Archive for category: Event Summaries

Self-inquiry

With Mukesh Gupta

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion, Victoria

 

Seven people in total gathered at the lovely Pavilion to explore together their true nature and the possibility of living in harmony with it. The dialogue began with the question “What is the truth of our experience, and how can we know it in a profound way?” A number of answers were given and the threads followed into the interesting thickets of ideas and perceptions that were put forward as we looked closely into the questions that arose. One participant asked if truth has its own action beyond the realm of “doing” with which we are familiar. And is it possible to go beyond our conditioning and habitual behaviours which tend to guide our thoughts and actions? A sense of separateness seems to play a very large role in determining our behaviours and we might ask ourselves if we are freeing ourselves from it. 

Is truth something to do with how we are feeling? Is it related to the degree we are feeling a sense of wholeness and well-being? To what degree do we question what we really know? Can we move beyond the presence of an “ego” or “self” which creates conflict, fear, and violence. Is it a matter of seeing the limitation of our self-assertions and staying fully with “what is”? When the ego is functioning, there is inevitably suffering and love is hard to find in ourselves and others. 

Staying in the process of self-inquiry was offered as an essential aspect of gaining freedom from the self-centred mind. An important element of this “practice” is the willingness to expose oneself so that the ego-centric elements can be seen and dissolved. At the same time one must have compassion with oneself and with others and be able to find the loving generosity of our inner goodness, Persistent inquiry is of the utmost importance in that one must keep watching all the movements of the self and allowing the structures of that self to break down and make way for love and generosity to emerge. This kind of “vulnerability” brings inner contentment and peacefulness.

 

DB

Self-inquiry

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion

With Mukesh Gupta

 

Continuing with his offerings in Victoria during his visit from India, Mukesh welcomed five “friends” in an afternoon dialogue at the Gorge Park Pavilion in Esquimalt. All six attendees joined equally with questions and insights that created a lively and interesting afternoon of inquiry into the nature of ourselves. We explored a number of subjects with a focus on gaining insight into the make-up of our own consciousness and thus coming upon a sense of freedom in our experience of living. First, we looked into the challenge of calming the nervous system as a ground for self-understanding and realization of a deep peace within. We then moved into an examination of the concept of “innocence” and what it might really mean. This opened into some dialogue about fear, greed, and war in the world. Related to these explorations, the issue of our conditioning as human beings in our current society was raised and a good deal of time spent in looking at different aspects of our conditioning, for example the need to be competitive and to compare ourselves with others. Right education is needed to move beyond this quality of conflict.

It was a worthwhile and interesting session apparently enjoyed by all.

 

DB

Self-inquiry

June 14, 2023

Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion

With Mukesh Gupta

 

Six people were in attendance for this Sunday afternoon meeting at the Gorge Park Pavilion facilitated by Mukesh Gupta, who is visiting from India for the summer. Mukesh generally offers a very open-ended format so that participants can express and explore whatever issue is foremost in their experience. One of the dialoguers gave a full description of an interpersonal issue she had been struggling with for some time and which had been generating a good deal of frustration and difficulty for her emotionally. A couple of other participants added their own stories to the first one so that the group was soon actively engaged with the resolution of a few issues while at the same time being very aware that seeking a solution to our problems was not going to be ultimately a deeply satisfying procedure. The temporary fix that might be found would not resolve the tendency of thought to create similar problems repeatedly. It became more and more apparent that what was needed was a persistent and deep watchfulness in regard to the activities of the thinking mind. The group began a wider and more profound examination of the mind’s core habits and tendencies. Sometimes these were expressed in very abstract ways which seemed challenging to understand – except by the person sharing them.

As the dialogue continued, the communication seemed to become more comprehensible, with moments of fuller and also of lesser sharing of meaning. This seems to often be the case when people get together to explore the workings of themselves but, nevertheless, it seemed like a worthwhile exercise and a useful way to spend an hour and a half on a Wednesday afternoon. There was a sense of shared meaning in tackling the nature of our consciousness and the focus moving more and more into the realm of mystery. We were quite aware of the extreme difficulty in attaining any final description or definition in the attempts of thought to pin down any reality. Ultimately we found it impossible to find any stable or solid ideas to describe our own nature and the nature of consciousness. This was not an insight to be held without value and the feeling was that we had penetrated a number of layers of our thinking and exposed ourselves to a more interesting level of “what is”.

Self-inquiry

June 7, 2023

With Mukesh Gupta

Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion

 

Six of us in total were present for this meeting at the lovely Gorge Park Pavilion. Mukesh Gupta from India was with us as a facilitator and support person. He asked participants to share what their interest was in such a meeting, which inspired interesting short stories of individual’s journeys through the realms of Advaita Vedanta, Vipassana, the formless, the opening to “emptiness”, and the experience of “just being”. A final question was asked to end the introductions: “Can we be meeting life freshly day by day, moment by moment?”

Mukesh mentioned that such explorations share a common “ground” in that the intellect can be useful but we can go deeper than knowledge and thought. We can invite a sense of love and affection. Self-inquiry can be an experience of deep meaning in the silence from which we listen and speak. We can slow down and connect with this living moment.

One dialoguer asked what it means to “be with” or “stay with” something and it was suggested that slowing down may be very helpful. This allows us to relate to “others”.

Mukesh guided us in an exploration of the source of thought, which was found to reside in memory and imprints of memories, both of which can be useful or not. It is important to discern what about thought is true or false. Mukesh suggested that “seeing” is most important and that seeing anything clearly brings liberation.

It was an interesting meeting with some new friends in attendance.

Self-inquiry

May 28, 2023

With Harshad Parekh

KECC Metchosin

 

Six people in total were present for Harshad’s last dialogue meeting at the Swanwick Road location of the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada. He is returning to India on May 29. It was a lovely sunny day, allowing us to sit out on the lawn in front of the main house, with its spectacular view of the ocean and the snow-capped Olympic Mountains in Washington. We decided to read some excerpts from a Krishnamurti book, Think on These Things, to be followed by discussion of the content. Before reading, Harshad gave a short but precise introduction to what K says about thinking. In various ways, he points out that thinking continuously creates problems and, in fact, Is the problem. Is it possible to see this clearly and to be free of thinking? Is there something we can call awareness that is beyond thinking and can observe the movements of thought and feeling. Is such observation freedom? This question seems to be at the core of K’s teachings.

The chapter looks at the issue of working together or “cooperating” in order to ensure our physical survival as well as our psychological security and well-being. This requires an understanding of how our minds work when they create difficulties and conflicts in our relationships. One of the issues is that almost all our behaviour is motivated by reward and punishment and the attempt to assert and build up our sense of self. This can produce an experience of separateness, but when this is seen the separateness may dissolve and an energy of cooperation may arise to sustain our enjoyment of supporting each other. At the same time we may understand when not to cooperate, for example when an idea looks promising but includes elements that will produce conflict and disharmony. The plan may be corrupted by selfish motives.

The book is addressed to young students, and it deals with the challenge of learning how to work and play effectively and happily. It seemed like a subject of real importance and one worthy of deep inquiry in our lives. We felt grateful for Harshad’s guidance over the past month and wished him a good trip home.