What is right action in this chaotic world?
Brockwood Park - 30 August 1980
Public Talk 1
0:56 | May I point out, if I may, |
1:01 | that we are not doing |
any kind of propaganda, | |
1:08 | nor advocating any belief or ideals, |
1:17 | nor are we asking any of you |
to join something. | |
1:26 | It is non-sectarian, |
1:31 | non-reforming, |
1:41 | not institutional, |
1:45 | nor something that we can |
look to to help us. | |
1:55 | But we are rather serious |
about all this. | |
2:08 | And I would like to also |
point out, if I may, | |
2:14 | that we are thinking over together |
the whole problem, | |
2:20 | the problem of existence |
in our daily life, | |
2:27 | together. |
2:30 | We are not merely |
listening to the speaker | |
2:36 | but sharing not only the words, |
2:41 | the meaning of the words, |
2:44 | the significance of the content |
2:51 | but the pursuit of enquiry. |
2:58 | So it is your responsibility, |
as well as the speaker’s, | |
3:03 | to think together. |
3:11 | And it becomes rather difficult |
if you cannot think together, | |
3:16 | if you are committed |
to some kind of institution, | |
3:20 | to some kind of belief, |
3:23 | if you are a follower of somebody, |
3:27 | if you are attached to a particular |
belief or experience; | |
3:34 | and from that point of view |
to think together is impossible. | |
3:39 | So I hope you will not mind |
that during this morning | |
3:43 | and the subsequent gathering here |
3:48 | that we are free, mature people |
3:55 | who are willing to go |
4:05 | and discover for themselves |
4:08 | how to come out of this terrible chaos |
that one lives in. | |
4:17 | The world is so fragmented, |
more and more every year, | |
4:23 | breaking up not only religiously |
but also politically, | |
4:30 | economically, |
ideologically and so on. | |
4:37 | Everyone throughout the world |
is concerned | |
4:40 | about their own little selves, |
their own little problems – | |
4:46 | not that they are not important, |
they are, | |
4:51 | but we must consider |
the whole of humanity, | |
4:57 | not just our little shrine or our |
little guru, or our little belief, | |
5:03 | or our particular idiosyncrasy |
5:08 | and particular activity. |
5:13 | Because we are concerned, aren’t we, |
if one may point out, | |
5:21 | that all humanity, whether |
they live in India, or in Europe | |
5:27 | or in America, |
or in China, Russia, | |
5:30 | all humanity goes through this |
terrible struggle of existence, | |
5:36 | not only physically, outwardly |
5:40 | but also inwardly, psychologically. |
5:45 | This is the common factor of all |
human beings throughout the world. | |
5:54 | I do not know if we realise this |
sufficiently | |
6:00 | to have a global point of view |
that is whole, | |
6:09 | not fragmented. |
6:16 | And as human beings living in this |
particular country, or in another, | |
6:24 | we are like the rest of mankind. |
6:32 | We suffer, we have problems, |
6:35 | we have untold misery, |
confusion, sorrow, | |
6:43 | the fear, the attachments, |
6:46 | the dogmatic beliefs |
and ideals and so on. | |
6:50 | This is common to all human beings |
throughout the world. | |
6:56 | So psychologically |
we are the world. | |
7:04 | And the world is us, each one of us. |
7:09 | This is a fact. |
7:13 | As a toothache is a fact, |
this is a fact. | |
7:17 | It is not an idea, |
it is not a concept, | |
7:21 | it isn’t something |
one strives after, an ideal, | |
7:28 | but an actual daily factual happening |
in all our lives. | |
7:41 | Either you can make this |
into an ideal or an idea | |
7:49 | and then try to conform |
or adjust yourselves to that idea, | |
7:56 | or treat it as an actual fact |
8:02 | that we are basically, |
8:07 | at the core of our being, |
8:10 | like the rest of humanity. |
8:14 | You may be tall, you may be short, |
you may be brown, white, | |
8:18 | pink, black and purple outwardly, |
8:22 | you may have techniques |
8:26 | that are different from another, |
8:29 | a different kind of education, |
8:32 | different metier, jobs and so on, |
8:37 | but inwardly, deep down in all of us |
8:42 | there is this tremendous sense |
of uncertainty, insecurity, sorrow | |
8:50 | and unimaginable pain |
and grief, loneliness. | |
8:57 | This is the common ground |
on which all human beings stand. | |
9:10 | That is we, as human beings, |
are the rest of the world | |
9:14 | and the world is us. |
9:17 | And so our responsibility |
is something global, | |
9:20 | not just for my family, |
for one’s children, | |
9:26 | those are important, |
9:27 | but we are responsible |
for the whole of mankind | |
9:32 | because we are mankind. |
9:42 | But our beliefs, our ideals, |
9:49 | our cultures, experience |
divide each one of us – | |
9:58 | we are Catholic, Protestant, |
Buddhists, | |
10:01 | Hindus, Muslims |
or following the latest guru. | |
10:10 | This is what is breaking us up – |
our nationalities, | |
10:16 | our insular particular attitudes. |
10:24 | And this attitude brings about |
fragmentation in our lives. | |
10:36 | And where there is fragmentation |
there must be conflict | |
10:41 | between various fragments |
of which you are made up. | |
10:48 | Please, if I may point out again |
that we are thinking together, | |
10:55 | you are not merely |
listening to the speaker | |
10:58 | or trying to find out |
what he wants to say. | |
11:07 | We are together examining |
the whole issue of our life. | |
11:16 | It is our life, your life, |
it’s not somebody else’s life. | |
11:23 | And that life, which is so fragmented |
by our education, | |
11:30 | by our nationalism, by our religious |
concepts, ideals, dogmas, images. | |
11:38 | These are the factors that bring |
about fragmentation in our life. | |
11:49 | And we listen to all this, |
11:52 | perhaps casually or seriously, |
11:58 | with passing interest, |
12:05 | or if you are serious, |
not merely intellectual | |
12:09 | or emotional or romantic, |
12:15 | but if you are profoundly serious, |
12:24 | then the question arises: |
what is our relationship, | |
12:31 | what is our responsibility |
to the whole, | |
12:35 | not only to the particular, |
12:38 | to the whole of mankind? |
12:42 | The responsibility |
that as a human being | |
12:49 | who is essentially, basically |
the rest of mankind – | |
12:57 | you may not like to believe that, |
13:00 | you may not like to feel |
that you are merely an individual | |
13:05 | and what has one to do |
with the rest of mankind, | |
13:10 | which really is quite absurd |
if you go into it. | |
13:14 | We are the mankind. |
13:17 | And so when we realise that, |
not intellectually, not verbally | |
13:23 | but deeply, profoundly |
as something terribly real, | |
13:32 | not as something |
romantic, emotional | |
13:37 | but something that is actual |
in our daily life, | |
13:46 | then what is our responsibility |
13:50 | to the wholeness of mankind? |
13:56 | Please, if I may ask, |
14:02 | put yourself this question. |
14:13 | One feels responsible |
for one’s children, | |
14:17 | wife, husband, girl, |
boy, whatever it is, | |
14:21 | because you are intimately |
connected with them. | |
14:26 | You have to bring them up, education |
and so on, earn a livelihood, | |
14:32 | feel a certain amount of security, |
14:37 | so you gradually restrict |
the wholeness of life | |
14:41 | into a small narrow little groove. |
14:51 | And having such mentality |
14:56 | one is disinclined or repulses, |
15:01 | puts aside the responsibility |
to the whole of mankind, | |
15:06 | not only mankind but to the earth |
15:12 | on which we all live. |
15:15 | We are responsible for all that, |
15:21 | ecologically, economically, |
spiritually. | |
15:29 | But if we cling to our little images, |
15:33 | however reassuring, |
comforting, satisfying, | |
15:42 | then we bring about |
a great fragmentation in our life | |
15:49 | and that prevents all of us from |
seeing the totality of mankind. | |
15:58 | Please, do pay attention |
to what I am saying. | |
16:07 | The speaker is not trying |
to convince you of anything, | |
16:16 | nor trying to persuade you, |
16:20 | influence you, or direct you. |
