Do you sometimes wish that Easwaran would be here today, so you could spend time with him, ask him questions, receive his advice? In the upcoming weeks, we will develop a simple but powerful habit that can make Easwaran your intimate friend. In our reading from Easwaran’s book, Passage Meditation, he says, “I have found spiritual reading especially beneficial after evening meditation. When I have finished, I go to bed and repeat the mantram until I have fallen asleep in it. The reason for this sequence is simple: what we put into consciousness in the evening goes with us into sleep.” Let’s embark on an adventure to explore and develop the very same spiritual reading skills that Easwaran found especially helpful in his own inner development.
This week, try imitating Easwaran’s evening routine by turning off other media, reading one of his books for a few minutes, and then going to bed repeating the mantram.
On the days you are able to follow this routine, what benefits do you find?
Here is our reading from Passage Meditation:
An Evening Routine
I have found spiritual reading especially beneficial after evening meditation. When I have finished, I go to bed and repeat the mantram until I fall asleep in it. The reason for this sequence is simple: what we put into consciousness in the evening goes with us into sleep. If we use this valuable time to fill our mind with agitating stuff from books, movies, or television shows, that is what we will see and hear in our dreams. On the other hand, if we follow this nightly sequence of meditation, spiritual reading, and repetition of the mantram, our dreams will gradually reflect an evening wisely spent. We will grow in patience, security, wisdom even while we sleep.
I suggest, then, that you include half an hour’s reading every day, preferably at night. If this is not possible, have fifteen minutes. Probably you will soon want more time for such reading. It will become something you hunger for — rather like your dinner, which I am sure you don’t care to miss.
In this, as with other things, we should observe what the Buddha called the middle path. It helps to have some spiritual reading every day so that our enthusiasm does not flag, but we should use our discrimination too. It would certainly be a mistake to pull away from our work, family, or other obligations to shut ourselves up in a room with books, no matter how inspiring they may be.
