THE MOUNTAIN PATH JULY 1964

October 18, 2007

The Candle of the Lord

By Professor Eknath Easwaran

A few years ago I was taken by a friend to visit the Truman Museum in Independence, Missouri, and among the exhibits I saw there nothing impressed me more deeply than a little clay lamp presented to President Truman by the Jewish community of Boston. This lamp is said to belong to the days of King David of the Old Testament. At its base was an inscription which may be translated: The Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord. (Proverbs 20: 27).

How this candle is to be lit has been revealed by founders of every religion, by Krishna and Christ, by the Buddha and Mohamad, by Zoroaster and Lao-Tzu. If I may put in a nutshell the principles that govern all major religions, it would be very simply: (1) that all life, the entire phenomenal world, has as its basis something that is completely divine; (2) that it is possible for everyone to know this divine ground of all existence; (3) that life has only one purpose - not to make money, nor to enjoy pleasure, nor to achieve success, nor to attain fame - but to know and be united with the divine ground of our existence.

I have very little interest in theology, in metaphysics or even in philosophy. My approach to the scriptures is entirely on the basis that they are practical manuals to the art of living, and the truths in them are verifiable by anyone prepared to undergo a certain ethical and mental discipline.

The Bhagavad Gita, says Aldous Huxley, "is perhaps the most systematic scriptural statement of the Perennial Philosophy." Scholars says that it was composed about 2500 years ago, but I, who am no scholar in this field, would unhesitatingly declare that the Gita is timeless. It is based upon the Upanishads which have been called by Schopenhauer the most noble, most exalted study of all mankind. There is a very simple Sanskrit verse about the Gita: all the Upanishads are cows. The man who milks the cows is Krishna. The calf is Arjuna, and you and I are the drinkers of the milk, the immortal elixir that comes from the Upanishads.

In the Upanishads there is a heart-breaking cry that has been echoing down through the ages: "From the unreal lead me to the Real. From darkness lead me to Light. From death lead me to Immortality."

In one of the most profound of the Upanishads, the Katha Upanishad, there is a significant dialogue between Yama, the King of Death, and the boy Nachiketa, which may be interpreted in this way. Nachiketa asks: "Is there no way to conquer death?" The King of Death, after testing him as a worthy disciple, declares this greatest of secrets that has come down through all religions. "As long as you identify yourself with the body, which is subject to change, so long will you be subject to the greatest of changes which is called death. If by some means you could break through this identification with the changing body and learn to identify yourself instead with the changeless Atman, the Lord seated within the Lotus of your Heart, then you would transcend death here and now." Nachiketa then asks the King of Death: "Please tell me how I can transcend death here and now." To this the King of Death replies: "In order to attain this immortal state you must learn to bring the mind under complete control through one-pointed meditation on God. He who reaches this level of consciousness becomes united with God through His infinite grace and is freed from the cycle of birth and death."

It is said in the Psalm: "Be still and know that I am God." To know God, to know the divine ground of our existence, we have to go far beyond the senses, the intellect and the mind, which are but finite instruments; and logic tells us that a finite instrument cannot be used for fathoming the infinite. The precious experiences of mystics all over the world bear witness to this transcendental mode of knowing. The natural senses cannot possess God or unite thee to Him; nay, thy inward faculties of understanding, will and memory can only reach after God, but cannot be the place of His habitation in thee. But there is a root or depth of thee from whence all these faculties come forth, as lines from a centre, or as branches from the body of the tree. This depth is the unity, the eternity - I had almost said the infinity - of thy soul; for it is so infinite that nothing can satisfy it or give it rest but the infinity of God." This is the testimony of William Law, a British mystic of the eighteenth century.

In the Gita Lord Krishna - who is the very understanding Teacher in the heart of everyone gives Arjuna a practical lesson in meditation: "Repose your mind, concentrate your mind, still your mind completely in Me. Then you will be united with me in this very life, here and now." Arjuna points out: "It is easier to control the wind than the mind." Krishna says: "Arjuna, I know it is very difficult to control the mind, but there is a very simple secret: regular, systematic, steadfast practice."

As our meditation deepens, we are rather taken aback to discover that we have seldom been able to exercise control over our mind. We do not live intentionally. As we learn, through meditation, to exercise control over the deeper levels of consciousness, we begin to get over this obsessive identification with the body and are able to use the body. We are able to get over this oppressive identification with the mind and are able to use the mind. In order to use these instruments for fulfilling the supreme purpose of life, we have to become detached in a great measure from them, and this is what meditation enables us to do as soon as it begins to deepen. Good health, peace of mind, a capacity to face adequately the storm and stress of life, and integration of character which takes place when all desires are subordinated to this supreme desire: these are the marks of the man who is making, progress on the path of meditation.

