Kindness
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When asked how we can become perfect, a medieval mystic answered: “Be kind, be kind, be kind.” If that sounds naïve or unrealistic in our modern age, Easwaran points out that “there is nothing sentimental about this quality; kindness can be as tough as nails.” He links kindness with strength: “To me it means the internal toughness to take whatever life deals out without losing your humanity. It is those who never stoop to retaliation, never demand an eye for an eye, who are truly strong.”
In other articles he notes the “close connection between patience, kindness, and love,” and tells us that kindness to others also means being kind to ourselves: “When you are always kind to others, kindness becomes an attitude. Your natural response is to be kind. Then you cannot help being kind to yourself as well.”
Easwaran draws on the teachings of the Buddha and the Bhagavad Gita to help us stay patient and loving, also in our more challenging relationships and situations. The book closes with a description of Easwaran’s eight-point program of passage meditation, so we can learn to calm our minds and stay kind, whatever life brings.
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Eknath Easwaran (1910–1999) is the originator of passage meditation and the author of more than 30 books on spiritual living.
Easwaran (pronounced Ish-war-an) is his given name; Eknath is the name of his ancestral family.
Born in Kerala, India, Easwaran was a professor of English literature at a leading Indian university when he came to the United States in 1959 on the Fulbright exchange program. A gifted teacher, he moved from education for degrees to education for living, and gave talks on meditation and spiritual living for 40 years. His meditation class at UC Berkeley in 1968 was the first accredited course on meditation at any major university.
In 1961 he founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, a nonprofit organization that publishes his books and the video and audio recordings of his talks, and offers retreats and other programs.
Easwaran lived what he taught, giving him lasting appeal as a spiritual teacher and author of deep insight and warmth.
