Both the authors have done a wonderful job in trying to convey Eknath Easwaran's personality - his subtle humour, his wisdom and compassion towards everyone. This book is an inspiration to someone trying to decide or in the process of making a change in their life. I would not recommend reading this book without reading any of Easwaran's other popular books. Knowledge of his writings (or better still the experience of having met him or attended his retreats) helps understand the man in the book much better.

This is the story of a man who devoted his whole life to the betterment, advancement, and upliftment of the Pakhtun people, culture, and society. He spent more than half of his life in jails. He united the Pukhtuns to fight against the British, something that for a long time, nobody has been able to do. Among his people he is known as Fakhr-e-Afghan (Pride of the Afghans), Bacha Khan (The King Of Kings)(in Hindi and Urdu written as Badshah Khan), and simply Baba (Grandfather). To the outside world he is known as Frontier Gandhi, and Fakhr-e-Hind (Pride of India, as Nehru called him). His son Rahbar-e-Afghan Khan Abdul Wali Khan (Supreme Leader of the Afghans) has continued in his father's footsteps. While Baba Struggled to get the British out of India, his son is fighting for the rights of the opperessed people of Pakhtunkhwa, (land of Pakhtuns). This book is very insperational. In this day and age of violence and brutality, this book can do a lot of good. People can le! arn a lot from the non-violent struggle of Baba and his Khudai Khidmatgars (The Servents of God)(Mistakenly known as Red Shirts). Baba was a Valiant and Honorable son of the Pakhtun Nation. (to clear up some confusion, the words Afghan and Pakhtun mean the same thing.) Bacha Khan: Our great leader, passed away in 1988, and is barried in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He refused to be barried in Pakistan, because it was a slave nation.

This version of "Gandhi the Man," written for a younger audience, contains the essence and wisdom of its predecessor. I work as an educational therapist in a center that specializes in assisting students of all ages with their academic difficulties. Many of these students have mild to severe learning disabilities. One of my favorite students, a young black man of about twenty years of age with particularly severe problems in reading comprehension, was especially inspired by this book. His grandfather had been one of the bodyguards of Martin Luther King, Jr., and he knew that King had followed Gandhi's ideas. This young man also had many fears and he could well relate to the description of Gandhi as a child - awkward, shy, seemingly with no potential. After each page we read together, his homework assignment was to write a summary of the portion covered. This proved to be an excellent means for him to improve academically while receiving the needed inspiration to face the challenges in his life with courage. Easwaran's portrayal of Gandhi enables a person from any background to overcome his inner weaknesses and achieve his greatest potential.

This was a first step into my spiritual journey. Its tone continues to resonate its purity within the deepest parts of my subconscious. Mr. Easwaran uses such simplicity to reach out and guide you to the light that is within each of us which continually calls for our return to the place we left. From the light we come, to the light we return. I have since passed this book on to many of my closest friends and will continue to as I read through the many wonderful stories this author has graced us with

Read this book and you will discover some of the best ways to experience a more spiritual and selfless life. Sri Eknath Easwaran, the late founder of the Blue Mountain Center for Meditation in northern California, has developed an "eight-point program" of living, which includes daily meditation, reciting a mantram to bring balance to the mind, slowing down, putting others first, and other ways of enriching your life and the lives of those with whom you interact.

The author makes a point of emphasizing the distinction between slowing down and being lazy. There is a difference--we can slow our mind and still move quickly and efficiently. It's often when we try to do more than one thing at once that we run into problems with focus and concentration on the job at hand.

His suggestions, lively sense of humor and anecdotal style make this a highly readable and enjoyable book. I have found his suggestions to be quite effective in providing balance in my life and think that this small volume (and his other work) will be necessary reading in this day and age of road rage, school violence and unrestrained greed.

Other titles of Easwaran's are just as relevant--favorites of mine are Meditation (guide for learning to meditate), God Makes the Rivers to Flow (anthology of inspirational passages for meditation), The Compassionate Universe (ways of guarding the Earth for our children) and Conquest of Mind (expands on the eight-point program with new ways of considering it) and find them to be excellent as well. Another related title, bestseller The New Laurel's Kitchen Cookbook, was written by students and friends of Easwaran's, and originates from the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. (written by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders and Brian Ruppenthal.)

This book is a wonderful tool for living. It is spiritually uplifting. It contains wonderful, concise information on use and practice of meditation, that is useful for persons of any religious persuasion. I can't say enough good about this book!!! It is a valuable tool for life. I can't believe it's out of print!!! I'd buy copies for all of my friends. It would make a great gift for anyone who is a seeker of truth.

This book is easy to read, wonderfully inspiring and uplifting.

If you don't have it, try to find it. If you can't buy it, borrow it!!! Pass it along. It's great.

After purchasing and reading two translations of the Dhammapada, this one turned out to be my favorite. The verses that make up the Dhammapada each deal with a certain aspect about being and Mr Easwaran presents them in a very powerful way.

