Blue Mountain Center of Meditation Information About Satsangs

Blue Mountain Center of Meditation Information about Satsangs

W e lc o m e to our Blue Mountain Center of Meditation (BMCM) Satsang. Our Satsang provides regular spiritual fellowship for people who share a commitment to Eknath Easwaran’s eight-point program of passage meditation. We meet regularly for mutual support and inspiration. Our approach is nondenominational, nonsectarian, and free from dogma and ritual. It can be used within each person’s cultural and religious background to relieve stress, heal relationships, release deeper resources, and realize one’s highest potential. Eknath Easwaran 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 1999, he taught to modern men and women his eight-point 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 thirty books on spiritual living – over 1.5 million copies in print in twenty-seven 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. Passage Meditation : An Eight-Point Program 1. Meditation on a passage Silent repetition in the mind of memorized inspirational passages from the world’s great religions. Practiced for one-half hour each morning. 2. Repetition of a mantram Silent repetition in the mind of a Holy Name or a hallowed phrase from one of the world’s great religions. Practiced whenever possible throughout the day or night. 3. Slowing down Setting priorities and reducing the stress and friction caused by hurry. 4. One-pointed attention Giving full concentration to the matter at hand. 5. Training the senses Overcoming conditioned habits and learning to enjoy what is beneficial. 6. Putting others first Gaining freedom from selfishness and separateness; finding joy in helping others. 7. Spiritual fellowship Spending time regularly with others who are practicing passage meditation for mutual inspiration and support. 8. Spiritual reading Drawing inspiration from writings by and about the world’s great spiritual figures and from the scriptures of all religions. Studying Eawwaran’s works for general inspiration and for specific instruction in passage meditation.

Begin by devoting half an hour every morning as early as convenient to the practice of passage meditation. Do not increase this half-hour period, but if you want to meditate more, have half an hour in the evening also.

Have a room in your home for meditation, or a special corner, and keep it as austere as possible. A quiet, cool, well-ventilated room is best. If you like, you may want to have a picture or image of a spiritual figure who inspires you.

If you want to sit in a straight-back chair, one with arms is best; or sit cross-legged on the carpet. Sit with spinal column erect and eyes gently closed. As concentration deepens you may begin to relax and fall asleep; if so, draw yourself up and move away from your back support so that you can keep the spine, neck, and head in a straight line.

Have an inspirational passage memorized, such as the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, the second or twelfth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, the Twenty-third Psalm, the first chapter of the Dhammapada of the Buddha, or the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount.

Go through the words of the passage in your mind as slowly as you can, letting the words slip one after another into your consciousness. Do not follow any association of ideas, but keep to the words of the inspirational passage.

When distractions come, do not resist them, but try to give more and more attention to the words of the prayer. If you find your mind has wandered away completely, go back to the first word of the stanza and begin again.

Keep adding to your repertoire of inspirational passages from the scriptures of all religions to prevent dryness in meditation.

The secret of passage meditation is that you become what you meditate on. When you use the second chapter of the Gita in meditation, for instance, you are driving the words deeper and deeper into your consciousness, so that one day perhaps after many years – they will become an integral part of your consciousness and will manifest themselves in your daily life.

Meditation on an inspirational passage is part of an eight-point program that helps you to stay calm, kind and focused throughout the day.

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Passages for Meditation

T H E PRAYER OF SAINT FRANCIS

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.

P S A L M 2 3

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 leadeth me in the paths of righteousness 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 anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

T H E UPANISHADS : INVOCATION

Lead me from the unreal to the real. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality.

