Eknath Easwaran

Meditation is warm-up exercise for the mind, so that you can jog through the rest of the day without getting agitated or spraining your patience.

[dharma] implies support from within: the essence of a thing, its virtue, that which makes it what it is.

Hard work is absolutely necessary for excellence in any field, and nothing requires more intense effort than meditation.

Just as there are certain exercises for toning a particular set of muscles, there are special exercises for developing a fit personality. Every provocation is an exercise for developing patience; every opportunity to retaliate offers a chance to harness your passions. The question is the same as in a physical fitness program: how much do you want to get in shape?

Ultimately there is not the slightest doubt that everyone who practices these disciplines with sustained enthusiasm can and will win this battle. The main question is how long we are going to let ourselves get knocked about first.

Today, everything I do from morning meditation on--eating breakfast, going for a walk, writing, reading, even recreation--is governed by one purpose only: how to give the very best account of my life that I can in the service of all.

A beautiful prayer from the ancient Hindu scriptures echoes in my heart always: “May all creatures be happy. May people everywhere live in abiding peace and love.” For all of us are one, and joy can be found only in the joy of all.

The first strategy is literally 'changing one thought for another': a negative thought for a positive one, an unkind thought for a kind one. 'Just as a carpenter uses a small peg to drive out a bigger one,' the Buddha says, 'you can use a right thought to drive out one that is wrong.'

‘I can tell my hand what to do,' Augustine once observed, 'and it obeys. Why can’t I do the same with my mind?’.

'All that we are,' the Buddha said, 'is the result of what we have thought.' He might have added, 'And all we shall become is the result of what we think now.'

If you want to see someone who will succeed, watch for the rare man or woman who takes pains over each small step.

In small matters like these, gradually the mind can be effectively trained. At home, in meditation, at work, in moments of relaxation with family and friends, we can go against the conditioned caprices of the mind and gain, little by little, control of something which often seems nebulous and elusive: our own destiny.

Trying to do many things at once means doing nothing well. As the Buddha says, ‘When you are walking, walk. When you are sitting, sit. Don’t wobble.’

Rich relationships and a great capacity for the benefit of the world, that is the jackpot which everyone is looking for.

When you are able to live with joy, giving your time and energy to improving the quality of life for all, you are not only fulfilling your highest destiny, you are also helping all those around you to grow to their full height.

When I use words like ‘Lord’ or “God,’ I mean the very ground of existence, the most profound thing we can conceive of. This supreme reality is not something outside us, something separate from us. It is within, at the core of our being — our real nature, nearer to us than our bodies, dearer to us than our lives.

This is the promise of meditation: to enable us to wake up into our full potential.

If we want to live in freedom, we must have complete mastery over our thoughts.

It is quite possible to live in the midst of a highly developed technological society and keep an easy, relaxed pace while doing a lot of hard work. We have a choice. We are not mere victims of our environment, and we don’t have to go fast just because everybody else does and urges us to do it too.

Anyone who deliberately divides his attention will find it more difficult to achieve mastery. Isn’t it obvious that learning requires concentration?

Our swollen concerns for ourselves, she was saying, constitutes the worst threat in life.

In Sanskrit, this sharing is called satsang. The word derives from two smaller words: sat, meaning ‘the good’ or ‘truth’ or ‘reality,’ and sanga, meaning ‘group’ or ‘association.’ Thus it signifies the seekers of the highest, banded together.

Mahatma Gandhi suffered many setbacks in the campaign to free India, but he was never despondent. He often said, ‘Full effort is full victory.’ Maintaining your enthusiasm, being regular and systematic in your practice — these really count.

As systematically as a professional athlete, I worked on my daily life, building it around the regular daily practice of meditation.

It may sound paradoxical, but however tight our schedule, however many things clamor to be done, we don’t need to hurry. If we can keep our mind calm and go about our business with undivided attention, we will not only accomplish more but we’ll do a better job—and find ourselves more patient, more at peace.

I recalled a line from Thoreau: ‘It’s not enough to be busy. The question is, what are you busy about?’ A good question. What did I want? I had been too busy even to ask.

Remember that even if an activity seems trivial, when you give it one-pointed attention, you are training your mind.

No amount of nutrition and exercise can protect us against the ravages of an untrained mind.

Between one thought and the next is a tiny gap when the mind is at peace. Extending that gap is the secret of an unhurried mind.

As the thinking process slows down, you can see your mind with detachment and learn to tune it just as a mechanic tunes a performance car.

Remember the Buddha’s words: ‘When you are walking, walk; when you are sitting, sit. Don’t wobble.’

There is only one way to be completely happy: to forget ourselves in the service of others.

Steadiness of mind is one of the most practical of skills. Nothing is more vital than learning to face turmoil with courage, confidence, and compassion. Fortunately, we already possess these capacities. But we need a calm mind to draw on them. That is the practical importance of a calm mind.

A calm mind has great power. It generates calm around it — a field of peace in which anger, fear, and violence subside. By learning to calm the mind, each of us can become an instrument of peace.

Attention doesn’t wander because a job is dull. It’s the other way around: a job seems dull when we allow our attention to wander.

We live where our attention is. When we direct our attention fully to the present moment, we are fully alive.

If we don’t seem to have much effect on the world we live in, it’s because the signal we broadcast is weak and confused. It is the concentrated, focused mind that reaches people. All the great changes in the world for good and for ill have come from the impact of men and women with an overriding singleness of purpose and a concentrated mind. In our own times, on the positive side, Gandhi is a perfect example.

The word we translate as ‘nonviolence’ is a Sanskrit word central in Buddhism as well: ahimsa, the complete absence of violence in word and even thought as well as action. This sounds negative, just as ‘nonviolence’ sounds passive. But like the English word ‘flawless,’ ahimsa denotes perfection. Ahimsa is unconditional love; satyagraha is love in action.

It was one of the most radical discoveries he was to make in a lifetime of experimentation: in order to transform others, you first have to transform yourself.

When all hostility, fear, and insecurity are erased from your mind, the state that remains is pure joy.

When we simplify our lives, we can give our time and attention to what matters most.

To see life as it is, the mind must be made pure: everything that distorts it must be quieted or removed. When the mind is completely still, unstirred even in its depths, we see straight through to the ground of our being, which is divine.

Of all that is wonderful in the human being, our most glorious asset is the capacity to change ourselves.

The saints and mystics tell us that life has one overriding purpose: to discover the source of infinite love and then to express this love in daily living.