Self-inquiry with Christina Merkley, August 18, 2024

Self-inquiry with Christina Merkley 

Sunday, August 18, 2024 

At KECC Metchosin, BC 

 

Christina Merkley volunteered to facilitate a meeting for the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada. She has had experience with a certain kind of inquiry which Ralph considered might be interesting for us. It is a kind of spontaneous process which unfolds as it develops along the lines of what group members share as they notice whatever they perceive about the way the group energy or the energy of individuals in the group is expressing itself. Christna drew pictures on large sheets of white paper representing the group process which could then be used to further explore what was happening for group members. 

Nine people in total were present for the afternoon meeting on the front lawn in front of the Main House. The weather was very appropriate for sitting outdoors as there was almost no wind at all and sunshine was appearing more and more as the afternoon progressed. Christina began the session with a silent meditation of about ten minutes. She then asked for people’s feedback about what was happening for them. One group member expressed an interest in exploring the possibilities of what Krishnamurti had called “thinking together”. 

One participant shared that she was feeling “resistance”. Christina asked if that resistance could be welcomed here and what happened when it was welcomed. People then reported their experiences of thoughts arising, dogs barking, and the earlier presence of a bear on the property. A sense of “togetherness” was reported wherein it seemed that a sense of group wholeness was present. This changed into a sense that togetherness was lacking and what was being felt was a sense of separateness and attachment to the feeling of individuality. This again shifted to a feeling of just being in the present moment with a sense of ease. One person then expressed that for him all experiences were “coming back to “nothingness” or “emptiness”. We then went back over what had happened and considered engaging once again with another inquiry. There was a feeling that time was running out and it might be better to engage freshly on another occasion. Participants expressed that the whole inquiry had been very interesting (or not).

DB