This Light in Oneself, February 9 – 11, 2024

This Light in Oneself: True Meditation

February 9 – 11, 2024

With Cynthia Overweg

Zoom Online

Cynthia joined us online from the UK for a series of three sessions exploring the teachings of J. Krishnamurti on the subject of meditation. Each session was attended by 15 or 16 participants in total. Cynthia made use of striking photographic images in order to support her well-constructed words, in many cases taken from Krishnamurti’s talks or writings. Over many years he taught and discussed his perspectives in the public domain as well as privately. Cynthia also played brief passages of music to support our going inwards during moments of silent sitting while watching the breath and feeling our feet on the floor.

As an introduction, Cynthia shared some of the most essential aspects of K’s teaching, which often involved observing ourselves in our daily transactions with others and with the world around us. She made a strong point of the fact that Krishnamurti’s words were an attempt to express the “wordless”, the beauty beneath and within the words and ideas. She emphasised, as K did, the fact of light in the natural world and the “mystery” of it. On Friday the focus was on the question “What does it mean to be a light to oneself” and “What is true meditation?” Are the two separate?

Cynthia pointed out that, for Krishnamurti, meditation was not a technique. It was a seeing of “what is”, an understanding of oneself at the very depths of one’s being. It was the emptying of the mind of all activity of the self. Ordinarily the observer separates itself from the observed, creating the “me” and the “you”. Can we look without the interpreting process, without translating our observations into words? Nobody but ourselves can teach us about ourselves. We experimented with noticing all activity of the self, the arising of images, the slightest movements of thought, and the formation of a fragmentary existence in oneself. There was some discussion of these issues in the group.

Cynthia shared what K himself had also shared in his lifetime when he stated that light can only appear in us when we carefully examine ourselves. In fact, looking at ourselves affects the whole consciousness of humanity. This was a significant feature of K’s teaching wherein he challenged us to be aware of our conditioning, to be free of it, and asked if we can create a totally different society. Much of the material studied on Saturday took up this question about which K was extremely passionate. Cynthia shared many quotes guiding students’ explorations of the conditioned mind, awareness, meditation, and self-observation. Is the entity that desires to free itself different from the conditioning? Can an analytical process free the mind from its own creation of a “self”? The seeing of the limitation of such seeking may bring freedom without any seeking and the mind may become quiet. If we begin to understand ourself without trying to change, then what we are may undergo a transformation. Meditation is looking and listening without controlling. It is not a means to an end: it is both the means and the end.

We tried observing a number of evocative photographs and the effect they had on us. Krishnamurti was quoted. “When you are a light to yourself you are a light to the world because the world is you and you are the world”

On the second day we spent a good deal of time looking at issues of authority and fear. What are some of the obstacles preventing our full understanding of our true nature? If we can understand these things then we don’t have to identify with them and we may be able to break away from all authority, including the authority of our own experience. We must face our own insecurities and be aware that we are frightened of losing the “known”. In such awareness the problem of fear may be resolved.

On the third day we looked more deeply into the nature of love and its relation to beauty. We were encouraged to speak of our personal issues with love, compassion, and living “from the heart”.  Cynthia had many quotes on love and the difficulties of living without a centre or a “me”. Love is beyond thought and time. When there is no mind being dominant, then there is love.

The three-day workshop ended with some expressions of appreciation from the participants, many of whom praised Cynthia for her hard work and dedication in putting together such an extensive presentation. She had created a space of beauty and wisdom wherein there was a sense of relaxing into a space of looking and listening which was supportive, nurturing, and enjoyable, providing meaningful insights. DB