St. Francis of Assissi refers to the body as Brother Ass. He says: This is Brother Ass, and I am the rider. As long as I consider myself part of Brother Ass, I have neither liberty nor the capacity to live intentionally.

When we look around us we make the discovery that we are more the slaves of our possessions than the masters. Gandhiji's campaign against compulsive possessiveness has its inspiration from the mystics of all ages who warn us: If you want to be free, don't be attached. This is no plea for poverty, but for detachment. It is possible for a labourer in his cottage to be attached to his few coppers and clay pots, as it is possible for a king in his palace to be detached and free.

Ramakrishna has summed up the whole teaching of the Gita in one word. The word gita in Sanskrit reversed becomes tyagi, which means renunciation. This does not mean poverty, nor monotony but a dynamic, creative quality which enables you to live as the master and not as the victim of life.

The Gita lays down three paths to the supreme goal of life: karma yoga or the path of action, jnana yoga or the path of knowledge, bhakti yoga or the path of devotion.

1/ Karma yoga means the path of work or action as an offering to God. Every act must be performed as an offering to God, and there must be no craving after the fruits of action, which is very, very difficult.

2/ Jnana yoga is usually understood in the West as the path of the intellect. It is more correctly the path of gnosis in the Greek sense of the word, a transcendental, super-conscious mode of knowing.

3/ Bhakti yoga is the path of devotion. When we are able to tap the vein of devotion inherent in all of us, this path becomes a swift, safe and sweet one.

I believe that all three - action, knowledge and devotion - have a legitimate place in our daily life, but they must be based on the regular and systematic practice of meditation.

The climax of meditation is called in Sanskrit samadhi, sam meaning with, and adhi meaning Lord. It is a sound educational axiom that knowing is a function of being, and we come to know God because in His infinite grace He allows us to join Him by "actual participation" as one of the Catholic mystics calls it. When samadhi or becoming united with God has become permanent it is called Moksha by the Hindus and Nirvana by the Buddhists. The man who has attained union with God has come to learn for himself who he is and after that he has only one purpose or ostensible purpose in life, that is to remind others who they are.

Meditation develops the most precious capacity that man can have, the capacity to turn anger into compassion, fear into fearlessness and hatred into love. I am never tired of repeating that this is the greatest miracle of meditation, not seeing visions, not hearing voices but the capacity to purify the heart of all that is selfish and degrading. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."

The Gita gives a perfect picture of the man who has become one with God. Krishna says: There is no one so dear to my heart as he who with love for everyone - friend and foe, for those who attack him, vilify him, torture him - will have only kindness and compassion. As Jesus says: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you."

In life all of us need happiness, but all of us need sorrow too. Sorrow can enable us to grow spiritually, and I doubt if there has been any mystic whose heart has not been broken many times before attaining union with God. Therefore, when sorrow is necessary for his spiritual growth, the man of God will welcome it with open arms. Put him amidst poverty, amidst wealth. Make him healthy, make him sick. Make him famous, make him infamous. He will still be content; he will still be the same because he has identified himself with that which does not change. Why should he be affected by changes outside when he knows who dwells in his consciousness?

Every moment in life we have this choice to make: Shall I identify myself with my atman, my soul, with the Christ within, the Krishna enthroned in my heart, or shall I identify myself with the body that is subject to change? Krishna says: You can never afford to lose your vigilance because you have to be constantly and ceaselessly striving. Your will has to be so resolute that you will not allow anything to make you swerve from the Goal. All mystics, all saints, are agreed this is the highest destiny to which all mankind moves. The poet, the musician, the painter, the sculptor, yes, many are artistic, but only a small segment of their personality contains beauty. The man of God is completely aflame with God; not just one narrow sector, but every cell of his consciousness is filled with this beauty, this glory, this effulgence.

When Dr. Oppenheimer, the distinguished American atomic scientist, witnessed the experimental explosion of the atomic bomb on the desert of New Mexico he recalls that what immediately flashed into his mind was the terrible line from the Gita: "I am come as Time, the waster of the people, ready for the hour that ripens to their doom." On this subject Meister Eckhart says: "Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time. And not only time but temporalities, not only temporal things but temporal affections; not only temporal affections but the very taint and smell of time."

