Eknath Easwaran

Today I stumbled upon Eknath Easwaran’s Passage Meditation, and it felt like reconnecting with a quieter, more contemplative version of myself. It has been a long time since I last read his work. I am reminded of my high school days in Pokhara, wandering through Lakeside and picking up copies of the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the Dhammapada. Those were days filled with a certain intensity—a sincere and almost restless curiosity about life, virtue, and the deeper meaning of existence.

I was especially drawn to Easwaran’s collections of passages and quotes from spiritual and mystical traditions. They felt timeless, carrying voices from different paths yet pointing toward the same inner truth. Back then, I read vigorously, not just to understand but to reflect, to internalize, and to imagine a life shaped by simplicity, discipline, and spiritual clarity. It was a period marked by a genuine aspiration to live a pious and meaningful life, guided by something deeper than the ordinary pull of the world.

Eknath Easwaran was a modern spiritual teacher who translated ancient wisdom—especially from the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, and Christian mystics—into a practical psychology of daily living. His teaching is not abstract philosophy; it is a training of attention, character, and love through disciplined, compassionate living.

At the heart of his work is a simple but profound insight:


Mind training: We become what we think. By training attention, we transform character; by transforming character, we transform our life. The Mind Can Be Trained. The mind is not fixed—it is plastic, conditionable, and trainable. “The mind is like a muscle. It grows stronger with use.”

Time and attention are power. Where attention goes, energy flows. Control of attention = control of life. Your attention is your most precious resource.

Slowing Down is Strength.  Modern life scatters attention. Slowing down gathers it. It is not how much you do, but how deeply you do it.

Love, selflessness, and spiritualism Are Practical Forces. Not ideals, but trainable habits. We cannot be peaceful ourselves unless we make peace with those around us. There is no separation between meditation and action. “Meditation must be lived in daily life.”

The Eight-Point Program (His Core Teaching)
 
1. Passage Meditation  

Memorize and meditate on inspirational spiritual passages. Repeat slowly, silently, with attention. This replaces negative thought patterns and deeply reconditions the mind. This is similar to mental rewiring

Prayer of Saint 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. 

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.

Lao Tzu: 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.
 

A SONG OF DAVID: PSALM 23 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; 

He leadeth me beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul; 

He guideth me in straight paths for His name’s sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; 

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; 

Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and 

I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.


RIG VEDA: UNITED IN HEART 

May we be united in heart. 

May we be united in speech. 

May we be united in mind. 

May we perform our duties 

As did the wise of old. 

May we be united in our prayer. 

May we be united in our goal. 

May we be united in our resolve. 

May we be united in our understanding. 

May we be united in our offering. 

May we be united in our feelings. 

May we be united in our hearts. 

May we be united in our thoughts. 

May there be perfect unity amongst us.
 

"We meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun; may She inspire our understanding." 

-Rig Veda

We meditate on that most adored Supreme Lord, the creator, whose effulgence (divine light) illumines all realms (physical, mental, and spiritual). May this divine light illumine our intellect.

Word meaning: Om: The primeval sound; Bhur: the physical body/physical realm; Bhuvah: the life force/the mental realm; Suvah: the soul/spiritual realm; Tat:  That (God); Savitur: the Sun, Creator (source of all life); Vareñyam: adore; Bhargo: effulgence (divine light); Devasya: supreme Lord; Dheemahi: meditate; Dhiyo: the intellect; Yo: May this light; Nah: our; Prachodayāt: illumine/inspire.

2. Mantram Repetition

Silent repetition of a sacred word. Mantra means a syllabus that can be used to cross the ocean of the mind. The word to the roots, man, “the mind,” and tri, “to cross.” The mantram, repeated regularly for a long time, enables us to cross the sea of the mind.

During stress, walking, waiting, or before sleep, a mantra is a portable refuge.

Om mani padme hum, used by Buddhists for centuries, signifies “the jewel in the lotus of the heart”

Hare Rama Hare Rama 

Rama Rama Hare Hare 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna 

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare 

Rama comes from a Sanskrit root meaning “to rejoice.” Anyone who repeats it summons the great joy found in our deepest Self. Hare (pronounced ha-ray) is a name for God derived from the Sanskrit har, “to steal.” What bold imagery! The Lord may be tagged the Divine Thief because he has stolen our hearts, and we cannot rest until we catch him. Rama, as we have seen, represents the Lord as the source of all joy. And Krishna comes from the root karsh, “to draw” — he who ceaselessly, ceaselessly draws us to himself.

