Self-inquiry

September 27, 2023

With Oda Lindner

Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion

Seven people in total attended this Wednesday afternoon meeting at the beautifully constructed pavilion in Gorge Park on Tillicum Road. The session was facilitated by Oda Lindner, who is visiting the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada in Metchosin, BC, and is being sponsored by the same charitable organisation. The purpose of the Centre is to disseminate the teachings of J. Krishnamurti, a spiritual teacher who lived from 1895 to 1986. Oda Lindner has spent many years studying the teachings and presently lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario.

Oda began the meeting by describing how she had found breath work very helpful in experiencing the meaning of what Krishnamurti spoke of when he gave his own talks and wrote his many books. Breathing is always taking place in the present moment, which K says is the only time we can realise the truth of what he is saying. There is a strong tendency in the human mind to continuously bring in the past and to separate ourselves from each other and from the present moment. Group discussion or dialogue is useful in bringing attention to the deeper aspects of our capacities to penetrate deeply into the layers of our consciousness and to realise a sense of freedom in ourselves.

Different participants had varying input into the discussion, some of which seemed to stray from the central points of K’s teachings and yet were considered to be important for those sharing them. One group member produced a book written by Mark Lee entitled Probing the Mystery and asked permission to read a passage which expressed K’s assertion at the end of his life that nobody has touched the mystery that is Krishnamurti and nobody ever will. At the same time it was agreed that it is not helpful to compare ourselves to Krishnamurti and judge ourselves to be less than perfect in that comparison.

The dialogue ranged through a number of topics and questions raised by K during his lifetime. The issue of desire was considered by one person in particular to be very important in unravelling the meanings in the teachings and we spent some time with it. The writer had some doubts about the extent to which the dialogue actually revealed significant insights into the understanding of our habits of thinking in that area, but the process of inquiry seemed to be felt useful by some of the group. How many was difficult to tell.

Self-inquiry

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Esquimalt Gorge Park Pavilion

With James Waite

Eight participants were in attendance for this Wednesday afternoon meeting at the lovely Gorge Park Pavilion in Victoria, BC. The session was facilitated by James Waite from Brentwood Bay. It began with some spontaneous sharing of our backgrounds and interest in the works of J. Krishnamurti. The topics of discussion and exploration ranged over various aspects of self-inquiry and the challenges of learning about ourselves. It was asked whether such inquiry produces anything new and fresh in our experience of ourselves and especially in our insight concerning the makeup of our consciousness and psychological structures. This was considered to be important because seeing something about ourselves in a new way can bring about a change in us which may deepen our way of experiencing our lives and our relationships with each other. We spoke of the central place of learning in our lives and of what is actually meant by learning. Self-observation was said to be the most important element of Krishnamurti’s teachings along with the integration of such “meditation” with our daily lives of work and play. Every moment is a teaching moment and asks for our willingness to “walk the walk”, which requires the kind of sensitivity displayed by Krishnamurti throughout his lifetime.

The fact of “emptiness” or “vacancy” was explored along with the necessity for us to realise and embody these states of being, as K did in his life. An important aspect of emptiness is the activity of fully listening to others and to one’s own inner reality as it displays itself in our relationships. The listening empties the mind of thought and concepts which only clutter the mind and prevent clear seeing and insight. It is crucial, it was said, to see the operation of the “I” concept in oneself and to dissolve the solidity of thoughts which create the sense of self.

The illusion of “practice” was explored, wherein practice is seen to be an obstruction rather than a beneficial activity.

The eight participants all had significant ideas and insights to share, making the dialogue an interesting and apparently meaningful one for all of us.

DB

Self-inquiry

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

With James Wait

Esquimalt Gorge Park Pavilion

Six participants in total attended this late afternoon meeting at the lovely Gorge Park Pavilion in Victoria, BC. The meeting was sponsored by the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada and was facilitated by James Waite. The event began spontaneously with group members introducing themselves and sharing how they understand who or what they are, which at least partly depended on their conditioning or what they have been told. It was clear that each participant has his or her own explanations of what life is about and how they identify themselves in the world. It was mentioned that Krishnamurti focused on bringing forward the quality of “intelligence” which arises when thought takes a back seat. He asked if there is a “fresh” and “new” way of living that is beyond thought.

