''Original Goodness'' is a practical commentary on the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...

, emphasizing how to translate it into daily living with the aid of spiritual practices. Written by

Eknath Easwaran Eknath Easwaran (December 17, 1910 October 26, 1999) was an Indian-born spiritual teacher, author and translator and interpreter of Indian religious texts such as the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and the Upanishads. Easwaran was a professor of English lit ...

, the book was originally published in the United States in 1989. Subsequent editions of the book have been published in the US and India, and foreign (non-English) editions have also been published in several languages.Non-US editions of Nilgiri Press Books
(accessed 17 December 2011)}. The book's original subtitle was ''Strategies for uncovering your hidden spiritual resources''. In its second edition in 1996, as part of a 3-book series entitled ''Classics of Christian Inspiration''The 3-volume ''Classics of Christian Inspiration'' includes ''Love never faileth'', ''Original goodness'', and ''Seeing with the eyes of love''(, , , respectively). the book was subtitled ''Eknath Easwaran on the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount''. Across its various editions, ''Original Goodness'' has been reviewed in newspapers, magazines, and professional journals.

Topics covered

All editions of ''Original Goodness'' contain 9 chapters. After the first introductory chapter, each of the remaining 8 chapters offers a practical commentary on one of the

Beatitudes The Beatitudes are sayings attributed to Jesus, and in particular eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirr ...

, as shown in the table (''below, at right''). The first chapter opens with a quotation from the 13th century Christian mystic

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhartin ''Original Goodness'', p. 7 (1996 edition), where elipses also appear between "uncreatable" and "to." Easwaran states that these words, "addressed to ordinary people... testify to a discovery about the nature of the human spirit as revolutionary as

Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

's theories about the nature of the universe. If truly understood, that discovery would transform the world we live in at least as radically as Einstein's theories changed the world of science." Easwaran claims that "if we could grasp the mystery of Eckhart's 'uncreated light in the soul' - surely no more abstruse than nuclear physics - the transformation in our thinking would set our world right side up." He explains that behind "Eckhart's passionate sermons, straining to convey the

Absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manage ...

in the words of the street and marketplace," were "essentially, four principles that

Leibnitz Leibnitz (Slovenian: ''Lipnica'') is a city in the Austrian state of Styria and on 1 Jan. 2017 had a population of 12,176. It is located to the south of the city of Graz, between the Mur and Sulm rivers. The town is the capital of the Leibni ...

would later call the

Perennial Philosophy The perennial philosophy ( la, philosophia perennis), also referred to as perennialism and perennial wisdom, is a perspective in philosophy and spirituality that views all of the world's religious traditions as sharing a single, metaphysical trut ...

, because they have been taught from age to age in culture after culture." These principles are that 1) there is a "divine core of personality which cannot be separated from God," 2) "this divine essence can be ''realized''," 3) "this discovery is life's real and highest goal," and 4) "when we realize this goal, we discover simultaneously that the divine within ourselves is one and the same in all - all individuals, all creatures, all of life." The chapter explains that "in this book, a mystic is one who not only espouses these principles... but lives them," resulting in "unfailing compassion, fearlessness, equanimity... these are demanding criteria." Only the "great mystics" - from whom he quotes throughout the book - can be said to fully meet these criteria. After further elaborating on shifts in perspective that accompany this realization, the chapter goes on to argue that "there comes a time in the growth of civilizations, as with individuals, when the life-and-death questions of material existence have been answered, yet the soul still thirsts and physical challenges cease to satisfy."

Then we stand at a crossroads: for without meaningful aspiration, the human being turns destructive. Spiritual fulfillment is an evolutionary imperative. Like a snake that must shed its skin to grow, our industrial civilization must shed its material outlook or strangle in outgrown ideals whose constructive potential has been spent.

Easwaran then argues that whatever one's religious beliefs - "or even if formalized religion is anathema" - it is possible to uncover one's core of goodness through meditation, by which he means "a specific interior discipline which is found in every major religion, though called by different names." Easwaran gives a brief summary of a method of meditating on inspired textual passages, such as the

Prayer of Saint Francis The anonymous text that is usually called the Prayer of Saint Francis (or Peace Prayer, or Simple Prayer for Peace, or Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace) is a widely known Christian prayer for peace. Often associated with the Italian Saint Fr ...

