Sunday, June 14, 2009

Eknath Easwaran

Dvanda, the 'pairs of opposites' --happiness and sorrow, good and bad, pleasure and pain, and all the rest-- are the very texture of Māyā. Self-will thrives on these dualities, especially likes and dislikes; they are the ego's way of self-expression.

In every country and every community, no matter whether rich or poor, there is a rare type of person who from birth has very little self-will, who can forbear and forgive very easily. People like this are like freestone peaches; you have only to open them up and the seed of self-will falls out easily. The vast majority of us, however, are cling-peach types; the seed seems glued to the rest of the peach. . . .No one is making us cling but ourselves, and it is up to us to let go.

Like a Thousand Suns, p. 84
The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living