Eknath Easwaran | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 17, 1910 |
| Died | October 26, 1999 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | India, United States |
| Known for | Spiritual teacher, author, translator and interpreter of spiritual literature, teacher of Passage Meditation |
Eknath Easwaran (December 17, 1910 – October 26, 1999) was an Indian-born spiritual teacher, author and translator and interpreter of Indian religious texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads.
Easwaran was a professor of English literature at the University of Nagpur in India when he came to the United States in 1959 on the Fulbright Program at the University of Minnesota before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. In 1961, Easwaran founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, based in northern California.[1] In 1968 Easwaran established Nilgiri Press.[2] Nilgiri Press has published over thirty books that he authored.
Easwaran was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, whom he met when he was a young man.[3] Easwaran developed a method of meditation – silent repetition in the mind of memorized inspirational passages from the world's major religious and spiritual traditions[4] – which later came to be known as Passage Meditation.
His teachings inspired some of his students to create the 1976 vegetarian cookbook Laurel's Kitchen.
He has been accused of sexual abuse by former residents of Ramagiri Ashram.
- ^ "About BMCM".
- ^ "About Nilgiri Press".
- ^ Gandhi's influence on Easwaran is described by Easwaran or others in a variety of publications, including Gandhi the Man (e.g., p. 6, 1978 edition), The Making of a Teacher (e.g., p. 160, 1989 edition), and The Compassionate Universe (ISBN 9781458778420, see chapter 1; chapters 2-8 are structured using Gandhi's "Seven Social Sins"). See also the biography of Easwaran posted at his publisher's website (accessed 1 September 2017).
- ^ "In Memoriam: Sri Eknath Easwaran (1911–1999)". Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. Archived from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2008.