study guide for
Study Guide for Kabir: Stages of Desire
How to Use This Course
This video is part of an ongoing monthly series in the teachings
of Sri Eknath Easwaran. The talks on this tape, like all of Easwaran’s talks,
are rich and deep in content. They shed light on many aspects of life, but
their true value emerges as we try to apply their teachings in our daily lives.
The Guide is meant to be used in conjunction with a daily
practice of Sri Easwaran’s Eight Point Program, based on passage meditation. We
do not recommend following the Practical Exercises if you are not practicing
this program according to the instructions given in Easwaran’s book Meditation,
which can be found on our Web site,
www.nilgiri.org. A brief list of those points can be found at the back
of this Guide.
The Practical Exercises are suggestions for you to explore as
they seem appropriate in your life. If you are already familiar with Easwaran’s
books, you will have seen some of these exercises before. But we suggest that
you take this opportunity to really put them into practice, and discover their
great power to deepen your spiritual life. Try them in moderation, exercising
your common sense and not taking them to extreme lengths. Sri Easwaran, like
Mahatma Gandhi and many other mystics, always emphasized the importance of the
middle path.
Before or after watching each talk, we suggest that you read
through the notes (especially the Outline of the Talk, which will help you
assimilate the overall structure), and the Practical Exercise.
Then, after watching the talk, try to put the exercise into
action in your life.A week or so
later, you may find it interesting to watch the talk again, with the experience
of the exercise fresh in your mind. You may want to note the results in a
journal.
If you are a coordinator of a Blue Mountain Center Satsang, we
offer detailed instructions in how to use this course with your group. Just let
us know and we will
gladly send them to you. A full listing of our Satsang groups is available on
our Web site. For more information about this series, other publications of Sri
Easwaran and Nilgiri Press, and a schedule of retreats based on the Eight Point
Program, please contact
Blue Mountain Center of Meditation
Post Office Box 256
Tomales, CA, 94971
800 475 2369
www.nilgiri.org
Desire, Our Real Wealth
Introduction
“Desire, Our Real Wealth” is a talk Sri Easwaran gave to his
spiritual community, Ramagiri Ashram, on October 29, 1988. It lays out a map of
spiritual progress, from the standpoint of desire, and gives several
entertaining examples of how desire can be wasted or harnessed.
Sri Easwaran tells us that most people don’t realize their true
potential in life because their vital energy is scattered in hundreds of little
desires. This state is characterized by fleeting, shallow emotions which
agitate our minds and afford us very little satisfaction.
By learning to gradually funnel our lesser desires into a few
nobler ones, our life grows richer in depth and meaning. We develop the
capacity to become passionately committed to what we really value. As Easwaran
puts it, “It is this passion which, driven by desire, makes for greatness.”
Then there are a few rare people who unify all their passions and
attain the supreme goal of life – to discover their true Self. These people are
the real “movers and shakers” of the world, who make a permanent contribution
to world peace and well-being.
In the second half of the talk, Sri Easwaran draws upon Kabir, a
fifteenth-century Indian mystic and one of the world’s great poets. He is often
claimed to be Hindu by the Hindus and Muslim by the Muslims because of the way
his songs infuse the mysticism of the Upanishads with the Sufis’ ecstatic love,
but it would be truer to say he was too universal to be confined to one
tradition.
Outline of the Talk
Sri Easwaran begins by pointing out that
the more desires we have, the more likely we are to fritter away our inner
resources in superficial pursuits.
* He offers “lotto fever” as an example,
then comments on a poem by Kabir that contrasts the pointless preoccupation
with worldly things with the mystic’s deep longing for a vision of the true
Self, whom he called the Beloved:
Oh, Kabir
Leave aside
This flirtation
And fill your heart
With longing.
Without tears of yearning,
Who can hope to see
The face of
The Beloved?
* Referring to Meister Eckhart, Easwaran
explains that when we place so much importance on what we buy, we are actually
looking (in the wrong place) for lasting happiness or, as many mystics say, for
God.
* Easwaran then recommends a more realistic
attitude toward our possessions, and offers his worn but comfortable London Fog
raincoat as an example.
* As another way to highlight the importance
of looking within for fulfillment, he talks about the movie E.T., a huge
box-office hit, and points out that while there is nothing wrong with seeing E.T.,
our priority should be to see A.T., the Atman, or divine Self within us.
* Referring to the European psychologist
Carl Jung, he points out that our frantic pursuit of worldly things is
unconsciously motivated by the desire to overcome our fear of death. To
illustrate this point, he quotes another poem by Kabir, which can be read as an
ironic comparison between our search for fulfillment in the outside world to
the search for a legendary herb, thought to be found in the Himalayas, that
confers immortality:
In search of the herb
That would make
Meimmortal,
I have roamed
In the mountains.
