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Strength in the Storm: Creating Calm in Difficult Times
Gone are the days when anxiety was an uncommon affliction. Today, it’s a chronic, low-level interference that affects everyone, sometimes with devastating results. In Strength in the Storm, one of the 20th century’s great spiritual teachers addresses this issue. Drawing on his observations of modern life and his teachings, this compact book shows readers how to make the small choices every day that help them build better families, work environments, and communities - transforming themselves in the process. With gentle wisdom and humor, Easwaran offers specifics on finding the calm center of chaos. He urges readers to take their time, showing how it is the mind, not external events, that drive a sense of urgency and restlessness. He stresses meditating on words that embody one’s highest ideals, allowing them to take root and bring about wonderful life changes. Additional inspirational passages invite the reader to achieve deeper healing and reflection.
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 2005
59 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
About the author
Eknath Easwaran
213 books631 followersEknath Easwaran (1910–1999) is the originator of passage meditation and the author of more than 30 books on spiritual living.
Easwaran is a recognized authority on the Indian spiritual classics. His translations of The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, and The Dhammapada are the best-selling editions in the USA, and over 1.5 million copies of his books are in print.
Easwaran was a professor of English literature and well known in India as a writer and speaker before coming to the United States in 1959 on the Fulbright exchange program. In 1961, he founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, based in Tomales, California, which continues his work today through publications and retreats.
His 1968 class on the theory and practice of meditation at UC Berkeley is believed to be the first accredited course on meditation at any Western university. For those who seek him as a personal spiritual guide, Easwaran assured us that he lives on through his eight-point program of passage meditation.
"I am with you always”, he said. “It does not require my physical presence; it requires your open heart."
Please visit bmcm.org for a fuller biography.
Easwaran is a recognized authority on the Indian spiritual classics. His translations of The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, and The Dhammapada are the best-selling editions in the USA, and over 1.5 million copies of his books are in print.
Easwaran was a professor of English literature and well known in India as a writer and speaker before coming to the United States in 1959 on the Fulbright exchange program. In 1961, he founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, based in Tomales, California, which continues his work today through publications and retreats.
His 1968 class on the theory and practice of meditation at UC Berkeley is believed to be the first accredited course on meditation at any Western university. For those who seek him as a personal spiritual guide, Easwaran assured us that he lives on through his eight-point program of passage meditation.
"I am with you always”, he said. “It does not require my physical presence; it requires your open heart."
Please visit bmcm.org for a fuller biography.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 11, 2023
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. The most important lesson to learn from the crisis is to find your center of strength within.
2. When the mind is still, we can become an instrument of peace.
3. We become stronger and more secure by association – by spending time with those who embody the qualities that we admire.
4. Beyond the conditioned reactions of fight and flight: the freedom to meet life’s challenges with the response you choose.
5. We can’t control life, but we can control how we respond to life’s challenges.
- The answer lies in stabilizing the mind.
6. Negative states of mind fade if they are not reinforced.
- Remove negativity, and what remains is our original goodness.
7. We broadcast our emotional states---positive or negative – to others.
- And the signals go on spreading.
8. If we can be kind when others provoke us, we move into the world with true freedom.
9. Disagreements are great opportunities for spiritual growth.
- Learn to make yourself unshakeable.
10. We need nourishing thoughts and experiences to make our minds strong.
1. The most important lesson to learn from the crisis is to find your center of strength within.
2. When the mind is still, we can become an instrument of peace.
3. We become stronger and more secure by association – by spending time with those who embody the qualities that we admire.
4. Beyond the conditioned reactions of fight and flight: the freedom to meet life’s challenges with the response you choose.
5. We can’t control life, but we can control how we respond to life’s challenges.
- The answer lies in stabilizing the mind.
6. Negative states of mind fade if they are not reinforced.
- Remove negativity, and what remains is our original goodness.
7. We broadcast our emotional states---positive or negative – to others.
- And the signals go on spreading.
8. If we can be kind when others provoke us, we move into the world with true freedom.
9. Disagreements are great opportunities for spiritual growth.
- Learn to make yourself unshakeable.
10. We need nourishing thoughts and experiences to make our minds strong.
August 18, 2020
This is a very clearly written book showing simple practices for calming the mind. The author explains the use of a mantram (mantra) not just for the time of meditation, but throughout the day in order to train the mind. These practices will fit in for persons of any or no religion. This is a very practical and yet very deep book--deep things put simply. This is my first encounter with Easwaran and I've been touched by him.
January 25, 2020
Starbucks Spirituality
Feeling unhappy about your manicure? This is your book.
Having a bad commute? This is your book.
Market shares not going your way? This is your book.
Mini Gym didn't show up on time? This is your book.
Anxiety about the new caterers? This is your book.
Worried Ghandi wouldn't like you? This is your book.
Feeling unhappy about your manicure? This is your book.
Having a bad commute? This is your book.
Market shares not going your way? This is your book.
Mini Gym didn't show up on time? This is your book.
Anxiety about the new caterers? This is your book.
Worried Ghandi wouldn't like you? This is your book.
July 31, 2020
I read this over a few weeks with some friends from church. But saying this, it is not a religious, "churchy" book. It is a great tool to learn to focus your mind and find peace. It does mention a variety of faith systems in helping you choose your mantram and your comfort zone. Good information, good discussion, good book.
May 20, 2021
Adopt a mantra to deal with life
The author explains how a mantra can help a person can deal with any situation. Mantras from a variety of religious paths are discussed. The author also ends each chapter with a review of major points and a verse. A very enlightening read.
The author explains how a mantra can help a person can deal with any situation. Mantras from a variety of religious paths are discussed. The author also ends each chapter with a review of major points and a verse. A very enlightening read.
July 1, 2017
simple and practical
Read
April 28, 2020A must read book, a dear book to me now, and I am looking to have a physical copy with me all the time
Very good book
Very good book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2021
This book really inspired me to use a mantra! Also to prioritize slowing down and listening. And the use of the mind for steadiness. It was recommended by my yoga teacher Chris Gordon.
December 2, 2021
So glad this was required reading. Lovely.
February 13, 2024
Really lovely book about finding calm even in a very un-calm world. His wife collected these essays/talks posthumously and published them.
March 16, 2014
The genius of this book is its simplicity. When one is weathering a tempest like illness or the death of a loved one, simple systems are like buoys in a rough sea -- they don't have a lot of frills, but they give you something tangible to cling to, even if it's just to wait things out. Easwaran's book -- which emphasizes staying in the moment, mantra repetition, choosing activities that are nourishing to the mind, etc. -- can get a person through any heartache, even just the trivial tedium of day-to-day life. The personal insights and anecdotes in the book help demonstrate how this system can help a wide variety of people create calm at times when it is seemingly impossible.
November 20, 2013
Calming, introduced me to early meditator-teachers on West Coast, Eknath Easwaran and Christine Easwaran.He also has written books on Ghandi the MAn and Badshah Shah (early Muslim pacifist in India, will read that one also!)
VA is doing a national training on Mantram (repeating a word or phrase whenever stressed or needing focus). USeful.
All good and helpful.One of many books that could be written as 5 page article or less.
VA is doing a national training on Mantram (repeating a word or phrase whenever stressed or needing focus). USeful.
All good and helpful.One of many books that could be written as 5 page article or less.
Want to read
October 27, 2011$14.00 IN STOCK # COPIES = 1
December 8, 2013
This was a good book for me. It fits in with my spiritual ideas and I think I shall read it a second time.
February 1, 2016
Life changing
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews