Just to keep friends updated, October has been a busy month. First, on 6 October, we had a gathering at our Centre. It was a day of pausing and reflection. A day when we shared our own understanding of Krishna ji’s teachings and of our lives. A day when we paused to question our own actual clarity rather than continue to add more and more to our theoretical knowledge about the teachings. Where are we actually?
We also watched a remarkable video where Krishna ji responds to a question on conditioning. Many might say that understanding and being aware of how conditioned we are is perhaps at the heart of the teachings. There was a lot of informal discussion about what Krishna ji says at the end about how to drop conditioning. “Do nothing. Just watch. Observe. See.” It was a fascinating evening. Do watch the 30 minutes video when you have the time.
https://youtu.be/4Lna4hfNQ-Q?si=xD0hakBRfWf2zmQ0
The Essence of Intelligence and the roots of human confusion and conflict
As many of you know, every year interested friends of our Centre go for an annual retreat. This year on 12 to 14 October, we were at Krishnamurti Foundation India, Vasant Vihar in Chennai. The campus is amazing and it also happens to be the place where Krishna ji visited and stayed often. A retreat is such a beautiful time because one can break away from the routine, break away from patterns and allow something new to happen in our being. Plenty of quiet time for reflection. There is also a lot of informal dialogue over tea and meals and also at other times. Watching Krishna Ji’s talks together for an hour or so is something that happens so easily when one is free to listen. All the videos we watched were so absorbing. Particularly the three mentioned below.
https://youtu.be/rPWePImZdXE?si=MdWFvsGRi144cdug
What is order?
https://youtu.be/V26gWLti_0E?si=f2CN6ib6FDbn85QJ
Is there a meditation that is not brought about by thought?
https://youtu.be/Juv-7MY5-lQ?si=8cwvEy0V9zzgCRS9
Can we live without identifying?
At an informal chat over dinner, one friend summed up what he felt was central in the talks. He said we refuse to see that the ‘self’ or ego is a construct of thought, no more than accumulation of experiences, fears, conflicts , anxieties, attachments, conditioning. The ending of the ‘self’, seeing it as it actually is and thus allowing the existence of complete order is the only way forward, he said. Do join us at our next retreat if you can.
A retreat where the beauty of nature coexists with human beings as one family is extraordinary. When there is harmony with nature, it is probably the beginning of order. “It is essential sometimes to retreat, to stop everything that you have been doing, to stop your beliefs and experiences completely, and look at them anew. You would then let in fresh air into your minds. Wouldn’t you?” So said J Krishnamurti.
“If you can do so, you would be open to the mysteries of nature and to things that are whispering about us, which you would not otherwise reach; you would reach the God that is waiting to come, the truth that cannot be invited but comes itself. But we are not open to love and other finer processes that are taking place within us because we are all too enclosed by our own ambitions, by our own achievements, by our own desires. Surely it is good to retreat from all that, is it not?”
