Self-inquiry, November 5, 2023

Self-inquiry with Jackie McInley

Sunday, November 5, 2023

At KECC Metchosin, BC

 

Sixteen of us were present for this Sunday afternoon meeting at the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada in Metchosin, BC. It was a larger turnout than usual. We began with a silent sit for about five minutes after which Jackie, our visitor from the UK, commented that it was very nice to have a quiet moment at the beginning of such a gathering. She wondered what non-verbal sense of the group the attendees might have and what kind of relationship they might have to the topic we were going to explore, that being the fundamental nature of who or what we are. We were not, she said, present to debate the issue but were hopefully here to explore our perceptions of ourselves and each other as we communicated together. When we listen closely to each other and ourselves we can be noticing how we relate to what is being shared. It is possible to notice without forming conclusions either before speaking takes place or afterwards. We are learning about ourselves in an open space of listening which involves an acute attention and a perception of how we are reacting to what is happening in the group circle. Much of what is happening is a revealing of our “conditioning” as thoughts arise and are expressed. Can we notice these thoughts and what they reveal about ourselves as the group members interact?

One participant mentioned the importance of being vulnerable and another shared the necessity of “passion” and intensity in our looking and being with the insights that arise. When we look with intensity, we become a nobody, or an “emptiness”, as the self dissolves. Another mentioned that this can produce a shared sense of Being which can contain a deep meaning as barriers between individuals fall away. It may be difficult to go beyond our conditioning and to achieve a goal of some sort, and yet it may not be complicated to simply look at ourselves in action. At the same time, freedom from habitual patterns of thought and feeling may be challenging to realise and we may not find the intensity of passion that Krishnamurti finds necessary in our intention to change. It seems we cannot make ourselves passionate if we are not!

Nevertheless, surely we must question and be aware of our motivations and our resistance to being transformed.

Participants in the dialogue seemed at the least to be involved in learning how to question and to inquire into their own selves.

DB