age as a defining parameter ( 17 feb 07)

" We are at the dawn of a Life Cycle revoluton. Spurred by the convergence of a number of poweful cultural , technological, and demographic forces, the way we live, work, and buy -is beginning to change radically.

We no longer live life in a series of predictable life passages. We are breaking free of age related lifesyle expectations that defined us. We are no longer buying produts and series based on this neat , age-oriented marketing model. What is happening is that, we are moving from a rigid linear approach to life - to a more flexible , cyclic life ; a new path that ins't as straight or narrow as it used to be.

There are more curves in the road and a multitude of divergent side paths that some of us might choose to try. Perhaps the most important is the fact that the roles and activities we choose are much less likely to be determined by how old we are !

It not unusual to see a 35-year old or a 65-year old starting a new career or business ; a 30-year old or a 60-year old getting married ; a 45-year old or a 25-year old graducating from a school.
Age is no longer the ultimate definer of who we are, what we're doing and how we feel on the inside,what groups we're a member of, or the products and service we demand from the markeplace.

We are being liberated from a life of one-way passages to a life cycle with a nearly unlimited set of choices, options, and possibilities availagle at ANY age - to anyone with the vision and courage to seize the day !!

" CYLCES" by MADDY DYCHTWALD

Meditation Is Essential to Life ( 02 Jan 07 Tue)

To understand this whole problem of influence, the influence of experience, theinfluence of knowledge, of inward and outward motives - to find out what is true andwhat is false and to see the truth in the so-called false - all that requirestremendous insight, a deep inward comprehension of things as they are, does it not?This whole process is, surely, the way of meditation. Meditation is essential inlife, in our everyday existence, as beauty is essential. The perception of beauty,the sensitivity to things, to the ugly as well as to the beautiful, is essential -to see a beautiful tree, a lovely sky of an evening, to see the vast horizon wherethe clouds are gathering as the sun is setting. All this is necessary, theperception of beauty and the understanding of the way of meditation, because allthat is life, as is also your going to the office, the quarrels, miseries, theperpetual strain, anxiety, the deep fears, love, and starvation.

Now theunderstanding of this tot al process of existence - the influences, the sorrows, the daily strain, theauthoritative outlook, the political actions, and so on - all this is life, and theprocess of understanding it all, and freeing the mind, is meditation. If one reallycomprehends this life then there is always a meditative process, always a processof contemplation - but not about something. To be aware of this whole process ofexistence, to observe it, to dispassionately enter into it, and to be free of it,is meditation.

Lay the Foundation Instantly ( 28 dec 06 thu)

A still mind is not seeking experience of any kind. And if it is not seeking andtherefore is completely still, without any movement from the past and therefore freefrom the known, then you will find, if you have gone that far, that there is amovement of the unknown that is not recognized, that is not translatable, thatcannot be put into words - then you will find that there is a movement which is ofthe immense. That movement is of the timeless because in that there is no time, noris there space, nor something in which to experience, nor something to gain, toachieve. Such a mind knows what is creation - not the creation of the painter, thepoet, the verbalizer; but that creation which has no motive, which has noexpression. That creation is love and death.

This whole thing from the beginning to the end is the way of meditation. A man whowould meditate must understand himself. Without knowing yourself, you cannot go far.However much you may attempt to go far, you can go only so far as your ownprojection; and your own projection is very near, is very close, and does not leadyou anywhere. Meditation is that process of laying the foundation instantly,immediately, and bringing about - naturally, without any effort - that state ofstillness. And only then is there a mind which is beyond time, beyond experience,and beyond knowing

The Way of Meditation < 26 dec 06 tue>

Is truth something final, absolute, fixed? We would like it to be absolute becausethen we could take shelter in it. We would like it to be permanent because then wecould hold on to it, find happiness in it. But is truth absolute, continuous, to beexperienced over and over again? The repetition of experience is the merecultivation of memory, is it not? In moments of quietness, I may experience acertain truth, but if I cling to that experience through memory and make itabsolute, fixed - is that truth? Is truth the continuation, the cultivation ofmemory? Or, is truth to be found only when the mind is utterly still? When the mindis not caught in memories, not cultivating memory as the center of recognition, butis aware of everything I am saying, everything I am doing in my relationships, in myactivities, seeing the truth of everything as it is from moment to moment - surely,that is the way of meditation, is it not?

