Self-Inquiry Meetup

With Jackie McInley

Swanwick Centre Metchosin

April 9, 2023

After a long period of non activity at the physical location of the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada in Metchosin, BC, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre was re-opened to in-person gatherings. Our first on-site meeting was held on Sunday, April 9, 2023 at the Swanwick Road location at 3 pm. The meeting lasted for almost two hours and was attended by six participants in total, all of whom showed their proof of vaccine before the meeting started. The session was facilitated by Jackie McInley, who is visiting the Centre from the UK for the month of April. Up to this time, Jackie has been facilitating meetings via the Zoom online application.

Jackie asked that each participant share something about their motive for coming to the meeting, which gave each person an opportunity to share some details about themselves and their interest in J. Krishnamurti’s teachings. These introductions took some time to complete but were very interesting to hear. Jackie questioned people further in a skillful attempt to draw them out and to stimulate a deepening of inquiry into the issue of who or what we truly are. This led to a penetrating questioning and exploring of people’s perspectives and understandings of themselves and the process of self-observation that became the central subject of examination in the dialogue that spontaneously unfolded. There was a depth of subtle inquiring and sharing of insights which felt quite profound as participants took up the challenge of looking at themselves within the context of what was being brought forward by the members of the group. We had a prolonged and in-depth discussion about the nature of intelligence which was very revealing and rich with valuable insights, It seemed that everyone found the conversation to be very interesting, relevant, and promising of further meaningful inquiry in future meetings.

Self-Inquiry Meetup

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

With Jackie McInley

Gorge Park Pavilion

This was the first meeting sponsored by the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada to be held in the new Esquimalt Gorge Park Pavilion in Victoria. We gathered in the Boardroom, a spacious square room with large windows allowing in plenty of light and providing a lovely view of the outside world of trees, bushes, grass, and the Gorge waterway. It was a most conducive setting for a dialogue organised for the purpose of exploring the fundamental “spiritual” question “Who am I?” within the context of an interest in the teachings of the East Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1895 – 1986. The process of investigation was explained very clearly by Jackie, a visitor from the UK staying at the Krishnamurti Centre in Metchosin for the month of April and facilitating small group sessions for those interested in understanding what Krishnamurti said about self-knowledge and applying his wisdom offerings to their own journey of discovery.

In addition to Jackie and two KECC staff (Ralph and David), there were six participants eager to explore the kind of questions Krishnamurti had spent most of his lifetime investigating and inviting people to join him and each other in a potentially profound process of uncovering their true nature and capacity for living a life of wholeness and happiness. Renowned physicist David Bohm became very interested in Krishnamurti’s approach to life and involved himself with such looking and listening over many years of collaboration with K.

As the meeting moved forward, there was a certain amount of questioning as to the form the meetings, to be held weekly, would be taking. Jackie offered suggestions about the possibilities of looking at our experience of life with fresh eyes rather than as an already known story that we are repeating in mechanical ways which reveal nothing strikingly alive and new.

Jackie then focused on each of the participants with the question, “What was it that attracted you to a meeting such as this?’ It was very interesting to hear participants speaking of their life experiences and the challenges that had led them to the present moment along with their interest in looking within themselves for a deeper understanding of self and life. As the sharing progressed, Jackie dropped in various suggestions about what we would be doing in the meetings, including the “practices” of watching or observing ourselves and our reactions to what was being shared. Could we listen carefully and with great sensitivity to ourselves and to each other, and could we notice when we are not listening? “Listening leads the way” was one way of expressing the central principle in the group’s inquiry. There was some discussion of the question, “Is it healthy to reveal our disturbances and difficulties as they (are bound to) arise in the dialogue interactions?” It was agreed by all that such revelation of our “sorrow” could be very meaningful and it would be good if our hearts could be open to such an exposure. Such insight could, as Krishnamurti had said, bring a kind of healing or freedom which could be very significant.

Participants seemed reluctant to bring the meeting to a close and keen about those planned for the future.

DB

Exploring Ourselves

Sunday, March 19, 2023

With Jackie McInley

Zoom online

Jackie joined us online from the Krishnamurti Foundation of America property in Ojai, California. She will be moving to the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada outside of Victoria, BC, for the month of April where she will be available for various in-person and virtual events which will be listed on the KECC website (https://krishnamurti-canada.ca). Jackie opened the meeting by mentioning the value of the blogs written by David and summarising the content of the group dialogue meetings. The meetings have normally been taking place on the first and third Sundays of the month over the past year or so. She pointed to the usefulness of the short reports describing the unfolding of the meetings and the central issues explored. She then asked for a short period of silence. This is the usual way of beginning a meeting where the intention is to meditate on the nature of ourselves within the context of the teachings of J. Krishnamurti (without being reliant on his words).