I wept
With yearning,
But
I am
Still searching,
Still searching . . .
* He concludes the talk with an article
about the rescue of whales trapped beneath Arctic ice, as a metaphor for how we
must all break free from the superficial desires that threaten to suffocate our
spirit.
Practical Exercise: Unifying Desire
In this talk, Sri Easwaran paraphrases Meister Eckhart to say we
are all looking for God.When we go to
the supermarket or the shopping center, we are going to find something that
will please us always; we want to buy something that will make us happy
always.
The next time you go shopping, before you walk into the store,
make a careful, complete list of what you need to buy. Walk through the aisles
collecting all the items you have listed, and trying to ignore any extraneous
items that might be competing for your attention. Try to observe how your
attention behaves. As you pass through the aisles, can you detect echoes of
this desire “to find something that will please you always”? Make your best effort to buy only the items
on your list. When you find your mind being drawn to pick up something tempting
but unnecessary, repeat your mantram and move on. (For more about the mantram,
please see the list of Eight Points at the end of this Guide.) When you
get home, note the results in your journal.
This simple exercise is meant to help you identify and redirect
the channels through which desire flows out of the mind, carrying away with it
your vital energy. By gradually training the mind to rest in the mantram rather
than seek restlessly for fulfillment outside, you can begin to unify your
desires, leading to inner security and increased vitality.
Further Reading
Eknath Easwaran, “Will and Desire” in Dialogue with Death.
Suggested Passage for Meditation
“Weaving Your Name” in God Makes the Rivers to Flow, page
127.
In this talk Sri Easwaran is reading from The Vision of
Kabir, by Sehdev Kumar (Alpha & Omega, 1984).
Meeting the Beloved
Introduction
In this talk, given August 19, 1989, to an audience of close
students, Sri Easwaran paints a thrilling portrait of the climax of meditation,
called samadhi in Sanskrit, and referred to as union with God or the
mystic union in many traditions.
His texts are drawn from two Indian poets – Kabir (see notes to previous talk on this
tape) and Ravidas – and an Indian mystical work, the Yoga Vasishtha.
Little is known for certain about Ravidas, who may have been a contemporary of
Kabir, and who worked as a cobbler in what is now Uttar Pradesh, India.
During this talk, Sri Easwaran gives practical advice on how to
approach the goal of meditation through daily practice: deepening concentration
during meditation and during the rest of the day; unifying desires; loosening
one’s identification with likes and dislikes; and getting free from
contemporary society’s fast-paced atmosphere of hurry.
Outline of the Talk
* Sri Easwaran begins with a commentary on a
poem by Kabir which talks about the experience of samadhi:
How can I tell you, friends,
Of the beauty of my beloved,
When I am merged in his beauty,
When I am lost in his love,
When I am not even aware
Of my body, mind or the world?
* Then he comments on a passage from the Yoga
Vasishtha, a dialogue between young prince Rama, a divine incarnation, and
his spiritual teacher, the sage Vasishtha. “When you have seen the Supreme
Person, all the knots surrounding your heart are untied; all your doubts are
dispelled; and all your karma is burnt to ashes.”
* Next, he comments on Kabir’s poem, “The
Lamp of Wisdom,” which describes the state of mind of one who has attained
enlightenment, and points out that this is something that can be attained in
this life.
I am a citizen of that kingdom
Where reigns the Lord in all his glory.
Neither pain nor pleasure cast their shadows
Where the sun of joy never sets.
I am a citizen of that kingdom
Where every day is a day of celebration.
The river of love overflows its banks,
And the lotus blooms in the devotee’s heart.
I am a citizen of that kingdom
Where shines the Lord as the source of light
And lights the lamp of wisdom in my heart
To burn without oil, to burn without wick.
* The third poem by Kabir describes the
still mind in
forest images:
In the forest of the mind, the tiger has been tamed, the warblers have been hushed,
The wheel of time has been stopped, and Kabir sits
absorbed in love.
* He concludes his talk with a poem by
another mystic poet, Ravidas:
Grieve Not is the name of my town.
Pain and fear cannot enter here,
Free from possessions,
Free from life’s taxes,
Free from fear of disease and of death.
After much wandering I am come home,
Where turns not the wheel of time or change,
And my emperor rules without a second or a third
In Abadan, filled with love and wisdom.
The citizens are rich in the wealth of the heart,
And they live ever free in the city of God.
Listen to Ravidas,
All who live here are my true friends.
Practical Exercise: Training Attention
In this talk, Sri Easwaran points out that the skill of bringing
the mind back to the passage is vital to reaching the goal of meditation. To a
certain extent, this skill can be improved by effort and practice in
meditation. However, it is also helpful, even necessary, to supplement this
practice during the day, when the mind is often divided.
