Swanwick Star Issue No. 14 (2021)

The Art of Seeing

 

 

 

The Art of Seeing

with Cynthia Overweg, June 25 – 27, 2021

Zoom Online

 

This series of three presentations by Cythia Overweg from Ojai, California, was attended by between twelve and fourteen persons in total each session. Cynthia combined talks on the teachings of J. Krishnamurti with periods of quiet meditation, breath and bodily awareness, silence, and music. She also invited questions and feedback from the attendees, to create a space of focused attention in which what K is saying may be understood through direct seeing and self-observation.

“Seeing”, she stated, is central to Krishnamurti’s teachings and warrants a deep immersion in his explanation of its nature. When true seeing takes place there is no separation between the observer and the observed. The mind is quiet and there is a transformation. According to K, “the act of seeing is the only truth; there is nothing else.” Seeing is the perennial transformation spoken of by many sages. Watching ourselves, Cynthia said, is fascinating and it opens the door to the “immeasurable”. With self-understanding comes love.

Why do we not see? K explains that our mind is not free but is occupied with self-interest. To find freedom we must learn what the mind is doing and be sensitive to all the activities of thought.

DB