Why meditate for thirty minutes? Easwaran recommends half an hour of passage meditation in the morning. Less than half an hour doesn’t let you “get your teeth into it.” If you want more meditation, have half an hour in the evening as well. To deepen your meditation, don’t increase the half-hour period of meditation but rather extend your practice of the other seven points throughout the day. The other seven points of passage meditation help you carry the benefits of your half-hour meditation session into your outer life. This balances inner growth with outer ability to face life’s challenges. Why do we meditate on a passage, rather than on a mantram or breathing or on “emptiness”? Easwaran honored all traditional forms of meditation. However, the method he developed for his own spiritual practice was meditation on a passage, which he felt was especially well-suited for our modern word-oriented and intellectual society. Easwaran’s recommended inspirational passages are positive, practical, and drawn from inspired mystics and scriptures from all the world’s great wisdom traditions. Look at the books God Makes the Rivers to Flow or Timeless Wisdom or our Web site www.easwaran.org/passages for a large selection of suitable passages. Is it acceptable to coordinate my breathing with the inspirational passage? During meditation all our attention should be on the words of the passage. If we are also trying to coordinate our breath, our attention will be divided. As we concentrate more and more on the passage, the breath will naturally become slow and steady without our attending to it. I don’t understand how you can repeat the words of the passage without thinking about their meaning. During meditation, we should try not to reflect or speculate on the meaning of the passage. In other words, don’t try to think about what “an instrument of peace” means while meditating on the Prayer of St. Francis. Simply repeat the words with as much concentration as possible. You will get better at this with practice. In the book, Passage Meditation, Easwaran explains: “As you attend to each word dropping singly, significantly, into your consciousness, you will realize that there is no discrepancy between sound and meaning. When you concentrate on the sound of each word, you will also be concentrating on the meaning of the passage. Sound and sense are one.” I have a mantram that is not on your list. Can I use it? Easwaran recommends mantrams that have been used by generations of earnest seekers in a living spiritual tradition. His selected list of these time-honored mantrams or Holy Names can be found in his books Passage Meditation and The Mantram Handbook, and on our Web site, www.easwaran.org. If you have chosen passage meditation as your meditation method, please

© 2002 by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. All rights reserved. www.easwaran.org Frequently Asked Questions page 2 select one of the mantrams Easwaran recommended. (The only exception is when you are using a mantram that has been passed down in your family for generations through your own religious tradition.) For explanation, please read the chapter “Choosing a Mantram” in The Mantram Handbook, especially the section, “A Few Cautions.” Here is a pertinent excerpt: “Use a mantram recommended by a spiritual teacher; you can be sure that it will be charged with the teacher’s own personal experience of the mantram’s power. All of the mantrams which I recommend are mantrams of proven power, bequeathed to us by the great spiritual teachers of many traditions…” How do I know when a half hour has passed? Shall I use an alarm to signal the end of my meditation?

The best way to judge the time is to develop a feel for how long each passage takes. It is also fine to glance at your watch or clock when you feel thirty minutes have passed. If your schedule is tight and using an alarm makes you less concerned about time, then it is fine to use it, though a loud alarm can be a jarring way to end meditation. You could try setting the alarm for five minutes after your meditation period is over, so you don’t worry about running late and you are still developing the skill of learning when your 30-minute session is complete. May I add prayer at the beginning or end of my meditation? Yes, but keep your full 30 minutes of passage meditation. May I meditate on the mantram? No. In Easwaran’s eight-point program of passage meditation, repetition of the mantram is a separate discipline outside of meditation. Before you start or after you end your 30-minute session of meditation, you may want to repeat the mantram for a few minutes. Also, if disturbing emotions arise during meditation, you can briefly repeat the mantram and then return to the inspirational passage. Why is morning the best time for meditation? The mind is not yet stirred up with the thoughts and activities of the day and so is fresh and receptive to the ideals contained in the passages. The beneficial effects of morning meditation will follow you throughout the day. Is it all right to visualize during meditation? We silently repeat the words of the passage as slowly as possible, with complete concentration. All other thoughts are a distraction, including visualizations. While some visual images, such as a mental image of the words on a page, can be helpful in memorizing a passage, your goal should be to concentrate on the words themselves. Simply give more and more attention to the passage, and the images will fade into the background or disappear altogether. I have further questions. How shall I get them answered? Read Passage Meditation; join the BMCM e-satsang; and attend a BMCM retreat. You can get information about all of these at www.easwaran.org.

Mantrams Recommended by Eknath Easwaran

c h r i s t i a n Jesus

Ave Maria or Hail Mary

Deus meus et omnia or My God and my all (This was the phrase used by Saint Francis in his prayers. Easwaran recommends using either the Latin or English version, whichever appeals to you.)

