Stress and anxiety affect us all – but some people seem to cope better than others. What makes the difference? If we learn to calm our minds, Easwaran says, we can find the center of strength within us all. Life will inevitably send trials, from minor irritations to major crises, but we can choose how to respond. We can learn to access the inner resources of energy, love, and wisdom we need to ride the waves of life minute by minute, day by day. It’s a simple idea, but one that goes deep – a truly calm mind can weather any storm.
We learn to calm the mind through practice – there’s no magic about it. Respected author Eknath Easwaran taught his universal approach to meditation and spiritual living for forty years, and he shares a wealth of practical experience, and wise, surprising insights into our dilemmas today. He’s always gentle, often funny, illustrating his advice with everyday anecdotes and inspiration from the world’s saints. Whether you’re feeling tested by life’s challenges, or just curious to know more about choosing your thoughts, these essays can guide you, uplift and entertain you – giving you the courage and the skill to try something different the next time you feel under pressure.
Listening to this reading by British actor Paul Bazely, you can learn how to use a mantram (or mantra) to quiet the mind in any situation. You’ll find out how to slow down and stay in the present, so you can improve concentration, be more effective at work, and free yourself of unwanted anxieties and resentments.
In later essays, Easwaran describes how to stay calm and kind when faced by others’ anger, or our own, and how, over time, by learning to calm the mind each of us can become an instrument of peace.