2018 Celebration of Easwaran's Life & Teachings

Every year since his passing in 1999, the BMCM has celebrated Easwaran's life and teachings during the month of October. Last year, in 2017, we tried something new by sharing a flexible curriculum. It was wonderful to hear how passage meditators around the world found ways to deepen their own practice and their connection with Easwaran.

We're pleased to share with you the four-week curriculum that passage meditators around the world will use throughout the month of October to celebrate Easwaran's life and teachings. We invite you to browse through the curriculum and reflect on how you would like to incorporate it into your own life in the coming month.

Using the Celebration Curriculum

The celebration curriculum contains four flexible modules that you can use in any way that is helpful for your own reflection.

Many of our BMCM communities will be studying the material weekly starting in the first week of October. You can follow along by joining Wednesdays With the BMCM, the eSatsang, or the BMCM Living & Learning Facebook Group.

You could also create your own satsang day with passage meditator friends, or set aside time for your own personal retreat.

Celebration Curriculum

Module #1: Study Easwaran’s Article, “Our Real Identity”

This module offers a reading study of the article “Our Real Identity” from the most recent Blue Mountain Journal. The curriculum contains reflection questions, an experiment, and an opportunity to share your comments with others in the BMCM Living & Learning Facebook Group.

Example experiment from the curriculum: Over the next few days, look for a small instance of when you feel an inner tension between your yearning to be a spiritual being and your past conditioning as a separate, physical creature, “like a ball batted back and forth.” For example, you could be trying to put someone else first, or resist a small selfish desire. In that moment, recall Easwaran’s story about the two forces within, and try putting more effort into one of the eight points. What do you notice?

Module #1 Curriculum (PDF)
Reading Excerpt “Our Real Identity” for Question 1 (webpage or PDF)
Full Article, “Our Real Identity" (Blue Mountain Journal or PDF)

Module #2: Focus on a Passage, “You Are That”

This module focuses on the passage from the Chandogya Upanishad, “You Are That.” There’s an audio clip of Christine reading the passage, a video clip of Easwaran explaining it, and the opportunity for you to reflect on the meaning of the passage and to begin memorizing it.

Module #2 Curriculum (PDF)
Passage: “You Are That” (webpage or PDF)
Christine reading the passage (audio clip)
Video of Easwaran explaining the passage (video)

Module #3: Prepare Inwardly for Easwaran’s Life Celebration & Create a Plan to Join In

This module guides you through planning how you would like to prepare inwardly for the October 27 Celebration of Easwaran’s Life and Teachings, and also how to participate in activities that day. For example, there’s information about an online satsang reading study and meditation taking place that day.

Module #3: Curriculum (PDF)
Join the BMCM Living & Learning Facebook Group to learn details about the Virtual Reading Study and Meditation

Module #4: Celebrate & Share!

This module focuses on reflection on this theme and on the activities planned for October 27. These activities include a special Easwaran video that will be shown at Ramagiri Ashram and which you will be able to access at home, an online satsang reading study, and an online meditation you can join. We also offer ways you can share your own celebration with others around the world.