The Art of Seeing with Cynthia Overweg, June 25 – 27, 2021
“The Art of Seeing” with Cynthia Overweg
June 25 – 27, 2021
Zoom Online
This series of three presentations by Cythia Overweg from Ojai, California, was attended by between twelve and fourteen persons in total each session. Cynthia combined talks on the teachings of J. Krishnamurti with periods of quiet meditation, breath and bodily awareness, silence, and music. She also invited questions and feedback from the attendees. She intends to create a space of focused attention in which what K is saying may be understood through direct seeing and self-observation. “Seeing”, she stated, is central to Krishnamurti’s teachings and warrants a deep immersion in his explanation of its nature. When true seeing takes place there is no separation between the observer and the observed. The mind is quiet and there is a transformation.
According to K, “the act of seeing is the only truth; there is nothing else.” Seeing is the perennial transformation spoken of by many sages. Watching ourselves, Cynthia said, is fascinating and it opens the door to the “immeasurable”. With self-understanding comes love. Why do we not see? K explains that our mind is not free but is occupied with self-interest. To find freedom we must learn what the mind is doing and be sensitive to all the activities of thought.
Cynthia made use of many quotes from K’s writings and talks along with quotes from other sages down the ages. The truth of what others have said must be confirmed by ourselves in our own self-examination. She explored the topic of seeing in some depth over the three presentations and then summarized the main points in the last presentation with an outline of the steps involved in laying the foundation of self-transformation.
– There must be awareness of ourselves in “the mirror of relationship.”
– We must learn to see with our whole being.
– Meditation is the purging of the mind of its self-centred activity.
– The silent mind is open to receive the immeasurable, which is indescribable.
There is an apparent contradiction when K says that the foundation can be laid instantly and also that it takes a lifetime of work. The contradiction can be resolved in our own inquiry when it is seen that both points are true.
Cynthia brought the series of three meetings to a close with the questions “What is your relationship with what you see?” and “What is your relationship with silence?” Good material for ongoing contemplation. It was a powerful and valuable meditation on core teachings about “the miracle of seeing,” and it seems certain that participants left with many valuable insights having taken place.
