The mission of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, founded in 1961 by Eknath Easwaran, is to teach his eight-point program of passage meditation to enable ordinary people to translate their highest ideals into daily living within the context of any religious tradition or none.
During four decades of active spiritual teaching, Easwaran directed the activities of the Blue Mountain Center, including the retreats program, the press, and the spiritual community called Ramagiri Ashram. Since Easwaran’s passing, in 1999, his wife Christine has continued his leadership with the help of his students.
Nilgiri Press publishes Easwaran's books, as well as audio and video recordings of his talks. Nilgiri Press now has twenty-six books in print, with many translations available from other publishers in Europe, China, Japan, India, and Latin America. More than 1.5 million copies of Easwaran’s books are in print.
Easwaran's first book, Gandhi the Man, was published in 1972, followed by the classic vegetarian cookbook inspired by Easwaran and written by his students, Laurel's Kitchen. His classic book Meditation, now titled Passage Meditation, has sold 195,000 copies to date. His Classics of Indian Spirituality – The Bhagavad Gita, The Dhammapada, and The Upanishads – are all bestsellers in their field. Under the supervision of Christine Easwaran, our editorial team continues to publish books and talks, drawing on the archive of Easwaran's unpublished material.