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Easwaran, Eknath (1910–1999) founder of

Blue Mountain Center of Meditation

An Indian-born proponent of MEDITATION, Eknath

Easwaran was the first to teach the practice in

an American academic setting. For four decades

he taught nonsectarian techniques of meditation

through courses, lectures, and more than two

dozen books.

Eknath Easwaran was born on December 17,

1910, into an ancient matrilineal family in Kerala,

India. He grew up under the guidance of his

grandmother, whom he was later to honor as his

spiritual teacher. From her he learned the tradi-

tional wisdom of India’s ancient scriptures. When

he was a boy, she sent him to the temple priest to

learn SANSKRIT from one of the purest traditions

in India.

Easwaran fell in love with English literature

in high school. At 16 he left home to attend a

Catholic college. Here he excelled in debate and

read columns by Mohandas Karamchand GAN-

DHI (1869–1948) in Young India. Easwaran spent

his 20s as a journalist in Secunderabad, Andhra

Pradesh, where he soon became recognized as a

public speaker. During this time he visited the

ASHRAM of Mahatma Gandhi, where Gandhi’s

teaching impressed him greatly, particularly Gan-

E

Eknath Easwaran (1910–1999), scholar and founder

of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, Petaluma,

California (Blue Mountain Center of Meditation)