Besides the translation, what convinced me to praise this translation, is the great introduction given by Stephen Ruppenthal for each Verse (chapter). It explains the meaning and it's insight very well.

Another soothing gem by Easwaran. I had earlier read The Upanishads by the same author, and was inspired into further exploration of his writing. A few words on the author before the book is due here. Easwaran can definitely be counted as one of those individuals who has made a sincere and thorough attempt to understand numerous religions and draw out their common parallels and apply them to his life, in an almost saint-like manner. Easwaran influence on thought can be said to be similar to Parthasarathy's, another great writer more focused on Hinduism. It is in reading such authors, that we are left with an indelible impact on our psyche, and within a few weeks of regular reading, can see our daily lives transformed by the power of our own tranquil thinking.

In The Dhammapada, Easwaran now embarks on a similar voyage of peace and calm in the exploration of Buddhism, as he did with the Upanishads. The introduction of the book once again gives a brief backrgound into the life of Siddharta, the prince and charts his transformation into the Buddha, the "one who is awake". The book then goes on to describe one of the fundamental "religious-books" of Buddhism, the Dhammapada and its teachings. The parallels with the Upanishadic teachings, the mystic sufis and the Sermon on the Mount is often illustrated, thus underlining Easwaran's belief of the unity of fundamental thought across religions.

Every two chapters are preceeded with an introduction to the concepts and principles enshrined in them, and hence makes reading and comprehension and indeed, personal thinking and evaluation that much more effective. Buddhism in the end, comes out as it should, another monumental religion based on very basic truths and grounded in infallible and extremely rigorous logic. The book is a pure delight to read and has an almost immediate impact on the reader's approach to life itself.

Incidentally, another wonderful book and religion on similar lines is "The way of Zen", by Alan Watts, and I am out to procure it. This is supposed to describe the confluence of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism to create the Zen.

Somewhere out there lies the truth, our own selves shining in the dark.

"Our life is shaped by our mind," the Buddha tells us in the opening lines of The Dhammapada, "we become what we think" (p. 78). This is the essence of Buddhism, and the central theme of The Dhammapada ("the path of dharma"), a collection of teachings preserved most likely by the Buddha's original students in the sixth century before Christ. And as Eknath Easwaran tells us, it is a collection of discourses "meant for everyone," not just monks and nuns (p. 75). "If everything else were lost," Easwaran observes in his excellent, 65-page Introduction to this translation, "we would need nothing more than the Dhammapada to follow the way of the Buddha" (p. 7). Although I'm not qualified to comment on his abilities as a translator, Easwaran succeeds at conveying the essence of the Buddha's teachings that point the way down a path less traveled, but a path that makes all the difference when it comes to self-realization. In my opinion, Easwaran's translation is the one to travel.

G. Merritt

Easwaran offers us a concise and complete method of meditation -- as well as a method of growing into our Christedness. His gentle expression draws us into his mind set, showing us how we may become similarly centered and "on purpose." A marvelous book from an enlightened being.

Eknath Easwaran's "Meditation" is a book that came to me at a time in my life when it was sorely needed. Having read many books on the subject of meditation, I found Easwaran's approach to be both simple and practical. The affect this book has had upon me is very deep, and I recommend it as a fine companion for anyone who is embarking on a spiritual journey.

This is one of the best books anyone interested in meditation, spirituality or simply a calm, peaceful and happy life can hope to read. Easwaran outlines a very simply eight point program to help us through our daily lives grow towards a better, happier and more peaceful future. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone with spiritual inclanations, or a desire to slow down her or his hectic life.

I have been reading this book for 1 1/2 years now, and have almost finished it. The cover and first pages have been ripped off from wear when I fall asleep on it. Countless times I have lost my place (and my bookmark) and started reading at the page on which it opened -- it always seems relevant to something I or a family member is going through at that time. Just the other day I was upset with the children for spilling sunflower seeds all over, and that night read a passages about the author's two nieces spilling ice cream on him. He did not bring it up to them because he chose not to put a damper on their enjoyment of the ice cream. He made it clear that putting little children first is paramount, which has helped me to be more patient with them.

Not being an eastern scholar, I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the translation. Seems "true" to me, in that it reveals the underlying oneness of all and the battles and challenges we face to get to that actualization. This book is excellent for those looking for nightstand reading, and those trying to get an understanding of the Gita's analogy. Heck, it's excellent for anyone! n.b. I also love looking at the sanskrit letters above each stanza.

This is the most influential book in my life. It delivers common sense, practical insights about why and how to overcome preocupation with self. This great spiritual classic has survived for a reason. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It has gotten me through 2 decades of life's trials.