When we practice meditation, we are being delivered out of time, which means that we are being delivered out of the Jaws of the King of Death. In one of the deeply moving devotional hymns of Sankara, we are told: Don't be proud of your youth, your wealth, your name. Time will steal these from you in the twinkling of an eye. Therefore, take shelter at the feet of the Lord.

To repeat what I said earlier, death is a great change in which these chemical constituents of the body are resolved into another state. You are subject to death only when you identify yourself with your body which is in a state of chemical flux. Krishna says: through meditation on the Lord, by identifying yourself with the Lord, you can break through once and for all this primal compulsion, this age-old fallacy that you are the body. As Jesus says to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he be always alive." Krishna says again: Learn to focus all your consciousness on Me, and it is my responsibility to release you, to rescue you from this cycle of birth and death that is called life.

"For Thou Wilt Light My Candle: The Lord My God will Enlighten My Darkness." (Psalm 18: 28).

October 18, 2007

Michael, thank you for posting this. Sri Easwaren's translation of the Gita and the Upanishads are my favorites. He also wrote some wonderful, more general books about the spiritual life, as well as a book about Mahatma Gandhi's life. There are also some wonderful recordings of him reading spiritual texts, available through his publisher, Niligiri Press. His voice is so beautiful, rich, and sonorous, reverberant with the loving peace that surrounded him. For those who are unfamiliar with him, he came to the US as a young student or professor, and after teaching at Berkeley for a number of years, established a spiritual community in northern California called the Blue Mountain Meditation Center. He died about 5 years ago, and was deeply mourned by those who knew him through his writing or through Blue Mountain. JillOn Oct 18, 2007, at 1:55 PM, Michael Bindel wrote:The Candle of the LordBy Professor Eknath Easwaran A few years ago I was taken by a friend to visit the Truman Museum in Independence, Missouri, and among the exhibits I saw there nothing impressed me more deeply than a little clay lamp presented to President Truman by the Jewish community of Boston. This lamp is said to belong to the days of King David of the Old Testament. At its base was an inscription which may be translated: The Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord. (Proverbs 20: 27).How this candle is to be lit has been revealed by founders of every religion, by Krishna and Christ, by the Buddha and Mohamad, by Zoroaster and Lao-Tzu. If I may put in a nutshell the principles that govern all major religions, it would be very simply: (1) that all life, the entire phenomenal world, has as its basis something that is completely divine; (2) that it is possible for everyone to know this divine ground of all existence; (3) that life has only one purpose - not to make money, nor to enjoy pleasure, nor to achieve success, nor to attain fame - but to know and be united with the divine ground of our existence.I have very little interest in theology, in metaphysics or even in philosophy. My approach to the scriptures is entirely on the basis that they are practical manuals to the art of living, and the truths in them are verifiable by anyone prepared to undergo a certain ethical and mental discipline.The Bhagavad Gita, says Aldous Huxley, "is perhaps the most systematic scriptural statement of the Perennial Philosophy." Scholars says that it was composed about 2500 years ago, but I, who am no scholar in this field, would unhesitatingly declare that the Gita is timeless. It is based upon the Upanishads which have been called by Schopenhauer the most noble, most exalted study of all mankind. There is a very simple Sanskrit verse about the Gita: all the Upanishads are cows. The man who milks the cows is Krishna. The calf is Arjuna, and you and I are the drinkers of the milk, the immortal elixir that comes from the Upanishads.In the Upanishads there is a heart-breaking cry that has been echoing down through the ages: "From the unreal lead me to the Real. From darkness lead me to Light. From death lead me to Immortality."In one of the most profound of the Upanishads, the Katha Upanishad, there is a significant dialogue between Yama, the King of Death, and the boy Nachiketa, which may be interpreted in this way. Nachiketa asks: "Is there no way to conquer death?" The King of Death, after testing him as a worthy disciple, declares this greatest of secrets that has come down through all religions. "As long as you identify yourself with the body, which is subject to change, so long will you be subject to the greatest of changes which is called death. If by some means you could break through this identification with the changing body and learn to identify yourself instead with the changeless Atman, the Lord seated within the Lotus of your Heart, then you would transcend death here and now." Nachiketa then asks the King of Death: "Please tell me how I can transcend death here and now." To this the King of Death replies: "In order to attain this immortal state you must learn to bring the mind under complete control through one-pointed meditation on God. He who reaches this level of consciousness becomes united with God through His infinite grace and is freed from the cycle of birth and death."It is said in the Psalm: "Be still and know that I am God." To know God, to know the divine ground of our existence, we have to go far beyond the senses, the intellect and the mind, which are but finite instruments; and logic tells us that a finite instrument cannot be used for fathoming the infinite. The precious experiences of mystics all over the world bear witness to this transcendental mode of knowing. The natural senses cannot possess God or unite thee to Him; nay, thy inward faculties of understanding, will and memory can only reach after God, but cannot be the place of His habitation in thee. But there is a root or depth of thee from whence all these faculties come forth, as lines from a centre, or as branches from the body of the tree. This depth is the unity, the eternity - I had almost said the infinity - of thy soul; for it is so infinite that nothing can satisfy it or give it rest but the infinity of God." This is the testimony of William Law, a British mystic of the eighteenth century.In the Gita Lord Krishna - who is the very understanding Teacher in the heart of everyone gives Arjuna a practical lesson in meditation: "Repose your mind, concentrate your mind, still your mind completely in Me. Then you will be united with me in this very life, here and now." Arjuna points out: "It is easier to control the wind than the mind." Krishna says: "Arjuna, I know it is very difficult to control the mind, but there is a very simple secret: regular, systematic, steadfast practice."As our meditation deepens, we are rather taken aback to discover that we have seldom been able to exercise control over our mind. We do not live intentionally. As we learn, through meditation, to exercise