Approaches to Self-Inquiry
Sunday, August 12
At KECC

Four of us were present for this Sunday afternoon session in the meditation room of the main house. There were several options in the material to be explored and we settled on a video of Rupert Spira, well-known nondual spiritual teacher, in conversation with two teachers of A Course in Miracles. The teachers wanted to ask Rupert how the vision of the Course compared with his own perspective on key issues related to consciousness, awareness, God, and reality. Rupert was asked to comment on a number of statements from the Course, which he did in his usual precise and detailed manner. There seemed to be agreement on the points discussed.
Our group engaged in a further discussion of some of the issues which seemed most interesting to us and slowly inquired together in a way which brought is to a sense of stillness and peacefulness beyond the activity of thought. There was a feeling of unity and harmony in the group which seemed to be a significant outcome of the dialogue exploring the nature of our experience.

Exploring Awareness
KECC
August 5, 2018

Our afternoon session on Sunday, August 5, resumed our exploration of guided meditation as a way of understanding directly what Krishnamurti and other teachers are pointing to. It is proposed that a more experiential knowing or insight may be available than through verbal discussion, or that the activity of verbal inquiry will be complemented by being invited into an experience of it in a different way. The three participants were guided into a way of looking at both the nature around us as we sat on the front lawn and then the arising of our thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the same space of observation or awareness. We then took a silent walk while exploring the total attention we’d been invited to embody, followed by a short sharing of our experiences. It was remarked that the type of perceiving suggested opened up the awareness to a more subtle and detailed seeing and a sense of wholeness.
We then listened to a guided meditation by Jeff Foster, which was similar and also somewhat different than the first meditation. After the forty minute meditation we discussed briefly how it had affected us and the conversation became a friendly and significant sharing of our experiences which we all seemed to appreciate.

From Delusion to Awakening
with GP Walsh
July 27 – 29, 2018

This weekend retreat, held at the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada near Victoria, BC, was presented by GP Walsh, a spiritual teacher from New York. GP has been teaching inquiry and self-awareness for over thirty years. He is the founder of the MasterHEART Institute and the creator of Inner Reconciliation, which formed the backbone of this retreat.
GP’s website explains the central points of his teaching. The path to awakening is twofold: the path of inquiry or wisdom and the path of compassion or heart. Both are necessary in order to both know the reality of your true being and to live it in everyday life. We are always our true self, but we do need to have our own unique personal realization of it. And it doesn’t stop there. Once the awakening begins to dawn we can begin to integrate that inspiration and wisdom into every detail of our lives. Thus we become the living truth.
The retreat began with a public talk on the Friday evening, attended by seventeen people. GP spoke of the fact of impermanence and change, pointing out that conflict is the attempt to make stable that which is always changing. He asked if there is something unchanging which observes the change, something unmoving which can see the movement. He expressed his deep appreciation of J. Krishnamurti and the importance of his teachings on the understanding of the operation of the “egoic” mind, As Krishnamurti points out, without this understanding we cannot be free.
GP encouraged us to openly express what is going on in the egoic consciousness and not to sugar-coat it. Thus we can be with what is authentically our experience. This set the stage for the weekend of inquiry, guided meditations, and group discussions of the nature of our consciousness and our true identity as awareness rather than as the “person”. Included were stories depicting our human shared process of seeking, GP’s own experiences in that domain, and exploration of the challenges and anxieties involved in the deconstruction of the ego. The sixteen participants looked into the nature of the “present moment” and kept returning to the question “Who am I, really?” GP pointed to the
significance of allowing whatever is being experienced and being aware of resistance in ourselves to “what is”. Everything in us has a place when not being interpreted and shaped by the egoic delusion that we are separate entities. When the idea of separateness is believed, we suffer. Otherwise, our unique expression of Being can by enjoyed and valued. The one and it’s expression as the many are of equal significance.
GP skillfully stretched the boundaries of our understanding and experience of ourselves and our reality. He also presented a short experiential outline of the “Emotional Freedom Technique”, which has been helpful for resolving fears and conflicts.
Included in the weekend were two videos about the life of Krishnamurti and some of his teachings on the subject of freedom. Delicious meals were provided by the local Glenrosa Restaurant. It was a wonderful weekend and we look forward to further association with GP.

Krishnamurti Study Session
Sunday, July 22, 2018
At Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada

In this session we completed our reading and discussion of chapter 30 in the Q & A section of J. Krishnamurti’s book The First and Last Freedom. The chapter “On God” was a source of much inquiry and exploration over the past few meetings. This time we began with some investigation into K’s emphasis on the “unknown” as the ground of reality and the need to “go beyond” the known in our inquiry. Many probing questions were asked and looked into with a sense of listening and looking with a real openness rather than assertions of opinion. The group of six individuals who are seasoned inquirers was able to create an atmosphere of spacious presence in which insight could arise. Sitting out on the front lawn was an added enjoyment to the process.

Krishnamurti Study Session at KECC
Sunday, July 8, 2018

We continued with our study of chapter 30 in the Q & A section of J. Krishnamurti’s The First and Last Freedom. This chapter seems to stimulate discussion as the two participants were quickly immersed in an interesting exploration which ranged over a number of aspects of Krishnamurti’s teachings and the process of self-inquiry and self-knowledge. One issue of particular interest was the possibility of observing ourselves and others, as well as the world around us, without evaluating and judging. Can awareness of our evaluations and the dissolving of their primacy in our consciousness open the door to love? This inquiry seemed to have a clear relevance to our daily relationships and life experience, with the potential to change how we see and experience the world. We had to pull ourselves to a halt as the conversation could have gone on much past the scheduled time for lunch and preparation for the afternoon session with Rick.