There is comprehension only when the mindis still, an d the mind cannot be still as long as it is ignorant of itself. That ignorance isnot dispelled through any form of discipline, through pursuing any authority,ancient or modern. Belief only creates resistance, isolation, and where there isisolation, there is no possibility of tranquillity. Tranquillity comes only when Iunderstand the whole process of myself - the various entities in conflict with eachother which compose the 'me'. As that is an arduous task, we turn to others tolearn various tricks, which we call meditation. The tricks of the mind are notmeditation. Meditation is the beginning of self-knowledge, and without meditation,there is no self-knowledge

Igniting the Flame of Self-Awareness

If you find it difficult to be aware, then experiment with writing down everythought and feeling that arises throughout the day; write down your reactions ofjealousy, envy, vanity, sensuality, the intentions behind your words, and so on.

Spend some time before breakfast in writing them down - which may necessitate goingto bed earlier and putting aside some social affair. If you write these things downwhenever you can, and in the evening before sleeping look over all that you havewritten during the day, study and examine it without judgment, without condemnation,you will begin to discover the hidden causes of your thoughts and feelings, desiresand words....

Now, the important thing in this is to study with free intelligence what you havewritten down, and in studying it you will become aware of your own state. In theflame of self-awareness, of self-knowledge, the causes of conflict are discoveredand consumed. You should continue to write down your thoughts and feelings,intentions and reactions, not once or twice, but for a considerable number of daysuntil you are able to be aware of them instantly....

Meditation is not only constant self-awareness, but constant abandonment of theself. Out of right thinking there is meditation, from which there comes thetranquility of wisdom; and in that serenity the highest is realized.

Writing down what one thinks and feels, one's desires and reactions, brings about aninward awareness, the cooperation of the unconscious with the conscious, and this inturn leads to integration and understanding.

Beyond the Limitations of Beliefs ( 21 dec 06 thu)

To be a theist or an atheist, to me, are both absurd. If you knew what truth is,what God is, you would neither be a theist nor an atheist, because in that awarenessbelief is unnecessary. It is the man who is not aware, who only hopes and supposes,who looks to belief or to disbelief to support him, and to lead him to act in aparticular way.

Now, if you approach it quite differently, you will find out for yourselves, asindividuals, something real that is beyond all the limitations of beliefs, beyondthe illusion of words. But that - the discovery of truth, or God - demands greatintelligence, which is not assertion of belief or disbelief, but the recognition ofthe hindrances created by lack of intelligence. So to discover God or truth - and Isay such a thing does exist, I have realized it - to recognize that, to realizethat, the mind must be free of all the hindrances which have been created throughoutthe ages, based on self-protection and security. You cannot be free of security bymerely saying that you are free. To penetrate the walls of these hindrances, youneed to have a great deal of intelligence, not mere intellect. Intelligence, to me,is mind and heart in full harmony; and then you will find out for yourself, withoutasking anyone, what that reality is.

Aloneness Is Not LonelinessThough we are all human beings, we have built walls between ourselves and ourneighbors through nationalism, through race, caste, and class - which again breedsisolation, loneliness.

Now a mind that is caught in loneliness, in this state of isolation, can neverpossibly understand what religion is. It can believe, it can have certain theories,concepts, formulas, it can try to identify itself with that which it calls God; butreligion, it seems to me, has nothing whatsoever to do with any belief, with anypriest, with any church or so-called sacred book. The state of the religious mindcan be understood only when we begin to understand what beauty is; and theunderstanding of beauty must be approached through total aloneness.

Only when themind is completely alone can it know what is beauty, and not in any other state.Aloneness is obviously not isolation, and it is not uniqueness. To be unique ismerely to be exceptional in some way, whereas to be completely alone demandsextraordinary sensitivity, intelligence, understanding. To be completely aloneimplies that the mind is free of every kind of influence and is thereforeuncontaminated by society; and it must be alone to understand what is religion -which is to find out for oneself whether there is something immortal, beyond time.

