Eknath Easwaran founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in Berkeley in 1961. He authored many books and taught and lectured regularly on the classics of world mysticism. In this inspiring paperback, he salutes the spiritual zeal of Mohandas Gandhi who by transforming his mind managed to change the world. He uses the great Indian leader's list of social sins as the thematic focus of this treatise on becoming trustees of the earth and taking care of all her creatures. There are chapters on Knowledge Without Character, Science Without Humanity, Wealth Without Work, Commerce Without Morality, Politics Without Principles, Pleasure Without Conscience, and Worship Without Self-Sacrifice.
Easwaran also frequently quotes his beloved grandmother. An example: "My grandmother lived in a universe filled with life. It was impossible for her to conceive of any creature — even the smallest insect, yet alone a human being — as insignificant. In every leaf, flower, animal, and star she saw the expression of a compassionate universe, whose laws were not competition and survival of the fittest but cooperation, artistry, and thrift."
We now call this view panentheism, and it is a perfect guiding principle for taking care of the world in such a way that we are looking after our grandchildren and their children as well. She told Easwaran that the wealthiest people are those who put others' needs before their own. A final bit of advice from her: "I began to remember something my Granny had often told me: 'In your life, try to be like the coconut tree.' Indeed, the coconut tree is a perfect symbol for the aspirations of a trustee. Every part of the tree is useful and beneficial. Coconut palms grow tall all over my native state of Kerala, and in the years of my childhood they provided us with everything from shelter to food: the branches were used for building roofs, the trunk for pillars, the roots for medicines, the water inside for drinking, the oil for cooking, the fruit for eating, the shell to make ladles and bowls, and the fiber for rope."
