Self-inquiry, August 9, 2023

Self-inquiry with Mukesh Gupta

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Esquimalt Gorge Park, Victoria, BC

 

Only three participants showed up for this Wednesday afternoon meeting at the Gorge Park pavilion in Esquimalt. The session began with a guided meditation, led by David, exploring what happens in the mind when it is faced with a situation where there is nothing to be done other than to simply be present in the moment and to observe the reactions of thought when there is almost nothing going on to fill the emptiness of silent inactivity. How does thought respond to the presence of nothingness? How does it attempt to fill the space experienced when one is intensely aware of the “darkness” or “void” within when one pays attention to what is happening in one’s consciousness when there is no need to be active or productive in any way? Does thought go into a state of resistance to that emptiness or does it come to rest in a profound silence and peacefulness? We found it very interesting to contemplate such possibilities in the group.

We found that judgments would arise at times about our experience and what “should” be taking place in us as opposed to what was actually happening. This then led to a discussion of “what is” and “what should be” and how those opposites were spoken of by J. Krishnamurti in his lifetime. We spoke of some of our readings of K in which he appeared to be critical of people close to him and to justify such criticism, which we found to be sometimes surprising and out of character for such a highly developed human being. We looked at the phenomenon from a few different perspectives and decided that his basic message was to look at and understand oneself above all.

The dialogue was rather an unusual one, but we all seemed to find it interesting and valuable.

 

DB