Archive for category: Event Summaries

Eight of us gathered at UVic recently to consider the challenging question:  Is the World an Illusion?  We looked at this from three diverse perspectives including Rupert Spira, Krishnamurti and Robin Cinmatra. 

Rupert Spira, in a short extract from “The Belief in a World Made of Matter” pointed out some important nuances in how we ‘see’ the world around us… and a flaw in the assumption that the world can exist outside of consciousness.  It was tricky!  We explored his proposal that the science of matter needs to be upgraded to reflect the field of consciousness in which all perceived matter arises, and the possibility that perhaps the observer and the observed are not dividable (K. proposes this as well).  We were left questioning our senses and thoughts about the seemingly solid world around us.

 We also looked at Krishnamuriti’s pointing about how we can know reality or truth… A few of his quotes were examined:

All the things that thought has put together – literature, poetry, painting, illusions, gods and symbols – that is reality for us. But nature is not created by thought.

Can the mind, the network of all the senses, apprehend, see and observe truth?

Psychological time is the invention of thought, which we use as a means of achieving enlightenment. Is such time an illusion? Is truth measurable by words? Truth is timeless, thought is of time, and the two cannot run together.

Without love, without compassion, truth cannot be. I cannot go to truth, I cannot see truth. Truth can only exist when the self is not.  J. Krishnamurti

 It was an interesting notion:  if the self or the mind is trying to look at the world around us as it will always be interpreted through the biases or filters of self.   Thinking of seeing not through the sense of self is something that the group had many perspectives on.  We did some looking…  and had some fun asking the question:  is there a self that can be found when we turn awareness towards our inner world?

 The final video clip was an excerpt from the short film:  Nothingness = E(MC)²  A Film About Nothing and Everything (Non-Duality)

This snapshot explored the mystery of knowing what this world around us is, emphasizing that any perception of the physical world around us must be dualistic given that the seeing establishes a subject/object.  Robin proposes a paradox that objects must also be ‘nothingness’.  It was very interesting and picturesque – but challenging… We discussed oneness, whether the perception of a self is similar to the perception of objects in the world, and admitted that a mind based knowing might need to be surrendered in favour of curious wonder if we are to truly know anything at all! 

 Thanks for a great discussion this month, and thanks to KECC for their support for these meetups!  The April meetup at UVic will be showing:  Eckhart Tolle:  Through the Eyes of Krishnamuriti, exploring evocative passages from Krishnamurti’s journal.  Come out if you can!  Details in the KECC Calendar.

Krishnamurti Study Session
Sunday, April 7, 2019
At KECC

The entry for January 9 in J. Krishnamurti’s book entitled The Book of Life was the material for exploration in this Sunday morning session at the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada. The title of the entry was “To Learn, the Mind Must be Quiet.” Six people were in attendance. The session began with a reading of the text, followed by five minutes of silence. Then we went around the circle of participants and each of those who wished had the opportunity to share a perception, insight, question, or other comment. We then opened the sharing up for spontaneous dialogue starting with a more in-depth investigation of one of the comments. This format seemed to inspire participation by all the group members and it was felt that we went quite deeply into an actual experience of what K was pointing to as he spoke of discovering “the new”. There was inquiry into the possibility of seeing the limitations of thought, which can naturally make thought less predominant in our experience and the sense of freshness of perception and feeling more obvious. There seemed to be a movement “beyond” the known.

Krishnamurti Study Session
Sunday, March 17, 2019
At KECC

This Sunday morning session at the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada in Metchosin, BC, was attended by five participants. The Krishnamurti text for study at present is The Book of Life: Daily Meditations with Krishnamurti. We are moving through the book at the pace that occurs spontaneously in the meetings, which is usually very slowly. One page of “meditations” often stimulates a depth of inquiry that keeps us exploring for a couple of hours. In this case the entry was for January 8 and was entitled “Look with Intensity.” K points to the fact that we rarely look or listen with our full attention because we filter our looking through what we already know and it is therefore not fresh and new. “If one can listen to something with all of one’s being, with vigor, with vitality, then the very act of listening is a liberative factor.”
The group discussion provoked by the text material was quite alive and interesting, opening up to include a range of related points of inquiry. It seemed to be enjoyed and appreciated by all.

Krishnamurti Book Study Session
March 3rd, 2019
KECC

In David’s absence this session was facilitated by Rick Mickelson, whose report follows.
In Attendance—Seven participants: Rick M, Rick R, Bill, Laurie, Angelique, Katherine, and a woman staying in the Gatehouse who did not sign the Guest Book.
Today we read the passages from J. Krishnamurti’s text The Book of Life for January 6th (Listening Without Effort) and January 7th (Listening to Yourself). These meditations sparked profound sharing in the group, covering many topics which included:
1. Resistance—Why do we resist doing what we must do?
2. Listening—How did K’s words transmit shifts in the quality of our listening today?
3. Meditation Practice—Why are both formal and informal meditational practices helpful to us in our ongoing search for experiential truth?
4. Truth—What is truth and how do we listen for it?
5. Spiritual Authorities—How do beliefs in the teaching of authorities like Billy Graham or Catholic priests lead us astray; that is to say, lead us away from our own experience?
6. Addictions—How is it that seeing the whole process of our addictive behaviors leads to the “falling away” of harmful habits, compulsions and obsessions?
We opened the meeting with a few minutes of silence then took a tea break at the mid-point of the session. We added another period of silence as the clock approached 1 pm and then ended the meeting. It was announced that David will be back for the next scheduled K Book Study

Krishnamurti Study Session
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada

The session was facilitated by Laurie Sthamaan in David’s abscence. Her report follows. “Three of us met today to read the meditation (Jan 4) “Listening Without Thought” in J. Krishnamurti’s The Book of Life. We had a most lively and invigorating dialogue, going into it deeply, together, listening and learning. We inquired if the brain can see the movement of thought, including the ongoing intense suffering that is the human condition, and open to the aliveness that is love, which is beyond the brain, the illusion of the “me”, and which can cause transformation.”