Customer Reviews

Passage Meditation: Bringing the Deep Wisdom of the Heart into Daily Life (Essential Easwaran Library)

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This book has literally changed my life when I read it (the previous edition) 7 years ago when I was taking course in meditation based on his teachings at UC Berkeley.

In Easwaran's method of passage meditation, you choose spiritual texts or passages that embody your highest ideals, memorize them, then send them deep into consciousness through slow, sustained attention. Over time, the ideals in the passages become part of your life, part of who you are. This meditation method fits with any religious or nonreligious philosophy - counselors, yoga teachers, health professionals, and educators recommend it with confidence to their clients and students. Easwaran is an experienced teacher who offers clear instructions, points out the pitfalls, and conveys the deep joy, security, and selfless energy that regular practice can bring.

I read about a number of meditation techniques before finding this book. One of the interesting methods I found is inspirational reading. It appeals to me because I wanted something that seemed more substantial than using a simpler approach such as mindfulness or focusing on an object. Easwaran's approach combines inspirational reading with two other forms of meditation: passage meditation and the use of a mantram. The title is a little misleading because the book covers more than passage meditation. Still, it is an excellent book. The eight parts of Easwaran's approach fit together well. I also like the fact that his methods can be fit to one's religion.

Easwaran's book is not an overview of the many methods of meditation. If that is what you are looking for, I can recommend two books. One is Meditation: The Complete Guide by Patricia Monaghan and Eleanor Viereck. The other is The Meditative Mind by Daniel Goleman.

I have been meditating using Easwaran's Eight Point Program for about a year, and I have attended a retreat where I met numerous individuals who have used this program for years and even decades. There is no doubt in my mind that Easwaran's insights into the mind and the spirit are genuine, and that his program is a powerful tool for becoming a better person, and for ultimately reaching life's supreme goal: the realization of the unity of all things.

First of all, what is "Passage Meditation?" At first, it sounded to me like meditation on the important passages in life.

Nope, it's meditation on a selected passage from sacred literature, which strikes me as a new idea, and one which is very likely to work.

In fact, it reminds me of books like Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich," which also emphasize the importance of repeating your goals to yourself two or three times a day. This book about money has never gone out of print, and millions testify that it works.

Easwaran's book is of course not about money, but about spiritual growth. Yet the basic technique is the same, and it apparently works. You might want to look at How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist for some scientific evidence that meditation does indeed cause changes in the brain which appear to be beneficial and permanent.

So I suspect that Easwaran's techniques work. His Blue Mountain retreat appears to be well & functioning, and he's one of the few gurus who appear to be utterly sincere.

I am not certain that one kind of meditation is any more useful than another... but Eknath's passage meditation has been for me the easiest to stick to. And I think that is the real point, to consistently attempt to quiet and focus the mind. It's a lifelong process, and he explains his method well and provides convincing arguments for it's usefulness. I've been doing it for more than two years now, with a few breaks, and I feel like it's given me better control over my mind and better discipline overall. Could be said for anything done consistently, but for me, passage meditation has done the trick.

I read this book 15 years ago after having tried a few other meditation styles. In this book, Easwaran presents his eight-point program so clearly and articulately with anecdotes that help you see how you can starts using them right away, and even presents the health benefits so that you can see the effects on all parts of your life. Now, even after 15 years of practicing passage meditation, I find that I constantly refer to this book to "tighten" up my practice. This book is timeless and should be in the library of any spiritual seeker.

This book was inspiring, and exactly what I wanted. A practical, yet mystical guide into the deeper interior ways of the soul.
I recommend it highly.

In the passage meditation book Sri Eknath Easwaran gives a lofty goal in daily living and then in very simple and practical manner tells us how to get there. Before I read this book I never thought that I could sustain a daily meditation practice. This book has given me a purpose and positive direction in life. Each chapter offers a very practical tool that can be applied in daily living to overcome our impediments and to thrive on the challenges that life offers us.

This is definately one of the most inspiring and informational books I've read on meditating and passages that you can use to find peace in life.I reccomend this book to all! After reading it , I am on to a new life of spirituality and compassion, and a new way of thinking. EXCELLENT!

Twenty years ago, I picked up an earlier edition of Passage Meditation because I wanted to know what meditation was all about. This book fulfilled that wish and much more. It presents an eight-point program for daily practice, including meditation on inspirational passages drawn from many of the world's great wisdom traditions.

This practice has given me practical tools to live life to the fullest. It has helped me deal with negative habits of thought and behavior in an artful way. It has given me a purpose in life greater than my own self-centered goals, and the means to work toward it. This purpose is inclusive of all the important aspects of life: including family, work, religion, relationships, recreation, education, culture and citizenship. It asks us to start where we are, not to leave our family or professional contexts, but to thrive within them; not to change our religion, take up another religion, or necessarily have any religion at all.

The core of the presentation is training the mind, a most valuable life lesson. When we are able to control our thinking process, slow it down and focus our attention, we have more clarity and better judgment. We have a more positive outlook on life and a greater capacity to thrive ourselves and to work with others to make the world a better place. This new edition has a wonderful new preface, but it is essentially the same time-tested text that has changed the lives of thousands of people around the world.