Another participant asked if we could explore the question of “how” intelligence is awakened. Man, according to K, is caught in knowledge and thinking. What will change him or her? It was offered by a few that what is required is observation without trying to change what is observed. The movement of thought can be observed and we can thereby be free of the thoughts that are habitual for us and which create a kind of slavery.

It was commented that group members tended to hold forth with their sharings for long periods rather than asking for responses and questions about what is being said. Some wondered if we needed more questioning, and if it would be useful to explore the make-up of our own suffering. K put a lot of attention in his talks onto psychological suffering, one participant said, and the need to break the slavery that we ourselves have created. The perceiving of slavery, he said, is the breaking of it. As soon as we see the fact, we are out of it.

At one point the discussion seemed to become contentious. James then asked what we really want and there was some agreement that we want happiness. It was then suggested that we need total attention, which produced a shift towards more cooperation and peacefulness within the group – and a sense of “love”. The meeting ended on a “positive” note.

DB

Self-inquiry

September 6, 2023

With James Waite

At Esquimalt Gorge Park Pavilion

Five participants attended this afternoon meeting at the Gorge Pavilion facilitated by James Waite, a resident of Victoria who has spent many years exploring his essential nature and loves to share such inquiry with other “seekers”. There was also a man from India we had not met before but who had a great deal to say about the teachings of Krishnamurti and other wisdom from India such as Theosophy, Patanjali, and other classic traditions. According to him, Krishnamurti represented the deepest wisdom of the ages and the evolution of wisdom over the centuries. For him, K was the most important factor in the progression of true understanding of ourselves and our place in the world, which meant “living by intelligence”. K was an embodiment of the “Mystery” at the core of Life. For the rest of us this was most likely an idea to be embraced or questioned. The rest of us contributed our own appreciation of Krishnamurti so as to add our own flavours to the conversation. There was some questioning of the value of asserting a knowledge of spiritual truths, as such knowing may lack humility at times, but still we enjoyed debating with each other and sharing our perceptions and insights, James was interested in discussing Krishnamurti’s famous statement that “Truth is a pathless land” as well as his understanding that what we are is awareness. Others joined him in looking at the centrality of awareness in our lives along with the importance of Being. We must, it was seen, step out of the preoccupation with “becoming”, explore the reality of the present moment beyond thought, and experience the meaning of silence. Questions arose concerning the unity or diversity of awareness and overall there was a richness to the group investigation.

DB

Self-inquiry

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada

Metchosin, BC

With Mukesh Gupta

Eleven people were present for Mukesh Gupta’s last meeting before his departure from Canada. He began the session in his usual manner with a short guided meditation and an introduction to what takes place in a self-inquiry meeting, the main intention of which is to understand ourselves. Mukesh pointed out that if self-understanding is not present the implications are immense. Self-understanding brings love, beauty, and a freshness into our lives and without it there is a gap in our experience of ourselves. These qualities must be rediscovered every day, beginning with simple sensations and exploring the deeper aspects of living a “conscious” life. Right understanding is when all faculties are in harmony. This involves a “dying” to the false ideas of ourselves, which must be seen by observation. The seeing is the transformation, the falling away of the false self. It is a life-long process which involves insight each day, each moment, as one opens to the exploration of the challenges and obstacles involved.

Mukesh encouraged participants to share some of the obstacles they had come upon. The first to speak suggested that his greatest obstacle has been “unconsciousness” in himself and others. In delving more deeply into the question, issues of emptiness and manifestation were looked at with a careful curiosity about the sense of separation and isolation that many feel and the illusion of such a deeply held belief. On the other hand, it was shared by some that coming together in a group such as this in order to witness the workings of our own minds and “hearts” was in this very moment producing an experience of Being which contains love and a sense of communion. People may speak as if they hold a kind of knowing about what they are speaking of but there seems to be more profundity and fullness to the truth of “not-knowing”!

In conclusion, Mukesh encouraged us to keep on learning and opening our hearts, awakening from moment to moment to the truth that Life is being in Love. He suggested we pay attention to whatever is taking us away from love and unity.

We have very much appreciated Mukesh’s presence and wisdom this year and we look forward to spending more time with him when he visits next year.