control over the deeper levels of consciousness, we begin to get over this obsessive identification with the body and are able to use the body. We are able to get over this oppressive identification with the mind and are able to use the mind. In order to use these instruments for fulfilling the supreme purpose of life, we have to become detached in a great measure from them, and this is what meditation enables us to do as soon as it begins to deepen. Good health, peace of mind, a capacity to face adequately the storm and stress of life, and integration of character which takes place when all desires are subordinated to this supreme desire: these are the marks of the man who is making, progress on the path of meditation.St. Francis of Assissi refers to the body as Brother Ass. He says: This is Brother Ass, and I am the rider. As long as I consider myself part of Brother Ass, I have neither liberty nor the capacity to live intentionally.When we look around us we make the discovery that we are more the slaves of our possessions than the masters. Gandhiji's campaign against compulsive possessiveness has its inspiration from the mystics of all ages who warn us: If you want to be free, don't be attached. This is no plea for poverty, but for detachment. It is possible for a labourer in his cottage to be attached to his few coppers and clay pots, as it is possible for a king in his palace to be detached and free.Ramakrishna has summed up the whole teaching of the Gita in one word. The word gita in Sanskrit reversed becomes tyagi, which means renunciation. This does not mean poverty, nor monotony but a dynamic, creative quality which enables you to live as the master and not as the victim of life.The Gita lays down three paths to the supreme goal of life: karma yoga or the path of action, jnana yoga or the path of knowledge, bhakti yoga or the path of devotion.1/ Karma yoga means the path of work or action as an offering to God. Every act must be performed as an offering to God, and there must be no craving after the fruits of action, which is very, very difficult.2/ Jnana yoga is usually understood in the West as the path of the intellect. It is more correctly the path of gnosis in the Greek sense of the word, a transcendental, super-conscious mode of knowing.3/ Bhakti yoga is the path of devotion. When we are able to tap the vein of devotion inherent in all of us, this path becomes a swift, safe and sweet one.I believe that all three - action, knowledge and devotion - have a legitimate place in our daily life, but they must be based on the regular and systematic practice of meditation.The climax of meditation is called in Sanskrit samadhi, sam meaning with, and adhi meaning Lord. It is a sound educational axiom that knowing is a function of being, and we come to know God because in His infinite grace He allows us to join Him by "actual participation" as one of the Catholic mystics calls it. When samadhi or becoming united with God has become permanent it is called Moksha by the Hindus and Nirvana by the Buddhists. The man who has attained union with God has come to learn for himself who he is and after that he has only one purpose or ostensible purpose in life, that is to remind others who they are.Meditation develops the most precious capacity that man can have, the capacity to turn anger into compassion, fear into fearlessness and hatred into love. I am never tired of repeating that this is the greatest miracle of meditation, not seeing visions, not hearing voices but the capacity to purify the heart of all that is selfish and degrading. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."The Gita gives a perfect picture of the man who has become one with God. Krishna says: There is no one so dear to my heart as he who with love for everyone - friend and foe, for those who attack him, vilify him, torture him - will have only kindness and compassion. As Jesus says: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you."In life all of us need happiness, but all of us need sorrow too. Sorrow can enable us to grow spiritually, and I doubt if there has been any mystic whose heart has not been broken many times before attaining union with God. Therefore, when sorrow is necessary for his spiritual growth, the man of God will welcome it with open arms. Put him amidst poverty, amidst wealth. Make him healthy, make him sick. Make him famous, make him infamous. He will still be content; he will still be the same because he has identified himself with that which does not change. Why should he be affected by changes outside when he knows who dwells in his consciousness?Every moment in life we have this choice to make: Shall I identify myself with my atman, my soul, with the Christ within, the Krishna enthroned in my heart, or shall I identify myself with the body that is subject to change? Krishna says: You can never afford to lose your vigilance because you have to be constantly and ceaselessly striving. Your will has to be so resolute that you will not allow anything to make you swerve from the Goal. All mystics, all saints, are agreed this is the highest destiny to which all mankind moves. The poet, the musician, the painter, the sculptor, yes, many are artistic, but only a small segment of their personality contains beauty. The man of God is completely aflame with God; not just one narrow sector, but every cell of his consciousness is filled with this beauty, this glory, this effulgence.When Dr. Oppenheimer, the distinguished American atomic scientist, witnessed the experimental explosion of the atomic bomb on the desert of New Mexico he recalls that what immediately flashed into his mind was the terrible line from the Gita: "I am come as Time, the waster of the people, ready for the hour that ripens to their doom." On this subject Meister Eckhart says: "Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time. And not only time but temporalities, not only temporal things but temporal affections; not only temporal affections but the very taint and smell of time."When we practice meditation, we are being delivered out of time, which means that we are being delivered out of the Jaws of the King of Death. In one of the deeply moving devotional hymns of Sankara, we are told: Don't be proud of your youth, your wealth, your name. Time will steal these from you in the twinkling of an eye. Therefore, take shelter at the feet of the Lord.To repeat what I said earlier, death is a great change in which these chemical constituents of the body are resolved into another state. You are subject to death only when you identify yourself with your body which is in a state of chemical flux. Krishna says: through meditation on the Lord, by identifying yourself with the Lord, you can break through once and for all this primal compulsion, this age-old fallacy that you are the body. As Jesus says to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he be always alive." Krishna says again: Learn to focus all your consciousness on Me, and it is my responsibility to release you, to rescue you from this cycle of birth and death that is called life."For Thou Wilt Light My Candle: The Lord My God will Enlighten My Darkness." (Psalm 18: 28).

