What Is Thoroughly Understood Will Not Repeat ( 21 june 2006)

ItselfIn self-awareness there is no need for confession, for self-awareness creates themirror in which all things are reflected without distortion. Every thought-feelingis thrown, as it were, on the screen of awareness to be observed, studied andunderstood; but this flow of understanding is blocked when there is condemnation oracceptance, judgment or identification. The more the screen is watched andunderstood—not as a duty or enforced practice, but because pain and sorrow havecreated the insatiable interest that brings its own discipline—the greater theintensity of awareness, and this in turn brings heightened understanding....You can follow a thing if it moves slowly; a rapid machine must be made to slowdown if one is to study its movements. Similarly, thoughts-feelings can be studiedand understood only if the mind is capable of proceeding slowly; but once it hasawakened this capacity, it can move at a high velocity, which makes it extremelycalm. When revolving at high speed the several blades of a fan appear to be a solidsheet of metal. Our difficulty is to make the mind revolve slowly so that eachthought-feeling can be followed and understood. What is deeply and thoroughlyunderstood will not repeat itself.

The Book of Life - June 21

Let a Thought Flower ( 19 june 2006)

Awareness is that state of mind which takes in everything—the crows flying acrossthe sky, the flowers on the trees, the people sitting in front, the colors they arewearing—being extensively aware which needs watching, observing, taking in the shapeof the leaf, the shape of the trunk, the shape of the head of another, what he isdoing. To be extensively aware and from there acting—that is to be aware of thetotality of one's own being. To have a mere sectional capacity, a fragmentation ofcapacity or capacity fragmented, and to pursue that capacity and derive experiencethrough that capacity which is limited—that makes the quality of the mind mediocre,limited, narrow. But an awareness of the totality of one's own being, understoodthrough the awareness of every thought and every feeling, and never limiting it,letting every thought and every feeling flower, and therefore being aware—that isentirely different from action or concentration that is merely capacity and therefo re limited.To let a thought flower or a feeling flower requires attention—not concentration. Imean by the flowering of a thought giving freedom to it to see what happens, what istaking place in your thought, in your feeling. Anything that flowers must havefreedom, must have light; it cannot be restricted. You cannot put any value on it,you cannot say, "That is right, that is wrong; this should be, and that should notbe"—thereby, you limit the flowering of thought. And it can only flower in thisawareness. Therefore, if you go into it very deeply, you will find that thisflowering of thought is the ending of thought.

The Book of Life - June 19

Elimination of Fear Is the Beginning of Attention ( 13 june 2006)

How is the state of attention to be brought about? It cannot be cultivated throughpersuasion, comparison, reward, or punishment, all of which are forms of coercion.The elimination of fear is the beginning of attention. Fear must exist as long asthere is an urge to be or to become, which is the pursuit of success, with all itsfrustrations and tortuous contradictions. You can teach concentration, but attentioncannot be taught, just as you cannot possibly teach freedom from fear, and inunderstanding these causes there is the elimination of fear. So attention arisesspontaneously when around the student there is an atmosphere of well-being, when hehas the feeling of being secure, of being at ease, and is aware of the disinterestedaction that comes with love. Love does not compare, and so the envy and torture of"becoming" cease.

The Book of Life - June 13_______________________________________________

the pattern of an idea ( 03 june 2006)

If you say, "How am I to save energy?" then you have created a pattern of anidea—how to save it—and then conduct your life according to that pattern; therefore,there begins again a contradiction. Whereas if you perceive for yourself where yourenergies are being wasted, you will see that the principal force causing the wasteis conflict—which is having a problem and never resolving it, living with a deadlymemory of something gone, living in tradition. One has to understand the nature ofthe dissipation of energy, and the understanding of the dissipation of energy is notaccording to Shankara, Buddha or some saint, but the actual observation of one'sdaily conflict in life. So the principal waste of energy is conflict—which doesn'tmean that you sit back and be lazy. Conflict will always exist as long as the ideais more important than the fact.

The Book of Life - June 3

Creative Energy ( 15 june 2006)

Now the question is: Is there an energy which is not within the field of thought,which is not the result of self-contradictory, compulsive energy, ofself-fulfillment as frustration? You understand the question? I hope I am makingmyself clear. Because, unless we find the quality of that energy which is not merelythe product of thought that bit by bit creates the energy but also is mechanical,action is destructive, whether we do social reform, write excellent books, be veryclever in business, or create nationalistic divisions and take part in otherpolitical activities and so on. Now, the question is whether there is such anenergy, not theoretically—because when we are confronted with facts, to introducetheories is infantile, immature. It is like the case of a man who has cancer and isto be operated upon; it is no good discussing what kinds of instruments are to beused and all the rest of it; you have to face the fact that he is to be operatedupon. So, similarly, a m ind has to penetrate or be in such a state when the mind is not a slave to thought.After all, all thought in time is invention; all the gadgets, jets, therefrigerators, the rockets, the exploration into the atom, space, they are all theresult of knowledge, thought. All these are not creation; invention is notcreation; capacity is not creation; thought can never be creative because thoughtis always conditioned and can never be free. It is only that energy which is notthe product of thought that is creative.

The Book of Life - June 5

Observe How Habits Are Formed ( 31 may 2006)

Without freedom from the past there is no freedom at all, because the mind is nevernew, fresh, innocent. It is only the fresh, innocent mind that is free. Freedom hasnothing to do with age, it has nothing to do with experience; and it seems to methat the very essence of freedom lies in understanding the whole mechanism of habit,both conscious and unconscious. It is not a question of ending habit, but of seeingtotally the structure of habit. You have to observe how habits are formed and how,by denying or resisting one habit, another habit is created. What matters is to betotally conscious of habit; for then, as you will see for yourself there is nolonger the formation of habit. To resist habit, to fight it, to deny it, only givescontinuity to habit. When you fight a particular habit you give life to that habit,and then the very fighting of it becomes a further habit. But if you are simplyaware of the whole structure of habit without resistance, then you will find th ere is freedom from habit, and in that freedom a new thing takes place.It is only the dull, sleepy mind that creates and clings to habit. A mind that isattentive from moment to moment—attentive to what it is saying, attentive to themovement of its hands, of its thoughts, of its feelings—will discover that theformation of further habits has come to an end. This is very important tounderstand, because as long as the mind is breaking down one habit, and in that veryprocess creating another, it can obviously never be free; and it is only the freemind that can perceive something beyond itself.

The Book of Life - May 31

The Interval Between Thoughts ( 30 may 2006)

Now, I say it is definitely possible for the mind to be free from allconditioning—not that you should accept my authority. If you accept it on authority,you will never discover, it will be another substitution and that will have nosignificance....The understanding of the whole process of conditioning does not come to you throughanalysis or introspection, because the moment you have the analyzer, that veryanalyzer himself is part of the background and therefore his analysis is of nosignificance.…How is it possible for the mind to be free? To be free, the mind must not only seeand understand its pendulum-like swing between the past and the future but also beaware of the interval between thoughts...If you watch very carefully, you will see that though the response, the movement ofthought, seems so swift, there are gaps, there are intervals between thoughts.Between two thoughts there is a period of silence that is not related to the thoughtprocess. If you observe you will see that that period of silence, that interval, isnot of time and the discovery of that interval, the full experiencing of thatinterval, liberates you from conditioning—or rather it does not liberate 'you' butthere is liberation from conditioning.... It is only when the mind is not givingcontinuity to thought, when it is still with a stillness that is not induced, thatis without any causation—it is only then that there can be freedom from thebackground.

===Energy Creates Its Own Discipline ( 01 june 2006)

JKrishnamurti.org - Daily Quote

seek reality requires immense energy; and if man is not doing that, he dissipateshis energy in ways that create mischief, and therefore society has to control him.Now, is it possible to liberate energy in seeking God or truth and, in the processof discovering what is true, to be a citizen who understands the fundamental issuesof life and whom society cannot destroy?You see, man is energy, and if man does not seek truth, this energy becomesdestructive; therefore society controls and shapes the individual, which smothersthis energy... And perhaps you have noticed another interesting and very simplefact: that the moment you really want to do something, you have the energy to do it....That very energy becomes the means of controlling itself, so you don't needoutside discipline. In the search for reality, energy creates its own discipline.The man who is seeking reality spontaneously becomes the right kind of citizen,which is not according to the pattern of any particular society or government.

The Book of Life - June 1

is suffering essential ( 13 july 06)

Is suffering essential?There are so many varieties and complications and degrees of suffering. We all knowthat. You know it very well, and we carry this burden right through life,practically from the moment we are born until the moment we collapse into thegrave....If we say that it is inevitable, then there is no answer; if you accept it, then youhave stopped inquiring into it. You have closed the door to further inquiry; if youescape from it, you have also closed the door. You may escape into man or woman,into drink, amusement, into various forms of power, position, prestige, and theinternal chatter of nothingness. Then your escapes become all-important; the objectsto which you fly assume colossal importance. So you have shut the door on sorrowalso, and that is what most of us do. ...Now, can we stop escape of every kind andcome back to suffering? ...That means not seeking a solution for suffering. There isphysical suffering—a toothache, stomachache, an operation, accidents, variousforms of physical sufferings which have their own answer. There is also the fear offuture pain, which would cause suffering. Suffering is closely related to fear and,and without comprehension of these two major factors in life, we shall never c omprehend what it is to be compassionate, to love. So a mind that is concerned withthe comprehension of what is compassion, love, and all the rest of it must surelyunderstand what is fear and what is sorrow.

Book of Life - July 13th

Awareness May Burn Away the Problems(24 May 2006)

All thinking obviously is conditioned; there is no such thing as free thinking.Thinking can never be free, it is the outcome of our conditioning, of ourbackground, of our culture, of our climate, of our social, economic, politicalbackground. The very books that you read and the very practices that you do are allestablished in the background, and any thinking must be the result of thatbackground. So if we can be aware—and we can go presently into what it signifies,what it means, to be aware—perhaps we shall be able to unconditional the mindwithout the process of will, without the determination to uncondition the mind.Because the moment you determine, there is an entity who wishes, an entity who says,"I must uncondition my mind." That entity itself is the outcome of our desire toachieve a certain result, so a conflict is already there. So, it is possible to beaware of our conditioning, just to be aware?—in which there is no conflict at all.That very awareness, if al lowed, may perhaps burn away the problems.

The Book of Life - May 24

No Part of the Mind Is Unconditioned ( 28 may 2006)

Your mind is conditioned right through: there is no part of you which isunconditioned. That is a fact, whether you like it or not. You may say is a part ofyou—the watcher, the super-soul, the Atma—which is not conditioned; but because youthink about it, it is within the field of thought, therefore, it is conditioned. Youcan invent lots of theories about it, but the fact is that your mind is conditionedright through, the conscious as well as the unconscious, and any effort it makes tofree itself is also conditioned. So what is the mind to do? Or rather, what is thestate of the mind when it knows that it is conditioned and realizes that any effortit makes to uncondition itself is still conditioned?Now, when you say, "I know I am conditioned," do you really know it, or is thatmerely a verbal statement? Do you know it with the same potency with which you see acobra? When you see a snake and know it to be a cobra, there is immediate,unpremeditated action; and when you say, "I know I am conditioned," has it the samevital significance as your perception of the cobra? Or is it merely a superficialacknowledgment of the fact, and not the realization of the fact? When I realize thefact that I am conditioned, there is immediate action. I don't have to make aneffort to uncondition myself. The very fact that I am conditioned, and therealization of that fact, brings an immediate clarification. The difficulty lies innot realizing it in the sense of understanding all its implications, seeing that allthought, however subtle, however cunning, however sophisticated or philosophical, isconditioned.

The Book of Life - May 28

Introspection Is Incomplete (16 june 2006)

In awareness there is only the present—that is, being aware, you see the pastprocess of influence which controls the present and modifies the future. Awarenessis an integral process, not a process of division. For example, if I ask thequestion, “Do I believe in God?”—in the very process of asking, I can observe, if Iam aware, what it is that is making me ask that question; if I am aware I canperceive what have been and what are the forces at work that are compelling me toask that question. Then I am aware of various forms of fear—those of my ancestorswho have created a certain idea of God and have handed it down to me, and combiningtheir idea with my present reactions, I have modified or changed the concept of God.If I am aware, I perceive this entire process of the past, its effect in the presentand in the future, integrally, as a whole.If one is aware, one sees how through fear one's concept of God arose; or perhapsthere was a person who had an original experience of reality or of God andcommunicated it to another who in his greediness made it his own, and gave impetusto the process of imitation. Awareness is the process of completeness, andintrospection is incomplete. The result of introspection is morbid, painful, whereasawareness is enthusiasm and joy.
The Book of Life - June 16

Introspection Is Incomplete (16 june 2006)

In awareness there is only the present—that is, being aware, you see the pastprocess of influence which controls the present and modifies the future. Awarenessis an integral process, not a process of division. For example, if I ask thequestion, “Do I believe in God?”—in the very process of asking, I can observe, if Iam aware, what it is that is making me ask that question; if I am aware I canperceive what have been and what are the forces at work that are compelling me toask that question. Then I am aware of various forms of fear—those of my ancestorswho have created a certain idea of God and have handed it down to me, and combiningtheir idea with my present reactions, I have modified or changed the concept of God.If I am aware, I perceive this entire process of the past, its effect in the presentand in the future, integrally, as a whole.If one is aware, one sees how through fear one's concept of God arose; or perhapsthere was a person who had an original experience of reality or of God andcommunicated it to another who in his greediness made it his own, and gave impetusto the process of imitation. Awareness is the process of completeness, andintrospection is incomplete. The result of introspection is morbid, painful, whereasawareness is enthusiasm and joy.
The Book of Life - June 16

Introspection Is Incomplete (16 june 2006)

In awareness there is only the present—that is, being aware, you see the pastprocess of influence which controls the present and modifies the future. Awarenessis an integral process, not a process of division. For example, if I ask thequestion, “Do I believe in God?”—in the very process of asking, I can observe, if Iam aware, what it is that is making me ask that question; if I am aware I canperceive what have been and what are the forces at work that are compelling me toask that question. Then I am aware of various forms of fear—those of my ancestorswho have created a certain idea of God and have handed it down to me, and combiningtheir idea with my present reactions, I have modified or changed the concept of God.If I am aware, I perceive this entire process of the past, its effect in the presentand in the future, integrally, as a whole.If one is aware, one sees how through fear one's concept of God arose; or perhapsthere was a person who had an original experience of reality or of God andcommunicated it to another who in his greediness made it his own, and gave impetusto the process of imitation. Awareness is the process of completeness, andintrospection is incomplete. The result of introspection is morbid, painful, whereasawareness is enthusiasm and joy.
The Book of Life - June 16

The Central Cause of Conflict ( 24 june 2006)

Do not think by merely wishing for peace, you will have peace, when in your dailylife of relationship you are aggressive, acquisitive, seeking psychological securityhere or in the hereafter. You have to understand the central cause of conflict andsorrow and then dissolve it and not merely look to the outside for peace. But yousee, most of us are indolent. We are too lazy to take hold of ourselves andunderstand ourselves, and being lazy, which is really a form of conceit, we thinkothers will solve this problem for us and give us peace, or that we should destroythe apparently few people that are causing wars. When the individual is in conflictwithin himself he must inevitably create conflict without, and only he can bringabout peace within himself and so in the world, for he is the world.

The Book of Life - June 24

One must go deep to know joy ( 02 july 2006)

Very few of us enjoy anything. We have very little joy in seeing the sunset, or thefull moon, or a beautiful person, or a lovely tree, or a bird in flight, or a dance.We do not really enjoy anything. We look at it, we are superficially amused orexcited by it, we have a sensation which we call joy. But enjoyment is something fardeeper, which must be understood and gone into....As we grow older, though we want to enjoy things, the best has gone out of us; wewant to enjoy other kinds of sensations—passions, lust, power, position. These areall the normal things of life, though they are superficial; they are not to becondemned, not to be justified, but to be understood and given their right place. Ifyou condemn them as being worthless, as being sensational, stupid or unspiritual,you destroy the whole process of living...To know joy one must go much deeper. Joy is not mere sensation. It requiresextraordinary refinement of the mind, but not the refinement of the self thatgathers more and more to itself. Such a self, such a man, can never understand thisstate of joy in which the enjoyer is not. One has to understand this extraordinarything; otherwise, life becomes very small, petty, superficial—being born, learninga few things, suffering, bearing children having responsibilities, earning money,having a little intellectual amusement and then to die.

can happiness be found through anything? ( 5 july 2006)

Can happiness be found through anything?We seek happiness through things, through relationship, through thoughts, ideas. Sothings, relationship, and ideas become all-important and not happiness. When we seekhappiness through something, then the thing becomes of greater value than happinessitself. When stated in this manner, the problem sounds simple and it is simple. Weseek happiness in property, in family, in name; then property, family, idea becomeall-important, for then happiness is sought through a means, and then the meansdestroys the end. Can happiness be found through any means, through anything made bythe hand or by the mind? Things, relationship, and ideas are so transparentlyimpermanent, we are ever made unhappy by them. ...Things are impermanent, they wearout and are lost; relationship is constant friction and death awaits; ideas andbeliefs have no stability, no permanency. We seek happiness in them and yet do notrealize their impermanency. So sorrow becomes our constant companion and overcomi ng it our problem.To find out the true meaning of happiness, we must explore the river ofself-knowledge. Self-knowledge is not an end in itself. Is there a source to astream? Every drop of water from the beginning to the end makes the river. Toimagine that we will find happiness at the source is to be mistaken. It is to befound where you are on the river of self-knowledge.

Book of Life - July 5th_______________________