Talk 26a: Changing the Thinking Process - This talk includes a marvelous description of Easwaran’s meditation, in which he shows how, with intense concentration, the inspirational passage can become a deeply personal message of transformation. He closes with an inspiring portrait of the person who has truly trained the mind – secure, content, joyful, and heir to a seemingly inexhaustible supply of patience and endurance.
Talk 26b: The Space Between Thoughts - In this talk we see the practical benefits of training the mind – in particular, detachment. Easwaran’s main focus is on learning to find – and increase – the space between thoughts. As he will explain, the Buddha’s diagnosis of the thinking process led him to discover that, though our thoughts seem continuous, they are not actually connected. When we slow down the mind through meditation, we are able to find the space between thoughts and gain the detachment we need to actually choose what we think.