Eknath Easwaran Quotes

When someone becomes transparent, then something shines through that person that has nothing to do with the person or any of his or her personal history. What is required is becoming so transparent that the self or ego dissolves.

Enlightenment is ego's ultimate disappointment.

How does one get rid of fear? Ramana: What is fear? It is only a thought. If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear. Who sees things separate from the Self? First the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is nothing external. For anything external to oneself implies the existence of the seer within. Seeking it there will eliminate doubt and fear. Not only fear, all other thoughts centred round the ego will disappear along with it.

You can enter yoga, or the path of yoga, only when you are totally frustrated with your own mind as it is. If you are still hoping that you can gain something through your mind, yoga is not for you.

That which is nearest is least observed. The Atman is the nearest of the near, therefore the careless and the unsteady mind gets no clue to it. But the person who is alert, calm, self-restrained, and discriminating ignores the external world and, diving more and more into the inner world, realizes the glory of the Atman and becomes great.

Meditation is not growth of the ego, it is death of the ego.

There is, inside all our heads, the ego’s rabid attack dog. It is purely vicious toward others and toward ourselves as well. Learning to control that dog, and ultimately to end its life, is the process and purpose of enlightened relationships.

Be thou a true yogi. A yogi who understands that everything he's looking for is really inside himself. Learn to live more in the Self.

The ego is not a thing but a subtle effort, and you cannot use effort to get rid of effort - you end up with two efforts instead of one. The ego itself is a perfect manifestation of the Divine, and it is best handled by resting in Freedom, not by trying to get rid of it, which simply increases the effort of the ego itself

The ego promotes turmoil because it wants to substantiate your separateness from everyone, including God. It will push you in the direction of judgment and comparison, and cause you to insist on being right and best. You know your highest self by listening to the voice that only wants you to be at peace.

When you accept everything for what it is without labels you are outside of your ego.

Meditation means this opening out of the soul to the Divine and letting the Divine shine in without obstruction from the personal self. Therefore it means renunciation. It means throwing away everything that one has, and waiting empty for the light to come in.

We've gotten lost in our Ego and have forgotten that our Soul's only motive is to merge with the Beloved.

The biggest ego trip is getting rid of your ego, and of course the joke of it all is that your ego does not exist.

Is there a meditation that is not the ego trying to become? Is meditation conscious if every effort implies time?

When we practice dying, we are learning to identify less with Ego and more with Soul

If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue.

Soul is the central point of spiritual discipline.

You can either be a host to God, or a hostage to your ego. It's your call.

Man must do his part and detach himself from created things.

Like Yoga, the spiritual life is actually very difficult.

If you are vigilant and make a stern effort to reject every thought when it rises, you will soon find that you are going deeper and deeper into your own inner self, where there is no need for your effort to reject the thoughts.

This ego - the less there is of it, the nearer I am to that which I really am: the universal body.

When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world. Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness. This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.