We are so grateful to our Centre friend Gautam for taking on the role of facilitator for our sharing and learning dialogue program in Bengali on Sunday 27 March. A sharing and learning dialogue is one where there is no principal speaker. It is one where every participant is involved; in listening, in understanding and in sharing.
Gautam planned something different for the dialogue on 27 March. He recalled how his daily readings for his aging mother from the book ‘Bhabbar Kotha’ (Bengali translation of ‘Think on these things’) became such a transformative experience, both for himself and his mother. And so he proposed that we should read a chapter from the book and also reflect on it. The chapter selected by Gautam was chapter 5 in which J Krishnamurti talks about discontent and creativity. It was a fascinating experience as Gautam read aloud from the chapter and participants shared their own understanding.
‘Think on these things’ in English (Bhabbar Kotha’ in Bengali) is a remarkable book. The writing is simple and beautiful. It is a compilation of conversations that Krishnamurti had with students, teachers and parents. It is amazing how Krishnaji communicates so much through a candid, direct conversation. Here below is an interesting excerpt from chapter 5 of the English book.
‘Have you ever really looked anybody in the face? Have you ever looked into the face of your teacher, of your parents, of the big official, of the servant, the poor coolie, and seen what happens? Most of us are afraid to look directly into the face of another; and others don’t want us to look at them in that way, because they also are frightened. Nobody wants to reveal himself; we are all on guard, hiding behind various layers of misery, suffering, longing, hope, and there are very few who can look you straight in the face and smile.
And it is very important to smile, to be happy; because, you see, without a song in one’s heart life becomes very dull. One may go from temple to temple, from one husband or wife to another, or one may find a new teacher or guru; but if there is not this inward joy, life has very little meaning. And to find this inward joy is not easy, because most of us are only superficially discontented.
Do you know what it means to be discontented? It is very difficult to understand discontent, because most of us canalize discontent in a certain direction and thereby smother it. That is, our only concern is to establish ourselves in a secure position with well-established interests and prestige, so as not to be disturbed. It happens in homes and in schools too. The teachers don’t want to be disturbed, and that is why they follow the old routine; because the moment one is really discontented and begins to inquire, to question, there is bound to be disturbance. But it is only through real discontent that one has initiative.’
The 90 minute dialogue program was recorded and is available on youtube. The link is provided below.
