A master spiritual teacher invites us on a journey - to the summit of self-discovery. This is a book to lift the spirit of anyone aiming to live a kinder, calmer, more meaningful life, in the midst of all the challenges facing the world today.
Fifteen warm, engaging essays present different aspects of meditation and the spiritual life, showing how we can rearrange our lives, little by little, to fit a higher purpose. Featuring saints and mystics from East and West, and a host of stories and anecdotes, this book reads like a conversation with a wise friend, with deep spiritual insights that you'll want to come back to again and again.
Easwaran writes, "When you travel within, every day is fresh with discoveries and challenges, inspiration and profound peace. The scenes I paint for you in the following pages are just a fleeting glimpse of the continuing adventure that awaits you as you enter this world."
The final essay, "Climbing the Blue Mountain," which gives the book its title, is a moving account of the spiritual quest. Easwaran compares this with a long journey that he makes from the hot, dusty plains of Central India, up through jungle and plantations, to his home in the cool hills of the Blue Mountains, where his mother waits for him - reminding us that on the spiritual path, we too will one day find our true home.
Eknath Easwaran (1910–1999) is the originator of passage meditation and the author of more than 30 books on spiritual living.
Easwaran is a recognized authority on the Indian spiritual classics. His translations of The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, and The Dhammapada are the best-selling editions in the USA, and over 1.5 million copies of his books are in print.
Easwaran was a professor of English literature and well known in India as a writer and speaker before coming to the United States in 1959 on the Fulbright exchange program. In 1961, he founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, based in Tomales, California, which continues his work today through publications and retreats.
His 1968 class on the theory and practice of meditation at UC Berkeley is believed to be the first accredited course on meditation at any Western university. For those who seek him as a personal spiritual guide, Easwaran assured us that he lives on through his eight-point program of passage meditation.
"I am with you always”, he said. “It does not require my physical presence; it requires your open heart."