The title of this small book grabbed me as soon as I saw it, and I’m very glad that I decided to check it out. Eknath Easwaran’s Your Life is Your Message: Finding Harmony with Yourself, Others and the Earth is a thin, seemingly plain book that’s filled with bite-sized morsels of spirituality that will seep into your veins like waves of nirvana.

Easwaran, who was friends with Mahatma Gandhi, shares lessons he’s picked up throughout his life from Gandhi, his own grandmother, and many other sources. He delivers a very simple message: in order to change the world—whether we want to stop wars, help the environment, or solve hunger—we must always first start with ourselves. In fact, he maintains, we can change the world just by changing ourselves. He offers short anecdotes and spiritual lessons throughout the book to help us do just that.

A bit of synchronicity even occurred as I was reading it. I had set the book down to do some chore or another—and I’ve gradually begun incorporating meditation with my housework, as Easwaran and other authors suggest doing—and my preschooler picked it up. She began to “read” it to me—her version, of course, a story about a princess being eaten by a dinosaur. Then she asked me to read it to her.

I was able to find a passage about a little musk deer that I knew she’d enjoy. The musk deer had asked his grandmother where a wonderful scent had come from; she sagely told him to try to find the scent. He went from animal to animal, sniffing and asking questions, but was unable to locate the smell. Finally, he returned, and told his grandmother that he had not found its source. She then told him to smell himself—and sure enough, he joyously discovered that the smell came from himself.

My daughter just loved this story, and I’ve repeated it to her several times since I initially read it to her. We’ve also begun to learn the Buddhist mantra, “Om mani padme hum,” together. Naturally, the book wasn’t able to provide us with a very accurate pronunciation, so we looked it up online to hear monks repeat it. She’s actually learned it already; it’s me who’s still trying to get it down!

A great little book to keep in your briefcase or purse, Your Life is Your Message will deliver you a dose of serenity each time you open it. I’m planning on getting my own copy, and highly recommend doing so to anyone else who could use a little more mindfulness in their own life.