Easwaran: Spiritual Education & Right Occupation

“The wealth of a country does not lie in mines, factories, or shopping centers; it lies in the hearts of young people.” – Eknath Easwaran

Both during his time as a professor and later as a meditation teacher, Easwaran had a great fondness for young people. That fondness translated into the ability to address the questions that plague YAs (and many non-YAs), such as the perennial: “What am I going to do with my life?”

This week we’re pleased to offer a 30-minute talk from Easwaran addressing this very topic, and using the idea of the idea of “Right Occupation” as his spring board. We love that Easwaran starts this talk from the perspective of a graduating university student, then changes from talking about an academic education to talking about the education we can all receive from the great mystics of the world.

At YA blog HQ, we were particularly intrigued, and inspired, to hear Easwaran’s message that our main goal is to give back to life, whatever job or employment we may take. His imperative to re-think the meaning of “occupation” is thrilling stuff.

We’d love to hear from you about the talk as well!  Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

The BFF Book Club

Meet Chanel, Lisa, and Mira three YAs from the greater Bay Area in San Francisco. To create spiritual fellowship and get in some spiritual reading, they've been using a book club format to systematically read Easwaran books.

About a year ago we decided that we wanted more satsang with our fellow YAs, and decided to start a book club reading Easwaran books (why not combine spiritual fellowship and spiritual reading!). We knew each other fairly well from attending YA retreats together and figured it'd be a fun way to hang out more. Thus was born the B.F.F. (Books For Friends) Book Club. 

We coordinated the beginning via email, deciding to choose a book none of us had read, The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita. We set some parameters, meeting by phone once or twice a month pending our schedules and trying for some in-person meetings whenever we could coordinate our geography. It took us a few weeks to each get our copies of the book, and read the first chapter, and figure out how to coordinate schedules, but in mid-September we finally held our first BFF Book Club phone call.

Although we didn’t discuss a format ahead of time, by the second or third phone call we had a pretty regular setup. We would read 1-2 chapters between each meeting, each taking notes, highlighting text we liked, and writing down any questions. We’d start each call by just going through the pages in order, each person sharing parts that stuck out to them, or raising topics of interest. It was great to hear how the book resonated with each person and how we each implement Easwaran’s teachings in our day-to-day life. 

We continued keeping it really informal and low pressure. Some weeks we would have lots to talk about and other weeks, the call would be brief. At some points we were meeting regularly every two weeks, and sometimes a month (or more...) would go by before we met. We even managed to meet a couple of times in person!

After nine months, we finished the book just this past week, celebrating with a book club party in San Francisco! We went out to eat, and had our final book club meeting on the beach discussing the last two chapters of the book. Of course now that we’re done it’s time to move on to the next book, and once we all get copies of The Essence of the Dhammapada, the BFF Book Club will be back in business. We’ve even set some goals for our next book club round. At each meeting we’re each going to choose a point to be focusing on until the next meeting, we won’t have to “report” on our success, but just see it as a way to help be more systematic about our spiritual practice.

It’s been really meaningful for us to have a chance to share our spiritual practice with other YAs and have a chance to have deep spiritual discussion right next to some YA small talk. We encourage you all to start your own franchise of the BFF Book Club - all you need is a few friends, and a book! We know that you may not have other YAs in your life who are meditators and so we also enthusiastically recommend the YA eSatsang which is a great resource for fellowship in an electronic format. They even hold optional phone calls every few months and read an Easwaran text together. Happy reading!

A Passage for June

Photo from a recent YA hike in the San Francisco Bay Area

One of the real strengths of passage meditation is.... the passages! Given that it's right there in the name of the practice it seems like it should be obvious, but here at YA Blog HQ we've been thinking how we love being able to choose from the wide range of inspirational passages.

Having this choice means that our meditation stays inspiring, week after week, month after month. There's such a broad spectrum of language describing the spiritual life and spiritual transformation – from the practical to the sublime, there's always a passage that will speak to each challenge we're facing, and each mood we're in.

This month, we chose a passage that offers a collection of images of spiritual transformations all in one short passage. All of the images “Miracle of Illumination” by Shantideva are particularly striking in their simplicity and place in our everyday lives.

We invite you to add this passage to your rotation this month and share with us your thoughts below. 

• What images from the passage are particularly striking to you?
• Are there other passages whose language about spiritual transformation has been meaningful to you?

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Miracle of Illumination – Shantideva

As a blind man feels when he finds a pearl in a dustbin, so am I amazed by the miracle of Bodhi rising in my consciousness. It is the nectar of immortality that delivers us from death, the treasure that lifts us above poverty into the wealth of giving to life, the tree that gives shade to us when we roam about scorched by life, the bridge that takes us across the stormy river of life, the cool moon of compassion that calms our mind when it is agitated, the sun that dispels darkness, the butter made from the milk of kindness by churning it with the dharma. It is a feast of joy to which all are invited.