Program for Life

The Eight Point Program by Eknath Easwaran is a great program for life for all faiths:

1. Meditation

The heart of the program is meditation 20-30minutes  every morning as early as is convenient.  If you want more - half an hour in the evening also, preferably at the very end of the day.

Set aside a room in you home - for meditation only - spiritual reading,  If you cannot spare a room - have a particular corner just for this.

Sit in a straight back chair or on the floor and gently close your eyes - You should be comfortable enough to forget your body but not so comfortable that you become drowsy,  Be sure to keep your head, neck and spinal column erect in a straight line,  As concentration deepens the nervous system relaxes and you may begin to fall asleep.  It is important to resist this tendency right from the beginning by drawing yourself up and away from your back support until the wave of sleep has passed.

 IF YOU CHOOSE SILENT MEDITATION - start saying your mantra - a phrase or word - like Abba, Jesus, - John Main recommends - maranatha which means  Come Lord.

 If YOU CHOOSE PASSAGE MEDIATION - start with a  passage  ie, the Lord is my Shepherd.. or a  prayer ie.  Make me an instrument of your Peace. 

With eyes closed begin to say your Mantra - keep repeating the mantra throughout the 20 - 30 minutes.  The mind will wander, gently come back to the mantra..Profound silence is best - it is s simple yet difficult.  

When distractions come, do not resist them, but give more attention to the mantra or the words of the passage.  If your mind strays from the passage entirely bring it back gently to the beginning and start again.  Use the passage or mantra until you complete your meditation time.

 

2. Repetition of the Mantram

A mantram, a Holy Name, is a powerful spiritual formula which has the capacity to transform consciousness when it is repeated silently in the mind.  It is simply a matter of practice.

Select a mantra that appeals to you deeply.  Then once you have chosen it do not change it.

Repeat it silently whenever you get a chance: while walking, waiting, while doing mechanical chores, like washing dishes, and especially when you are falling asleep.  The mantra will help to keep you relaxed and alert during the day and when you can fall asleep in it.  It will go on working for you throughout the night as well.

Whenever you are angry or afraid, nervous or worried or resentful, repeat the mantra until the agitation subsides, the mantra works to steady the mind and all these emotions are power running against you which the mantra can harness and put to work.

 

3. Slowing Down

Hurrying makes for tension insecurity, inefficiency and superficial living, even illness.  To guard  against hurrying through the day start the day early and simplify your life so that you do not try to fill your time with ore than you can do.  When you find yourself beginning to speed up, repeat our mantra to help you slow down.

In slowing down we should attend meticulously to details, giving our very best even to the smallest undertaking.

4. One-Pointed Attention

Doing more that one thing at a time divides attention and fragments consciousness.  When we read & eat at the same timem for example, part of our mind is on what we are reading and part on what we are eatingm we are not getting the ost from either activity. 

Similarly, when talking with someone give him or her your full attention.

Everything we do should be worthy of our full attentionm when the ind is on-pointed it will be secure, free from tension and capable of the concentration that is the mark of genius in the field.

5. Training the Senses

In the food we eat the books and magazines we read, the movies we see all of us are subject to the conditioning of rigid likes and dislikes. 

To free ourselves from the conditioning we need to learn to change our likes and dislikes freely when it is in the best interests of those around us or ourselves.  We should choose to eat what our body needs for example, rather than what the taste buds demand.

Similarly, the mind eats too, through the senses.  In this age of mass media, we need to be particularly discriminating in what we read and what we go to see for entertainment, for we become in part what our senses take in.

6. Putting Others First

Dwelling on ourselves builds a wall between ourselves and others.  Those who keep thinking about their needs, their wants, their plans, their ideas cannot help becoming lonely and insecure.  the simple but effective technique is to learn to put other people first - beginning within the circle of your family and friends, where there is already a basis of love on which to build.  When two people try to put each other first, for example, they are not only moving closer to each other, they are also removing the barriers of their ego-prison which deepens their relationships with everyone else as well.

7. Reading in Mysticism

We are so surrounded today by a low concept of what the human being is that it is essential to give ourselves a higher image  Devote half an hour or so each day to reading the scriptures and the writings of the great mystics of all religions.  Before bedtime is particularly a good time, because the thoughts you fall asleep in will be with you throughout the night.

8. Spiritual Association

When we are trying to change our life, we need the support of others with the same goal.  If you have friends who are meditating along the lines suggested here, it is a great help to meditate together regularly.  Share your times of entertainment too: relaxation is an important part of spiritual living.