Self-inquiry with Ralph Tiller and David Bruneau, November 24, 2024

Self-inquiry 

With Ralph Tiller and David Bruneau 

Sunday, November 24, 2024 

At Metchosin, BC, location 

 

Only four participants were present in the Gatehouse for this meeting sponsored by the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada in Metchosin, BC.After a quiet sit we slowly began to discuss the way we sometimes found ourselves getting stuck or bogged down in patterns of behaviour. We then moved into the ways we can get free of these patterns. Krishnamurti suggests we examine our lives with choiceless awareness or unbiased observation of our consciousness. We just have to look at ourselves without judgement, self-attack, or self-criticism. 

A few of the group explained that it can sometimes be tricky to actually realise what K is talking about in terms of attention. What does it mean when he speaks of “sensitivity”? One person offered that it might mean noticing how your state of mind is affecting you. One approach is to allow “the flowering of the senses” of which a few said K had sometimes spoken. What happens when we are highly sensitive to all the experiences of our senses? It can prove to be an interesting experiment as images tend to fall away and the mind becomes empty. As K said, an empty mind is a religious mind. 

We spoke of how we enjoyed Javier’s style of presentation in the recent weekend workshop and its effectiveness for teaching. As far as our own communication styles had demonstrated, we acknowledged that we had in many cases been conditioned by our parents to be critical or to anticipate criticism and judgement. One group member reminded us how, in dialogue, David Bohm appreciated having a mixture of ideas which encouraged a variety of views and perspectives. With this appreciation of the benefit of self observation we brought the session to a close. 

 

DB