Sharing Meditation With A Partner

This week we're pleased to share a post from long-time meditators Charley & Kathleen. Though no longer YAs (they in fact have three YA-aged sons), they began meditating while they were YAs themselves and share in this post how approaching meditation as a couple has supported their practice.

Charley:
Having a spouse who also meditates is quite nice. We have been together for 40 years, and our love for each other has grown for 40 years. We both started meditation about a year after we met, and Easwaran’s passage meditation about 10 years later. I give Sweetie Pie (Kathleen) and the 8 point meditation practice, all the credit for allowing our love together to grow and grow.

Meditation practice is very hard, but doing it together as the smallest satsang has made it doable for us. This is not to say that we can always meditate together. One of us is early to rise and early to bed. The other is not so early to rise. Our meditations usually overlap.

Now for the nitty gritty of living together for 35 years: we both work hard to slow down, be one pointed and put others first throughout the day, every day. However, we each at times fall off this path. Thankfully, almost always we fall off one at a time. It is almost impossible to squabble with the one remaining on the path that is slowed down and one-pointed. Thank God there is almost always a peacemaker in the slowed-down, one-pointed, putting-others-first place.

Kathleen:
I would add one very important aspect of supporting each other on the path that has worked well for us. The one who is still firmly on the path has never, ever said to the fallee—“Hey you’re off the path!” The quiet, unspoken total support that goes on during those tough times seems to be rooted in the practice of the eight points.

Another aspect of doing Sri Easwaran’s meditation practice together is very dear to me. We have had the opportunity to introduce our three sons to Easwaran. They were blessed to meet him personally, but just as important, they have been in on our devotion to this practice from a very early age. Even if they are not using the practice now, I have great confidence that it has and will have a deep effect on their lives.

A Passage for October

To celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday this month, we thought it would be a good idea to choose a passage by Gandhi. 

Gandhi was one of Easwaran’s role models for both spiritual and social change. He led by example, inspiring Easwaran and countless others to transform their lives, changing fear into fearlessness and anger into fuel for peaceful, positive change. Easwaran often mentions that Gandhi thrived on challenges and was at his best during the toughest of situations. 

Gandhi’s skill at transforming negative challenges into positive change is reflected in this passage. He sees beyond the external difficulties to the core of goodness within.

We would love to hear what you think! Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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In the Midst of Darkness – Mahatma Gandhi

I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever changing, ever dying, there is underlying all that change a living power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves, and re-creates. That informing power or spirit is God. And since nothing else that I see merely through the senses can or will persist, He alone is.

And is this power benevolent or malevolent? I see it as purely benevolent. For I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the Supreme Good.

A Special Request: Help Us Re-Imagine the BMCM Website

Tomorrow we'll be back with our regularly scheduled passage of the month, but we wanted to reach out today with a special request.

The BMCM has decided to re-design and re-imagine its website at easwaran.org. To accomplish this, they've developed the Young Adult Communication Team comprised of volunteers and staff YAs with a wide range of nationalities, interests, backgrounds and skills who share a deep passion for passage meditation.

They are hoping to collect input at this early stage to learn more about how to help people find passage meditation for the first time, and to better meet the needs of those already in touch with the BMCM. 

They've designed this survey and would be grateful if you would take 5 minutes to fill it out. You can find the survey here.

We're eager to hear from people outside our current BMCM audience, meditators and non-meditators, YAs and non-YAs!

You can get in touch with the YA Communications Team at young.adults@easwaran.org if you have any questions.

Thank you!