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Sharing the insights I discover as I explore and experience the mystery that is our reality. Join me in my journey and share yours.




Eknath Easwaran Quotes




Eknath Easwaran (1910-1999) is a spiritual leader that has inspired and encouraged many with his deep wisdom and insights. His method of  passage meditation can be incorporated by any person of any faith or of no faith at all. I highly recommend taking his free online course that introduces the practice of passage meditation. You can find out more about it here:   http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-course-introduction.html

As I read his books I will be posting quotes from them here. I hope you enjoy!



Quotes from   Original Goodness


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" Initiation into universal consciousness, it has been said, is initation into universal empathy...and therefore into universal sorrow."



" ...love requires a center within oneself which nothing can shake- a sanctum sanctorum into which we can always retire to renew our strength and security. That is the purpose of meditation."


" Love is a full-time occupation, a continuous state of mind."

" Instead of looking at difficulties as deprivations, we can learn to recognize them as opportunities for deepening and widening our love."


" As our desire to draw closer to the Lord within us deepens, it draws self-centered desires into it like tributaries into a great river. The power of that love swells until it becomes cataclysmic; we begin to inspire other people through the transformation we have wrought in ourselves."


"Whenever you look into another person's eyes, remember that you are looking into a city where the Lord dwells- and remember always that our arms and hands were given to us for others' rescue, not for their ruin."


"The regular practice of meditation and repetition of the mantram can be compared to building a road deep into the unconscious, where the forces of love and hatred play... the reward is access to a realm where personalities and events can be seen as fluid energy, waiting to be shaped by the power of love."


"Above all else, the love of God is free, because freedom is the breath and soul of love."


" It is by discovering the unity between ourselves and others- all others- that we find our unity with God."


" Learning to stay kind when people turn against us is the essence of training the mind to love."


"Bearing sorrow cheerfully for the sake of another is the very heart of love."


" We can choose our suffering to be meaningful or meaningless."


" Seen through the eyes of love, the most difficult conditions become opportunities for heping those whom others shun."


" As we forgive others, we are teaching the mind to respond to forgiveness everywhere, even in the misdeeds and mistakes of our own past."


" Indulging in anger is pointing a poison-tipped arrow inward, aimed straight at ourselves."


" The principle underlying the Passion is that out of his infinite mercy, the Lord has taken his sufferings on himself. As long as any living creature is in pain, so is Jesus, for he lives at the heart of all. Whenever violence breaks out, no matter how cleverly we try to justify it, we are crucifying the spirit of Christ."


"Repeating the Holy Name is a powerful way to harness a very natural tendency of the human mind: to brood."



Quotes from:


God Makes the Rivers to Flow: Sacred Literature from Around the World

"...we do not need to bring our real self, our higher self, into existence. It is already there. It has always been there, yearning to be out. An incomparable spark of divinity is to be found in the heart of each human being, waiting to radiate love and wisdom everywhere, because that is its nature....This you that sometimes feels inadequate, sometimes becomes afraid or angry or depressed, that searches on and on for fulfillment, contains within itself the very fulfillment it seeks, and to a supreme degree."


"The old dispute about the relative virtues of the active way and the contemplative way is a spurious one. We require both. They are phases of a single rhythm like the pulsing of the heart, the in drawing and letting go of breath, the ebb and flow of the tides. So we go deep, deep inwards in  meditation to consolidate our vital energy, and then, with greater love and wisdom, we come out into the family, the community, the world. Without action we lack opportunities for changing our old ways, and we increase our self-will rather than lessen it; without  contemplation, we lack the strength to change and are blown away by our conditioning. "


"In meditation, the inspirational passage is the chisel, our concentration is the hammer, and our resolute delivers the blows...When we use our will to drive the thin edges of the passage deep into our consciousness, we get the purchase to pry loose tenacious habits and negative attitudes."


Quotes from: The End of Sorrow: The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living Volume 1



"When we fight others, whether physically or in the mind, we harm them and ourselves, but when we fight all that is base and self-willed in us, we bring lasting joy to everyone. This is a central theme in all great scriptures." p. 27

" The word Krishna comes from the Sanskrit root krish, 'to draw'; Krishna is the one inside us who is drawing us to himself all the time. The title Sri means 'Lord'. Sri Krishna is eternal and omnipresent; he is our real Self. Whether we call him the Christ, the Buddha, or Allah, he is the supreme Reality underlying consciousness and uniting all creation."  p. 28

"We have been so conditioned to search for happiness in sense-pleasure that defying these urges appears to be a denial of life itself. Actually the opposite is true. As we progress on the spiritual path, our vision begins to clear and our passions begin to come under our control, and we discover that we have been pursuing agitation instead of joy and accumulation instead of security."    p. 33

"...it is the non-violent person who cannot be frightened: the violent person can always be threatened with greater violence. If you want to see real bravery, look at the person who is patient under attack, who will not retaliate, who will suffer rather than inflict suffering on others. This is the heroic ideal Jesus the Christ gives us to follow: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be children of your Father which is in heaven."
p. 35

"Living in the midst of our extended circle of family and friends provides the perfect context for learning to see the Lord in everyone, everywhere, every minute, for in these deep personal relationships we can easily forget ourselves, our comforts, and our conveniences in ensuring the joy of others.  This is a straightforward way of reducing our self-will, which is the only obstacle standing between the Lord and us."  p. 37