One telltale sign that your attention is divided is when you feel
bored at a necessary task. As Sri Easwaran says in Meditation,
Few jobs are boring; we are bored chiefly because our minds
are divided. Part of the mind performs the work at hand and part tries not to;
part earns his wages while the other part sneaks out to do something else or
tries to persuade the working half to quit. They fight over these contrary
purposes, and this warfare consumes a tremendous amount of vital energy.
So, as an aid to deepening your concentration in meditation,
identify one area in your life where your mind gets bored or restless when
faced with a task or situation which you know you must attend to. Try to observe
how your attention behaves in those situations. Can you stay focused or does
your attention wander away (or even shoot off like a fleeing rabbit)?
When your mind wanders, bring it back and focus as intently as
you can on the matter at hand. Do your best to complete the task with full and
complete attention. If you find yourself getting frustrated, take a brief break
to repeat the mantram – go for a five-minute mantram walk, or just repeat your
mantram silently to yourself. Then return and finish as well as you can. Note
the results in your journal.
This simple exercise can have a very beneficial effect on your
meditation practice. Try to practice it every day for a week, and observe the
results.
Recommended Reading
Eknath Easwaran, “Deepening Meditation” in Climbing the Blue
Mountain.
Suggested Passages for Meditation
“The Lamp of Wisdom” and “The Unstruck Bells and Drums” in God
Makes the Rivers to Flow, pages 100 & 112.
In this talk Sri Easwaran is reading from his own free
renderings of Kabir and Ravidas.
Terms and References
Abadan
An Islamic place of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages, located in
present-day Iran near the Persian Gulf.
advaita Having no duality; the supreme Reality,
which is the “One without a second.” The word advaita is especially used in
Vedanta philosophy, which stresses the unity of the Self (Atman) and Brahman,
the supreme reality underlying all life.
A.T. Sri Easwaran’s light-hearted reference to
the Atman.
Atman Self; the innermost soul in every creature,
which is divine.
Bhagavad
Gita [Bhagavat ‘Lord’, gita ‘song’] The best known
of the Hindu scriptures, preserved as part of the Mahabharata epic. It
is a spiritual dialogue between Arjuna, representing the human soul, and Sri
Krishna, the supreme Self.
Sri Easwaran quotes two verses from the Gita in this tape.
In both, the speaker is the Lord:
Chapter 18, verse 55:
Bhaktya mam abhijanati
yavan yashcasmi tattvatah
tato mam tattvato jnatva
vishate tadanantaram
By loving me, a devotee comes to
know me truly; then he knows my glory and enters into my boundless being.
Chapter 2, verse 40
Svalpam apyasya dharmasya
trayate mahato bhayat
Even a little effort toward
spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.
Boehme,
Jacob (1575-1624) a German peasant shoemaker who became a mystic.
Dhammapada “The path of dharma” – of truth, of
righteousness, of the central law that all of life is one; the name of a
collection of teachings of the Buddha. See Eknath Easwaran’s translation,
published by Nilgiri Press.
dharma Law, duty; the universal law which holds all
life together in unity.
Divine
MotherThe feminine
aspect of God, worshiped in many parts of India.
doha A verse couplet.
Eckhart,
Meister A 12th-century
German mystic.
Eliot,
T.S.American-born poet.
E.T.
Popular movie about an
alien who befriends a little boy.
Francis
St. Francis of Assisi.
Karma Action, work, behavior. Here, it refers to
the consequences of action, spiritually and mentally, as well as physically.
Post, Emily Popular writer on rules of etiquette.
Ramakrishna A Bengali saint of the 19th century.
samadhi
[sam ‘with’; adhi ‘Lord’] Union with the Lord; a state of intense
concentration in which consciousness is completely unified.
sati
saptami A special use of
the locative case in Sanskrit.
Shvetashvatara
UpanishadOne of the
principal Upanishads –
describes some of the external benefits that often come with deepening
meditation.
Teresa
St. Teresa of Avila
“Tyger,
tyger, burning bright / In the forests of the night” First lines
of a poem by William Blake.
The Eight Point Program
1. Meditation
Silent repetition in the mind of memorized inspirational passages
from the world’s great religions. Practiced for a half hour each morning.
2. The mantram
Silent repetition in the mind of a Holy Name or a hallowed
phrase from one of the world’s great religions. Practiced whenever possible
throughout the day or night.
3. Slowing down
Setting priorities and reducing the stress and friction
caused by hurry.
4. One-pointed attention
Giving full concentration to the matter at hand.
5. Training the senses
Overcoming conditioned habits and learning to enjoy what is
beneficial.
6. Putting others first
Gaining freedom from selfishness and separateness; finding
joy in helping others.
7.Spiritual
companionship
Spending time regularly with others following the Eight
Point Program for mutual inspiration and support.
8. Reading the mystics
Drawing inspiration from writings by and about the world’s
great spiritual figures and from the scriptures of all religions.