From the standpoint of Absolute Being, let’s take closer look at the “observer” and so-called relative world and what science sometimes calls the unified field of energy, because it appears it is a hot topic today. Unified field. Hmmm…if ever there was a complex, nuclear-physics-sounding, excuse-me-while-I-mentally-numb-out-for-the-next-few-paragraphs term, that’s it. If one speaks of this unified field in terms of physics, it is complex. If one were to speak of the human scene or what some call the relative or finite world, science has long said the underlying or driving force of the entire so-called “universe” appears to be energy. But this energy also appears to be in a constant state of random reaction. It implies that all events in the universe occur randomly, or by sheer chance. Scientists have puzzled that, if there is an Omniscience, An All-Knowing One – how could it have a hand in something based on randomness or chance – instead of certainty, intelligence, permanence? Even Einstein wasn’t able to explain it, but said he couldn’t accept the notion of a God that “plays dice” with the universe. A key issue is that this constantly reacting field of energy appears to be the very “source” or cause underlying the entire stellar universe, all matter, and all human experience. Constantly changing energy is what appears to “drive” the whole universe; it appears to cause all movement, change and time. This energy also seems to have qualities of being self-replenishing or “eternal”, which is why it’s so tantalizing to human thinking. To say something is the cause or “creator” of a universe, and also eternal, may sound like a description of “God” to a human way of thinking. Is it? From a human “observer” viewpoint, energy is said to be the key to science’s long-sought “Theory Of Everything.” Energy may be the key to everything finite – but it’s not the key to Reality or Being. This energy can seem puzzling, too. On one hand, it is constantly reacting and changing. Yet when seen in its entirety as one whole, the vast energy field underlying the universe appears to be unchanging. It seems unaffected by time, or “eternal.” How could it be both at once – always changing, yet never changing? Is it an unsolvable paradox? To try to explain it the human sensing “mind” has two ways of looking at its energy field. The first sees energy in terms of its parts; those parts would be the tiny atomic particles, waves or strings, and other finite forms of energy known to physicists – always vibrating, reacting and changing in time. Seen this way, since these forms vibrate and move in never-present time, they’re never truly being. They never stop changing to be what really is, so they couldn’t be called Reality. These forms also can be measured or calculated to some extent by scientists, which means they’re finite, and not the Infinite. In contrast, when this energy field is taken as one whole, everything appears different. Seen in its entirety and not as separate parts, the energy field appears constant, in a state of balance. It’s the way every action has an equal and opposite reaction, keeping it in equilibrium overall. Seen as a whole, the energy field never changes, never gains or looses anything. That is why it appears “eternal.” As a whole, it is also too vast to measure – thus has been called infinite. So which is this energy field – a lot of parts or one whole? Is energy finite or infinite; mortal or divine? Or why can’t it be both at once? Some might say this is the same paradox spoken of in Eastern religions – that the universe is both – simultaneous a state of change and non-change. Wait a minute. Are there really two states in the first place – both Infinite Being and also a relative finite realm of non-being? Do the two states co-exist? WHO SAYS SO? Only a finite human “sense-mind” would be trying to say there are two states – both Infinite Being and also a relative finite realm of time, non-being. Infinite Being Itself isn’t saying any such thing. From the standpoint of Infinite Being, there is only Itself – the Infinite, endless, borderless One. And Infinite Being is all that is being to be anything. The only thing assuming there are two states – that in addition to One changeless Being, there also is a changing finite realm of energy, time and non-being – would be the so-called finite mind! But that’s the “mind” that never is being! As that “mind” doesn’t truly exist, one can’t go by what it would try to say. Infinite Being is all that truly is, which leaves One Realm – Its own. To “look out as” Infinite Being (and there’s no choice, since nothing else is being) is to see that Being never comes to an end of Its Absolute Being. Again, at no point in Being could a state of anything not Itself – non-Being, or time – ever have begun, because if it’s not-Being, it’s not being! There is only the specific, utter Presence of Being. This is clear only by identifying as the Infinite Being You are – which is something that would-be human thinking never does. The only answer to the seeming “paradox” is to start from, or as, Being. AGAIN…WHO SAYS SO? As the finite sensing “mind” completely is not being, it simply couldn’t be a valid basis for knowing anything real or true. All it would purportedly know, including its universe of energy and time, its paradoxes, and most of all, itself and all of its “observations”, equally is not being. In fact, it would be the same one “sense-mind” that seems to play both roles – the “mind” comprises both the universe of energy that is observed, and acts as the thinker that is “observing” and trying to account for that universe – for the universe has no existence apart from the “mind.” But none of it ever is. It’s the cat of non-being chasing its own tail!
Studying Love
/in Event Summaries /by David BruneauKrishnamurti Study Session Saturday, April 19, 2014 Nine people gathered to study the second half of chapter 10 in Freedom From the Known. Some of the challenges posed by K in this segment are: what it means to really care about our children or other human beings, seeing not with our minds but from “the very bottom of your heart” that our sorrow is self-created or created by thought, the importance of “passion without a motive” and of an “innocent mind”, as well as other equally significant issues. In addition to exploring these issues, the group looked into the question of what, if anything, can be “done” in order to come upon the love which is not of time, not of the self. Krishnamurti’s “negative” approach was discussed, whereby that in ourselves which is not love is clearly seen and discarded, leaving what remains as the “positive”, the direct knowing of the reality of love. It was asked whether it is possible for us to know this love given that we are so strongly conditioned by society and habitual ways of thinking and feeling. This produced some interesting dialogue and questioning of assumptions concerning such a possibility, including the possibility that we are convincing ourselves of the difficulty of any real knowing by our very ways of thinking about it. There was a keen participation by all present. These meetings do seem to be attracting a group of regular and serious inquirers.
Krishnamurti Video and Dialogue Meeting
/in Event Summaries /by David BruneauKrishnamurti Video and Dialogue Event Sunday, April 13, 2014. Location: Church of Truth in Victoria The video showing of a talk by J. Krishnamurti was attended by ten people. An Ojai talk from 1982 focusing on the causes of conflict was shown, followed by a group dialogue. K spoke about the importance of contacting the feeling of wholeness in ourselves, the factors of fragmentation and conflict, and the significance of love and beauty, amongst other subjects. Questions arose from participants regarding the possibility of living without fragmentation in daily life and activity, what kind of awareness is necessary for living in a non-fragmented way, and the tendency of the mind to make a “knowing” or concept out of any insight or understanding that takes place. As usual in these discussions, there was an investigation into the sense of a “self” and the implications of acting from a psychological “centre”. A further exploration started up towards the end of the session considering the question, “Is it thought that becomes aware of its own limitations or is it something beyond thought – that we might call awareness – that is aware of the limitations of thought?” The investigation was left to be continued in a future session.
On Love
/in Event Summaries /by Ralph TillerThis morning this poignant inquiry into a perennial favorite emerged from cyberspace and struck a chord: “Do you know what it means to love another? Have you ever loved anybody? Is love dependence? Is love desire? Is love pleasure? I don’t love my wife; she doesn’t love me. We are two separate individuals. We may meet sexually, otherwise we carry on in our own particular way. Do you understand, sirs? Does love exist in this country? Don’t ask, `Does it exist in Europe?’ When the speaker is in Europe, he talks about it there. But we are talking about it here as we are in this country, in this part of the world. Is there love in this country? Do you love anybody? Can love exist with fear, when each one is becoming something? Can love exist when I am becoming a saint and she is not, or she is becoming a saint and I am not, when each one is becoming? Please understand all this. It is your life. When each one is becoming something, how can there be love? Is it possible to love another without wanting a single thing from another, either emotionally, physically, in any way, not ask my wife for anything? Psychologically, she may care for my need, for I may bring money. I am not talking about that. But inwardly, love cannot exist where there is attachment. If you are attached to your guru, there is no love in your heart. This is very, very serious. Without love, there is no right action. We talk about action. We do so many kinds of social work. But when there is love in your heart, in your eyes, in your blood, in your face, you are a different human being. Whatever you do then has beauty, has grace, is a right action. All this may be excellent words you hear. But will you have this quality? It cannot be cultivated, it cannot be practised, it cannot be bought from your guru, from anywhere. But without that, you are dead human beings. So what will you do? Please do ask this question, find out for yourself why this flame does not exist, why you have become such paupers. Unless you put your house in order, your house, which is yourselves, there will be no order in the world. You may meditate for the rest of your life; but without that, your meditation has no meaning. So, please, most respectfully we are asking, what is your response?” J. Krishnamurti
The Art of Listening
/in Event Summaries /by Ralph TillerCame across this reminder today about the art of listening, with nature, the great teacher, now in full bloom at the Centre: “Bring awareness to the many subtle sounds of nature-the rustling of leaves in the wind, raindrops falling, the humming of an insect, the first birdsong at dawn. Give yourself completely to the act of listening. Beyond the sounds there is something greater: a sacredness that cannot be understood through thought.” J. Krishnamurti