16:23 | I am not your guru, thank god! |
16:28 | Gurus are absurd, anyhow. |
16:37 | So realising that, |
16:39 | that we are together |
investigating this problem, | |
16:46 | and when the speaker says together, |
he means it. | |
16:52 | Because the speaker can talk |
to himself in his room | |
16:57 | but since we have all |
gathered here together | |
17:02 | under difficult circumstances, |
with rather foul weather, | |
17:09 | it behoves us |
17:12 | to apply our minds and our hearts |
to find out a way of living | |
17:19 | that is whole, complete, |
not fragmented, | |
17:26 | because the world is now becoming |
more and more distorted, | |
17:30 | destructive, disintegrating |
and degenerating, | |
17:37 | morally, ethically, spiritually – |
if we can use that word ‘spiritually’. | |
17:45 | And we are part of that world, |
17:48 | we are part of that society |
in which we live. | |
17:52 | We have created that society, |
17:55 | whether the Christian society, |
17:58 | or the Communist society |
or the Hindu, Muslim, etc. | |
18:04 | We have created it, our fathers, |
our grandfathers, | |
18:09 | the past generations |
upon generations | |
18:12 | and we who have followed them, |
18:14 | we have made this society what it is – |
18:17 | corrupt, |
18:22 | there is injustice, |
18:28 | war, |
18:30 | man against man, |
infinite violence. | |
18:38 | And when one is confronted |
with all this, | |
18:44 | not as a picture, |
18:47 | not as a descriptive analysis |
in a newspaper | |
18:54 | but when one is actually |
faced with it, which we have to, | |
18:58 | we are facing it now, |
in our daily life, | |
19:06 | what is our responsibility? |
What shall we do? | |
19:22 | You see, our minds, |
our brains are so conditioned, | |
19:28 | that we can’t find |
an answer for this. | |
19:33 | We look to somebody, |
19:35 | trot off to India to some guru |
19:41 | and find out if he has a system, |
19:44 | a method to solve this problem. |
They haven’t got it. | |
19:47 | They have got their own systems, |
their own absurdities, | |
19:50 | their own megalomaniac |
ideals and so on, | |
20:01 | but when you are confronted with this, |
20:05 | as each one of us is, |
whether we are young or old, | |
20:10 | what is our reaction, |
what shall we do? | |
20:24 | To find out what is right action |
in all this, | |
20:29 | not right according |
to somebody or some value, | |
20:35 | or according to one’s experience, |
20:43 | or according to some |
ideological concept | |
20:49 | – such concepts, conclusions, |
do not bring about right action. | |
20:59 | When we use the word ‘right’ |
21:02 | we mean that it is precise, accurate, |
21:08 | irrespective of circumstances, |
21:13 | what is the right action in all this, |
21:18 | in this mad, rather insane world |
in which we live? | |
21:30 | To find out what is right action, |
21:36 | not right according to me, |
the speaker, | |
21:39 | or to some philosopher, |
or psychologist, | |
21:44 | but to find out for ourselves |
21:49 | an irrevocable, right action |
21:55 | which would be right |
under all circumstances. | |
22:01 | First, to discover that for ourselves |
22:07 | one must be totally free |
from all attachment, | |
22:17 | for attachment breeds corruption. |
22:27 | If one is attached to a person, |
22:32 | you can see the consequences |
of that attachment: | |
22:36 | jealousy, antagonism, fear, |
22:41 | the loss, the loneliness. |
22:47 | So where there is this particular |
form of attachment to a person, | |
22:54 | corruption is inevitable. |
23:01 | But to cultivate detachment |
is another form of corruption. | |
23:12 | Right? |
I wonder if we understand all this? | |
23:22 | If one is attached to an ideal, |
23:27 | you can see very well |
the consequences of that ideal, | |
23:32 | one becomes violent |
23:37 | and is always trying |
to conform to a pattern | |
23:39 | that thought has established, |
23:46 | and are never facing the fact |
of what is actually going on | |
23:50 | but rather comparing what is going on |
with ‘what should be’, | |
23:56 | which is another form of corruption. |
24:00 | If you are attached to an image, |
24:05 | and that is one of the most |
difficult things | |
24:10 | because each one of us has some |
kind of image about ourselves | |
24:16 | or an image created by thought |
in a church, in a temple, | |
24:21 | in a mosque and so on. |
24:26 | Those images are very |
comforting, reassuring, | |
24:32 | giving us a tremendous |
sense of security, | |
24:35 | which is no security at all. |
24:48 | And again to be attached |
to an experience, | |
24:54 | to hold on to an experience, |
24:58 | some experience that you have had, |
25:02 | talking or walking |
by yourself in a wood, | |
25:06 | you suddenly come or feel |
this oneness with nature, | |
25:16 | that there is no division |
between you and the world about you, | |
25:22 | this sense of wholeness. |
25:26 | It happens |
25:29 | and that is an experience which is |
registered in the mind, in the brain, | |
25:35 | and then one clings to that. |
25:44 | And one is then lost in past memory, |
25:49 | something that is dead and gone, |
25:53 | and when a mind clings to something |
that is finished, withered away, | |
25:58 | corruption begins. |
26:10 | One hopes, |
if the speaker may point out, | |
26:14 | you are not merely listening |
to the words of the speaker | |
26:20 | but you are investigating |
into yourself, | |
26:25 | seeing actually what is going on |
within yourself. | |
26:30 | The speaker merely acts as a mirror. |
26:38 | And the mirror has no value, |
26:43 | you can break it, |
and one must break the mirror. | |
26:47 | That mirror is merely to see oneself |
actually what is going on inside, | |
26:57 | how we are attached to all |
these forms of persons, ideals, | |
27:04 | concepts, conclusions, |
prejudices, experience, | |
27:11 | which is the beginning |
of corruption and fragmentation. | |
27:18 | If you have one image |
and I have another, | |
27:22 | being born in India or you born |
in America or in Russia, or here, | |
27:27 | we have created |
that image in ourselves | |
27:32 | and that image separates us, |
27:35 | and so destroys |
this feeling of wholeness, | |
27:40 | this sense of global |
reality of our life. | |
27:51 | So can one actually |
be free of all attachment? | |
28:01 | Not just keep one or two |
secretly to oneself | |
28:09 | but be totally, |
completely free of all that. | |
28:20 | If one cannot, then you are |
maintaining fragmentation | |
28:26 | and therefore conflict, |
division, struggle, wars | |
28:32 | and all the ensuing miseries. |
28:38 | And it is one’s responsibility. |
28:43 | This is real responsibility |
for each of us, | |
28:49 | not to have a single image. |
28:57 | Therefore when there is no image |
29:00 | there is a totally different |
kind of relationship | |
29:06 | which comes into being, |
29:08 | not only with the person |
with whom you are intimate | |
29:12 | but also with the rest of mankind. |
29:19 | Then your mind |
and your brain is free. | |
29:25 | It is only in that total sense |
of freedom there is love, | |
29:32 | not in ideals, |
not in dogmas, in churches, | |
29:38 | in the things |
that thought has created | |
29:41 | and put them in the churches |
and temples and so on. | |
29:54 | So one asks how serious one is. |
30:03 | Is it all, one’s whole life, |
an illusion, | |
30:09 | constant battle, struggle |
30:14 | and unending misery, |
confusion and sorrow? | |
30:25 | Or can one live differently? |
30:32 | Is our brain capable |
30:35 | of totally changing |
its whole structure, | |
30:44 | its nature? |
30:51 | The brain has – |
30:54 | if I may go into it |
and if you are willing to listen, | |
30:59 | and if you don’t listen |
it doesn’t matter either, | |
31:05 | but if you care to listen |
31:08 | and since you have taken |
the trouble to come here, | |
31:13 | uncomfortable and all the rest of it, |
31:16 | it seems necessary, adequate and right |
that one should listen to something | |
31:24 | that is actually true. |
31:32 | Our brains have been conditioned |
31:41 | along a certain pattern. |