October 20, 2007

Hi Harsha,Thanks for your email. I never did meet Sri Easwaren, although I had wanted to go to the Blue Mountain Center for a retreat. I never made it. However I met Michael Nagler, who lived with him there. Michael Nagler also taught at Berkeley. He wrote the chapter introductions to Easwaren's translation of the Upanishads. He also wrote a couple books on non-violence, one recent. Some years ago, I was living in Chicago and was on the mailing list for the BMC, so while in town Mr. Nagler contacted me and invited me to sit in meditation with him and a few people from the BMC. He was such a gentle, kind man, and he spoke of Sri Easwaren with such love, telling stories of how before leaving BMC for his trip, Michael would try to think up questions to go ask Sri Easwaren, so he could have just another few minutes in his presence before going away! JillOn Oct 20, 2007, at 10:26 AM, Harsha wrote:Dear Jill,Thank you for sharing. I have heard you speak of Professor Easwaren before. He was influenced by Mahatama Gandhi's teaching on nonviolence, I believe. Did you have a chance to meet him?Love to allHarshaJill Eggers wrote:> Michael, thank you for posting this. Sri Easwaren's translation of > the Gita and the Upanishads are my favorites. He also wrote some > wonderful, more general books about the spiritual life, as well as a > book about Mahatma Gandhi's life. There are also some wonderful > recordings of him reading spiritual texts, available through his > publisher, Niligiri Press. His voice is so beautiful, rich, and > sonorous, reverberant with the loving peace that surrounded him. For > those who are unfamiliar with him, he came to the US as a young > student or professor, and after teaching at Berkeley for a number of > years, established a spiritual community in northern California called > the Blue Mountain Meditation Center. He died about 5 years ago, and > was deeply mourned by those who knew him through his writing or > through Blue Mountain. >> Jill>> On Oct 18, 2007, at 1:55 PM, Michael Bindel wrote:>