Seeing With the Eyes of Love: A Commentary on a text from The Imitation of Christ

by Eknath Easwaran

As we learn to rejoice in “Lord God, thou holy lover of my soul,” we begin to glimpse the transformative power of divine love in our lives. In this anecdotal, warm, and intensely practical commentary on Thomas a Kempis’s Imitation of Christ, Easwaran examines this enduring Christian passage line by line to show us what love is and how to overcome obstacles to loving more fully.

Genres: Christianity, Spirituality

260 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 1996

About the author

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."

Please visit bmcm.org for a fuller biography.

Reviews

[Moon Rose (M.R.) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Love is subject, and obedient to its superiors, to itself mean and despised, unto God devout and thankful, trusting and hoping always in him, even then when God imparteth no relish of sweetness unto it: for without sorrow, none liveth in love."---Thomas à Kempis

There is a thirst in me that cannot be quenched. There is a hunger in me that cannot be satisfied. I sometimes feel I have been found, yet oftentimes I feel terribly lost. There are great moments that take hold of me as if literally lifting me up to the heavenly sky, filling my heart with joy, which no words can truly convey, but only for awhile since they are just moments, I often lose them even before I completely gain what they mean, leaving me to feel alone and bewildered oftentimes in great and inconsolable pain. Without anyone to turn to, I continue to go on whether willingly or unwillingly I no longer know. This path, this choice that I have made for myself appears separate from me, brimming with a life of its own that forces me to move on and look forward despite all the uncertainties. I seek and will continue to seek no matter where it takes me. Once you start walking towards this inner path, there is no more stopping. It is a one way ticket to an unknown territory, a destination that is utterly alien from the world I know, whether I am bound to find something or not, is not the question anymore. The question is whether I will still choose to follow or not. This seems to be the only question and destiny leaves everything up to me.

[Cathy]

It encourages meditation