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me (the Jesus Prayer)

Kyrie eleison or Gospodi pomilui (“Lord, have mercy”: short form of the Jesus Prayer in Greek & Russian)

Om Yesu Christu

b u d d h i s t Om mani padme hum (“The jewel in the lotus of the heart”)

Namu Amidabutsu (“I put my faith in the Buddha of infinite light”)

h i n d u Rama

Haré Rama, Haré Rama, Rama Rama, Haré Haré, Haré Krishna, Haré Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Haré Haré

Om Sri Ram, jai Ram, jai jai Ram

Om namah Shivaya

Om Bhavani (A mantram in honor of the Divine Mother)

j e w i s h Barukh attah Adonai (“Blessed art thou, O Lord”)

Ribono shel olam (“Lord of the universe”)

m u s l i m Allah

Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim (“In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate”)

We meet in spiritual fellowship to support each other in realizing our full potential, each within his or her own spiritual or religious context, or without any particular context.

Our approach is non-sectarian, non-denominational and free from ritual and dogma. * Following in Easwaran’s footsteps, we emphasize the unity and universality of the spiritual life as it is lived by sincere spiritual aspirants in every tradition. * When the discussion touches on any particular religious tradition, we speak with respect and appreciation about the positive aspects of that tradition, and pass over in silence any negative aspects. * We refrain from all discussion about the relative merits of one religion over another.

We share a commitment to establishing a daily practice of the eight-point program of passage meditation developed by Eknath Easwaran.

To affirm and deepen our commitment, we meditate every day for at least 30 days before becoming a regular member of the Satsang. After joining the Satsang, we give our best effort to maintain and renew that commitment every day.

We follow the format established by the BMCM by which we prepare ourselves for meditation by calming our minds and concentrating our attention on spiritual ideals. * We follow a format established by the BMCM that draws directly on Easwaran’s and the BMCM’s long experience in teaching passage meditation. * We consider it vital to go into meditation directly after inspiration from Easwaran, so we precede the meditation period with at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted listening to his words. * We always conclude our Satsang meeting with meditation.

Our goal in Fellowship is to support each other’s passage meditation practice and to gain a deeper understanding of Easwaran’s teachings. To pursue this goal, we focus only on passage meditation and our experiences with it. * Throughout the discussion, our common touchstone is passage meditation. * We all share the responsibility to maintain gently but clearly the group’s focus on passage meditation.

For spiritual instruction we look to Easwaran, and for additional inspiration we look to the great mystics and traditions he recommends. * This time of Satsang is an opportunity to deepen our practice of the teachings and methods of Easwaran. When we mention other mystics and traditions, it is for the purpose of sharing inspiration, not spiritual instruction.

* We prefer that group discussions focus on mystics referred to by Easwaran. * Out of respect for the religious sensibilities of all participants who come from different backgrounds, and who may have no other interest in common than Easwaran’s teachings, we read only Easwaran’s books and play only his videos during Satsang sessions.

Since each of us grasps the teachings in our own way, at our own pace, we seek to absorb them together, not to interpret them. * When there is a question about how to practice passage meditation, we read a relevant passage from one of Easwaran’s books, or consult the BMCM. * We avoid imposing our understanding on others.

When we offer our personal experience in Fellowship it is as a way to support others and deepen our passage meditation practice, not to ask for or offer personal advice. * We are not here to “workshop” a solution to personal problems. * We refrain from giving each other advice during the discussion, and the Coordinator is especially careful not to use his or her position to give spiritual instruction or personal advice. * When we bring up examples from our personal lives, we focus our attention on how the eight points can be practiced within that context.

Everyone has something of value to bring to Fellowship, including the gift of our presence, so everyone should have the opportunity to speak and should also feel comfortable to listen in silence. *The Coordinator facilitates the session. Every member of the Satsang, including the Coordinator, is present to learn, not to teach. * We use Fellowship as an opportunity to cultivate mutual respect, attentive listening, and gentle, thoughtful speech.

