THE END OF SUFFERING

Online Workshop with Kathryn Jefferies
April 26 – 28, 2024 (Fri – Sun: 10 am – 11-30 am PT /  1 pm – 2:30 pm ET)

I think that most of us who have set out to really contribute to the wellbeing of this world in some way through our working lives have actually set out to help end suffering. I know for myself, it seemed the only thing that made sense to me; I wanted to do something that mattered and what could matter more, to my way of thinking.

I have come now to really experience the truth of what Krishnamurti writes below—that as well-meaning as we are when we set out to help others (to stop war, feed the hungry, etc., the only way suffering can actually end is within us.

We have been conditioned to think that suffering must take place under certain conditions and that we need to change those conditions for suffering to stop happening; yet, this very thought is a cause of suffering.

It is possible to end suffering within ourselves by attending the whole mechanism of thought and projection, through deeply understanding the difference between reality and imagination. Mercifully, this is not an intellectual act. It has nothing to do with understanding concepts. It has to do with seeing, with experiencing. Intellectualising can only keep us removed from the real solution we are seeking.

Suffering is suffering and is something that none of us is immune to. Whether you believe your suffering is less valid than another’s because your situation is not as dire, or that surely you are in less emotional pain, for example, if you are suffering then you are allowed to end it. What is more, as you’ll see through Krishnamurit’s words below, you will not just be supporting yourself but the whole world.

The smallest stress can be used as an example of how the mind works and we will take a look in this workshop at how to do that through a version of self-inquiry developed by Byron Katie. My own inquiries over the years have shown me both the cause of all of my suffering and the way to end it inside myself and I invite you to that.

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“There is your suffering and millions and millions of people in the world suffering, through war, through starvation, through brutality, through violence, through bombs, and can that suffering in you as a human being end?

Because if it comes to an end in you, as your consciousness is the consciousness of the world, because your consciousness is the consciousness of every other human being – you may have different peripheral behaviour but basically, deeply, you, your consciousness is the consciousness of every other human being in the world, they suffer, they have pleasure, they have fear, they are ambitious – you follow? – all that is your consciousness. So you are the world. And if you are completely free of fear you affect the consciousness of the world.

You understand how extraordinarily important it is that we human beings change, fundamentally, because that will affect the consciousness of every human being. That Hitler has done, Stalin affected all the consciousness of the world, what the priests have achieved in the name of somebody, it has affected the world. So if you, as a human being, radically transform yourself, be free of fear you will naturally affect the consciousness of the world.”

Krishnamurti

The Facilitator:

Kathryn Jefferies, PhD taught in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University until 2021, designing a wide array of courses including in democratic child-centred education, mental health, emotional intelligence and right-brain learning. She now exclusively teaches workshops in self-inquiry to post-secondary students, teachers, and privately in addition to working one-on-one with clients in private practice.

Her doctoral dissertation called Ontological Intelligence focuses on Krishnamurti’s insights into education; it has since been turned into a book called Awake: Education for Enlightenment. Kathryn also became certified as a facilitator in The Work of Byron Katie in 2015 which is the form of self-inquiry she predominantly teaches. She lives in Ontario, Canada with her daughter. You can find her through her website inquirywithkath.com

Three 90-minute online sessions.

Recordings will be made available after each session.

Workshop fee:   $80 CAD