In this week’s reading, on pages 62–68 from Take Your Time, Easwaran brings the topic of one-pointed attention to focus on one of his favorite themes, personal relationships:
“Effortless concentration is the secret of all personal relationships, whether it is with casual acquaintances, co-workers, colleagues, friends, or family. And when relationships are not particularly cordial, one-pointed attention is even more important. It is an exceptional person who can give complete attention to somebody who is being unpleasant, but when you can do this, you can slowly disarm even a hostile person simply by listening without hostility, with complete and even loving attention.”
Let’s take a small step toward making the spiritual renaissance a reality in our lives by giving our best attention in personal relationships this week!
If you have a particular issue you are struggling with right now, look into this reading for tips, and try them out this week.
As a challenge this week, try this experiment from the “Ideas and Suggestions” on pages 80–81:
When talking with someone, give that person your full attention, even if his attention wanders or she is saying something you dislike.
For our spiritual bonus this week, here is Easwaran reading the passage “Four Things That Bring Much Inward Peace” from Thomas à Kempis.