Knowing Loneliness ( 03 dec 06 Sun)

Loneliness is entirely different from aloneness. That loneliness must be passed tobe alone. Loneliness is not comparable with aloneness. The man who knows lonelinesscan never know that which is alone. Are you in that state of aloneness? Our mindsare not integrated to be alone. The very process of the mind is separative. And thatwhich separates knows loneliness.

But aloneness is not separative. It is something that is not the many, which is notinfluenced by the many, which is not the result of the many, which is not puttogether as the mind is; the mind is of the many. Mind is not an entity that isalone, being put together, brought together, manufactured through centuries. Mindcan never be alone. Mind can never know aloneness. But being aware of the lonelinesswhen going through it, there comes into being that aloneness. Then only can there bethat which is immeasurable. Unfortunately most of us seek dependence. We wantcompanions, we want friends, we want to live in a state of separation, in a statethat brings about conflict. That which is alone can never be in a state of conflict.But mind can never perceive that, can never understand that, it can only knowloneliness.

Only in Aloneness Is There Innocence ( 04 dec 06 Mon)

Most of us are never alone. You may withdraw into the mountains and live as arecluse, but when you are physically by yourself, you will have with you all yourideas, your experiences, your traditions, your knowledge of what has been. TheChristian monk in a monastery cell is not alone; he is with his conceptual Jesus,with his theology, with the beliefs and dogmas of his particular conditioning.Similarly, the sannyasi in India who withdraws from the world and lives in isolationis not alone, for he too lives with his memories.

I am talking of an aloneness in which the mind is totally free from the past, andonly such a mind is virtuous, for only in this aloneness is there innocence. Perhapsyou will say, "That is too much to ask. One cannot live like that in this chaoticworld, where one has to go to the office every day, earn a livelihood, bearchildren, endure the nagging of one's wife or husband, and all the rest of it." ButI think what is being said is directly related to everyday life and action;otherwise, it has no value at all. You see, out of this aloneness comes a virtuewhich is virile and which brings an extraordinary sense of purity and gentleness. Itdoesn't matter if one makes mistakes; that is of very little importance. Whatmatters is to have this feeling of being completely alone, uncontaminated, for it isonly such a mind that can know or be aware of that which is beyond the word, beyondthe name, beyond all the projections of imagination.

To Climb High One Must Begin Low ( 14 dec 06 thu)

Religious organizations become as fixed and as rigid as the thoughts of those whobelong to them. Life is a constant change, a continual becoming, a ceaselessrevolution, and because an organization can never be pliable, it stands in the wayof change; it becomes reactionary to protect itself. The search for truth isindividual, not congregational. To commune with the real there must be aloneness,not isolation, but freedom from all influence and opinion. Organizations of thoughtinevitably become hindrances to thought.As you yourself are aware, the greed for power is almost inexhaustible in aso-called spiritual organization; this greed is covered over by all kinds of sweetand official-sounding words, but the canker of avariciousness, pride and antagonismis nourished and shared. From this grow conflict, intolerance, sectarianism, andother ugly manifestations.Would it not be wiser to have small informed groups of twenty or twenty-fivepersons, without dues or membership, meeting where it is convenient to discussgently the approach to reality? To prevent any group from becoming exclusive, eachmember could from time to time encourage and perhaps join another small group; thus,it would be extensive, not narrow and parochial.To climb high one must begin low. Out of this small beginning one may help to createa more sane and happy world.

Is There Truth in Religions? ( 13 dec 06 wed)

The question is: Is there not truth in religions, in theories, in ideals, inbeliefs? Let us examine. What do we mean by religion? Surely, not organizedreligion, not Hinduism, Buddhism, or Christianity - which are all organized beliefswith their propaganda, conversion, proselytism, compulsion, and so on. Is there anytruth in organized religion? It may engulf, enmesh truth, but the organized religionitself is not true. Therefore, organized religion is false, it separates man fromman. You are a Muslim, I am a Hindu, another is a Christian or a Buddhist - and weare wrangling, butchering each other. Is there any truth in that? We are notdiscussing religion as the pursuit of truth, but we are considering if there is anytruth in organized religion. We are so conditioned by organized religion to thinkthere is truth in it that we have come to believe that by calling oneself a Hindu,one is somebody, or one will find God. How absurd, sir; to find God, to findreality, there m ust be virtue. Virtue is freedom, and only through freedom can truth be discovered- not when you are caught in the hands of organized religion, with its beliefs. Andis there any truth in theories, in ideals, in beliefs? Why do you have beliefs?Obviously, because beliefs give you security, comfort, safety, a guide. In yourselfyou are frightened, you want to be protected, you want to lean on somebody, andtherefore, you create the ideal, which prevents you from understanding that whichis. Therefore, an ideal becomes a hindrance to action.