© 2002 by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. All rights reserved. www.easwaran.org A Journal for Page heading Spiritual Living Published by the Blue EKNATH EASWARAN Blue Mountain has been called one of the Center of Meditation foremost teachers of meditation in our times. From his & Nilgiri Press Mountain arrival in the United States www.nilgiri.org in 959 on the Fulbright ESTABLISHED IN 1990 BY EKNATH EASWARAN Winter 2002 A JOURNAL FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING BASED ON exchange program until his FOR PRESENTING HIS EIGHT POINT PROGRAM passing in the fall of 999, Volume 13, Number 4 EKNATH EASWARAN’S EIGHT POINT PROGRAM he taught to modern men and women his Eight Point agitated people, we become agitated. When Program, based on his unique we frequent the company of people who are method of meditation on wise, we become wiser; when our company memorized inspirational pas- The Company is otherwise, we become otherwise too. sages from the world’s great All of us have experienced this. When we religions. Many thousands of We Keep have spent an evening with someone who people representing the full is wrought up over some political issue or range of cultural and religious by Eknath Easwaran some gross injustice that has been done to backgrounds attest to the him personally, we come home so agitated beneﬁts of his teaching. He ourselves that we cannot sit and enjoy our continues to teach through n Sanskrit there is a pithy saying that dinner; we cannot sleep in peace. There his twenty-six books on spiri- was on the tip of my grandmother’s may be no apparent connection with the tual living – over a million tongue every year when school began. other person’s grievances; our mind is sim- copies in print in twenty-two At the end of the day I would run ply stirred up, racing at top speed. And we languages – and through the Ihome to tell her who I had been with and just can’t understand: in the afternoon we ongoing programs and publi- what we had done that day. “You don’t have were feeling so calm, so composed; what cations of the organization he to tell me who you have been with,” she happened to get us so agitated? Then we founded in 96 to carry on would say. “I can tell.” remember: “Oh, yeah, we had dinner with his work: the Blue Mountain “All right, Granny, who?” Uncle Bob!” Center of Meditation and its She would proceed to name every The more intimate the relationship, of publishing arm, Nilgiri Press. one of them. And she was always right. course, the more susceptible to this we are. “Granny,” I would ask in amazement, “how “When you go out with your boyfriend and Below, from our archives:

did you know?” come back agitated,” I used to tell Continued Sri Eknath Easwaran in the And she would reply, “Samsargad dosha- my students, “I wouldn’t say that on next page BMCM oﬃce in 994. guna bhavanti” – which means, roughly, “We become like those we hang out with.” Granny wasn’t one to waste words, so it was only when I learned to meditate that I began to understand what she was trying to tell me. Doshaguna is a word pair: “good and bad,” “right and wrong,” “good and evil.” Much more than words or behavior, Granny was talking about character – the inﬂuences on the mind that shape the kind of person we are becoming, for better and for worse. According to this ancient Sanskrit saying, what is good in us and what is bad, our strong points and our weak points alike, develop because of constant association. When we associate with calm people, we become calm; when we associate with

Eknath Easwaran’s commentaries for Blue Mountain are drawn from the thousands of previously unpublished talks and writings in the Blue Mountain Center archives – part of an ongoing effort to make his teaching freely available around the world. 1 Page heading COMMENTARY

