Upcoming Satsang Event
Please join us for our upcoming online workshop on Saturday November 11. This is a 75-minute workshop on the theme of Training the Senses. Many members of the eSatsang will be taking part, so it’s a chance for some real-time satsang.
This Week's Reading Study
The next edition of the Blue Mountain Journal will be available next week, with the theme “Teacher and Student”. We’re pleased to share a sneak preview of it with you today!
The Journal will include several articles by Easwaran on the role of a spiritual teacher, as well as stories from meditators around the world about how Easwaran influences their lives.
This week we’re sharing an article by Easwaran on the earnestness and enthusiasm we need for the spiritual journey.
Next week we’ll announce a special October curriculum — stay tuned!
The Good Student: Earnestness and Enthusiasm
By Eknath Easwaran, excerpt from the Fall/Winter 2017 Blue Mountain Journal.
When we set out to cross the river of life, first and foremost we need earnestness, passion, enthusiasm. We must strive.
My little niece once teased me that my initials E.E. stand for “extreme enthusiasm,” and if I can claim any exceptional quality, it would be enthusiasm. If I experienced something, I had to share it. When I was starting out as a professor of English literature, there were many better scholars than I was — it was my gusto for Shakespeare and Shaw and Wordsworth that appealed to my students.
Enthusiasm brings joy
Sustained enthusiasm is a precious quality with a power that cold logic does not have. In any walk of life we can see that the most effective person is not one who is merely learned or the one who has the most experience, but the one who is on fire. It’s the teacher with enthusiasm who can reach her students, the doctor with a passion to heal who often succeeds where others fail.
Most important of all, enthusiasm in and of itself brings joy. If you are on the road to limitless joy and limitless security, right from the outset shouldn’t you have the joy of sincere enthusiasm? This does not mean somber determination — “Even if it kills me, I am going to achieve nirvana!” It is just the opposite. The goal may be far, far distant. We may not even have a glimpse of the final destination. But we are on the road, and this knowledge gives us joy.
Think moment by moment
No matter how strong our dedication, however, we should not undertake this journey under the impression that it can be made in one quick dash. We should be prepared for a long, difficult crossing, and without earnestness we cannot sustain the journey. This means we keep our eyes focused always on the goal, and refrain from doing anything that impedes us while taking care to do everything that helps us.
The secret is not to think in terms of everlasting vigilance, from this day forward, but of this moment. Think in terms of moment-by-moment enthusiasm, and never lack in earnestness.
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This week, try experimenting with a “moment-by-moment enthusiasm.” For example, when you feel lacking in will power, try using one of the eight points in an enthusiastic way and see what happens. Write in and share your comments!