The Poetry of “K”
/in Event Summaries /by David BruneauA friend sent this K quote yesterday. At one time I seemed to be totally in love with his teaching or non-teaching, which I am sure he would prefer. I think I read almost all of his books and watched many hours of his recorded video talks. But I, like a lot of other so-called seekers, really didn’t understand exactly what he was saying or pointing to. And I still don’t! Now I know there are lots of so-called K experts that attempt to explain what he was saying, and I am in no way belittling anything they might say. However, I think the very fact that he couldn’t really be understood was what seemed so compelling about what he said… that, and the fact that there was finality to his words that somehow seemed irrefutably true. It’s funny, but Wikipedia and others classify his non-teaching as philosophy. And I think he might cringe at that label. For me his words were more like good poetry, or Leonard Cohen’s songs:; one didn’t really understand what’s being said but somehow loved to listen to or read it anyway. – J. Krishnamurti Commentaries on Living Series I Chapter 41 Awareness “Problems will always exist where the activities of the self are dominant. To be aware which are and which are not the activities of the self needs constant vigilance. This vigilance is not disciplined attention, but an extensive awareness which is choiceless. Disciplined attention gives strength to the self; it becomes a substitute and a dependence. Awareness, on the other hand, is not self-induced, nor is it the outcome of practice; it is understanding the whole content of the problem, the hidden as well as the superficial. The surface must be understood for the hidden to show itself; the hidden cannot be exposed if the surface mind is not quiet. This whole process is not verbal, nor is it a matter of mere experience. Verbalization indicates dullness of mind; and experience, being cumulative, makes for repetitiousness. Awareness is not a matter of determination, for purposive direction is resistance, which tends towards exclusiveness. Awareness is the silent and choiceless observation of what is; in this awareness the problem unrolls itself, and thus it is fully and completely understood. A problem is never solved on its own level; being complex, it must be understood in its total process. To try to solve a problem on only one level, physical or psychological, leads to further conflict and confusion. For the resolution of a problem, there must be this awareness, this passive alertness which reveals its total process.”
A Weekend Retreat
/in Event Summaries /by Ralph TillerWeekend Retreat with Dr. Ravi Ravindra “Self-knowledge and the Awakening of Intelligence” March 21 – 23, 2014 The retreat opened with a talk by Dr. Ravindra at the Swanwick Centre (KECC) on Friday evening at 7 pm. It was very well attended by thirty people. Dr. Ravindra discussed some of the subtleties of the words used in the title of the retreat. For example, the word “self” has many different levels of meaning in different spiritual traditions and even within the same tradition. Knowledge may refer to various kinds of knowing and understanding. Similarly, “awakening” and “intelligence”. The material provided for some interesting exploration and the audience had numerous questions to put to Dr. Ravindra at the completion of the talk. Some participants stayed on site for the weekend while others commuted each day. Altogether 15 people attended the weekend. Dr. Ravindra started off the morning on both Saturday and Sunday with a twenty minute guided meditation on relaxation and receptivity, that demonstarted the power of awareness to create change. The rest of the time was spent in a number of activities such as a meditative nature walk on the property, some small group explorations on the topic of self-knowledge, and a number of talks and group discussions about Krishnamurti’s teachings. At one point the group moved up to the Guest Cottage for some simple movement exercises along with some musical accompaniment by one of the participants. Dr. Ravindra has a wealth of experience with Krishnamurti, including numerous personal meetings, and was able to share many stories and introduce points of discussion with the purpose of shedding some light on the man and, more particularly, on our own process of self exploration in relation to K’s expression of truth. This was supplemented on Saturday night with a video of K speaking on “What Is Meditation?”, a powerful presentation which produced a desire to remain with it in silence until retiring to bed. The retreat ended with a group discussion considering to what extent we are controlling the events of our lives and whether there is any permanent self. It became clear that some of these deeper questions are not easy to answer and there may be a number of angles or perspectives that could be taken which may not be mutually exclusive. The real situation may not be linear or logical in the conventional way at all. The feedback showed that participants felt very pleased with the weekend and the value they had derived from the experience.