person is a ‘boyfriend.’ The correct son is angry, fearful, or depressed, that is part of the mental atmosphere we word is ‘boyfoe.’ When you go out with state of mind is likely to spread. live in. a girl who makes you agitated, it is not This contagion is so common today The other day I went to see a movie good English to call her a girlfriend. that mental agitation – anger, nega- which I expected to be mildly amusing. It’s more accurate to say she’s a girlfoe.” tivity, hostility, greed – has become It turned out to be wildly violent. What Longterm Effects epidemic. Agitated people will always amazed me was that half the audience Over the longer term, these effects make a beeline for each other; and were children. One little fellow about can work deep into our own personal- where two agitated people come five was wandering about like a lost ity. If we spend much time with people together, two and two make twenty- angel. We wonder where his parents who talk negatively about themselves two. One agitated person is enough were, but all of us, despite our sophisti- or others, for example, we may begin to disturb the whole home, the whole cation, take this kind of tawdry stuff in to absorb these qualities and attitudes office, even the whole community. as readily as that child. ourselves – no matter how immune we Right Speech This has been hailed as a great film, feel. Speech is an important part of this and because millions of people have There is an old story about a mental atmosphere. The way we speak been told it is a great film, they will go Cockney boy from Billingsgate who communicates our state of mind. For to see it and recommend it to others. knew all the bad words in the English that reason, we need to be vigilant Most people get so overwhelmed by language and used them frequently. about the kind of conversation we par- reviewers and so-called experts that When his parents came into some big ticipate in. the will to differ is simply not present. money, the first thing they wanted to In India, it’s not at all uncommon Even in choosing to go to a movie do was to teach him to speak correctly for people to repeat anything they where vulgarity is put forth as art and and grammatically so that he might hear. “Of course, I wouldn’t say this disruption of human relationships is escape his past; so they sent him to myself, but my neighbor says that the presented as shining examples of com- stay for a year with a well-known pro- schoolteacher’s sister . . .” I think it was munication, we are not only immers- fessor from Oxford. When the father from Mahatma Gandhi that I learned ing ourselves in those values; we are came to reclaim the boy, he told the never to listen to this kind of conver- accepting and supporting them to the professor how much he was looking sation and never to repeat anything at extent of our participation. forward to hearing his son speak like another person’s expense. We have to ask ourselves whether a “paffick Hinglish genlmn.” The pro- Whenever we find ourselves in agi- we really want to absorb such values, fessor replied, “Garn! Didger hexpect tated or degrading conversation – par- whether this is the kind of atmosphere thet o im?” He is speaking just like the ticularly backbiting, gossip, or dep- we want to breathe. In the language boy. recation of other people, races, sexes, of the Compassionate Buddha, these This kind of influence can take place or religions – we can teach our mind are powerful influences that shape easily, especially when we are vague to be offended and our ears not to lis- us – influences that are going to have about our own standards and values. If ten. The least that all of us can do on their say in the kind of person we are we could observe ourselves objectively such occasions is to walk out. This is a becoming every day. over a long period, we would find it healthy reminder to everybody that we It is particularly sobering to realize striking how much we become like the don’t have to listen to everything that that our own thoughts, too, are part people we associate with. is going on about us, particularly when of the company we keep. Negative The Mental Atmosphere it is in deprecation of others. thoughts are the worst kind of com- The spiritual psychology of India If we could see the mental states pany because it is so difficult to throw has a penetrating explanation for the involved, we would see that most gos- them out. That is why I advise that power of association. According to sip is malicious. For some reason, peo- whenever you find yourself caught in this theory, we participate in other ple who are insecure feel bigger when negative thinking, start repeating the people’s states of mind. Being physi- they diminish others; people who are mantram or Holy Name. When the cally oriented, we think states of mind not particularly good themselves feel mind gets absorbed in the mantram, it must be separate just as our bodies are. better when they run down others has no room for other thoughts; it is But thoughts have no containers. They who are. The Buddha, a master of psy- alert, calm, and focused always. are more like a field of forces, and like chology, would warn that all of us bear Spiritual Companionship physical forces they act and react on responsibility not only for what we Desire for the company of spiritu- each other in a larger field. say but for what and whom we listen ally oriented people comes naturally In this sense, we can think of con- to. Sooner or later, the kind of talk we once we take to meditation. We are sciousness as a kind of mental atmo- indulge in will come around to us. beginning to change inside, often dra- sphere. Mental states commingle like The Mass Media matically; it is natural that our tastes the air we breathe. In a room, if one I would apply this not only to and desires should be changing too. As person has the flu, others are likely to people but to books, magazines, papers, the desire to know ourselves becomes catch it in the air; similarly, if one per- movies, TV shows, everything con- stronger and stronger, we’ll be looking nected with the mass media. All this in the paper not to find a good movie 2 Page heading COMMENTARY

