Quoting the King of Death, Yama, in the Katha Upanishad, Easwaran writes, “As long as you identify yourself with the body, which is subject to change, so long will you be subject to the last great change called death. If you can break through this identification with the body and learn to identify yourself instead with the changeless Self, the Lord within your heart, you will transcend death here and now.”
Easwaran tell us this is the “greatest of secrets to have come down through all religions.” In this week’s reading, pages 154–158 of Climbing the Blue Mountain,* Easwaran describes how ordinary men and women like us can prepare for this breakthrough by “trying to abolish every vestige of selfishness and separateness from our lives and hearts.”
If you have a particular issue you are struggling with right now, look into this reading for tips, and try them out this week.
Here is our Putting Others First challenge this week:
Easwaran writes, “Ideals are merely ideas until we translate them into daily life – and that means learning to go against the conditioning that urges us to put ourselves first instead.” What is one small way you can go against your conditioning and put others first this week?
In three weeks, on June 9th, the eSatsang will begin studying Easwaran’s The Constant Companion. To prepare, make sure you have the book available.
For readers living in the United States, the print book is available here on our BMCM web store. Electronic versions are available worldwide and are also linked from that page.
Here is the cover of the edition we’ll be using:
We’ll end with another spiritual treat: we hope you enjoy this recording of Easwaran reading the passage “The Inner Ruler” from the Isha Upanishad.
* For those using electronic versions of Climbing the Blue Mountain with different page numbering: this week’s reading is the second half of the chapter “The Candle of the Lord,” beginning with “When Dr. Robert Oppenheimer….”