Retreat Musings
/in Event Summaries /by David BruneauA Gathering with Ravi Murmurs hover over steaming mugs of tea in the main house as people gather for the next adventure in truth (a path less land according to Krishnamurti) It’s tough going at times, listening to Krishnamurti’s recordings – a compact yet intensely vehement man from another era, so brisk in his delivery. The complimentary dimension that Ravi Ravindra brings offers a gentle intelligence and humble insight into how Krishnamurti’s words have impacted his own awareness and perceptions. The implications I take away are simple but not obvious. Integrating Krishnamurti’s pointers with my own experience I take the following away from this exceptional retreat: Give authority to nobody when it comes to spiritual intelligence – my inner senses will take me to a natural essential experience of truth Freedom comes when I am able to detach from my mental/emotional history – the stories, feelings and symbols that enshroud my pure essence Release from these entanglements is effortless, through quiet observation of my inner world and fearless acknowledgement of the thoughts and judgements I hold about the ‘me’ I think I am In the light of awareness the false sense of self dissolves – leaving me here in the now with truth and divinity Thank you to Ravi Ravindra, to Krishnamurti and to Swanwick for this oasis of reflection and insight! Other musings emerging during the retreat… Still Embrace God finds his way through the stillness Emerging drenched in life in the chatter of a songbird – or — in the new rings of an old oak tree Stillness waits, expecting nothing, but revelling in its gentle dance with love-imbued forms Like the earth under Buddha’s tender feet after finding enlightenment, the creations around us can only thrive and blossom when gazed upon from our still awareness Even the nest of old bricks – men’s work – reverberate with life in the quiet embrace of Swanwick’s hidden places
Not Minding What Happens
/in Event Summaries /by Ralph TillerJust came across this quote by Eckhart Tolle while busy with catching up after a two week absence. It reminds me of K’s ‘secret’ that “I don’t mind what happens”: “By knowing yourself as the awareness in which phenomenal existence happens, you become free of dependency on phenomena and free of self seeking in situations, places, and conditions. In other words, what happens or doesn’t happen is not that important anymore. Things lose their heaviness, their seriousness. A playfulness comes into your life. You recognize this world as a cosmic dance, the dance of form. No more and no less.”
Good News…We Won!
/in Event Summaries /by David BruneauThe Olympic Games are in full swing and this morning someone said … “Hey good news, we won!” My reply was, “What did we win?” “The hockey game!” Came the response. She then asked if I followed the Olympics. I said, no not really, I tend not to have any interest in team competition. From here especially agressive team competition is divisive and tends to divide people leading to all kinds of other conflict, violence and even war. I like to fly over different apparent countries and see if I can see any dotted lines in the landscape to separate one country from another. This brought up the subject of “pride”. I tried to explain that if one identifies with a country, a race, a cause and especially one’s personality, then pride will rear its ugly head and cause conflict. And I am emphatically not against any sport or competing per se, it is all part of what is at the moment, and it’s all good. Later I goggled J. Krishnamurti links on this website and found this quote. K went far deeper into this subject and most of his talks and writings centred on the apparent conflict caused by identifying with the apparent “I” or self of the personality – with most of the conflict being seemingly internal, rather than external or “out there.” “Man has accepted conflict as an innate part of daily existence because he has accepted competition, jealousy, greed, acquisitiveness and aggression as a natural way of life. When we accept such a way of life we accept the structure of society as it is and live within the pattern of respectability. And that is what most of us are caught in because most of us want to be terribly respectable. When we examine our own minds and hearts, the way we think, the way we feel and how we act in our daily lives, we observe that as long as we conform to the pattern of society, life must be a battlefield.” Jiddu Krishnamurti – Freedom from the Known
A Closer Look at the Observer
