Exploring Ourselves, March 19, 2023

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Exploring Ourselves

Sunday, March 19, 2023

With Jackie McInley

Zoom online

 

Jackie joined us online from the Krishnamurti Foundation of America property in Ojai, California. She will be moving to the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada outside of Victoria, BC, for the month of April where she will be available for various in-person and virtual events which will be listed on the KECC website (https://krishnamurti-canada.ca). Jackie opened the meeting by mentioning the value of the blogs written by David and summarising the content of the group dialogue meetings. The meetings have normally been taking place on the first and third Sundays of the month over the past year or so. She pointed to the usefulness of the short reports describing the unfolding of the meetings and the central issues explored. She then asked for a short period of silence. This is the usual way of beginning a meeting where the intention is to meditate on the nature of ourselves within the context of the teachings of J. Krishnamurti (without being reliant on his words).

After about five minutes of silence Jackie and others brought forth some pointed questions which were felt to be relevant to the kind of exploration being invited. One participant asked if any question or comment might be an interference. Is it possible to be together without having a motivation and pursuing some kind of need? This prompted Jackie to ask “What is the point of dialogue?” Is the purpose the uncovering of the human being as he or she actually is rather than as he/she would like to be? And are we looking for something in our inquiry? Some of the other questions that arose were as follows:

– What are we not noticing in ourselves?

– Can we bring the unconscious into our awareness?

– Can we listen even when there is a disturbance?

– If we follow what the mind (or thought) wants then are we looking at “what is”?

– Can we take up the invitation to be attentive to a larger truth than that of the mind?

– Why do we give importance to what thought is producing or the self expressing? Are we interested in looking into the issue or the process?

Further discussion brought us to an inquiry into the phenomenon of disturbance. Does feeling disturbed tend to bring a reaction of isolating ourselves? On the other hand, can we allow disturbance to wake us up? Can we look and listen as if for the very first time? Can we see when we are thinking unconsciously and our thoughts are creating disturbance? Can dialogue be a sharing of what is normally kept hidden? Why do we avoid this? One person offered that we tend to resort to easy and comfortable answers and solutions.

As a group we explored issues around the fear of entering into disturbance and the feelings of vulnerability that arise. Is the group ignoring the pain that comes up in exploring these kinds of issues? The experience of shame drew our attention for some time and its validity or non-validity. Is shame just a result of conditioning? How do we know what is right and wrong? Is there a sensitivity to right and wrong which doesn’t need the experience of shame? Can shame be a mechanism of appropriate correction of behaviour?

Krishnamurti’s suggestion that we be “choicelessly aware” was brought forward as a way that consciousness may shift from being mind-centred to heart-centred, which can be a significant shift in how we live. Can this bring into our consciousness a guiding intelligence? Finally, it was asked if dialogue is a way of avoiding the real issues or is it a real way of dealing with them intelligently?

DB