Archive for category: Event Summaries

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.

  Inquiry Sunday June 1, 2014     In the afternoon session of our Inquiry Sunday on June 1 eight people attended the showing of Krishnamurti speaking on “Love:  The Flame Without Smoke”.   It was a half hour video in the Evelyn Blau series “Beyond Myth and Tradition”.   The main thrust of K’s treatment of the subject was that to find out what love is we have to “negate” everything in us that is not love.  What remains is the “perfume” of love or compassion.   Love, in the sense that K is speaking of it,  is not personal,  not a phenomenon happening between a “me” and a “you”.   It is something much vaster and more significant. The video was followed by a short silence and an animated dialogue which revealed that people have varying ideas about love based on their different experiences and thoughts.   It seems the value of such group inquiry is not in coming to some agreement on a conceptual level but more in what the questioning process  may reveal to each one of us about ourselves, our assumptions, and our unexamined beliefs.  It seems more important to keep the questioning alive in oneself than to come to some conclusion in thought.  This can leave the door open to deeper insight or direct seeing.

I returned to Swanwick this past weekend to attend the “Approaches to Meditation” spiritual retreat facilitated by Dr. Hillary Rodrigues. I didn’t expect to return to the centre for a retreat quite so soon, but a new friend related how powerful his retreats have been for her, and so I decided it would likely be worth my while to attend. I’m glad to report that Dr. Rodrigues is indeed an amazing facilitator, as well as an impressive individual, and the retreat was truly a formative experience for me. The content revolved almost entirely around discussion and dialogue concerning various meditation techniques, with a focus on inquiring into the usefulness of these techniques in the context of the goal of “pivotal spiritual transformation”. Some of the themes were the various techniques, gradual versus instantaneous awakening, insight versus understanding, mindfulness and choiceless awareness. This retreat was of immense value to me due to the quality of the dialogue and Dr. Rodrigues’ skillful facilitating style, but also due to the quality of the participants. Each and every one of them had something very valuable to offer to the group, and the time spent getting to know them in the casual time between and after each day’s dialogues was truly inspiring and life affirming for me. At times I truly felt as if I was taking part in an enlightened philosophers’ club. It was truly validating for me on a deep personal level, to be in such fine company and to feel like I belonged. In a strange way, I felt like I had found my home (a feeling I took with me). The value of connecting with people who share the same passion for inquiry and philosophical exploration cannot be understated for me, personally. It’s so important that we surround ourselves with likeminded, and likehearted, people; otherwise, it’s easy to forget that we do indeed belong somewhere, that we’re not alone on this journey. I decided to stay for an extra night after the retreat had ended. On Sunday night, one of the participants, who I felt a deep connection with, had handed me a copy of Hillary’s book, “Insight and Religious Mind: ‪An Analysis of Krishnamurti’s Thought”. On Monday morning, I woke up with a diagram from that book floating in my mind. Sometimes the simplest distillations can lead to the greatest epiphanies. We had enjoyed perfect weather over the course of the weekend, and it was another beautiful morning. I poured myself a cup of coffee, and proceeded to go outside with Hillary’s book in hand. I was delighted to see him sitting on the steps, with the sun pouring down and the ocean shimmering in the distance. I had a wonderful conversation with him. Ralph and David eventually wandered up from the ocean, and one of them jokingly asked if I had moved in, as it was obvious I was quite comfortable. We all sat around a table on the patio there, and enjoyed more relaxed and enlightening conversation. It was a beautiful way to end a beautiful weekend. I’d like to thank Dr. Hillary Rodrigues for leading such a fine retreat, and all the amazing participants for making it the truly special experience that it was for me.