, the

themselves, or other texts he has collected and recommends."You will find it helpful to keep adding to your repertoire so that the passages you meditate on do not grow stale. My book '' God Makes the Rivers to Flow'' contains other passages that I recommend, drawn from many traditions. But whatever your background, I suggest you begin by giving Saint Francis a try" (''Original Goodness'', p. 32, 1996 edition). (he states that full instructions are available in his book ''

Passage Meditation ''Passage Meditation'' is a book by Eknath Easwaran, originally published in 1978 with the title ''Meditation''. The book describes a meditation program, also now commonly referred to as Passage Meditation. Easwaran developed this method of meditati ...

''). He explains that by ''meditation'', he means the systematic training of one's attention "to turn inward and dwell continuously on a single focus within consciousness, until, after many years, we become so absorbed in the object of our contemplation that... we forget ourselves completely." Then,

In that moment, when we may be said to be empty of ourselves, we are utterly full of what we are dwelling on. This is the central principle of meditation: we become what we meditate on.

The task of making space for the realization of God is challenging, however, and Easwaran quotes Eckhart as stating that "There is no greater valor nor no sterner fight" because "he who would be what he ought to be must stop being what he is." The remainder of the book then "take up the

one by one as strategies for winning the war within." In doing so, it quotes the perspectives and testimony of numerous mystics, primarily Western, but also Eastern. The book also at several places compares mystical perspectives with modern literary, scientific, and cultural perspectives, mentioning or quoting figures ranging from

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...

and

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's best ...

, and

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

. The most recurring focus is the perspectives of mystics, including

William Law William Law (16869 April 1761) was a Church of England priest who lost his position at Emmanuel College, Cambridge when his conscience would not allow him to take the required oath of allegiance to the first Hanoverian monarch, King George I. P ...

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

, Bernard of Clairveaux,

Catherine of Genoa Catherine of Genoa (Caterina Fieschi Adorno, 1447 – 15 September 1510) was an Italian Roman Catholic saint and mystic, admired for her work among the sick and the poor and remembered because of various writings describing both these acti ...

Hans Denck Hans Denck (c. 1495 – November 27, 1527) was a German theologian and Anabaptist leader during the Reformation. Biography Denck was born in 1495 in the Bavarian town of Habach. After a classical education, he became headmaster at the St. Seba ...

Brother Lawrence Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, OCD (c. 1614 – 12 February 1691) served as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Christians commonly remember him for the intimacy he expressed concerning his relationship to God as recorded in ...

Teresa of Avila Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

, Margery Kemp, the ''

Cloud of Unknowing ''The Cloud of Unknowing'' (Middle English: ''The Cloude of Unknowyng'') is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer in the ...

'',

Patanjali Patanjali ( sa, पतञ्जलि, Patañjali), also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra, was a Hindu author, mystic and philosopher. Very little is known about him, and while no one knows exactly when he lived; from analysis of his works it i ...

, and

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

Reception

The ''

National Catholic Reporter The ''National Catholic Reporter'' (''NCR'') is a progressive national newspaper in the United States that reports on issues related to the Catholic Church. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, ''NCR'' was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964. Hoyt want ...

'', suggested that ''Original Goodness'' could be helpful for those who are "looking for a positive, upbeat book to help you pray." In the '' Toronto Journal of Theology'', Mark Steed stated that the book "presents a methodology for meditation, and does it in a gentle creative manner.... The process and presentation are uniquely in step with life and living." Furthermore,

Each chapter takes the reader further into a personal relationship with self through a fresh and readily available understanding of the Beatitudes, thus preparing the way for personal communion with God. An instruction... is developed for each beatitude and each chapter stands alone and can be revisited as often as needed.

