Weekend Retreat with Scott Kiloby
Living Inquiries with Scott Kiloby November 27 – 29, 2015 We were very fortunate to have Scott Kiloby present a weekend retreat at the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada for the third year in a row. The workshop was filled to capacity – twenty-five participants in all – with people coming from the mainland as well as various island locations. Scott began on the Friday evening with an overview his way of working with people. He emphasized the importance of being with feelings rather than thinking about them or trying to change them. By-passing emotions doesn’t work in the long run. The two most important factors in working with oneself are “readiness” and skillful means. Scott offers education in the skill of inquiry into one’s life issues but he can’t give anyone readiness, although he can bring the issue into awareness. Readiness must come from the individual. Scott invited the group to look at ways they have not been ready for something in the past and how they might not feel ready in the present. The group discussed their findings. On Saturday morning Scott led us through some chigong and breathing exercises to awaken the life energy or kundalini, which can produce a sense of well being when regularly practiced. He then spoke more about the basics of his work. Essentially it is about looking at whatever is going on from the viewpoint of awareness. He gave suggestions about how to implement this looking, including noticing the space around any phenomenon and observing any push or pull away from or towards what is present. He guided the group into looking at words, pictures, and sensations or energy connected with any phenomenon and how to unhook from the “velcro” effect which is holding sticky emotions in place. Simply resting as awareness may sometimes be enough but, if not, then the specific inquiries Scott has developed can be very useful. The paradoxical truth is that when we genuinely stop trying to get rid of feelings they often disappear by themselves. The morning ended with Scott speaking briefly of his connection with Krishnamurti’s teachings and a half hour video about K’s life and teachings. In the afternoon we explored Scott’s “Unfindability Inquiry” as a group and then some intense work was done with one individual which demonstrated how an actual session can unfold. In the evening there was discussion of anxiety and how to use the “Anxiety Inquiry”. Attention was given to how breathing into the diaphragm can be very helpful as well as some simple tapping techniques. Working with trauma was discussed and there were many questions from participants which Scott responded to very skillfully. On Sunday morning we did more breath work and then Scott led a meditation to clear the chakras by asking questions to trigger and bring to awareness holding patterns or blockages around the issues relevant to each energy centre. In the afternoon we looked at how to sustain and deepen the practices we had learned over the weekend. It was a great weekend and it seemed all participants were very grateful for the opportunity to spend time with this extraordinary teacher.