Blessed art thou, O Lord

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim, “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,”

3. Slowing Down

Deliberately reduce speed. Speed is fragmentation, and slowness is awareness. This is a direct antidote to modern overstimulation. As Meher Baba puts:

A mind that is fast is sick. 

A mind that is slow is sound. 

A mind that is still is divine.


4. One-Pointed Attention
 
Do one thing at a time with full attention. Eat without distraction. Listen fully. Work deeply

“When you give your full attention, everything becomes meditation.”


5. Training the Senses

Reduce overstimulation (media, excess pleasure, distraction). Regain inner independence. Not suppression—but wise regulation

6. Putting Others First

Practice selflessness in daily life. Let others go first. Listen instead of reacting. Serve without expectation

“Happiness comes when we forget ourselves.”


7. Spiritual Companionship

Associate with people on a similar path. The environment shapes the mind.


8. Spiritual Reading

Daily reading of sacred/inspiring texts


Meditation → rewires the deep mind
Mantram → stabilizes in daily life

Slowing down → reduces reactivity
One-pointed attention → builds concentration
Sense training → reduces distraction
Service → dissolves ego
Companionship + reading → sustain motivation




 

WORDS TO LIVE BY:

As an irrigator guides water to the fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives. THE BUDDHA

Familiar acts are beautiful through love. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Try to treat with equal love all the people with whom you have relations. Thus the abyss between “myself” and “yourself” will be filled in, which is the goal of all religious worship. ANANDAMAYI MA

We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far. SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. THE BUDDHA

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. I JOHN

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. I CORINTHIANS

Just as a fire is covered by smoke and a mirror is obscured by dust, just as the embryo rests deep within the womb, wisdom is hidden by selfish desire. BHAGAVAD GITA

They live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and sense craving tormenting the heart. BHAGAVAD GITA

Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child. THE BUDDHA

Dreams are real as long as they last. Can we say more of life? HENRY HAVELOCK ELLIS

The control of the palate is a valuable aid for the control of the mind. MAHATMA GANDHI

People say, “What is the sense of our small effort?” They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. DOROTHY DAY

Love, and do what you like. Ama et fac quod vis. SAINT AUGUSTINE

Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Whatever you do, make it an offering to me – the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering. BHAGAVAD GITA

Purity of heart is to will one thing. SOREN KIERKEGAARD

A mind that is fast is sick. A mind that is slow is sound. A mind that is still is divine. MEHER BABA

If one who enjoys a lesser happiness beholds a greater one, let him leave aside the lesser to gain the greater. THE BUDDHA

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. MARK TWAIN

Peace is not an absence of war. It is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, trust, and justice. SPINOZA

Have thy heart in heaven and thy hands upon the earth. Ascend in piety and descend in charity. For this is the Nature of Light and the way of the children of it. THOMAS VAUGHAN

All human evil comes from this: a man’s being unable to sit still in a room. BLAISE PASCAL

Lord, grant that I may not so much seek to be loved as to love. SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

What we hope ever to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence. SAMUEL JOHNSON

Who is wise? One who learns from all. THE TALMUD

If you go on working with the light available, you will meet your Master, as he himself will be seeking you. RAMANA MAHARSHI

Love has no errors, for all errors are the want of love. WILLIAM LAW

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret. AMBROSE BIERCE

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MATTHEW

Hasten slowly and ye shall soon arrive. MILAREPA

He who binds to himself a joy Doth the wingéd life destroy. But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in Eternity’s sunrise. WILLIAM BLAKE

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. OSCAR WILDE

Know One, know all. KATHA UPANISHAD

The wine of life is oozing drop by drop, The leaves of life are falling one by one. OMAR KHAYYAM

Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can draw in their senses at will. BHAGAVAD GITA

Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle. MICHELANGELO

Whatever I am offered in devotion with a pure heart – a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water – I accept with joy. BHAGAVAD GITA

When thoughts arise, then do all things arise. When thoughts vanish, then do all things vanish. HUANG PO

Envy and wrath shorten the life. ECCLESIASTICUS

Love begets love. Amor saca amor. SAINT TERESA OF AVILA