Weekend Retreat at Swanwick

  “Quieting the Monkey Mind” Retreat July 25 – 27     Three guests were invited by the Krishnamurti Educational Centre to facilitate a weekend retreat focused on the teachings of J. Krishnamurti.  Mark Lee was for many years the Director of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America in Ojai, California.  He was accompanied by his wife Asha and by Josip Pasic, a psychiatrist from Chicago deeply versed in K’s teachings.   Nineteen people were in attendance when the retreat opened on Friday evening with a talk by each of the three facilitators.   Mark Lee spoke of the mandate of the Krishnamurti Centres around the world to disseminate K’s teachings and then talked about the significance of retreat and quiet contemplation.  In the face of the potential vastness of the subjects being addressed by Krishnamurti and the issues involved in quieting the monkey mind Mark stressed the importance of keeping the inquiry real and actual rather than speculative and intellectual.  Asha emphasized the importance of real listening and a friendly, open attitude in sharing the investigation within a group setting, and Josip spoke in some depth about the difference between knowledge and direct experiencing, the conscious and subconscious mind, and how thought is causing trouble and suffering in our lives.  Psychological thought (as opposed to practical and technological thought) is limiting and divisive, causing conflict and isolation.  Thought creates the idea of a separate me and you, us and them.   Thought cannot solve its own problems and what are expected to be solutions found by thought turn out to be just more problems in disguise.   Psychological problems need to be dissolved, not solved.  Josip then outlined the issue of the “virtual self”, a centre created by thought as the “me”.   Living from this virtual self there can only be conflict in relationship and there will always be a deep loneliness.  He emphasized the need for a shift from the “life of things” to “essential living”. The introductory ideas set the tone for the rest of the retreat.  Krishnamurti audios and videos from the 1980s were played, these relating very much to the same subjects as well as to other aspects of understanding the mind, the brain, and their relationship.  There was time for nature walks, quiet meditation on the lovely property, and rest time.  There were a number of group dialogues and one text study session using Commentaries On Living, Third Series.  Challenging topics and questions were addressed, such as “What is the root of fear?” and “Can the brain function as a whole, not dividing and creating separation?”  The participants became very much involved in the discussions and took them to a fairly deep level.   As Mark pointed out, there are often no black or white answers but rather an invitation to explore and inquire for ourselves – and perhaps come upon something beyond words and concepts.