but to find your center of strength within.
“Emergencies and crises,” the psychologist William James observed, “show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.” This is the opportunity that crisis and challenge offer us. Every one of us has capacities inside us that we have never even dreamed of, which we can learn to draw on in our daily lives. That is our legacy as human beings.
The purpose of this book is to help you get started on the great adventure of claiming this legacy. As a meditation teacher, I have to point out that this is the purpose of meditation, which I have explained in other books. Here I want to focus on skills you can apply right away: simple techniques that anyone can use to banish worry and anxiety, stay calm under pressure, and live each moment to its fullest – and, most significantly, radiate that new-found calm to everyone around.
KEY IDEAS
Strength in the Storm
1. We can’t control life, but we can control how we respond to life’s challenges. The answer lies in stabilizing the mind.
2. We already have the capacity to deal with challenges. But we need a calm mind to draw on the resources locked up within.
3. The mantram is a key tool for steadying the mind. It’s not just mechanical repetition – you learn to trust it by using it.
4. A steady mind has the resources to meet any crisis – no matter what the cause. You don’t have to analyze each crisis separately; just use the mantram and you can calm the mind.
5. The most important lesson to learn from crisis is to find your center of strength within.
POINTS TO PRACTICE
Choosing & Using a Mantram
The mantram is the key to all the skills and strategies in this book. If you feel ready to start, here are some suggestions:
1. Choose a mantram established by long tradition. Select one from the list below, or from our Web site at www easwaran.org/mantrams. A mantram given to the world by Francis of Assisi or the Buddha has great power. Don’t make up your own.
Every religious tradition has a mantram, often more than one. You needn’t subscribe to any religion to benefit from the mantram, however. You simply have to be willing to try it.
* For Christians, the name of Jesus and the Jesus Prayer – “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us” – are ancient mantrams. Catholics also use Hail Mary or Ave Maria (not the full “Hail Mary,” just those two words).
* Jews may use Barukh attah Adonai (“Blessed art thou, O Lord”) or Ribono shel olam (“O Lord of the universe”).
* Muslims repeat the name of Allah or Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim (“In the name of God, Merciful, Compassionate”).
* Probably the oldest Buddhist mantram is Om mani padme hum, referring to the “jewel in the lotus” of the heart.
* In Hinduism, one of the oldest and most popular mantrams is the one used by Mahatma Gandhi: Rama, Rama, – a name for God meaning the source of joy within.
What if you don’t want a mantram from your own tradition?
Many people are allergic to the religion of their childhood. In such cases, if no other mantram on the list appeals to you, Rama is simple, powerful, and carries no negative associations. You can never go wrong with Rama.
2. Once you’ve chosen a mantram, you’re ready to give it a good test run. Start by making it part of your day. Repeat your mantram silently to yourself whenever you have an opportunity. Remember, the more you use it, the more it will sink in. Here are some ideal times:
*While walking or jogging
* While waiting in lines or stalled in traffic jams
* Whenever you feel angry, anxious, upset, or afraid
* While doing mechanical chores like washing dishes
* And especially when you are falling asleep
During the day, the mantram will help keep you relaxed and alert. When you fall asleep in it, the mantram will go on working for you throughout the night as well.
One important exception: don’t repeat the mantram when you are doing something that requires attention, such as chopping vegetables or driving a car. That’s the time to keep focused on what you are doing!
Inspiration
Let Nothing Upset You
Let nothing upset you
Let nothing frighten you.
Everything is changing;
God alone is changeless.
Patience attains the goal.
Who has God lacks nothing;
God alone fills every need.
– Saint Teresa of Avila
2 Be at Peace in the Moment
Hurry blocks our access to our deeper resources. One of life’s most precious skills is learning to slow down and live completely in the present moment.
The Sanctity of the Present Moment
Introduction by Christine Easwaran
Recently we got an appeal that packed the desperation of the times into just one line: “I need to decompress – my stress level is insane! Help!”
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, a seventeenth-century Catholic priest, offers help in what he calls “the sacrament of the present moment.” Every time I read that phrase I’m reminded of how significant each moment is. Most of us are aware of this, but it’s so difficult to keep it in mind as time rushes us along. Tragically, we may need a crisis to remind us of what really matters because we’re so busy keeping up with all the things that don’t.
One of our friends, Jane, is a psychotherapist – one of many professionals who not only practice Easwaran’s program themselves but find it useful in their work. Jane recently sketched the kind of life she sees her clients dealing with. It’s a composite picture but one we all recognize, in others if not in ourselves:
Many couples come to therapy after realizing that they are disconnected from their partner and coexist or live parallel lives. She has a stressful position at the bank; he is a health care consultant who leaves Monday morning and returns Thursday night. The children are picked up after school at six or carpooled to soccer or dance, picking up burgers at the drive-through on the way. Then there’s homework or staying up too late to finish the laundry or work on that report. The next day, after they hit the snooze button several times, the rat race begins again.
Our days don’t have to be like this, even in today’s frantic world. Slowing down is within the reach of everyone. Not only that, it opens the door to peace of mind, a rich sense of fulfillment, and even joy – while helping us be actually more effective in how our time is used.
Heather, a longtime friend in Canada,
