Wisdom of the Heart into Daily Life

$14.95, paperback

Order after June 1st:Call 800 475 2369Or 707 878 2369Or order on our Web site:www.easwaran.org/pm

This latest edition of Easwaran’s classic, Meditation, is the distillation of his forty years’ experience in teaching peo-ple of all ages, faiths, and philosophies how to calm their minds and lead a wiser, happier life. The title has been changed to reflect his unique method of meditating on spiritual texts, or passages, from all the world’s traditions. Filled with gentle humor, entertaining anecdotes, and deep wisdom, the book is as readable as it is practical.

This edition includes a new introduction and afterword drawn from Easwaran’s talks. It opens with his account of how he discovered passage meditation and closes with a warm invitation to join him on this adventure into “the world within.”

“No extravagant claims, no pretentious jargon. Just a clear, insightful exposition of meditation and an excellent guide to its practice.” – uon mi (Author of The World’s Religions)

Timeless WisdomPassages for Meditation from the World’s Saints & Sages

$14.95, paperback

Order after June 1st:Call 800 475 2369Or 707 878 2369Or order on our Web site:www.easwaran.org/tw

Timeless Wisdom is a collection of spiritual texts chosen by Easwaran expressly for passage meditation. This compact edition of his longer anthology, God Makes the Rivers to Flow, retains many well-loved selections while including nine additional texts and a new preface.

Ideal for new meditators and those who travel frequently, Timeless Wisdom offers a wealth of inspiration – flashes of insight from the Hindu Upanishads, prayers of com-fort from the Christian saints, psalms from the Old Tes-tament, songs of praise from the Sufis, deep wisdom from the Jewish, Buddhist, and Taoist traditions.

“The passages become lifelines, guiding you to the source of wisdom deep within and then guiding you back into daily life. . . . This is the secret of meditation: you become what you meditate on.” – ekna eaaran

Two New Companion Books for Meditators

Special Offer: If you buy both books together, we will send you a coupon for 10% off any of our one-day introductory retreats in the U.S., “Strength in Life’s Storms.” You may use the coupon for yourself or for someone else, and it is valid throughout 2008.

After June 1st, call us to order at 800 475 2369 or 707 878 2369.

How can you develop a calm mind? Our introductory retreats are set up for exploring how you can use Easwaran’s method of passage meditation to find peace in the midst of a busy life. How could a regular spiritual practice make a difference in your health, or relationships, or career?

Passage meditation can be used entirely within your own reli-gious or nonreligious outlook. At the retreat, you’ll be able to ask questions of experienced meditators or just listen. You can try out Easwaran’s method, and if it feels right for you we will offer you a wide range of resources and support for setting up

your own regular practice in your own home. Whatever your conclusion, we’re sure you’ll find the retreat restorative and uplifting.

Come and experience what it’s like to calm your mind and dis-cover the hidden resources within – to be able to face every-thing from daily irritations to the storms of life with courage, compassion, and a sense of humor.

“Wow! I have never been in a day-long workshop where it flew by with a relaxed feeling and focused mind. Thank you for the joy!”

Introductory Retreats at the Blue Mountain Center and around the Country

“Gandhi began life as a timid child, but he learned to keep his mind so steady that he could face tremendous crises with courage, compassion, wisdom, and even a sense of humor.

“You and I may not be Gandhis, but every one of us has these capacities inside us. The problem is that we need a calm mind to drawn on them.” – ekna eaaran

If you have questions or would like to sign up

call us at �00 ��� ����

or visit our Web site at

www.easwaran.org/retreats

Scenes from retreats at the Blue Mountai­n Center i­n Northern Cali­forni­a. We offer a vari­ety of programs to meet a wi­de range of ages and ex­peri­ence levels.

ORDER FORMShip to

Name

Street

City

State Zip + �

Daytime telephone

E-mail address

Payment Method We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and personal checks or money orders. Foreign orders (including Canada and Mexico) please pay in U.S. funds by international money order or credit card.

° Check ° Visa ° MasterCard ° American Express

Credit card number:

Expiration date:

Name on card:

Make checks payable to: Nilgiri Press

Nilgiri Press, Box ���, Tomales, California ����1 Orders �00 ��� ���� �0� ��� ����

Facsimile �0� ��� ���� E-mail info@easwaran.org Web www.easwaran.org

Free Subscriptions We send our journal, Blue Mountain, free to everyone on our mailing list in the U.S. For subscribers in Canada and Mexico there is an annual postage fee of US$�.�0; for subscribers overseas it is US$1�.�0.

