dhi’s insistence on transforming oneself before
trying to transform others.
Easwaran earned graduate degrees in law and
English from Nagpur University. In 1946 he began
teaching at Amravati in Maharashtra. With articles
appearing in the Times of India and the Illustrated
Weekly of India, his reputation spread. He was
soon promoted to full professor at Nagpur Univer-
sity and won acclaim as a writer and lecturer.
In February 1948, when his grandmother died,
Easwaran recalled, “All my success had turned to
ashes.” Meditating on passages from Bhagavad
Gita gave him peace. He developed a regular med-
itation practice and created a method to share his
experience. He developed an Eight Point Program
of meditation for solving physical and emotional
problems, releasing deeper resources, and pursu-
ing life’s highest goal, SELF-REALIZATION.
Easwaran immigrated to America in 1959
through the Fulbright exchange program. Attend-
ing the University of California at Berkeley, he lec-
tured on India’s spiritual heritage and soon attracted
a dedicated group of people who studied his teach-
ings. Among them was his future wife, Christine,
who helped him establish the Blue Mountain Cen-
ter of Meditation, now in Petaluma, California.
In January 1968, at Berkeley, he inaugurated a
course on meditation, believed to be the first of its
kind offered at any major university in the United
States. In 1970 the Blue Mountain Center of Medi-
tation moved to Marin County and Easwaran trans-
ferred his teachings there. Nilgiri Press, a small
publisher operating out of Oakland, began printing
many publications including the Bhagavad Gita for
Daily Living (1975), Laurel’s Kitchen (1976), and
his best-selling Meditation (1978), which sold over
200,000 copies. Easwaran’s writings include 26
books about meditation and the classics of world
mysticism, which have been translated into 26 lan-
guages, with over 1 million copies in print.
Until the end of his life, despite chronic ail-
ments, Easwaran continued to hold regular retreats
and deliver talks, drawing students from around
the world. He taught nonviolence, concern for
endangered species, and meditation. He died on
October 26, 1999.
The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation
preserves Easwaran’s teachings through the lead-
ership of Christine Easwaran. A nonprofit and
nonsectarian organization, the center has a mis-
sion to share Easwaran’s teachings through a
quarterly journal, The Blue Mountain, Nigiri Press
books, and video and audio products.Further reading: Eknath Easwaran, The Bhagavad Gita
for Daily Living (Petaluma, Calif.: Nilgiri Press, 1979);
———, Dialogue with Death: The Spiritual Psychology
of the Katha Upanishad (Petaluma, Calif.: Nilgiri Press,
1981); ———, Gandhi, the Man (Petaluma, Calif.:
Nilgiri Press, 1978); ———, The Mantram Handbook:
Formulas for Transformation (Berkeley, Calif.: Nilgiri
Press, 1977); ———, Meditation: Commonsense Direc-
tions for an Uncommon Life (Petaluma, Calif.: Nilgiri
Press, 1978).Eckankar (est. 1965)
Eckankar or ECK, the “Religion of the Light and
Sound of God,” was founded in 1965 by former
journalist Paul Twitchell (c. 1909–70). During the
1950s Twitchell became a student of numerous
esoteric and spiritual movements. He studied L.
Ron Hubbard’s Scientology for a time before find-
ing a place in Swami Premananda’s Self Realiza-
tion Church of Absolute Monism. Later, Twitchell
was initiated into Ruhani Satsang (fellowship of
true seekers) in the RADHASOAMI movement, and
received formal training from its founder, Sant Mat
Master Kirpal Singh. Eventually he departed from
Radhasoami after a disagreement and established
his own teaching. He moved to San Francisco and
began lecturing, writing, and practicing a form of
surat shabda yoga, which involves contact with
inner light and sound.
In 1956 Twitchell revealed that he had experi-
enced “God-realization” after being trained by the
Order of the Vairagi Masters, spiritual teachers.
According to Twitchell, these beings have secretlyK 144 Eckankar