After about five minutes of silence Jackie and others brought forth some pointed questions which were felt to be relevant to the kind of exploration being invited. One participant asked if any question or comment might be an interference. Is it possible to be together without having a motivation and pursuing some kind of need? This prompted Jackie to ask “What is the point of dialogue?” Is the purpose the uncovering of the human being as he or she actually is rather than as he/she would like to be? And are we looking for something in our inquiry? Some of the other questions that arose were as follows:

– What are we not noticing in ourselves?

– Can we bring the unconscious into our awareness?

– Can we listen even when there is a disturbance?

– If we follow what the mind (or thought) wants then are we looking at “what is”?

– Can we take up the invitation to be attentive to a larger truth than that of the mind?

– Why do we give importance to what thought is producing or the self expressing? Are we interested in looking into the issue or the process?

Further discussion brought us to an inquiry into the phenomenon of disturbance. Does feeling disturbed tend to bring a reaction of isolating ourselves? On the other hand, can we allow disturbance to wake us up? Can we look and listen as if for the very first time? Can we see when we are thinking unconsciously and our thoughts are creating disturbance? Can dialogue be a sharing of what is normally kept hidden? Why do we avoid this? One person offered that we tend to resort to easy and comfortable answers and solutions.

As a group we explored issues around the fear of entering into disturbance and the feelings of vulnerability that arise. Is the group ignoring the pain that comes up in exploring these kinds of issues? The experience of shame drew our attention for some time and its validity or non-validity. Is shame just a result of conditioning? How do we know what is right and wrong? Is there a sensitivity to right and wrong which doesn’t need the experience of shame? Can shame be a mechanism of appropriate correction of behaviour?

Krishnamurti’s suggestion that we be “choicelessly aware” was brought forward as a way that consciousness may shift from being mind-centred to heart-centred, which can be a significant shift in how we live. Can this bring into our consciousness a guiding intelligence? Finally, it was asked if dialogue is a way of avoiding the real issues or is it a real way of dealing with them intelligently?

DB

Choiceless Awareness

With Cynthia Overweg

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Zoom Online

Cynthia joined us online from Ojai, California, the site of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America. She will be presenting a series of four meetings which invite an exploration of the theme of “Choiceless Awareness”, a central element in the teachings of J. Krishnamurti, and what he had to say about it. For this first gathering there were twenty-one participants, including interested seekers, facilitators, and support staff. The format of the sessions will be power point presentations and following discussion periods along with short periods of silence and listening to beautiful music in which participants will be encouraged to be grounded with feet on the floor and to be fully present with whatever is arising in the space of Awareness. The silent breaks offer an opportunity to integrate the words of Krishnamurti that have been shared as well as the words of wisdom that may have been shared by the group members.

The first session was entitled “Approaching Choiceless Awareness”. Cynthia asked “What is awareness without choice?” First there is awareness, a silent observation of “what is”, then there is choice, like and dislike, and interpretation of what is observed, including descriptive words or naming, with their conditioned ideas. Krishnamurti asks if we can be aware without choice, interpretation, and words. He asks us to look into the “mirror of relationship”. Seeing the workings of our minds in relationship, K says that every form of conditioning is dissolved. In the perception of what is there is freedom from what is.

Cynthia suggested that awareness and attention are synonymous. They both point to an observing of the “me” which spontaneously brings about a capacity for stillness and silence in the mind. In such stillness the “Immeasurable” can reveal itself and the human being can experience “bliss”. Other ideas shared by Cynthia were as follows:

– There is a relationship between relaxation and attention

– The mind cannot understand if it looks only at its judgements and opinions

– “Only when the mind is not self-concerned is there a possibility of bliss”. (K)

– “When I understand myself, I understand you, and out of that understanding comes love” (Cynthia)

After an hour of sharing ideas and experiencing periods of silence the floor was open to questions, comments, and discussion. There were a good number of appreciations from the students along with questions exploring the topic of embodying awareness and the challenges involved with being simply relaxed and open. How can we have space to see what our thinking is doing without getting caught up in what is being observed? What is the connection between choiceless awareness and intelligent action? How do we find a balance between intensity of awareness and the need to rest? What is the difference between reacting and responding to situations? What is total attention and total energy? Can we be kind to ourselves as we observe? Is awareness sustainable or does it come and go?

Other interesting subjects explored to some extent were joy, adventure, Being and Becoming, and “generosity of giving attention”. The exploration will continue in the next three sessions. Information can be found on the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada website