Thursday, March 31, 2005
Reflections on the self
The core of Krishnamurti's teaching is contained in the statement he made in 1929 when he said: 'Truth is a pathless land.' Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge nor psyhological technique. He has to find it through mirror of relationship, through the understanding of his own mind, through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection. Mas has built in himself images as a fence of security-religious,political, personal. These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden of these images dominates man's thinking, his relationships and his daily life. His perception of his life is shaped by the concepts already established in his mind. The content of his consciousness is his entire existence. This content is common to all humanity. The individuality is the name, the form and superficial culture he acquires from tradition and environment. The uniqueness in man does not lie in the superficial but in complete freedom from the content of his consciousness, which is common to all mankind. So he is not an individual.
I was only recently introduced to Krishnamurti and his teachings. At the end of a long day, it's not particularly my idea of "pleasure reading". Yet, I feel a certain intrinsic desire, and draw almost, to keep returning to the book. It requires much more of an intellectual investment that I had originally foresaw. But for someone who is not familiar at all with this area of thought, this book is a splendid introduction. From the start, it appears that the only way to better understand yourself through reading this book is to get unstuck, by breaking your molds of deeply ingrained patterns of thinking. For otherwise, without skepticism or tremendous questioning of your faith, conclusions and religious beliefs, it becomes a futile endeavor. What I am grappling with at this point is how best not to project my opinions, ideas, prejudices and inclinations or even impluses to the fore so to achieve a state of attention that allows for communication and dialogue, which, in my mind is what this is all about. I am but a novice, learning.
I was only recently introduced to Krishnamurti and his teachings. At the end of a long day, it's not particularly my idea of "pleasure reading". Yet, I feel a certain intrinsic desire, and draw almost, to keep returning to the book. It requires much more of an intellectual investment that I had originally foresaw. But for someone who is not familiar at all with this area of thought, this book is a splendid introduction. From the start, it appears that the only way to better understand yourself through reading this book is to get unstuck, by breaking your molds of deeply ingrained patterns of thinking. For otherwise, without skepticism or tremendous questioning of your faith, conclusions and religious beliefs, it becomes a futile endeavor. What I am grappling with at this point is how best not to project my opinions, ideas, prejudices and inclinations or even impluses to the fore so to achieve a state of attention that allows for communication and dialogue, which, in my mind is what this is all about. I am but a novice, learning.
# posted by Surya Swamy : 7:22 AM
