We set aside our book study of Take Your Time the past two months as we joined together in celebration of Easwaran’s life and teachings and then focused on absorption in meditation by studying the new issue of the Blue Mountain Journal. Now let’s return to Take Your Time, picking right back up with the start of chapter 6 on pages 127–135. Here Easwaran warns us not to take for granted the notions of modern progress, speed, and efficiency. He calls us instead to take time for relationships and to cultivate what is essential: “the timeless values and fundamental virtues that make us human.” And Easwaran makes clear that this effort builds on the skills we’ve been training throughout our book study:
“If we have been slowing down the pace of our life, practicing one-pointed attention, and loosening our likes and dislikes, we should begin to see the benefit of these new patterns in all our relationships. For these are some of the tools that can help us make for ourselves a personal world rich in companionship.”
If you have a particular issue you are struggling with right now, look into this reading for tips, and then try them out this week.
The suggestions for practice for chapter 6 are on pages 151–152. Can you find a specific way to practice the first suggestion this week? Let us know!
Cultivate personal relationships in all your activities. It will help to reverse the depersonalization of our world.
For spiritual entertainment, here is a treat from Easwaran. In this three-minute video Easwaran suggests that much of our thinking is not necessary.