Over the last six months I’ve been deeply intrigued by the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti. He was not at all the type of spiritual guru many people might assume. He firmly rejected any efforts to paint him as such (he rejected the notion of being a guru, and also of having followers). In actuality, his teachings were rooted in an almost supernatural understanding of human psychology, and he explored the nature of self and thought in a way that is stunningly intelligent and lucid. On the surface, his observations can come across as very intellectual, and yet what he was doing is pointing us beyond the realm of words and thought to a place of true freedom. Many of his concepts are actually quite simple, such as his explanations of the relationship between self and society. Those concepts that are more complicated are revealed as being quite sublime once they have begun to find their way into the deeper layers of the psyche. One of Krishnamurti’s key observations is that “the observer is the observed”. This can also be interpreted as “the thinker is the thought”. He asserted that thinking and the entity perceived as thethinker are in actuality a unitary process. And this makes perfect sense to me, although my understanding is still limited to the realm of intellectual thought. Really, there is only thought occurring in the field of awareness, and the entity we understand as being the thinker- the self- is no more than a defined sense we develop as a result of conscious and subconscious processes that draw on the accumulated knowledge of our past experiences. Even as we project this self onto our experience as it is unfolding in the present, we are simply making sense of the present by juxtaposing it with knowledge from the past. That knowledge that we are using to interpret the present is always extremely limited, even being rooted in a deep form of existential ignorance, and so we are perceiving our experience in a very limited and disconnected way. In other words, we are living in our limited understanding of the past as it relates to the present, and that includes the way we perceive ourselves. This would be fine if it did not also lead to so much conflict in our personal lives, and also on a global societal level. It can be argued that all conflict, as it manifests both personally and socially, is the result of this fragmented way of existing. We may sometimes break through this barrier to the present moment, in moments when our egos aren’t being triggered by external objects or events. Perhaps in those moments when we truly feel we are one with nature then we may be achieving a less distorted way of being. Personally, I have a great deal of affinity for the ocean and the forest, and when I’m in nature I notice that I’m not necessarily relating to my surroundings through the lens of the “I”. I have often felt that the sights and sounds of the ocean inhabit my being in a way that frees me from the burdens of my self, of my ego. I think that might be a glimpse of a different way of being. It’s much harder to achieve and maintain this state in a world of other “I’s”, subconsciously working at substantiating and perpetuating themselves as individuals in ways that are often competitive, superficial and passively aggressive. With the right understanding, with the right insight, I wonder if it might be possible to live without always relating to our experiences with the “I” at the centre, possibly freeing ourselves from the tension and anxiety of the constant state of inner reaction that now dominates most of our lives. If only we could truly see that this transient “I” that we are always defending and striving to nurture and reinforce is not at all what we think it is- that we are infinitely more sublime and essential than that- I wonder if we might wake up and sigh a sigh of relief that could be felt by all humankind.

