[7]: 8 Dhammapada Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads Gandhi the Man Nonviolent Soldier of Islam Essence of the Upanishads Essence of the Dhammapada Essence of the Bhagavad Gita Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living Original Goodness Love Never Faileth Seeing with the Eyes of Love Passage Meditation Mantram Handbook Conquest of Mind Strength in the Storm, others God Makes the Rivers to Flow Timeless Wisdom Words to Live By The Making of a Teacher contains five chapters, each named after the setting of the conversations that it recounts with Easwaran.

[8] It portrays the attenders at a retreat – their diversity in age, gender, profession, and geographical residence – and describes their interactions with him in a two-hour question and answer session.

Chapter 2 recounts Easwaran's upbringing in a South Indian village near the town of Palghat, in Kerala State.

The conversations describe his large matrilineal ancestral family, with special attention to his grandmother, whom he identifies as his spiritual teacher.

Easwaran works in a glass-walled office "within view of his students... for long stretches at a time and is available each day for consultation.

As an undergraduate, he attended Saint Thomas College, receiving inspiration from its headmaster, Father John Palocaren (later a Monsignor).

[10] Deeply immersed in English literature, he attended graduate school at the University of Nagpur, and later taught at a small college in Amravati.

Before the talk, a coffee hour drew people of all ages, and some of Easwaran's students held meetings for social and environmental service projects.

In his talk, Easwaran comments on several verses from the Bhagavad Gita, using metaphors that range from the Olympic Games to a scriptural image of a tortoise.

[15] He discusses how his system of spiritual practices can be used to help address environmental problems as well as to overcome addictions of all kinds.

[4] Hinduism Today stated that the authors of Making often engage in "just turning on the tape of Easwaran, so to speak, for the reader to listen in ...."[2]: 17  And While the book is pure joy to read, its real value is in how it explores with crisp reality the process of Easwaran's conversion from being a satisfied intellectual to a practicing contemplative.

Few other books will so inspire Hindus to pursue meditation and its accompanying states of clarity, control and genuine caring.

[1] She averred that "Easwaran's simple description of what changed in his life when he touched the great depths of meditation" – "'now I see into the world.

"[1] The Internet Bookwatch stated that Making "is both inspiring and informative",[4] telling the "fascinating story of how this noted teacher of meditation transformed his own life".

[4] The book "vividly demonstrates why so many people have used this method to draw upon their deepest reserves of compassion, wisdom, and serenity".