Each year at the end of October, a local group gathers at Ramagiri Ashram in Tomales, California, to celebrate Eawaran’s life and teachings. This year we’re inviting our worldwide community to join us in spirit. We’ve created a special curriculum, and are sharing it here on the eSatsang, through our website, and social media.
We’re hoping that, collectively, we can all take some time to dive deep and reflect on the impact that Easwaran and his teachings have had on our lives. This experience is a wonderful complement to the BMCM’s new strategic plan, intended to help us all gain a deeper understanding of Easwaran’s teachings – so this is the perfect time to dive in.
Read Easwaran’s article below, “The Need for a Teacher”. What strikes you about this article, and how does it relate to your own life?
Easwaran compares the spiritual teacher to a mountain climbing guide. Reflect on your life since you’ve been following Easwaran’s teachings. In what ways have Easwaran's teachings guided you on your journey? Are there specific instances that come to mind?
Easwaran says that after his granny was no longer in the body, he discovered that he could still turn to her for guidance and find answers to his questions. Does this ring true for you? How do you turn to Easwaran’s teachings for answers?
Try an experiment. For the next few days, consciously turn to Easwaran’s teachings for answers when you need to make decisions, handle delicate interactions, or find more patience in the moment. Note any thoughts or insights you might gain from this experiment.
Each of us will have our own way of turning to Easwaran’s teachings for answers. This is an individual matter. Some examples might be saying the mantram; looking at Easwaran's picture and expressing an inner prayer; reading his books or watching his talks; silently asking the teacher within you for guidance; or meditating on a particular passage.
This excerpt is from the Fall 2017 Blue Mountain Journal, by Eknath Easwaran.
The Need for a Teacher
The idea of a spiritual teacher is actually quite simple. Just as you need a guide to scale a mountain peak for the first time — someone who has gone before — you need an experienced guide on the spiritual path. You need someone who can show you the way and help you when you get tied up in your ropes.
The teacher should know every inch of the ascent, from the foothills to the summit. He should be able to warn the students where there are ice fields and crevasses and tell them where they can pitch their tents and rest.
I am talking from my own personal experience of traveling along this path, over many years, and through my teacher’s grace reaching journey’s end. The path is a gradient. In the early years it’s not very steep, and we can climb, but as our muscles get stronger, as our determination and will get stronger, this gradient slowly begins to get steeper. That’s why I say go slow, don’t try to rush up those steep gradients, because if your body has not been well trained, if your will is not firm and your capacity to act in emergencies is not very good, then there is great danger on this path.
That is why it takes a long, long time to make this climb, and that’s why an experienced teacher is always necessary. As the gradient changes, as more challenges come, the teacher will be able to guide you, help you, support you, pull you away from the precipice, not because he has read books, but because he has been along that way, and knows where the avalanches may come.
We have to do the work
But while the teacher is essential for guidance and support, we have to do the work for ourselves. Spiritual awareness is not something that just strikes us one day, like the apple falling on Sir Isaac Newton’s head, and there is no shortcut to it such as taking drugs or using alpha-wave gadgets. It must be cultivated by the hard work of eliminating all that is selfish and separate in us, following a body of disciplines that is based on our teacher’s own personal experience in realizing the unity of life.
The disciplines in my eight-point program are suited for life in the modern world, and they can be practiced by any man or woman capable of some resolution, some endurance, and some sense of dedication. They do not require you to withdraw into a cave and roll a rock across the entrance behind you; you can follow this program while living in the world among family and friends, while studying on the campus or working at a job.
A wiser way of living
My own approach to the spiritual life appeals to many men and women today, partly because I have not retired from the world — I live very much as a family man, a good husband, son, and friend — but also because I have tried to combine the best of West and East.
But perhaps what appeals most deeply is that I understand the difficulties of living in the modern world. Before taking to meditation, in my ignorance of the unity of life, I too committed most of the mistakes that even sensitive people commit today. As a result, I understand how easy it is to make those mistakes, and I know how to guide and support those who are trying to learn a wiser way of living.
I live in my eight-point program
I have said many times that Saint Francis lives in the words of his prayer. Gandhi may be said to live in the second chapter of the Gita, on which he based his life.
Similarly, you can say that I live in my eight-point program, and I can assure you that I live in my audio and video recordings for those who are practicing my method of meditation to the best of their ability and following the instructions faith- fully with an open heart.
So if you are following this method of meditation, I would encourage you to read my books over and over and follow the instructions very carefully. That is your safeguard.
You have to remember that when I started to meditate, my own spiritual teacher, my grandmother, had already passed away. At first I felt very much on my own, but at every stage, when I turned to her for guidance, I found answers to my questions.
You see, when a person becomes aware of God, he or she is no longer just a person, but a living force. My grandmother did not die; she merely shed her body. She was — she is — very much alive in me. Once I knew that, I knew that I was in her hands and that there was nothing to fear. She has protected and comforted me ever since.
I am not just talking, you know. Jesus continues to guide us. The Buddha continues to guide us. These are eternal forces; their lives are eternal.
So don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that I am confined to this brown body. I am not confined to this brown body; I am in every one of you.