Listen & Explore: Passage Recordings

“An inspirational passage turns our thoughts to what is permanent, to those things that put a final end to insecurity. In meditation, the passage becomes imprinted on our consciousness. As we drive it deeper and deeper, the words come to life within us, transforming all our thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds.”
– Eknath Easwaran

The inspirational passage is at the heart of Easwaran’s method of passage meditation. The texts that Easwaran selected come from mystics of different faith traditions, countries, backgrounds, and time periods, but each passage speaks to us of the highest Self inside us all. By focusing our attention on these lofty spiritual ideals we can gradually change our thoughts and behavior. “This is the secret of meditation:” Easwaran says, “we become what we meditate on.”

We know that many people enjoy listening to passages, so we’ve now made an initial selection of our audio recordings available on our website, with more planned for the future. The passages are available to stream or to download so that friends around the world can make them a regular part of their spiritual routine.

Passage Recordings

The recordings are either by Eknath Easwaran or, in cases where we don’t have a useable recording by Easwaran, by his wife Christine Easwaran who is the Life Trustee and co-founder of the BMCM.

In some early recordings by Easwaran, he’s reading a different version or translation of a passage, and some passages may also have a different title. Following Easwaran’s instructions, his editors updated certain passages to make the language more inclusive. Whether you prefer the text on the website, or the text read by Easwaran, all these versions are suitable for meditation – it’s up to you!

To find the passages with recordings you can use the “Audio” filter on the passages page. We’ve also changed the sequence of the passages so that the passages with audio recordings are on the top of the list. We’ll continue to publish recordings through the rest of the year, so do check back if we haven’t yet published the audio recording of a particular passage that you like.

Using Passage Recordings

Listening to passages can help in a number of ways: as an aid to memorization, as a way to deepen your relationship with Easwaran, or as a source of strength and comfort in a challenging time. We encourage you to experiment with how you can use these recordings in your life.

We’ve also made a playlist of recordings specially for friends who are participating in the Setu program, where listening to passages has become a regular practice. This program is mainly for passage meditators who are in what Easwaran calls the second half of life, and are addressing the challenges of getting older or facing a life-threatening illness.

Because listening to passages has become a valuable way for Setu practitioners to immerse themselves in their highest ideals, we’ve created a playlist of the passages that are regularly requested by Setu friends. This resources is of course available to anyone, regardless of age or life circumstance!

Explore & Listen

“When you sit quietly every morning with your eyes closed, concentrating completely on words that embody your highest ideals, you are giving your mind thoughts of the purest quality to work with during the day.” 
– Eknath Easwaran

If you’d like to try listening to a passage, this recording of the Prayer of Saint Francis is one minute long.

We now invite you to explore the passage recordings for yourself. We would love to hear from you – please feel free to leave a comment below about how you use the recordings, or which ones stand out to you.