  “Quieting the Monkey Mind” Retreat July 25 – 27     Three guests were invited by the Krishnamurti Educational Centre to facilitate a weekend retreat focused on the teachings of J. Krishnamurti.  Mark Lee was for many years the Director of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America in Ojai, California.  He was accompanied by his wife Asha and by Josip Pasic, a psychiatrist from Chicago deeply versed in K’s teachings.   Nineteen people were in attendance when the retreat opened on Friday evening with a talk by each of the three facilitators.   Mark Lee spoke of the mandate of the Krishnamurti Centres around the world to disseminate K’s teachings and then talked about the significance of retreat and quiet contemplation.  In the face of the potential vastness of the subjects being addressed by Krishnamurti and the issues involved in quieting the monkey mind Mark stressed the importance of keeping the inquiry real and actual rather than speculative and intellectual.  Asha emphasized the importance of real listening and a friendly, open attitude in sharing the investigation within a group setting, and Josip spoke in some depth about the difference between knowledge and direct experiencing, the conscious and subconscious mind, and how thought is causing trouble and suffering in our lives.  Psychological thought (as opposed to practical and technological thought) is limiting and divisive, causing conflict and isolation.  Thought creates the idea of a separate me and you, us and them.   Thought cannot solve its own problems and what are expected to be solutions found by thought turn out to be just more problems in disguise.   Psychological problems need to be dissolved, not solved.  Josip then outlined the issue of the “virtual self”, a centre created by thought as the “me”.   Living from this virtual self there can only be conflict in relationship and there will always be a deep loneliness.  He emphasized the need for a shift from the “life of things” to “essential living”. The introductory ideas set the tone for the rest of the retreat.  Krishnamurti audios and videos from the 1980s were played, these relating very much to the same subjects as well as to other aspects of understanding the mind, the brain, and their relationship.  There was time for nature walks, quiet meditation on the lovely property, and rest time.  There were a number of group dialogues and one text study session using Commentaries On Living, Third Series.  Challenging topics and questions were addressed, such as “What is the root of fear?” and “Can the brain function as a whole, not dividing and creating separation?”  The participants became very much involved in the discussions and took them to a fairly deep level.   As Mark pointed out, there are often no black or white answers but rather an invitation to explore and inquire for ourselves – and perhaps come upon something beyond words and concepts.

The self you believe yourself to be is a fiction. How can something you believe, something you perceive, be the true you? Are you merely an object in your own mind? Can that which perceives look outward and behold itself outside of itself? You cannot be something that exists in the field of your own perception, though- as impossible as that is- that is exactly what you have been conditioned to believe you are. No, you are not this internal image of yourself, that exists only in relation to other images from your experience- you are something infinitely more sacred than that. The way we “see ourselves” has disconnected us from our true selves, and causes us immense suffering. You are not a belief, not a thought, not an object, not an image. You are pure consciousness. You are not just alive… You are life itself.

  Inquiry Sunday July 6, 2014 Afternoon Session     Six people met to view a DVD of Krishnamurti in the Evelyn Blau series, this one entitled “What is the Religious Mind?”   Krishnamurti spoke on what is not religion, not the sacred, and the necessity of putting aside what it is not.   What is left is the real thing.   After the half hour video the group split up into pairs and shared in a structured sharing process what had been significant for them in the material seen and how it applies in their lives.  There was then time for a group discussion, which became quite involved with what it means to “die” psychologically and what we are afraid of in approaching such a radical letting go of the known.   Participants expressed an appreciation of the whole session with its various aspects and ways of exploring.

  Krishnamurti Video Showing Victoria, June 8, 2014     The public Krishnamurti video showing and dialogue for the month of June in Victoria was held at the Church of Truth location on Superior Street.  Twelve people attended the presentation of an interview from 1981 wherein a British BBC personality, Bernard Levin, spoke with K for half an hour.   Levin asked a series of penetrating questions in the attempt to more fully comprehend what K is expressing in his teaching.  The interview has a freshness and spontaneity to it that is quite delightful as well as producing some very interesting responses on the part of Krishnamurti. The interview was followed by another half hour DVD on “Meditation” from the Real Revolution series of talk from Ojai, 1966.  This was the first time Krishnamurti had allowed his talks to be videotaped and the energy and passion of the man at that time of his life (71 years old) is fully evident.   After a short silent period and the serving of some tea, the group entered into a lively dialogue spanning a few different aspects of what had been seen in the videos and what K seems to be inviting us to explore on our own accord.   A central topic of investigation was how we are to proceed in looking at ourselves and the importance of awareness or attention in the moment as opposed to a seeking of some conceptual understanding by a process of analysis or thinking.   As is often the case, the significance of seeing the arising of a “me”, “observer”, or “self” in the thinking process was central to the discussion.  The seeing is the action;  no other action is needed.   It seems curious to notice how something that is perhaps in essence very simple can become quite complicated as soon as we enter into conceptualization and discussion.   A key ingredient to effective and useful exploration was seen to be the interest level of the participants and the seeing of the danger of living without attention and clear seeing.