 "Competition has so distorted our vision that we are defensive towards even our dear ones, but as our meditation deepens, we see what lasting joy there is in trying to complete one another rather than compete against one another." p. 38

"The perennial truth expressed in scriptures, which we can realize in our own lives, is that all creation is evolving towards the unitive state. Any sensitive person can appreciate the grandeur of this process; just observe a hive of bees at work, or walk through a forest, or live with a selfless person, and you cannot but be profoundly moved by the way every aspect of creation can work with all the rest as a unit of perfect harmony...every time we violate the unity of life by venting our anger on those around us, or by harming our fellow creatures, we work against this evolution; on the other hand, every time we forgive others, do what benefits them, or alleviate the distress of any creature, we contribute towards this evolution." p. 39

"As long as we seek to be lord and master over our petty personal kingdom, we bar the door to the Lord of Love within us, and confusion and chaos reign. This is the inevitable consequence of violating the unity of life by attempting to go our own separate way." p. 41

"All of life is a battlefield...We have no choice in this, but we do have the choice of our opponent and our weapon. If we fight other people, often our dear ones, we cannot but lose, but if we choose to fight all that is selfish and violent within us, we cannot but win...When we fight others, we are harming everyone; when we right all that is base and self-willed in us, we are benefiting everyone."  p. 43

" When we meditate every morning we are putting on armor for the day's battle against our own impatience, resentment, and hostility."  p. 47



"Our eyes, when full of self-pity, see even those who are dear to us as very cruel, as persecutors-not because they are like that, but because the tears of self-pity have clouded our vision." p. 49

"It is not enough if we walk on two legs, part our hair, and go about in a new suit. That does not make us a human being. The capacity to forget our personal pleasures, and to bless those who curse us-these are what mark a human being." p. 50

" The ego's size can be gauged by our anger, and the further we get into the depths of our consciousness, the more we shall see what anger surges in us when our self-will is violated. To defeat this colossal ego will take a long, long period of struggle with many reverses. But finally, the Gita and the scriptures of all religions assure us, through the grace of the Lord we will be able to eliminate our ego and extinguish our self-will, which is the only barrier between us and the Lord." p. 57

"This is the great discovery we make in the climax of meditation, that we are not the body, senses, mind, or intellect, but supreme spirit." p. 58

"Any habit that ties us to the body through a sensory bond eventually has to be thrown away. Right at the outset of the spiritual life we must begin to rid ourselves of physical habits, such as smoking, drinking, and overeating, which will impede our progress. This is not at all a moral or ethical problem; it is a question of spiritual engineering. As long as we tie ourselves to the body by stimulating the senses, and especially by building relationships on the physical level, we cannot realize this legacy of everlasting life."  p. 61

"If we keep our equilibrium when good things happen, then when fortune frowns, as she surely will because that is her nature, we can sit back with fortitude and forbearance and remain secure." p. 64

"Whenever we cling to anything that is continually changing, we will become more and more insecure with the passage of time."  p. 68

"When our consciousness becomes pure, even the body begins to reflect its light." p. 69

"When I look at people, I like to look at their eyes. These are windows into the contents, which is the Lord. Gradually, as we become more and more conscious of the Atman, we will be looking straight at people through their eyes and deep into the Lord of Love who is within." p. 78

"Body consciousness is the obstacle to divine awareness, and every day we must ask ourselves what is likely to decrease our identification with the body. Whatever increases physical consciousness cannot be an aid to the spiritual life. Overeating, for example, intensifies body consciousness...Other aids for lessening physical consciousness are giving up harmful habits such as smoking, drinking, the use of drugs, and overindulgence of any kind. The Gita does not ask you to do this for puritanical reasons; it says that if you want to rise above physical consciousness, these are the things you have to throw away. Once this obsessive physical identification has been broken through, you feel so good, so high, all the time that you cannot imagine using any artificial ai to be a few inches high when you are now almost the height of the cosmos." p. 83


        





4 comments:

  1. “...love requires a center within oneself which nothing can shake- a sanctum sanctorum into which we can always retire to renew our strength and security. That is the purpose of meditation."

    Don’t know how in this world I’d make it without that center, my sanctuary, my refuge from the storms.
    These are worth pondering, so many of these. Thanks Jess.

    ReplyDelete
  2. " The principle underlying the Passion is that out of his infinite mercy, the Lord has taken his sufferings on himself. As long as any living creature is in pain, so is Jesus, for he lives at the heart of all. Whenever violence breaks out, no matter how cleverly we try to justify it, we are crucifying the spirit of Christ."
    The quotes are all inspiring, but this one touched the very core of my being. What a needed reminder that our Lord suffers when anyone is suffering . . . we must do more and love more for those in this world who are hurting.
    Thank you for this inspiration, Jessica!
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have always enjoyed reading Eknath's books and I am so glad that you have also read them and like them. Looking forward to read many posts on EE.

    Joy always,
    Susan

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really liked this one:


    "Whenever you look into another person's eyes, remember that you are looking into a city where the Lord dwells- and remember always that our arms and hands were given to us for others' rescue, not for their ruin."

    ReplyDelete