31:48 | You can observe it for yourself. |
31:52 | The speaker is not a brain specialist, |
31:56 | though he has talked |
to many of them about the brain, | |
32:01 | but one can observe oneself, |
the activity of the brain. | |
32:06 | It is conditioned |
to follow a certain pattern. | |
32:11 | That brain has evolved |
through time, through millennia | |
32:17 | and therefore that brain |
is not my brain or your brain, | |
32:21 | it is the brain of mankind. |
32:31 | And that brain |
32:33 | has followed a certain way, |
a certain route, a certain pattern, | |
32:42 | and that pattern has brought about |
32:45 | this division between man and man – |
32:54 | which is obvious when you |
look at it, when you go into it. | |
33:00 | That brain, which has |
evolved through time, | |
33:03 | which is the result of millennia, |
33:08 | is constantly seeking security |
33:16 | in images, in persons, |
33:21 | in conclusions, in some ideals, |
33:26 | that is the pattern |
human beings have followed. | |
33:33 | Please look at it yourself, |
you will see the truth of it. | |
33:40 | And it becomes extraordinarily |
difficult to break that pattern, | |
33:52 | even an ordinary physical habit |
33:57 | like smoking, drinking, etc. |
33:59 | When it becomes deep-rooted habit, |
34:02 | it is extraordinarily |
difficult to break it. | |
34:11 | And the brain has followed |
this particular path, | |
34:18 | this particular way of living, |
34:23 | being concerned with itself, |
34:29 | with its own egotistic activities, |
its own sorrow, | |
34:34 | its own particular anxiety, |
its own pleasures, its own demands – | |
34:40 | that has been the pattern of this brain |
for generation after generation. | |
34:53 | And we are asking: |
34:56 | can that pattern be broken? |
35:02 | Not by will, |
35:05 | not by some kind of pressure, |
idealistic carrot, | |
35:14 | but seeing the actual |
pattern of our life | |
35:19 | and seeing the cruelty of it, |
35:23 | the inanity, the stupidity of it, |
35:32 | that to live in images |
35:41 | is the very essence |
of a destructive way of life. | |
35:50 | When one sees the truth of it |
35:53 | you are already breaking away from it. |
35:58 | So one asks: |
36:02 | does one actually see |
the pattern, the norm, | |
36:11 | the continuity of this movement |
from generation to generation? | |
36:25 | And this movement is |
in the brain, in our brain, | |
36:29 | in our hearts, in our minds. |
36:42 | So can one be free of all that? |
36:52 | Otherwise we pursue |
the way of our daily life | |
36:55 | which is corrupt, fragmentary, |
destructive, violent. | |
37:13 | So, what will make a human being |
37:20 | put away all these things? |
37:25 | Religions have threatened |
37:29 | saying, ‘If you don’t do this |
you will go to hell,’ – | |
37:33 | especially in the Christian world. |
37:36 | If you don’t follow |
a certain religious image | |
37:40 | you are – you know, etc. |
37:45 | So what will make a human being, |
like us, | |
37:50 | see the reality of it |
37:53 | and break, go through with it, |
finish with it? | |
38:00 | You understand my question? |
38:05 | We have tried every kind |
of persuasion, propaganda, | |
38:09 | we have followed so many |
ideals, gurus, concepts, | |
38:17 | we have exercised |
every kind of will, | |
38:24 | rewards and punishments. |
38:27 | But apparently |
human beings don’t change, | |
38:35 | change radically, |
38:37 | they change a little bit |
here and there, | |
38:42 | depending on circumstances, |
convenience, satisfaction. | |
38:50 | So what will make us change? |
38:54 | For example, a very simple fact, |
39:00 | that we have multiple images |
39:06 | not only about ourselves, about our |
country, about our neighbour, | |
39:12 | about our politicians, |
our religion, our god, etc. – | |
39:17 | images, created by thought. |
39:24 | What will make us |
drop one of them | |
39:27 | so completely |
that you never go back to that? | |
39:39 | Please, this is a serious question |
we are asking, | |
39:42 | not just a casual question |
39:48 | on a morning that we |
