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The Compassionate Universe is a a book on spirituality and ecology. Written by Eknath Easwaran, the book was originally published in the US in 1989. Additional English-language editions have been published in the US, India, and Australia, and an edition in German was published in 1992. The book has been reviewed in magazines and websites.

Background
In 1989, Easwaran had been a spiritual teacher in the US for almost 30 years. Concern for the environment had long been a theme of Easwaran's in his spiritual writings. For example, {XXX}."[T]he Bhagavad Gita... must be interpreted in accordance with the needs of the times–the yugadharma in Sanskrit, the 'special law of the age.' In commenting on the Gita, I always stress the indivisible unity of life because this is the need of our time. I do not stop with the family of man, but extend this unity to all life and to the environment as well. It is the urgent need of our time to recognize the unity of all forms of life, and the intimate relationship between water, earth, air, plants, and all creatures.... Ecologists have begun to tell us that there is an interpenetrating relationship among all things which we can violate only at our peril..." (p. 12), in Eknath Easwaran (1975). The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living (vol. 1, ch. 1-6). Berkeley, CA: Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. ISBN 0-915132-03-6. When one has "become established in the mantram.... we will see only the unity of life, and all our energy will be directed to solving the biggest problems the world faces today [such as] the despoliation of the environment" (pp. 239–241), in Eknath Easwaran (1977). Mantram Handbook. Petaluma, CA: Nilgiri Press. ISBN 0-915132-10-9. "According to [the Katha Upanishad], the whole modern world has been laboring under this one colossal superstition [that we are essentially separate purely physical creatures]... The issue is much more than philosophical, for this fatal fallacy has plundered the earth, polluted the environment, and sown discord all over the world..." (p. 167) in Eknath Easwaran (1981). Dialogue with Death Petaluma, CA: Nilgiri Press. ISBN 978-0-915132-24-9. However, sensing an increase in public concern about the environment, {XXX}.

Topics covered
All US editions of Compassionate Universe contain 3 major parts divided into 8 chapters. After an introductory chapter, the book is structured around a set of 7 social errors listed by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi called this a list of "seven social sins" when he first published it in 1925, and more recently Gandhi's grandson Arun has publicized it using the title "seven blunders of the world that lead to violence." In Compassionate Universe, Easwaran calls them "a series of diagnoses of the twentieth century's seemingly perpetual state of crisis," stating that he "prefer[s] to think of them as seven social ailments, since the problems they address are not crimes calling for punishment but crippling diseases that are punishment enough in themselves. These seven diagnoses cover every area of modern life.... Here... I will be paying particular attention to the way they affect our relationship with the environment.Easwaran (1989). Compassionate Universe, 1st ed. ISBN 9780915132584"

In Chapter One, A New Era, Easwaran describes his upbringing in a village in Kerala State, South India, in a large extended family led by his grandmother, who he later came to regard as his spiritual teacher. Easwaran describes how as a child his school conveyed a Western materialist worldview. One day he reported to his grandmother that "scientists have discovered that our village is nothing but an anthill compared with the sun.... We are just insignificant specks [and] don't matter at all." In contrast, Easwaran's grandmother "lived in a universe filled with life.... 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." In response to his news from school, Easwaran's grandmother calmly explained that everyone was significant. She called his attention to a village elephant named Hasti, telling him that "she has no idea how big she is... because she looks out at the world through such tiny eyes" (photo). In Compassionate Universe, Easwaran explains that he has now come to believe that "[his grandmother's] answer, and the comprehensive vision of human nature that it was based on, have a great deal to offer the world at this critical period in history, as it becomes clear that our present way of life is endangering not only our own health and well-being but that of the earth itself."

The remainder of Chapter 1 profiles Easwaran's grandmother and their village, a way of life based on centuries-old relationships between village families as well as self-reliance, agricultural sustainability, and awareness of the needs of nature. Little poverty existed, although diseases such as cholera and smallpox were "not uncommon." More generally, "It is not that no one was ever hurt or that people never quarreled or manipulated each other; but when such things happened, we knew quite clearly that they were discordant, that they did not fit in with the way life should be. It was not an ideal world, but it was a world with an ideal."

Chapter 2 introduces Gandhi's seven "diagnoses" and discusses Knowledge Without Character, "perhaps the most compassionate of all seven.... which traces all our difficulties to a simple lack of connection between what we know is good for us and our ability to act on that knowledge." Is explains {XXXX}.

Chapter 3 is Science Without Humanity.

Part Two, "A Higher Image," contains chapters entitled Wealth Without Work and Commerce Without Morality.

Part Three, "Trusteeship of Ourselves and the Earth," contains chapters entitled Politics Without Principles, Pleasure Without Conscience, and Worship Without Self-Sacrifice.

The book also contains 6 pages of endnotes on sources, and an 8-page index.

Reception
Reviews have appeared in Hinduism Today, Resurgence,  Friends Journal,<ref name=friends90> Harmony,<ref name=harmony93> Brain/Mind Bulletin,<ref name=bmb90> New Dimensions,<ref name=buckley90> Factsheet Five,<ref name=fsfive90> and Noetic Sciences Review.<ref name=nsr89> Reviews have also appeared at websites Spirituality and Practice<ref name=brussat>Frederic Brussat & Mary Ann Brussat. Book review: The Compassionate Universe: The Power of the Individual to Heal the Environment [ by Eknath Easwaran .] Spirituality & Practice (website), (accessed 27 January, 2013) and The Sacred Treehouse.

Hinduism Today wrote that the author "artfully ties together stories of his boyhood years in a self-sustaining forest village of Kerala, South India, with current ecological situations and assessments.... Warm anecdotes from his present day-to-day life are like trail snacks.... Easwaran is an eloquent, wise guide in the forests of spiritualized ecology."

In Resurgence, William Alexander wrote that "{XXX} (this review was later republished in Friends Journal

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In Noetic Sciences Review, Nola Lewis wrote that "{XXXX}"

At websites Spirituality and Practice Frederic Brussat & Mary Ann Brussat wrote that "{XXXX}".

At website The Sacred Treehouse, Rob Cummins wrote that "{XXXX}"

The book has also been excerpted by In Context. It has also been excerpted at at Spirituality and Practice. and Daily Good.

It was quoted by David Korten in Globalizing Civil Society: Reclaiming Our Right to Power (1988)

Author and activist Lynne Twist listed The Compassionate Universe as one of five books that had deeply influenced her life.

The book was quoted in The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence.

The book was quoted extensively in an article in the Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work.

The book was a major focus of a book by Tim Flinders that compared Easwaran's approach with that of Thomas Berry.<ref name=flind2010> (113 pages). The book is based on an earlier Masters thesis: (137 pages).

Course curriculum
The Compassionate Universe serves as the basis of a 9-week curriculum and course offered through a US-based church denomination.

Editions
The original edition was published by in 1989 by Nilgiri Press, an Indian edition was published in 2001 by Penguin India, and a large-print edition was published in 2010 in Australia. A translation into German was published in 1992. The English-language editions are:
 * ISBN 0915132583, ISBN 0915132591, ISBN 9780915132591 (188 pages)


 * (large print edition) ISBN 1458778428 (258 pages)


 * ISBN 0141008121 (188 pages)

The German edition:
 * ISBN 3451226014, (177 pages)