Meditative Self-Inquiry with Cynthia Overweg, September 18, 2025
We began the meeting with a few minutes of silence. After the silence ended, several participants commented on the sense of being deeply nourished by the stillness that was present in the group. One participant noted how the silence seemed to bring everyone closer together, even though some of us had met for the first time. Perhaps this is what Krishnamurti was pointing to when he said: “Silence is a great benediction.” There were ten participants at the meeting.
During the early part of our dialog, several participants spoke of the growing discord and violence in the world and whether it was possible to not be affected by it. How do we live in such a world was the central question. This brought up Krishnamurti’s statement that “you are the world and the world is you.” The quality of our own consciousness matters because it affects the whole of human consciousness was the main thread during this portion of our gathering together.
We then read an excerpt from Krishnamurti’s, The Book of Life, titled, The Old Brain, Our Animalistic Brain. A portion is quoted here:
“It is important to understand the operation, the functioning, the activity of the old Brain … To understand, you must understand the old brain, be aware of it, know all its movements, its activities, its demands, its pursuits … when you see the total movement of the old mind, when you see it totally, then it becomes quiet.”
The reading produced a lively exchange about the relationship between self-observation and the “old brain and new brain,” as Krishnamurti referred to it. The group delved into the question of self-observation and the fleeting capacity to see without the filter of thought. One participant described it as a light that quiets the mind and creates something new, a “mutation” (Krishnamurti’s word) in the brain: a flash of insight that momentarily reveals ourselves to ourselves.
A question was asked: “Can we find the root of one thought? This question engaged everyone in the group. Krishnamurti’s insight around this question that “the source of thought is memory,” which is made by experience, seemed to provide a way of understanding why we so often automatically react or over-react in ways that repeatedly produce conflict or sorrow. Two participants gave examples in which they could trace a certain kind of behavior back to the memory of a childhood experience that still produces conflict in various situations. This brought the group back to the “old brain” (the conditioned mind), and the importance of understanding how it operates and how it conditions our lives.
We ended the meeting as it began with a few minutes of in silence.
By Cynthia Overweg
