Victoria Krishnamurti Event

Sunday, March 12, 2017

This month’s topic for the Church of Truth meeting was “What is Freedom?” Four of us attended the session. We began with a couple of short clips of Krishnamurti speaking on the subject of study and then formed a circle for group inquiry and exploration. It was emphasized that speaking from our own experience would make the discussion most interesting and relevant as we looked at what freedom means to us and what are some of the challenges to living in freedom. The quality of inquiry was high and the subject became alive in the sharing of our understandings and questions. We came experientially to the point that freedom is beyond words and concepts and transcends the duality of observer and observed.

A video of Rupert Spira was planned to follow the tea break but time had run out and the session was concluded. Future sessions will be held on the first Friday of each month from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Saturday February 11th

The February Stillness Within Meetup was a great chance for seven of us to get together and enjoy a recently released video talk by Eckhart Tolle called The Voice Inside Your Head. This talk was somewhat introductory, as it was given to employees in a large company, many of whom were not familiar with Eckhart’s teachings.

The highlights of the talk included:

• our tendency to have a constant stream of thought which sometimes serves to strengthen a sense of ‘me-ness’,
  • a description of the process that surrounds much of the suffering we face in life, particularly in situations where the condition (such as losing a job) is somewhat stressful, but the thoughts and stories we tell ourselves about it can tend to create much more fear, anxiety or other kinds of suffering,
  • what can happen when we begin to see that we are not our thoughts – that thoughts come and go within something much more expansive (e.g. a sense of awareness or consciousness), and
  • not taking our thoughts or internal stories so seriously can be a first step towards loosening the likelihood of feeling consumed by thoughts (or strong feelings). This last one is where Krishnamurti would have pointed to a deeper inquiry or observation… to notice the cycle of our own thoughts, where they come from, the patterns, and also the fact that they are always moving through, taking on different forms over time but at times, being seen as insubstantial or fleeting on their own.

Eckhart talked about some practical strategies for developing a conscious awareness of this broader field of beingness that can even go far beyond a sense of self. He described using a simple breath awareness practice, noticing fully as each breath comes in and out. He also described a practice of sensing body aliveness or scanning, starting with the feeling of life in our hands and feet. Finally, when we have more experience, we may be able to allow the thought process to even subside for periods of time. Through these practices, we may begin to widen our aperture of seeing and sensing, such that identification of a finite self becomes less and less dominant… we see ourselves only as part of wholeness.

It was a lovely session, followed by a group awareness meditative practice which all seemed to enjoy.

Thanks to Krishnamurti Centre for hosting us once again.

“Awareness in Daily Life”

Weekend Retreat January 27 -29, 2017

This weekend retreat was facilitated by Lynne Walker and David Bruneau, both of whom have been involved with the Krishnamurti Centre for some years. The idea of the retreat was to create an environment of support for looking and listening to ourselves in a simple and direct way that invited insight and fresh seeing into ourselves. An attitude of questioning and “not-knowing” was encouraged and practiced by the twelve people who attended. The schedule included silent sitting, guided meditations, video and audio featuring Krishnamurti and Toni Packer, some brief handouts for contemplation, group dialogues, and time for quiet walks and rest, journaling and conversation. Meals were provided by Glenrosa Restaurant. The participants were generally very present and attentive to the material and opportunities for exploration that were offered; there was lively and revealing interaction in the dialogue sessions. The question was asked often throughout the weekend, “What is alive in us in this moment?” There was a process of learning how to be with ourselves and whatever is arising as well as how to communicate with each other in a way that supports real inquiry, looking and listening. There were challenging moments for some of the participants, all of which were held in the space of open presence within the group. We learned as we went along. Everyone expressed that the weekend was one of great value and relevance.

Inquiry Sunday

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Nine people were present on Sunday morning for a video presentation of Mooji guiding a seeker through the process of self-inquiry. The particular interaction had been chosen because of its clarity and depth in dealing with the subject of looking into one’s own nature and thought processes. An intelligent and careful inquiry can reveal false assumptions being believed by “the mind” and obscuring the knowing of our pure Being. Are we not the awareness which perceives everything that arises, no matter what it is? Everything that we perceive is arising in a field of pure awareness which is what we essentially are. It needs no effort or practice to be realized, only the immediate looking at what is here as the ground of all experience. The participants were asked to put into one sentence the essence of what they had understood, something that could be easily remembered and “practiced”. The sharing that followed was interesting and very much to the point.

The afternoon session involved looking at some video clips of Krishnamurti answering questions from the audience at some of his talks. The first question was, “Is suffering necessary to make us face the necessity to change?” K explored the common assumption that suffering is noble and spiritual and went into the deeper causes of our suffering and the possibility of freedom from it. The second question we looked at was “What is enlightenment?’ K explored the issue from a few different perspectives, including enlightenment as understanding an aspect of our lives as well as understanding ourselves very deeply. He also asked who is to claim enlightenment and questioned the validity of such claims. The three participants who had stayed for the afternoon session engaged in some discussion of the questions, K’s responses to them and our own understanding of the issues.

Finding Deeper Awareness Mini-Retreat

This half day event brought 22 people together to share a passion for inner discovery. The presenters offered their experience with a recent program focusing on practices that can support a fundamental sense of well-being. A few of the themes that were explored included:

• The value of community in sharing deeper awareness
  Meditation as an evolving discovery rather than a ritualized goal-oriented practice
• Many pathways can support unfoldment – it may be valuable to experiment with different awareness techniques to find a good fit and focus on one that works for you
• Some of the practices explored involved sensing and sinking into awareness… becoming aware of awareness, with labels and thoughts being allowed to slip away
• A few practices were explored (noticing the breath and body sensation; group awareness practice; and dyads with the question “Who am I?”)

Krishnamurti’s teachings on Choiceless Awareness speak to a similar pointing:

“Great seers have always told us to acquire experience. They have said that experience gives us understanding. But it is only the innocent mind, the mind unclouded by experience, totally free from the past; it is only such a mind that can perceive what is reality. If you see the truth of that, if you perceive it for a split second, you will know the extraordinary clarity of a mind that is innocent. This means the falling away of all the encrustations of memory, which is the discarding of the past.”

And “… if you give it your complete attention, which is to be attentive with your whole being, then you will see that there is an immediate perception in which no time is involved, in which there is no effort, no conflict; and it is this immediate perception, this choiceless awareness that puts an end to sorrow.”

J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life

Links to some of the other content that was explored:
Finders research
Rupert Spira
Mystical Experiences
Guided breath meditation, similar to the one we did together