have gathered together. | |
39:51 | This is a very serious question. |
39:55 | What will persuade you, |
what will make you, | |
39:59 | what will drive you, what will |
influence you to change? | |
40:06 | We have tried all those, |
40:11 | every form of persuasion, |
40:14 | every form of reward and punishment, |
40:18 | but apparently after thousands |
and thousands of years | |
40:23 | we are still more or less the same – |
40:27 | self-centred, lonely, |
40:33 | being attached to some ideal, |
40:35 | following some pattern, |
political or religious or other. | |
40:41 | All that indicates the fragmentary |
state of our brain and mind. | |
40:57 | Since you are good enough |
to listen to all this, | |
41:02 | what will make you change? |
41:06 | What will make you naturally, |
easily, without effort, | |
41:12 | without any anxiety, |
or thinking about the future, | |
41:16 | just give up, let the images |
that one has fall away? | |
41:29 | If one sees |
logically, reasonably, | |
41:35 | the fact that images of various kinds |
do separate man from man, | |
41:42 | that images between people |
prevent relationship, | |
41:48 | and that relationship |
assumes a responsibility | |
41:51 | which is not responsibility |
at all | |
41:54 | but a form of particular |
individual pleasure, | |
42:02 | all that. |
42:05 | Now what will make my mind |
deeply reject all that? | |
42:20 | Is it the fault |
of our education? | |
42:32 | Always geared |
to passing examination, | |
42:35 | jobs, career, money, |
power, position, | |
42:40 | is that one of the major factors |
of this fragmentation? | |
42:52 | Is it the political system, |
whether left, right, | |
42:56 | extreme left, extreme right |
and so on? | |
43:02 | Or is it also |
the fault of our religions, | |
43:05 | organised religions |
with their dogmas, rituals | |
43:08 | which have no meaning whatsoever – |
43:11 | it is all so stupid, childish! |
43:15 | And we go on with them, |
43:21 | and are always frightened |
about the future, | |
43:26 | this sense of deep, |
inward insecurity. | |
43:31 | So seeing all that, |
43:37 | what is our answer to it? |
43:43 | Either you reject all that, |
43:46 | or oppose it by clever arguments – |
43:51 | the impracticality of a life |
without ideals, without images, | |
43:58 | that is what you think. |
44:00 | We think that is the most practical |
way of living. It is not. | |
44:05 | On the contrary. |
44:09 | You can see what is happening |
in the world, | |
44:13 | the Communists, the Socialists, |
the Catholics and so on, | |
44:19 | with their images, with their ideals, |
with their concepts, dividing. | |
44:26 | And if they do not divide |
they try to convert you to their way, | |
44:29 | through pressure, |
through torture, | |
44:31 | through various forms |
of excommunication and so on. | |
44:43 | I think it is rather important |
to find out | |
44:51 | for oneself |
44:53 | whether this fragmentation, |
brought about, as we explained, | |
44:58 | through attachment, through |
various forms of ideals and images, | |
45:02 | can they be totally set aside |
45:10 | so that one has quite |
a different way of living, | |
45:15 | a different way |
of thinking, looking, feeling, | |
45:23 | with love and a great |
sense of compassion? | |
45:38 | Why do you listen to me, |
to the speaker? | |
45:45 | You are all very silent. |
45:53 | Is the speaker trying to stimulate you |
or influence you, | |
45:58 | or persuade you to think |
in this way or that way? | |
46:05 | And he is not. |
46:06 | All that he is saying is look, |
observe, for god’s sake | |
46:10 | look at things as they are, |
46:15 | see what is actually going on |
46:18 | within your skin, within your mind, |
within your heart, | |
46:27 | not try to translate it, distort it, |
but actually observe | |
46:34 | what is. |
46:46 | So one of the problems is, |
46:51 | perhaps that is the major problem, |
46:56 | that our thought |
47:02 | has created this society, |
47:07 | our thoughts have brought about |
this religious structure | |
47:12 | without any meaning, |
