Talk 1: This talk, close to the end of a long series of talks on the Dhammapada, is profound and wide-ranging, spanning the cycle of birth and death, and offers a dazzling description of the state of changelessness, or nirvana, to which the Buddha's teachings direct us. Talk 2: Easwaran begins with a precise examination of the way we usually see the world - divided into the things and people we like and the things and people we don't like. This duality...

Talk 1: Easwaran points us toward the climactic experience of seeing the divine core of our personality. He says that the purpose of life is to discover this divinity, and then to bring our character, conduct, and consciousness into harmony with it. We can begin this effort now, and gradually prepare ourselves for the final discovery. Talk 2: In this talk given just before the New Year in 1978, Easwaran challenges us to renew our earnest commitment...

Talk 1: Easwaran provides insights and inspiration from the mystical traditions of Eastern and Western Christianity, for the practice of meditation. He draws upon two mystics who have exercised great influence in Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions: St. John of the Ladder and St. Maximus the Confessor. Talk 2: Easwaran comments on lines by the medieval German mystic and poet, Mechthild of Magdeburg. Teacher and counselor to many disciples, Mechthild...

Talk 1: This talk includes a marvelous description of Easwaran's meditation, in which he shows how, with intense concentration, the inspirational passage can become a deeply personal message of transformation. He closes with an inspiring portrait of the person who has truly trained the mind - secure, content, joyful, and heir to a seemingly inexhaustible supply of patience and endurance. Talk 2: In this talk we see the practical benefits of training...

Talk 1: Easwaran shows how the Buddha questioned the standard assumptions of his day, and turned them into tools for teaching us that it's not what we wear or how we look that counts, but how we think and live. He outlines some of the stages in developing this awareness. He says we can find the ultimate freedom, which he speaks about at the end of the talk: we get free from our samskaras - the conditioned patterns of thought and habit which affect...

Talk 1: Easwaran uses a classic image of Raja Yoga: when we have gained mastery over ourselves through meditation, our thoughts obey us as grateful citizens obey a beloved leader. Sense training becomes natural, he says, when we have trained our thoughts to rest in spiritual ideals. Talk 2: This talk responds to a series of questions on self-will and the thinking process. It provides much practical guidance, as well as a fascinating glimpse into Easwaran's...

Talk 1: The core of this talk on Chapter 26 of the Dhammapada is a penetrating analysis of how we can break the chains of our self-willed habits. Easwaran then moves on to one of his favorite topics: spiritual acting. The point of spiritual acting is not to deny that we have negative reactions, but to have the detachment to act independently of that reaction, until we can reestablish calm in our mind. Talk 2: Easwaran begins by quoting the Buddha,...

Talk 1: Easwaran draws upon the inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi as an exemplar of true devotion, or bhakti. Bhakti is far more than sentimental emotion. It is a vibrant state of health and effectiveness in which action, knowledge, and love are fused into a force that leads to great selfless achievements. To develop such devotion requires a growing capacity to get absorbed in meditation, or contemplative prayer as it is called in some traditions. Talk...

Talk 1: Easwaran uses the simile of space travel to describe in fascinating terms the adventure of self-discovery. His tone is playful and often humorous, but his insights go right to the deepest and most practical questions of the spiritual life. Though only a few people can be astronauts, all of us have the capacity to be "atmanauts" using meditation and the allied disciplines to voyage through the inner world and discover our real Self, called...

Talk 1: Easwaran had just undergone painful oral surgery, and he uses the story as an opportunity to examine the life-transforming concept of yajna, a Sanskrit word that can be defined as "worship, offering, or sacrifice." This ideal, of offering the best of oneself to the world and to God, is central to many of the world's spiritual traditions. Talk 2: Easwaran explores the fundamentals of mysticism and their practical implications for daily life....