Living Inquiries with Scott Kiloby November 27 – 29, 2015     We were very fortunate to have Scott Kiloby present a weekend retreat at the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada for the third year in a row.  The workshop was filled to capacity – twenty-five participants in all – with people coming from the mainland as well as various island locations.  Scott began on the Friday evening with an overview his way of working  with people.  He emphasized the importance of being with feelings rather than thinking about them or trying to change them.  By-passing emotions doesn’t work in the long run.  The two  most important factors in working with oneself are “readiness” and skillful means.  Scott offers education in the skill of inquiry into one’s life issues but he can’t give anyone readiness, although he can bring the issue into awareness.  Readiness must come from the individual.  Scott invited the group to look at ways they have not been ready for something in the past and how they might not feel ready in the present.  The group discussed their findings.     On Saturday morning Scott led us through some chigong and breathing exercises to awaken the life energy or kundalini, which can produce a sense of well being when regularly practiced.  He then spoke more about the basics of his work.  Essentially it is about looking at whatever is going on from the viewpoint of awareness.  He gave suggestions about how to implement this looking, including noticing the space around any phenomenon and observing any push or pull away from or towards what is present.  He guided the group into looking at words, pictures, and sensations or energy connected with any phenomenon and how to unhook from the “velcro” effect which is holding sticky emotions in place.  Simply resting as awareness may sometimes be enough but, if not, then the specific inquiries Scott has developed can be very useful.  The paradoxical truth is that when we genuinely stop trying to get rid of feelings they often disappear by themselves.  The morning ended with Scott speaking briefly of his connection with Krishnamurti’s teachings and a half hour video about K’s life and teachings.    In the afternoon we explored Scott’s “Unfindability Inquiry” as a group and then some intense work was done with one individual which demonstrated how an actual session can unfold.  In the evening there was discussion of anxiety and how to use the “Anxiety Inquiry”.   Attention was given to how breathing into the diaphragm can be very helpful as well as some simple tapping techniques.  Working with trauma was discussed and there were many questions from participants which Scott responded to very skillfully.     On Sunday morning we did more breath work and then Scott led a meditation to clear the chakras by asking questions to trigger and bring to awareness holding patterns or blockages around the issues relevant to each energy centre.   In the afternoon we looked at how to sustain and deepen the practices we had learned over the weekend.  It was a great weekend and it seemed all participants were very grateful for the opportunity to spend time with this extraordinary teacher.

  Science and Non-duality Event Sunday, November 22, 2015 On Sunday afternoon we showed a number of interviews with people who had presented at the Science and Non-duality Conference in San Francisco in October.  This was material not publicly available on You Tube or the internet.  It included questions put to Adyashanti, Rupert Spira, and A.H. Almaas, as well as a couple of scientists, on the nature of the spiritual journey and the connection or lack of it with science.  We also looked at a discussion between David Suzuki and David Bohm on the meeting of science and spirituality, Dr. Bohm’s interest in Krishnamurti, and a clear summary of the essence of K’s teachings.  Five participants enjoyed the excellent videos which were then followed by some interesting group inquiry.

Victoria Krishnamurti Event Church of Truth Sunday, November 8, 2015 The topic for the Victoria meeting this month was Death and Dying. The session was attended by eight people, some of whom were new to KECC events. A video of Krishnamurti speaking on death opened the session. He pointed to the necessity of letting go of attachment and explored the kind of looking and listening involved. A reading from the text Freedom from the Known followed and was a stimulus for some group discussion. After the tea break the group watched a video clip of Rupert Spira answering a question about the fear of losing oneself or one’s consciousness. Rupert spoke of the knowing awareness that is always present as the essential ingredient of all experience. Another short video was shown of Eckhart Tolle addressing a question about how to deal with the loss of a loved one, followed by a final short clip of ideas from Krishnamurti about death combined with images of nature. The meeting was drawn to a close with some further discussion and sharing.

Science and Nonduality Weekend October 23 – 25, 2015     The weekend event was focused on the Science and Nonduality Conference taking place in San Francisco.  Most of the material was streamed live from the event or shown just after the live event.  We also added some video material on Friday night as there was nothing available live from the conference.  Fourteen people attended the Friday evening session which featured a video from the 1970’s of David Suzuki interviewing David Bohm on the topic of his scientific work in quantum physics and its connection with J. Krishnamurti.  It was an excellent dialogue between the two and a clear explanation of Krishnamurti’s approach to the challenges of our times.  Bohm spoke of the need to understand our conditioning and to see through the “program” of our incoherent thought.  We then looked at a dialogue between Bohm and Krishnamurti exploring the nature of consciousness.   Bohm is adept at asking questions which invite K to present his ideas in a clear manner which listeners may more easily grasp.  The main focus was on seeing that thought is always limited and can never respond adequately to the challenges of life.  The videos were followed by a lengthy and in depth group exploration of the themes presented.     The rest of the weekend was guided by schedule of the conference in San Francisco.  There was a variety of presenters coming from  scientific, “spiritual”, and therapeutic perspectives, and an interest in integrating the various approaches.  The speakers were mostly excellent – wise, humorous, and lively – and the thirteen participants at the K Centre greatly enjoyed the experience.  The presentations included explorations of the brain, the emotions, trauma and healing, meditation and non-duality, lucid dreaming and its relevance to our daily life, self inquiry, and more.  We were very pleased with the turnout for this last minute substitute event and the engaging participation of those present.  There were requests to repeat the event next year.