47:16 | our thoughts have built |
this world about us, | |
47:21 | apart from nature, |
47:24 | apart from the animals, |
apart from the earth, | |
47:31 | otherwise thought has built all this |
47:35 | – our churches, our gods, |
47:38 | our religions, our political system, |
right, left, centre, | |
47:42 | extreme this or that, |
it is thought. | |
47:51 | And thought must be always limited |
47:59 | because thought is |
the outcome of knowledge. | |
48:08 | And knowledge can never be |
complete about anything. | |
48:19 | Knowledge is the process of time, |
48:23 | the accumulation of experience, |
48:27 | not only yours, but all the past |
generations and generations, | |
48:31 | it is knowledge that we have |
stored in the brain, | |
48:38 | and that knowledge |
is always incomplete, | |
48:42 | it always goes with ignorance. |
48:46 | Ignorance and knowledge go together. |
48:51 | And out of that knowledge |
– memory, thought. | |
49:00 | And so thought, |
49:05 | under all circumstances, |
49:08 | is limited, narrow, |
49:14 | must be fragmentary. |
49:18 | It may create |
the most beautiful bridges, | |
49:23 | these marvellous cameras, |
49:29 | the battleships, the submarines, |
the latest guns and so on. | |
49:34 | And also thought has created |
all the things of this world | |
49:40 | like beautiful architecture, |
49:45 | but not the streams, |
the rivers, the birds, | |
49:50 | the wonderful earth |
on which we live. | |
49:56 | And thought has created the images |
49:59 | which we have put in the churches, |
in the temples and so on. | |
50:05 | So thought by its very nature |
is fragmentary, | |
50:16 | and we, the whole |
of our being, our struggle, | |
50:22 | is the movement of thought. |
50:36 | Are you getting tired? |
50:42 | You can be, I don’t care. |
50:49 | It is a very serious thing |
we are talking about. | |
50:57 | And we rely on thought |
51:01 | to alter the course of our life. |
51:13 | And when thought alters |
the way of our life, | |
51:18 | that way of life will be fragmentary, |
51:21 | it will not be whole, complete. |
51:33 | One comes to the point, |
51:40 | one realises all this, |
if one has gone into it at all, | |
51:49 | and one comes to a certain wall |
against which you can’t go further | |
52:01 | because we are still operating |
52:05 | with the only instrument |
we think we have: | |
52:10 | that instrument is thought. |
52:14 | Thought, desire |
and pleasure and fear, | |
52:19 | which are all the movement of thought. |
52:22 | We will go into that a little later. |
52:28 | So through thought we think |
52:30 | we can break through |
this pattern of the brain | |
52:34 | which has been evolved |
through millennia. | |
52:39 | I wonder if we see that. |
52:43 | Thought cannot possibly |
break through. | |
52:51 | It can only create |
further fragments | |
52:54 | because in its very nature |
it is limited. | |
53:02 | Right? |
Can we move from there? | |
53:10 | Knowledge is necessary. |
53:14 | Technological, |
surgical, engineering, | |
53:22 | scientific knowledge and so on |
is necessary. | |
53:26 | But the knowledge that one has |
psychologically accumulated | |
53:30 | through millennia as human beings, |
53:33 | is that necessary at all? |
53:37 | You understand my question? |
53:47 | I must have knowledge |
to go to the room | |
53:50 | in which I happen to live. |
53:53 | I must have knowledge |
how to drive a car, | |
53:55 | how to write in English, |
53:57 | or in French, or in Spanish |
or Sanskrit and so on. | |
54:03 | I must have knowledge to earn |
a livelihood, skilfully or otherwise. | |
54:12 | That is absolutely necessary. |
54:14 | But why should I |
have this accumulation | |
54:19 | of psychological knowledge? |
54:22 | You understand my question? |
54:28 | Which is the centre of me. |
Right? | |
54:33 | My egotistic pursuits, |
my egotistic demands, activities, | |
54:39 | the whole of that, |
is based on knowledge. | |
54:44 | That knowledge may be |
transmitted into the future, | |
54:49 | modified by the present, |
54:51 | but it is still knowledge. |