I began reading the Gita in 1968 while in college. The book has been the one steady beacon in a live long quest for personal enlightenment. The very best translation and commentary I have come across is that of Swami Sivanda I found in a used bookstore in the early '70's. It is out of print. I discovered Eknath Eswaran's translation and commentaries in the mid-80's and though I have read several others, it is the one I keep on my nightstand, I take on trips, and give to friends. Eswaran's commentaries are by far the most helpful to the contemporary American. He is fully fluent in English, lives in the Bay area, and is from India where the Gita guided his life and the lives of his family and ancestors. He is not promoting a specific yogic school as most commentaries do, but is interesting in making the Gita ans useful and universal as possible. He does a great job. His are almost the opposite of Yogananda's commentaries which attribute symbolic meanings to the Gita that serve his purposes but which are very questionable in terms of accuracy. Reading Eknath Eswaran's translation is like gazing at the original Gita's spirit through clear, unruffled water. He also has a single volume version, without extensive commentary, that I also recommend highly (along with his volume of Upanishad translations and his translation of Buddha's Dhammapada).

Sri Eknath Eswaran's book has beautifully described the core meaning and essence of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. He has made it possible even for non-hindus and non-religious people to understand and answer the philosophical questions that haunt us, like why are we born on earth? what is each man's mission in life? how does the whole political and social system of the universe work? To me it has reinforced the faith and belief in the Supreme spirit that govers and rules this world and courage to stand for what I believe is Truth.

This an especially natural and graceful translation somewhere between poetry and prose by a man who really understands the message of the Gita. This can be seen from reading Eknath Easwaran's wise and penetrating Preface written especially for this, the Vintage Spiritual Classics Edition, edited by John F. Thornton and Susan B. Varenne for Vintage Books.

Easwaran shows that the differing paths to self-realization and liberation that the Gita presents are a comprehensive whole. "The thread through Krishna's teaching, the essence of the Gita, can be given in one word: renunciation. This is the common factor in the four yogas" (p. xxxviii). Easwaran goes on to explain that what is being renounced is not material, although on first blush it seems that way. What is renounced are the fruits of action. Renunciation is not only the essence of karma yoga, but the essence of the bhakti, jnana and raja yogas that Krishna presents as well. The key is an amazing spiritual and psychological insight into human nature: we are miserable when we are concerned with the results of what we do, but we are freed when we devote the fruits of our work to God. What is renounced is also the delusion of a material self that acts, the famous slayer and the slain. Unlike some other, rather foolish, translations that try to find some artificial substitute for the word "yoga," an endeavor entirely alien to the Gita, Easwaran embraces the understanding. He writes, "the Gita is Brahmavidyayam yogashastra, a textbook on the supreme science of yoga" (p. xxxvi)

It is also clear from what Easwaran writes in the Preface that he understands meditation and the path of moksha gained when one is beyond the pair of opposites that dominate our material existence. Easwaran knows because he himself is a long time practitioner of meditation, which is one of the ways of liberation (raja yoga). So many writers on spirituality and on the practice of yoga really do not know meditation, but Easwaran clearly does. Easwaran also understands that the insights of the Gita can be found in other mystical traditions, including those of Meister Eckhart, St. Catherine of Genoa, Ruysbroeck, St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, and others.

Easwaran also makes the important point that the Gita is not the sole property of any one point of view. "The Gita does not present a system of philosophy. It offers something to every seeker after God, of whatever temperament, by whatever path" (p. xxxv).

Easwaran writes, "to understand the Gita, it is important to look beneath the surface of its injunctions and see the mental state involved. Philanthropic activity can benefit others and still carry a large measure of ego involvement. Such work is good, but it is not yoga. It may benefit others, but it will not necessarily benefit the doer" (p. xxxix). This represents a profound insight into the nature of karma yoga, an understanding that comes only after years of study and practice.

Finally Easwaran knows something others don't know (even though this is central to Krishna's teaching), that the Gita, through the practice of yoga, frees one from the fear of death. When one "realizes that he is not a physical creature but the Atman, the Self, and thus not separate from God...he knows that, although his body will die, he will not die...To such a person, the Gita says, death is no more traumatic than taking off an old coat." (pp. xxiv-xxv).

There are ten pages of notes that follow the translation in which the shades of meaning of various concepts like dharma, karma, yoga, sannyasa, etc., and some other ideas are discussed. There is a guide to pronunciation and a glossary of Sanskrit words. This quality paperback is handsomely designed from cover to font, and the translation is one of my favorites.

This is an excellent treatment of millenia-old Hindu religious thought for the modern day thinking man. Easwaran begins his discussion with explanations of several terms (such as Karma and Atman)from Vedic literature in easy to understand terms that capture the reader's attention.

The main body of the book is of course Lord Krishna's explanation to his life-long friend and champion archer Arjun of life's purpose i.e. Self-Realization (realization that the individual spirit is part of the Universal spirit). However unlike several other books on the same subject, Easwaran has employed an unimitable style and simplicity of presentation that make the book impossible to put down.

The book does not have any Sanskrit script nor any transliterations of the original poetry of the Bhagavad Gita (literally "The Lord's Song"). But I heartily recommend it to any reader interested in obtaining an overview of one of India's greatest philosophical works!