Is religion a matter of faith ? ( 12 dec 06 tue)

Is Religion a Matter of Belief?Religion as we generally know it or acknowledge it, is a series of beliefs, ofdogmas, of rituals, of superstitions, of worship of idols, of charms and gurus thatwill lead you to what you want as an ultimate goal. The ultimate truth is yourprojection, that is what you want, which will make you happy, which will give acertainty of the deathless state. So the mind caught in all this creates a religion,a religion of dogmas, of priest-craft, of superstitions and idol-worship - and inthat, you are caught, and the mind stagnates. Is that religion? Is religion a matterof belief, a matter of knowledge of other people's experiences and assertions? Or isreligion merely the following of morality? You know it is comparatively easy to bemoral - to do this and not to do that. Because it is easy, you can imitate a moralsystem. Behind that morality, lurks the self, growing, expanding, aggressive,dominating. But is that religion?You have to find out what truth is because that is the only thing that matters, notwhether you are rich or poor, not whether you are happily married and have children,because they all come to an end, there is always death. So, without any form ofbelief, you must find out; you must have the vigor, the self-reliance, theinitiative, so that for yourself you know what truth is, what God is. Belief willnot give you anything; belief only corrupts, binds, darkens. The mind can only befree through vigor, through self-reliance.The Book of Life - December 12

Is religion a matter of faith ? ( 12 dec 06 tue)

Is Religion a Matter of Belief?Religion as we generally know it or acknowledge it, is a series of beliefs, ofdogmas, of rituals, of superstitions, of worship of idols, of charms and gurus thatwill lead you to what you want as an ultimate goal. The ultimate truth is yourprojection, that is what you want, which will make you happy, which will give acertainty of the deathless state. So the mind caught in all this creates a religion,a religion of dogmas, of priest-craft, of superstitions and idol-worship - and inthat, you are caught, and the mind stagnates. Is that religion? Is religion a matterof belief, a matter of knowledge of other people's experiences and assertions? Or isreligion merely the following of morality? You know it is comparatively easy to bemoral - to do this and not to do that. Because it is easy, you can imitate a moralsystem. Behind that morality, lurks the self, growing, expanding, aggressive,dominating. But is that religion?You have to find out what truth is because that is the only thing that matters, notwhether you are rich or poor, not whether you are happily married and have children,because they all come to an end, there is always death. So, without any form ofbelief, you must find out; you must have the vigor, the self-reliance, theinitiative, so that for yourself you know what truth is, what God is. Belief willnot give you anything; belief only corrupts, binds, darkens. The mind can only befree through vigor, through self-reliance.The Book of Life - December 12

10 dec 06 sat ( religious man)

Prayer Is a Complex AffairLike all deep human problems, prayer is a complex affair and not to be rushed at; itneeds patience, careful and tolerant probing, and one cannot demand definiteconclusions and decisions. Without understanding himself, he who prays may throughhis very prayer be led to self-delusion. We sometimes hear people say, and severalhave told me, that when they pray to what they call God for worldly things, theirprayers are often granted. If they have faith, and depending upon the intensity oftheir prayer, what they seek - health, comfort, worldly possessions - theyeventually get. If one indulges in petitionary prayer it brings its own reward, thething asked for is often granted, and this further strengthens supplications. Thenthere is the prayer, not for things or for people, but to experience reality, God,which is also frequently answered; and there are still other forms of petitionaryprayer, more subtle and devious, but nevertheless supplicating, begging andoffering. All such prayers have their own reward, they bring their own experiences; but do theylead to the realization of the ultimate reality?Are we not the result of the past, and are we not therefore related to the enormousreservoir of greed and hate, with their opposites? Surely, when we make an appeal,or offer a petitionary prayer, we are calling upon this reservoir of accumulatedgreed, and so on, which does bring its own reward, and has its price.… Doessupplication to another, to something outside, bring about the understanding oftruth?

begin here ! ( 08 dec 06 (fri)

A religious man does not seek God. The religious man is concerned with thetransformation of society, which is himself. The religious man is not the man thatdoes innumerable rituals, follows traditions, lives in a dead, past culture,explaining endlessly the Gita or the Bible, endlessly chanting, or taking sannyasa -that is not a religious man; such a man is escaping from facts. The religious man isconcerned totally and completely with the understanding of society, which ishimself. He is not separate from society. Bringing about in himself a complete,total mutation means complete cessation of greed, envy, ambition; and therefore heis not dependent on circumstances, though he is the result of circumstance - thefood he eats, the books he reads, the cinemas he goes to, the religious dogmas,beliefs, rituals, and all that business. He is responsible, and therefore thereligious man must understand himself, who is the product of society that he himselfhas created. Therefor e, to find reality he must begin here, not in a temple, not in an image - whetherthe image is graven by the hand or by the mind. Otherwise, how can he findsomething totally new, a new state?

in aloneness there is no fear ( 07 dec 06 thu)

It is only when the mind is capable of shedding all influences, all interferences,of being completely alone…there is creativeness.In the world, more and more technique is being developed - the technique of how toinfluence people through propaganda, through compulsion, through imitation…There areinnumerable books written on how to do a thing, how to think efficiently, how tobuild a house, how to put machinery together; so gradually we are losing initiative,the initiative to think out something original for ourselves. In our education, inour relationship with government, through various means, we are being influenced toconform, to imitate.

And when we allow one influence to persuade us to a particularattitude or action, naturally we create resistance to other influences. In that veryprocess of creating a resistance to another influence, are we not succumbing to itnegatively?Should not the mind always be in revolt so as to understand the influences that arealways impinging, interfering, controlling, shaping? Is it not one of the factors ofthe mediocre mind that it is always fearful and, being in a state of confusion, itwants order, it wants consistency, it wants a form, a shape by which it can beguided and controlled.

And yet these forms, these various influences createcontradictions in the individual, create confusion in the individual. …Any choicebetween influences is surely still a state of mediocrity.…Must not the mind have the capacity to fathom - not to imitate, not to be shaped -and to be without fear? Should not such a mind be alone and therefore creative? Thatcreativeness is not yours or mine, it is anonymous.

technique & creativity ( 04 nov 06 sat)

You cannot reconcile creativeness with technical achievement. You may be perfect inplaying the piano, and not be creative; you may play the piano most brilliantly, andnot be a musician. You may be able to handle color, to put paint on canvas mostcleverly, and not be a creative painter. You may create a face, an image out of astone, because you have learned the technique, and not be a master creator. Creationcomes first, not technique, and that is why we are miserable all our lives. We havetechnique - how to put up a house, how to build a bridge, how to assemble a motor,how to educate our children through a system - we have learned all these techniques,but our hearts and minds are empty. We are first class machines; we know how tooperate most beautifully, but we do not love a living thing. You may be a goodengineer, you may be a pianist, you may write in a good style in English or Marathior whatever your language is, but creativeness is not found through technique. If you have something to say, you create your own style; but when you have nothingto say, even if you have a beautiful style, what you write is only the traditionalroutine, a repetition in new words of the same old thing….So, having lost the song, we pursue the singer. We learn from the singer thetechnique of song, but there is no song; and I say the song is essential, the joy ofsinging is essential. When the joy is there, the technique can be built up fromnothing; you will invent your own technique, you won't have to study elocution orstyle. When you have, you see, and the very seeing of beauty is an art.

live the 4 seasons in a day ( 02 nov 06 thu)

Is it not essential that there should be a constant renewal, a rebirth? If thepresent is burdened with the experience of yesterday there can be no renewal.Renewal is not the action of birth and death; it is beyond the opposites; onlyfreedom from the accumulation of memory brings renewal, and there is nounderstanding save in the present.The mind can understand the present only if it does not compare, judge; the desireto alter or condemn the present without understanding it gives continuance to thepast. Only in comprehending the reflection of the past in the mirror of the present,without distortion, is there renewal.If you have lived an experience fully, completely, have you not found that it leavesno traces behind? It is only the incomplete experiences that leave their mark,giving continuity to self-identified memory. We consider the present as a means toan end, so the present loses its immense significance. The present is the eternal.But how can a mind that is made up, put together, understand that which is not puttogether, which is beyond all value, the eternal?As each experience arises, live it out as fully and deeply as possible; think itout, feel it out extensively and profoundly; be aware of its pain and pleasure, ofyour judgments and identifications. Only when experience is completed is there arenewal. We must be capable of living the four seasons in a day; to be keenly aware,to experience, to understand and be free of the gatherings of each day.The Book of Life - November 2

transformation sans motivation ( 30 oct 06 mon)

How am I to transform? I see the truth - at least, I see something in it - that achange, a transformation, must begin at a level that the mind, as the conscious orthe unconscious, cannot reach, because my consciousness as a whole is conditioned.So, what am I to do? I hope I am making the problem clear? If I may put itdifferently, Can my mind, the conscious as well as the unconscious, be free ofsociety? - society being all the education, the culture, the norm, the values, thestandards. Because if it is not free, then whatever change it tries to bring aboutwithin that conditioned state is still limited, and therefore no change at all.So, can I look without any motive? Can my mind exist without any incentive, withoutany motive to change or not to change? Because any motive is the outcome of thereaction of a particular culture, is born out of a particular background. So, can mymind be free from the given culture in which I have been brought up? This is reallyquite an important question. Because if the mind is not free from the culture inwhich it has been reared, nurtured, surely the individual can never be at peace, cannever have freedom. His gods and his myths, his symbols, and all his endeavors arelimited, for they are still within the field of the conditioned mind. Whateverefforts he makes, or does not make, within that limited field, are really futile inthe deepest sense of that word. There may be a better decoration of the prison, morelight - more windows, better food - but it is still the prison of a particularculture.

can humans change ( 29 oct 06)

One must have asked oneself, I'm quite sure, whether one changes at all. I know thatoutward circumstances change; we marry, divorce, have children; there is death, abetter job, the pressure of new inventions, and so on. Outwardly there is atremendous revolution going on in cybernetics and automation. One must have askedoneself whether it is at all possible for one to change at all, not in relation tooutward events, not a change that is a mere repetition or a modified continuity, buta radical revolution, a total mutation of the mind. When one realizes, as one musthave noticed within oneself, that actually one doesn't change, one gets terriblydepressed, or one escapes from oneself. So the inevitable question arises: can therebe change at all? We go back to a period when we were young, and that comes back tous again. Is there change at all in human beings? Have you changed at all? Perhapsthere has been a modification on the periphery, but deeply, radically, have you c hanged? Perhaps we do not want to change because we are fairly comfortable....I want to change. I see that I am terribly unhappy, depressed, ugly, violent, withan occasional flash of something other than the mere result of a motive; and Iexercise my will to do something about it. I say I must be different, I must dropthis habit, that habit; I must think differently; I must act in a different way; Imust be more this and less that. One makes a tremendous effort and at the end of itone is still shoddy, depressed, ugly, brutal, without any sense of quality. So onethen asks oneself if there is change at all. Can a human being change?

change - known to unknown

Real Change

A change is possible only from the known to the unknown, not from the known to theknown. Do please think this over with me. In the change from the known to the known,there is authority, there is hierarchical outlook of life - 'You know, I do notknow. Therefore, I worship you, I create a system, I go after a guru, I follow youbecause you are giving me what I want to know, you are giving me a certainty ofconduct that will produce the result, the success and the result.' Success is theknown. I know what it is to be successful. That is what I want. So we proceed fromthe known to the known, in which authority must exist - the authority of sanction,the authority of the leader, the guru, the hierarchy, the one who knows and theother who does not know - and the one who knows must guarantee me the success, thesuccess in my endeavor, in change, so that I will be happy, I will have what I want.Is that not the motive for most of us to change? Do please observe your own thinkin g, and you will see the ways of your own life and conduct. …When you look at it, isthat change? Change, revolution, is something from the known to the unknown, inwhich there is no authority, in which there may be total failure. But if you areassured that you will achieve, you will succeed, you will be happy, you will haveeverlasting life, then there is no problem. Then you pursue the well-known courseof action, which is, yourself being always at the center of things.

Action and relationship are synonymous

We are dealing with action at all the levels of our being—not only the physical act,but the emotional, the psychological, the mental, the unconscious, the consciousact—because that is life. Life is all relationship or action. You cannot escape fromthese two facts, though action and relationship are synonymous. By “action” we meanthat which was done, and that which has to be done, and that which is going to bedone. It is a movement, either a continuous movement or a disjointed movement. Withmost of us, it is disjointed. We live at different levels; there is the office,there is the family, there is public opinion; there are my fears and my gods, myopinions, my judgments, my conditioning; and there are the various pressures,influences of society and so on. We live at different levels, disjointed, unrelatedwith each other.

right action & relationship ( 07 jan 07 mon)

Right action comes in understanding relationship…

Relationship is our problem, and without understanding relationship, merely to beactive is to produce further confusion, further misery. Action is relationship: tobe is to be related. Do what you will—withdraw to the mountains, sit in a forest—youcannot live in isolation. You can live only in relationship, and as long asrelationship is not understood, there can be no right action. Right action comes inunderstanding relationship, which reveals the process of oneself. Self-knowledge isthe beginning of wisdom; it is a field of affection, warmth, and love, therefore afield rich with flowers.

action sans conflict ( 08 jan 07 mon)

Krishnamurti:
…How am I to put an end to conflict in action?
Questioner: Don’t act.

Krishnamurti: My life is action. Talking is action; breathing is action; to seesomething is an action; to get into a car, to go to my house is action. Everything Ido is action. You tell me, “Don’t act”! Does that mean just to stop where I am, notthink, not feel; to be paralyzed, to be dead?Questioner: The idea, which is unreal, and reality can nevergo together.Krishnamurti: I realize that action is life. Unless I am totally paralyzed, dead orinsensitive, I must act. I see that every action breeds more pain, more conflict,more travail. I am going to find out if there is an action in which there is no conflict.

action based on ideals ( 09 jan 07 tue)

Action based on ideals

When my action is based on an ideal which is an idea—such as “I must be brave,” “Imust follow the example,” “I must be charitable,” “I must be socially conscious,”and so on—that idea shapes my action, guides my action. We all say, “There is anexample of virtue which I must follow,” which means, “I must live according tothat.” So action is based on that idea. Between action and idea, there is a gulf, adivision, there is a time process. That is so, is it not? In other words, I am notcharitable, I am not loving, there is no forgiveness in my heart, but I feel I mustbe charitable. So there is a gap between what I am and what I should be; we are allthe time trying to bridge that gap. That is our activity, is it not?Now what would happen if the idea did not exist? At one stroke, you would haveremoved the gap, would you not? You would be what you are. You say, “I am ugly, Imust become beautiful; what am I to do?”—which is action based on idea. You say, “Iam not compassionate, I must become compassionate.” So you introduce idea separatefrom action. Therefore there is never true action of what you are but always actionbased on the ideal of what you will be. The stupid man always says he is going tobecome clever. He sits working, struggling to become; he never stops, he never says,“I am stupid.” So his action, which is based on idea, is not action at all.

Action means moving ( 10 Jan 07 Wed)

Action means moving

Action means doing, moving. But when you have idea, it is merely ideation going on,thought process going on in relation to action. If there is no idea, what wouldhappen? You are what you are. You are uncharitable, you are unforgiving, you arecruel, stupid, thoughtless. Can you remain with that? If you do, then see whathappens. When I recognize I am uncharitable, stupid, what happens when I am aware itis so? Is there not charity, is there not intelligence? When I recognizeuncharitableness completely, not verbally, not artificially, when I realize I amuncharitable and unloving, in that very seeing of what is, is there not love? Don’tI immediately become charitable? If I see the necessity of being clean, it is verysimple; I go and wash. But if it is an ideal that I should be clean, then whathappens? Cleanliness is then postponed or is superficial.Action based on idea is very superficial, is not true action at all, is onlyideation, which is merely the thought process going on.