Making Peace with the Mind, June 11, 2022
Making Peace with your Mind: Can We Quieten the Mind without Effort?
With Cynthia Overweg
June 11, 2022, Zoom Online
This was the last instalment in the series of four presentations by Cynthia entitled “The Only Revolution” after the title of a book of talks by J. Krishnamurti. Thirteen people in total were present for the event. Cynthia began by asking what prevents peace in the mind and suggested it is the “never-ending machinations of the thinking mind” which constantly moves between the past and the future in its attempts to find security and other objects of the mind’s desires. She quoted K’s statement that “you cannot bring about a quiet mind without understanding desire”. She then discussed a number of aspects of desire and wondered whether we really understand them. We seem to have a fundamental desire to be happy, but the “thorn of self-interest” seems to destroy our happiness. We want security, safety, power, pleasure, sex, and more and there is frequently conflict between what I want and what actually is. K has said that desire means conflict. In order to be at peace “seeing” the nature of desire is essential. Then one could leave desire alone and there would be freedom from conflict. We often, however, do not look at the process of our thinking, whether it is directed outwardly or inwardly.
The activity of the “inner critic”, Cynthia pointed out, is usually not clearly seen in ourselves. In many ways we judge ourselves to be inadequate or not good enough, and this central aspect of our conditioning generates much unhappiness. Any effort to change ourselves will produce distortion but, as K said, “the ability to observe ourselves without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence” which brings about “a silence not put together by thought.” “Without being aware and experiencing the ways of thought, love cannot be.”
Cynthia provided periods of quiet observation during which we could observe the movements of thought. One of the participants supplemented the meditations with beautiful classical guitar music, assisting relaxation and quiet watchfulness. Cynthia added that “if we make peace with the divided mind, we make peace with the world.” Only when the mind is quiet does the heart come alive. As Krishnamurti said, “if I really want to understand something, immediately there is a quietness in the mind.” And “transformation is the result of a quiet mind.”
Cynthia ended her presentation with seven suggestions for supporting the emergence of the peaceful mind and heart:
1) Take time to align yourself with the world’s beauty and the beauty of nature
2) Sit quietly beneath a tree and listen. Lie down and feel.
3) On awakening in the morning, savour the silence and notice when the “me” shows up and time begins
4) Express gratitude
5) Be kind in each interaction and with yourself
6) Breathe in the vast star-lit sky at night
7) Watch and listen to birds without naming
The last twenty minutes of the meeting were open for discussion and feedback. There was some exploration of the place of thought in our daily life and the value of awareness and observation. The issue of language and division – and the unity beyond – was examined. The essential idea was “be attentive”! There was some expression of appreciation for Cynthia’s commitment and skill in communicating these profound insights and concepts