/in Event Summaries /by David BruneauFrom the standpoint of Absolute Being, let’s take closer look at the “observer” and so-called relative world and what science sometimes calls the unified field of energy, because it appears it is a hot topic today. Unified field. Hmmm…if ever there was a complex, nuclear-physics-sounding, excuse-me-while-I-mentally-numb-out-for-the-next-few-paragraphs term, that’s it. If one speaks of this unified field in terms of physics, it is complex. If one were to speak of the human scene or what some call the relative or finite world, science has long said the underlying or driving force of the entire so-called “universe” appears to be energy. But this energy also appears to be in a constant state of random reaction. It implies that all events in the universe occur randomly, or by sheer chance. Scientists have puzzled that, if there is an Omniscience, An All-Knowing One – how could it have a hand in something based on randomness or chance – instead of certainty, intelligence, permanence? Even Einstein wasn’t able to explain it, but said he couldn’t accept the notion of a God that “plays dice” with the universe. A key issue is that this constantly reacting field of energy appears to be the very “source” or cause underlying the entire stellar universe, all matter, and all human experience. Constantly changing energy is what appears to “drive” the whole universe; it appears to cause all movement, change and time. This energy also seems to have qualities of being self-replenishing or “eternal”, which is why it’s so tantalizing to human thinking. To say something is the cause or “creator” of a universe, and also eternal, may sound like a description of “God” to a human way of thinking. Is it? From a human “observer” viewpoint, energy is said to be the key to science’s long-sought “Theory Of Everything.” Energy may be the key to everything finite – but it’s not the key to Reality or Being. This energy can seem puzzling, too. On one hand, it is constantly reacting and changing. Yet when seen in its entirety as one whole, the vast energy field underlying the universe appears to be unchanging. It seems unaffected by time, or “eternal.” How could it be both at once – always changing, yet never changing? Is it an unsolvable paradox? To try to explain it the human sensing “mind” has two ways of looking at its energy field. The first sees energy in terms of its parts; those parts would be the tiny atomic particles, waves or strings, and other finite forms of energy known to physicists – always vibrating, reacting and changing in time. Seen this way, since these forms vibrate and move in never-present time, they’re never truly being. They never stop changing to be what really is, so they couldn’t be called Reality. These forms also can be measured or calculated to some extent by scientists, which means they’re finite, and not the Infinite. In contrast, when this energy field is taken as one whole, everything appears different. Seen in its entirety and not as separate parts, the energy field appears constant, in a state of balance. It’s the way every action has an equal and opposite reaction, keeping it in equilibrium overall. Seen as a whole, the energy field never changes, never gains or looses anything. That is why it appears “eternal.” As a whole, it is also too vast to measure – thus has been called infinite. So which is this energy field – a lot of parts or one whole? Is energy finite or infinite; mortal or divine? Or why can’t it be both at once? Some might say this is the same paradox spoken of in Eastern religions – that the universe is both – simultaneous a state of change and non-change. Wait a minute. Are there really two states in the first place – both Infinite Being and also a relative finite realm of non-being? Do the two states co-exist? WHO SAYS SO? Only a finite human “sense-mind” would be trying to say there are two states – both Infinite Being and also a relative finite realm of time, non-being. Infinite Being Itself isn’t saying any such thing. From the standpoint of Infinite Being, there is only Itself – the Infinite, endless, borderless One. And Infinite Being is all that is being to be anything. The only thing assuming there are two states – that in addition to One changeless Being, there also is a changing finite realm of energy, time and non-being – would be the so-called finite mind! But that’s the “mind” that never is being! As that “mind” doesn’t truly exist, one can’t go by what it would try to say. Infinite Being is all that truly is, which leaves One Realm – Its own. To “look out as” Infinite Being (and there’s no choice, since nothing else is being) is to see that Being never comes to an end of Its Absolute Being. Again, at no point in Being could a state of anything not Itself – non-Being, or time – ever have begun, because if it’s not-Being, it’s not being! There is only the specific, utter Presence of Being. This is clear only by identifying as the Infinite Being You are – which is something that would-be human thinking never does. The only answer to the seeming “paradox” is to start from, or as, Being. AGAIN…WHO SAYS SO? As the finite sensing “mind” completely is not being, it simply couldn’t be a valid basis for knowing anything real or true. All it would purportedly know, including its universe of energy and time, its paradoxes, and most of all, itself and all of its “observations”, equally is not being. In fact, it would be the same one “sense-mind” that seems to play both roles – the “mind” comprises both the universe of energy that is observed, and acts as the thinker that is “observing” and trying to account for that universe – for the universe has no existence apart from the “mind.” But none of it ever is. It’s the cat of non-being chasing its own tail!