54:56 | And psychologically why should |
I have any knowledge at all? | |
55:04 | Knowledge being, |
55:07 | when one has a relationship |
with another, intimate or otherwise, | |
55:12 | one creates through time, |
55:16 | through various forms of conflict, |
pleasure and so on, | |
55:21 | the image that one has about you |
and she has about you. | |
55:28 | That image is our knowledge – |
55:32 | I don’t know |
if you are following all this. | |
55:34 | Right? May we proceed? |
55:37 | That knowledge is fragmented, |
obviously. | |
55:43 | I can’t know all about you. |
55:47 | I may know all about you |
at a totally different level | |
55:50 | – I am not talking of that. |
55:52 | We are talking of the physical |
daily existence | |
55:58 | in which there is so much conflict |
between two human beings. | |
56:08 | And that conflict comes about |
56:12 | through this constant building |
of images between you and the other. | |
56:23 | No? |
56:30 | And can that image-making |
come to an end | |
56:35 | in our relationship with each other, |
56:38 | as a man and a woman, |
or mother and child and so on, | |
56:44 | can that image-making |
come to an end? | |
56:50 | I say it is possible, |
it can be done. | |
56:54 | We have potential |
to create the image, | |
56:56 | we have also the potentiality |
to break down that image. | |
57:10 | That is, |
57:15 | why does the mind, thought, |
and also the brain, create the image? | |
57:24 | Please this is very important |
to understand | |
57:26 | because the wholeness of life, |
57:35 | if one comes to that, |
57:39 | that sense of total integrated whole, |
57:48 | then all conflict ends. |
57:54 | And as long as there is |
this movement of thought | |
57:58 | creating images |
between oneself and another, | |
58:02 | that sense of destructive |
individual narrowness | |
58:14 | will also destroy the wholeness. |
58:17 | You understand what I am saying? |
58:23 | My lord, |
why are you all so silent? | |
58:31 | I hope you are thinking together |
and that is why you are silent. | |
58:42 | So after pointing out all this, |
58:48 | what is one to do? |
58:53 | Is it ever possible |
to end this movement | |
59:00 | of not only creating images |
about the whole | |
59:05 | as well as the particular, |
59:10 | can this movement of thought end? |
59:23 | You know, meditation is essentially |
the ending of thought. | |
59:37 | Not the meditation that people |
practise twenty minutes every day, | |
59:44 | or twenty minutes |
in the morning and the evening, | |
59:47 | or meditation according |
to a system and so on, | |
59:50 | that is not meditation at all. |
59:53 | Meditation is the ending |
of image-making by thought | |
1:00:00 | and the ending of psychological |
knowledge totally | |
1:00:08 | so that the mind |
is free from the past. | |
1:00:18 | That is real meditation. |
1:00:26 | Now we have talked for an hour |
1:00:29 | and what good has it done? |
1:00:36 | Not that one is seeking a result |
1:00:41 | – I am not, the speaker is not. |
I don’t care if you do, or don’t. | |
1:00:48 | It is up to you. |
1:00:53 | So after listening for an hour |
perhaps to this harangue, | |
1:01:00 | or to this sermon – |
1:01:07 | you know that story of a preacher |
1:01:11 | talking to his disciples |
every morning, | |
1:01:16 | that was his habit. |
1:01:19 | He would get up on the rostrum, |
talk to his disciples | |
1:01:24 | for about ten minutes, or quarter |
of an hour or an hour, | |
1:01:27 | and begin the day that way. |
1:01:30 | So one morning he was preaching, |
1:01:33 | talking about the goodness of life, |
how to behave. | |
1:01:37 | A bird comes and sits |
on the windowsill | |
1:01:45 | and the preacher stops talking. |
1:01:51 | And they all listen to that bird. |
1:01:56 | And the bird flies away |
and the preacher says. | |
1:02:00 | ‘The sermon is over |
for this morning’. | |
1:02:04 | Right? |
Got it? | |
1:02:08 | May I get up now? |
1:02:19 | We will continue |
tomorrow morning. | |
1:02:37 | SUBTITLE TEXT COPYRIGHT 1980 |
KRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATION LTD | |