but to find a talk on meditation. When ing meditation and seeking to change released that deepens the experience we go to a bookstore, we’ll pass by the their lives, it is helpful, if possible, to for all. best-seller tables to get to the religion make time for regular association with Satsang means literally “the com- or self-help sections. And we will be others with similar goals and values. pany of the holy, the company of the looking everywhere for the company This kind of association is called good.” The principle is embedded in of others who are dedicated to the satsang in Sanskrit, and it is so impor- all the world’s great mystical traditions, spiritual life – not intellectually inter- tant that I have made it one of the but nowhere, I think, so systematically ested, but actually practicing disci- points of my Eight Point Program. as in India. There, since time imme- plines like our Eight Point Program. Satsang is not just uplifting compan- morial, it has been a fundamental This is the positive side of the power ionship; it means regular association, part of the spiritual life for sincere of association: we absorb good quali- as often as possible, with others who aspirants to spend as much time as ties, too, by spending time with people are practicing the same disciplines. possible in the ashram, or spiritual who embody them. If you want to be When such people gather together, community, of their teacher. Even after secure and selfless, the Buddha a great saint like Sri Ramakrishna says, associate with people who are or Saint Therese of Lisieux is no reasonably secure and selfless, and longer present in the body, he or learn to be like them in their daily she is a living presence from which living example. By association we all of us can gradually absorb a little can become good, by association of their own spiritual awareness. By we can become selfless, by associa- this association we take on a little tion we can elevate ourselves to a part of their peace, a little part of nobler way of life. their equanimity, a little part of their This, too, we may have already undivided devotion to God. experienced. When we are agitated In India, satsang is said to be the about something and want to secret of all spiritual endeavor. That express our agitation by agitat- is why many people like to spend ing a few more people around us, their vacation in an ashram where we go by mistake to the house of they can spend a week or two asso- someone who is calm and secure. ciating with people who talk about He comes to the door, sees the agi- God, meditate regularly, and are tation in our eyes, and says, “You trying their best to come face to want to agitate me too? Come face with the Lord who lives within on in! You can put your mind in them. overdrive and race along however One of the important reasons for you like.” You start recapitulating our Blue Mountain Center retreats what wrongs the world has done Eknath Easwaran is to provide a rendezvous where you, how you have always been people who are spiritually yearning, innocent, and your friend just sits even though every one may have who are searching for the supreme and listens. Halfway you began to say, drawbacks, we absorb what is the best purpose of life, can come together “Maybe sometimes I do make mistakes. in all. to support one another and provide Maybe sometimes I do provoke people This kind of support is vital as companionship for one another on myself.” meditation deepens. There will be this demanding journey. I am always Your friend is still not saying any- gulfs where you have to leap across, pleased to hear from friends that our thing. He is just looking with shining precipices you have to climb just like a retreats are like an oasis for them, eyes of love and understanding. But mountaineer. Climbers protect them- where they can find living waters and by the time your visit ends, you have selves by tying ropes to one another so return home refreshed. become calm. And you just don’t know that even if one person slips, the others Heading what has happened to your agitation. can provide support. That is just what On the spiritual path, we all need It takes most of us a long, long time to satsang means. the human companionship of others understand that whenever we associ- If you are following my Eight Point following the same disciplines. But we ate with people, we participate in their Program, my practical suggestion also need transcendent companion- mental states – in this case for the would be to make time to meditate ship. The highest form of spiritual better. as often as possible with people who association is love for someone who Satsang – Spiritual Association are on the same path.You may read embodies our highest ideals and aspi- Finding suitable companionship together for a short while or watch one rations, someone we want toContinued be like in can be difficult on the spiritual path. of our videos, but the most important every possible way. It mighton be page Jesus 6 or Without it, however, we may turn into part is meditation. Wherever people the Compassionate Buddha; it might a lone wolf. For those who are practic- meditate together, a healing force is be a great saint like Sri Ramakrishna, 3 COMMENTARY

Saint Francis, or Saint Therese. Lord, “I love you so much, I meditate or any good qualities I might have, but Reading the scriptures and the lives upon you so passionately, that one day because I loved her so passionately of great saints and mystics can be a I am going to become you.” And Sri that little by little I absorbed some of powerful kind of association that is Krishna replies delightfully, “Radha, her consciousness. accessible to all. I have known many I love you so much and think about In this sense, spiritual awareness people to whom Jesus, the Buddha, you so much that the day you become is not taught; it is caught. When your Moses, Muhammad, Saint Francis Krishna, I am going to become Radha.” mind is absorbed in love for a great of Assisi, or Saint Therese of Lisieux This happens to all of us: we become lover of God, then little by little, day by were living companions in every sense like those we love. This is the real day, that love begins to seep into your of the word – more real, often, than principle of satsang. If I can in any consciousness through a kind of spiri- associates and co-workers whose lives way account for the small measure of tual osmosis. threw no light on the lives they were spiritual awareness that has come to This transcendent love is awakened trying to lead. me, the only explanation I can oﬀer whenever people gather together and In the Indian tradition, the human is that because I loved my spiritual meditate on the Lord with all their soul in its search for God is repre- teacher, my mother’s mother, so deeply heart. In the inspiring words of Jesus sented as a breathtakingly beautiful that I made it possible for her to con- the Christ, “Wherever two or three woman named Radha, who is always vey to me a small part of her own are gathered in my name, I am present meditating on Sri Krishna. When spiritual awareness. Today, in a very there.” d Krishna appears to her one day, Radha small way, I have become like her – not is so overwhelmed that she tells the because of any special virtues of mine

From BLUE MOUNTAIN, the newsletter of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, Winter 2002 © 2002 by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, Inc. Please address all correspondence to Post Oﬃce Box 256,Tomales, CA 9497 Telephone 707 878 2369 E-mail [email protected] Web www.easwaran.org