___Yes, please add me to your mailing list.

___Please send ____ copies of this journal to:

___ Please subscribe this e-mail address to your Thought for the Day:

Books & CassettesTitle Quantity x Price = Amount

Subtotal

California orders add �.��% sales tax

Shipping ChargesMedia Mail (up to 6 wks): $�.�� for first item; $1.00 for each additional item

Priority Mail (5–10 days): $�.�� first item; $1.�� each additional item

UPS: please call or e-mail us for rates

Canada & Foreign: please call or e-mail us for rates

Shipping

TOTAL

For orders of 10 or more items

please order by phone weekdays

between �:00 a.m. and �:00 p.m.

Title Paperback Cloth

Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living

The End of Sorrow $�1.�� $�0.00

Like a Thousands Suns $�1.��

To Love Is to Know Me $�1.�� $�0.00

Set of above � vols. $�0.00

Classics of Indian Spirituality

The Bhagavad Gita $10.��

The Dhammapada $10.��

The Upanishads $11.��

Boxed set of above � vols. $��.��

Classics of Christian Inspiration

Love Never Faileth $1�.�� $��.00

Original Goodness $1�.�� $��.00

Seeing with the Eyes of Love $1�.�� $��.00

Set of above � vols. $�0.00 $�0.00

Title Paperback Cloth

Easwaran’s Basic Books

Climbing the Blue Mountain $1�.�� $��.00

The Compassionate Universe $1�.��

Conquest of Mind $1�.�� $��.00

The Constant Companion $1�.�� $��.00

Dialogue with Death $1�.��

God Makes the Rivers to Flow $1�.��

Mantram Handbook $1�.��

Meditation (Previous edition) $� for $1�.00

Passage Meditation (After June 1) $14.95

The Monkey and the Mango $10.00

A More Ardent Fire $�.�� $�.�0

Strength in the Storm $1�.00

Take Your Time $1�.00

Timeless Wisdom (After June 1) $14.95

The Undiscovered Country $�.��

With My Love & Blessings $�0.00

Title Paperback Cloth

Words to Live By $1�.00

Your Life Is Your Message $�.��

Biographies

Gandhi the Man $1�.��

The Making of a Teacher $1�.�� $��.00

Nonviolent Soldier of Islam $1�.��

Cookbooks

Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book $1�.��

Laurel’s Kitchen Caring $1�.��

New Laurel’s Kitchen $�1.��

Audio Talks

Meditation, Audio Guide on � CDs $1�.��

Complete Book List

Prices good until August 31, 2008

B L U E

M O U N TA I N

A J O U R N A L F O R

S P I R I T U A L L I V I N G

B A S E D O N

E K N A T H E A S W A R A N ’ S

E I G H T P O I N T P R O G R A M

Retreats in Tomales, California

June 27–29: Weekend Introductory & Refresher

July 5–11: Weeklong In­Depth

July 25–27: Weekend In­Depth

August 2–8: Weeklong In­Depth

August 16: One­Day Introductory & Refresher

September 5–9: Half­Week for seni­ors and those

faci­ng li­fe­threateni­ng i­llness

September 20–26: Weeklong In­Depth

NEW October 4: One­Day Introductory & Refresher

October 10–12: Weekend In­Depth

November 7–9: Young Adult Weekend,

Introductory & In­Depth

November 14–16: Weekend Introductory & Refresher

Retreats in Tomales, California; across the U.S.; and in Europe

Spend a day, a weekend, or a

week learni­ng how the practi­ce of

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 and at

vari­ous locati­ons around the U.S. and

i­n Europe.

Weekend retreats run from Fri­day

di­nner through Sunday lunch.

Retreats across the U.S. and in Europe

May 30–June 1: Kansas Ci­ty Weekend

June 7: Los Angeles One­Day

June 20–22: New York Weekend

June 21: New York One­Day

August 22–24: Denver Weekend

August 23: Denver One­Day

September 12–14: Chi­cago Weekend

September 13: Chi­cago One­Day

September 27: San Di­ego One­Day

NEW November 15: Lewes, UK, One­Day

NEW November 22: Voorschoten, The Netherlands,

One­Day

November 22: Sacramento One­Day

Retreats across the U.S., Young Adult retreats, and Senior Half-Week retreats offer both introductory and in-depth workshops.

Many of the books mentioned in this journal are available at your local bookstore. Please look for them.

Listed on this page are the dates and locations of the meditation retreats we are offering in the coming months

at various locations around the U.S. and in Europe.