Steed also stated that Easwaran "gives no admonition as to the correct way of meditating, but suggests general strategies for ease in accomplishing this holy work." He cautioned that the book at times "seems to over-emphasize the routine as if it alone will guarantee a relationship with God. Still, ''Original Goodness'' is a modern-day gift for all seeking a method of meditation to fit in comfortably with daily routine... it is practical, simple and a delight to read." ''Prairie Messenger'', a Roman Catholic publication, stated that each of the book's chapters "contains a wealth of wise observations on life today with special emphasis on the mystics and how daily practice of meditation transforms life." It also stated that "the author's reaping of human wisdom and divine inspiration is shared with obvious concern for humanity's welfare," and that "people who have read the books and listened to the voice" of the author are aware of "that same quality of authority" that impressed the "crowds gathered round Jesus... because he spoke with authority." In the ''Bulletin of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue'', James Conner wrote that

''Original Goodness'' is the phrase Easwaran uses to signify the spark of divinity hidden in everyone of us. It means that the spiritual resources everyone needs—
love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
,
compassion Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on n ...
, meaning,
hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...
, freedom from fear—are already ours. We simply have to uncover what we already have and are.

He stated that the book "traces our current

environmental problems Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on th ...

to a single source: our mistaken understanding of who we are and what the universe is like," and that it draws heavily on the

Christian mystics Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

and on the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

. In ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'', C. S. Ramakrishnan wrote that "Life is a grand challenge and the rightful place of every one of us is at the summit of living. How to scale the peak and abide there by tapping... spiritual resources" is the theme of the book.

Out of every beatitude Easwaran is able to extract a maxim that can waft us to a life of fulfilment and bliss. How to deal with pain and disappointment, bereavement and depression,
stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
and emotional crises are all explained persuasively as feasible by following "the way that leads you most frequently to awareness of God," as
Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart ''Fellowship in Prayer'' stated "While Easwaran relies heavily on the Christian mystics of the West, his learning in Eastern wisdom shines on every page as he makes a persuasive case that
compassion Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on n ...
,
hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...
, meaning, and freedom from fear reside in every heart." It added that "this is the best book yet from the prolific founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation." ''
The B.C. Catholic ''The B.C. Catholic'' is a weekly newspaper serving the needs of the Catholic community in British Columbia and is the official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. It was founded in 1931 and is published approximately forty ...
'' wrote that Easwaran is "an astute and trustworthy judge of definitive writers and works," and that in ''Original Goodness'', Easwaran
performs (in
parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...
,
anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...
and
aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
) a meditation on Christ's teachings in the
Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
, not only the specific biddings of the
Beatitudes The Beatitudes are sayings attributed to Jesus, and in particular eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirr ...
, but also a beatific message pervading the world, voiced by prophets like
Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
and
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
.
In ''
The Living Church ''The Living Church'' is a magazine based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, providing commentary and news on the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion. In continuous publication since 1878, it has generally been identified with the Anglo-Catho ...
'', Travis DuPriest noted that the book includes "fresh insights for Westerners to see Christian thinkers through the eyes of someone from India." Several periodicals have also excerpted various parts of ''Original Goodness''. In 2018
Richard Rohr Richard Rohr, (born 1943) is an American Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970. In 2011, PBS called him "one of the most popular sp ...
, in his blog, cited Eknath Easwaran's ''Original Goodness'' in his week of 'Daily Meditations January 2018' based on The Beatitudes

Editions
The original edition was published by in 1989 by Nilgiri Press, who republished it in 1996 as one volume in a series entitled ''Classics of Christian Inspiration''. Editions of ''Original Goodness'' have been published in
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,Eknath Easwaran (2006)
Η αρχέγονη καλοσύνη (Original Goodness)
(Dēmētrēs Koutsoukēs, trans.). Athens, Greece: Kastaniotis. (270 pages)
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
,Eknath Easwaran (1996)
Bondade originária (Original Goodness)
São Paulo, Brazil: Editora de Cultura Espiritual. (270 pages). and Spanish,Eknath Easwaran (1989). La Bondad (Goodness) (Cristina Sardoy, trans.). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Atlantida. , , (270 pages).Eknath Easwaran (1999). La Bondad (Goodness) (Cristina Sardoy, trans.). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Atlantida. , , (270 pages). English-language editions have been published in India and the US. The US editions are: :* (260 pages) :* , (286 pages) :* , (240 pages) The Indian edition: :* , (240pages) (title of original 1989 US edition: Original Goodness) (reprinted 2007, )

See also
* '' Love Never Faileth'' * '' Seeing with the Eyes of Love''

References
Books about Christianity 1989 non-fiction books 1996 non-fiction books Works by Eknath Easwaran

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