Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes
Meditation, written by Eknath Easwaran, in my opinion should have been entitled The Enlightened Way of Living. Upon first glance I wondered what all of those chapters could have to do with meditation. The author does a wonderful job of explaining that right in the beginning and throughout the entire book.
I didn’t really know what I could gain from meditation that I wasn’t already accomplishing through yoga. So, I didn’t have a desire to start. It was something we yogi’s SHOULD do. But I didn’t WANT to. I had been on this journey of taming my inner demons for years, and felt stuck for about 2. So, one paragraph suggesting that meditation could help quiet the egoic mind had me intrigued.
Easwaran does such an amazing job of explaining things in a very down to earth and yet moving manner. I felt comfortable with the whole idea for the first time. His examples, symbolism and way of teaching new concepts in a way that I could understand were incredible. I was actually moved to tears a few times. I related to his stories of his grandmother. And, excepting the one comment about organized religion being a way for us to feed our egos and relate to people who seem like us, the ideas were familiar and rang of truth to me. I think he was making the case for studying ALL great mystics.
Admittedly ignorant on the subject, I always thought that the goal in meditating was to clear the mind of all thoughts, and had never been able to do that. So, I was relieved when he said to meditate on a prayer or mantra.
This book inspired me to learn more about the great spiritual leaders of the world, and study their works. I have always believed that truth is truth. It never changes, and it is revealed to those who sincerely seek it, wherever or however they may be. It is still however, very interesting to me that great enlightened minds throughout the ages and in all parts of the world come to nearly the same conclusions. They usually just phrase it differently or have a slightly different twist on their teachings due to culture, circumstance, or time in history.
As far as meditation and mantras are concerned, my religious upbringing had me believe htis might fall into the worshiping idols category. That being said, I have always had an open mind as someone who was taught a lot of great truths from a non-religious parent who was alcoholic and at times abusive. My point in stating this is that when the author suggested:
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
as one of the most beautiful mantrams he has ever heard, I initially put it out of my mind as one suitable for me because of its connotations in my mind of the Jewish faith. Not that it is bad, just that I thought it would contradict my beliefs. However, after I read the meaning of the words broken down into their syllabic meanings, I, too, thought it one of the most beautiful mantrams I have ever heard. Those three words mean, Oh Lord who has stolen my heart, I cannot rest until I find Him. He ceaselessly, ceaselessly draws me unto Him, and is the only source of true joy. I love finding words in foreign languages that say so much in so few syllables! I find that English just doesnt do feelings justice in so many instances.
For my own benefit, I want to sum up a few of the insightful gems that I already related to but gained a better understanding of from this book: Our bodies are only a type of clothing; we shed our bodies at death; when you recognize illusion, it evaporates; lose yourself, and you shall find yourself; slow down in order to speed up; depth, not breadth; the senses CAN be trained and therefore magnified; discipline is freedom.
So, to sum it all up, I will buy this book and refer to it often. It is now out of print. Thank goodness for Amazon! I have also started my meditation practice. No great “ah-hah’s” yet, but definitely a few minutes of peace in a time when I have needed it greatly, and some time to just listen. In fact, when explaining meditation to my friends who are a bit skeptical of the mystic, I will say that meditation is a very effective way of actually taking the time to listen for answers to your prayers.
