A Glimpse Into Total Freedom September 25 – 27, 2015 Richard Waxburg and Deborah Kerner, from Ojai, California,  joined us for the second year in a row as the facilitators for a weekend exploration into freedom. Their mode of working is mostly inquiry in a group setting.  Topics are proposed for possible exploration, but the actual process is a very open and spontaneous investigation of whatever the group members bring forward.  A booklet used as the guide for the retreat says, “Working together, we want to explore and expose the nature of consciousness, what we think of as the “self”, or “me-idea”; the sense that there is a thought -based conscious entity, a controller, a center, that resides inside of us, that has continuity and exists in time, with a past, a present, and a future.”  Richard spoke of the fact that the “me” idea is being continually questioned and challenged within the group inquiry and therefore has no place to hide.  In being exposed and seen clearly, the “me” will lose strength and the dimensions of “being” will be more accessible.  The whole weekend was essentially focused on this process.  Participants took up the invitation to look and listen with total attention and to explore how they are responding to each moment.  Is there “something” that responds, or can one respond as “nothing”, with no resistance?  Just the seeing of resistance is very valuable and necessary in exploring our true nature.  The eleven participants all felt the weekend was extremely interesting and worthwhile, and Deborah and Richard expressed an intention to return next year.

On a lovely, sunny Labour Day, ten friends gathered at KECC to inquire as to how K’s teachings relate perfectly to Douglas Harding’s Headless Way. And K’s reference to the fact that freedom must include both the touch of the scientist as well as non-verbal perception in a talk in 1969 in the UK called, “The Flight of the Eagle.” We watched two short videos of both J Krishnamurti and one of his long time students and founding teacher at Brockwood Park, Alan Rowlands. We explored Douglas Harding’s the “Science of the First-Person Singular, Present Tense.” Doing several of the experiments that point back to the Place we are all looking from to See our true Face. Then we went outdoors to celebrate finding our true nature while “apparently” walking the lovely nature trails on the centre property. And discovering the fact that we are not in nature but that nature is IN us. Lots of laughter and insights hanging out with new “Headless” friends!

Inquiry Sunday Sunday, September 7, 2015 The morning session included a video of Bentinho Massaro, a young spiritual teacher, being interviewed by Chris Hebard on his Stillness Speaks program.  Chris does an excellent job of drawing out the teachers he dialogues with and the video was felt to be very interesting by the six people attending.  Much of what he said was similar to Krishnamurti’s teachings and also there were interesting differences which were felt to be complimentary rather than contradictory.  The six participants engaged in a lively discussion of the material viewed and expressed their enjoyment and appreciation of the event. In the afternoon we showed two fairly short video clips of Krishnamurti speaking on freedom.  The first was from the Evelyn Blau series Beyond Myth and Tradition, and the second was a part of a Brockwood Park question and answer session in 1980.  The question asked of K was “What is Freedom?”  He went into it in his usual step by step fashion, challenging the audience to inquire for themselves into issues of attachment and belief which prevent the realization of freedom in one’s life.  We then had an excellent group discussion, beginning with looking at the barriers to freedom in our own life experience. The seven participants were all engaged in the lively sharing and exploration.        

    Weekend Retreat at the Centre Living as Meditative Inquiry August 21 – 23, 2015 This weekend retreat was led by Ashwani Kumar, Professor of Education at the Mt. Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  In the opening session on Friday night, Ashwani jumped right in to serious inquiry by asking the group if they experience that the mind is in a constant struggle to become something or achieve something.  What is the mind seeking, and is it strengthening itself through all this busyness and activity?  It was clear from the start that Ashwani has a great clarity and passion when it comes to investigating the nature of thought and feeling, and that he wanted to stick only to questions that are real and relevant for the participants.  This was very welcome and refreshing for most of us most of the time.  The evening session, attended by ten people, was concluded with a guided relaxation and awareness exercise which was effective in relaxing the body and making self observation more easy and available.  Eleven people were able to attend the Saturday sessions.  We began with a review of what had been done the previous evening and reports from everyone on their experiences.  We then entered into further exploration of struggle and self observation in which there were a number of viewpoints and understandings communicated by different people, with Ashwani always emphasizing that the most important thing is to look for ourselves and see what we find.  The morning ended with some movement and relaxation.  In the afternoon we started with an exercise writing down whatever came to mind for ten minutes without any editing.  The results were not shared but the participants reported various “interesting” experiences.  Then for half an hour we were to follow every thought that arose and stay with it until it was felt to have completed itself entirely.  This is something recommended by Krishnamurti and was found to be powerful in penetrating into the thought process and seeing its nature more deeply.  After discussion of the exercises we were asked to take quiet time until lunch in order to be with ourselves and allow space for reflection and insight. Saturday evening was time for open dialogue during which some deep questions and issues were looked at.  Ashwani brought in the idea of an “existential insecurity”, which is not a psychological issue but, rather, a force of cleansing and transformation in all human beings if they are in touch with it.  There was much debate about this and it was questioned if there might be a better name for it, like “the flow of life”, which would have no negative connotation.  This writer later wondered if Krishnamurti’s term “the flame of discontent’ might be pointing to the same reality.  Whatever it is to be called, I found the exploration of this possibility fascinating and most relevant as it is something I’ve been aware of my whole life.  The night session was completed with a “gibberish” meditation which was new for most but was found very effective in releasing energy and bringing about a quiet mind. Sunday began with a discussion of what had happened the previous night, followed by a powerful Krishnamurti video on “The Beginning of Meditation” from a 1978 Brockwood talk.  There was quiet time until lunch and a chance to enjoy the lovely property.  After lunch Ashwani led another relaxation exercise, followed by group dialogue until the end of the retreat.  The whole weekend was one of focused investigation into the self and experiential learning about the “practice” of ongoing meditative inquiry.  An excellent and valuable weekend!               

  Six of us took part in watching a recent Eckhart Tolle talk on August 8th, which focused on discovery of the essential beingness that supersedes our experience of the self. A key message was focused on:  realization of who we are in essence, beyond the person.  Mastery of life involves moving towards living in two dimensions simultaneously – the form based existence being in balance with pure beingness.  We each have the capacity to effectively balance being and becoming (e.g. practicing stillness/surrender with pursuing goals – such as a career, education etc.)  The key is being able to orient to the present moment in small ways through the day, and over time, deepening that awareness of the present moment as our foundation.  He notes that a balance between being and doing actually changes the nature of the doing – doing can be informed by the being… and a drive towards ‘compulsive doing’ can slip away.  The starting point for this balance is the allowance of more space (allowing moments of non-thinking – which can become more frequent as we begin to release our identification as our ‘stories’ or thoughts). The group members each shared some key messages that resonated with us, and one member shared her perspective that Tolle’s message linked very closely to a recent Krishnamurti-based retreat that she attended where Dr. Hillary Rodrigues emphasized similar teachings from K.  For example, choiceless awareness of all our senses can come very naturally to us, including our inner sense of self and thought. Releasing identification or association with the mentally fabricated self and becoming more acquainted with the space in which thoughts arise can help us to see the truth of this for ourselves.  It’s always interesting to see how closely K’s teachings resonates with a number of current day teachers. Thanks all for making this another enjoyable afternoon of discovery, and thank you to KECC for their support in hosting this event.