Krishnamurti - Look at the human being, not the word

Krishnamurti Subtitles

RV78DS5 - Look at the human being, not the word
Rishi Valley, India - 14 December 1978
Discussion with Students 5

0:29	Krishnamurti: I believe this is the last talk between us. So what shall we talk about?
0:43	Student: Observation.
0:47	K: You will like to discuss observation. Anything else?
0:54	S: Anger.
0:56	K: Anger. What else would you like to discuss?
1:03	S: About keeping the mind quiet.
1:08	K: About teaching the mind quiet.
1:13	S: Keeping the mind quiet.
1:16	K: Keeping the mind quiet.
1:23	S: Why should there be any rules at all?
1:28	K: Why should there be any rules. Anything else? Where are my two friends? Come on, sir. And the other one?
2:14	K: Good morning. S: Good morning. Observation, anger, and how to keep the mind quiet.
2:38	S: Poverty.
2:42	K: Why should we have rules. You would like that? Shall we start with how to keep the mind quiet? Would you like to discuss that? S: Yes.
3:01	K: Why? Why do you think the mind should be kept quiet?
3:10	S: You do not waste energy.
3:18	K: If the mind is quiet, my friend says you won't waste energy. If you keep it quiet, then you have a great deal of energy. Do you want to talk about that? Or do you want to talk about why should we have rules in school? Is that it? And about anger and so on. What would you like to talk about?
3:58	S: Mind.
4:00	K: Mind, keeping the mind quiet. And that chap asked whether it is possible to observe, what do we mean by observe. Now, will you observe your mind? Can you observe your thinking?
4:33	S: Yes.
4:35	S: If we go deep into it.
4:38	K: We will begin slowly and then go very deeply. We will begin first by observing our mind working when we are looking at the trees, the hills, the people, the villagers, the Rural Centre, and yourself. Now, when you say observe, what do you mean by that? I observe the mountains.
5:13	S: To look carefully. To look carefully and study it.
5:18	K: To look carefully first, and what do you mean by looking carefully?
5:26	S: To concentrate on it deeply.
5:31	K: To concentrate on it. That is, to look, you are saying, means to look with attention. Is that what you mean?
5:43	S: No. You look into it deeply.
5:49	K: Now, what do you mean look into it deeply?
5:53	S: To understand it.
5:55	K: You are looking at that tree. Are you? There is that tree there. Look at it. Do you look at it deeply, understand it?
6:10	S: We relate it with something we did before.
6:16	K: That is right. You relate it to something that you have remembered before with regard to that. Right? Think carefully, slowly. You look at the mountain, you look at that thing over there, and you have used the word mountain which is related to the past, and say that is a mountain. Right? Is that clear? S: Yes.
6:49	K: So, when you look at a tree, you already remember the thing called that, which is a tree. So you say that is a tree. Now, just listen to it carefully. Can you look at that thing and not call it a mountain?
7:09	S: No.
7:11	K: Try it, do it. Don't say no. Look, that is observation. You understand?
7:17	K: To observe without the word.
7:23	S: Without describing it.
7:26	K: Yes, without the word, without bringing the past into action.
7:36	S: When you know it is a mountain how can you say it is not a mountain?
7:39	K: What is that?
7:40	S: If you know it is a mountain, how can you say it is not a mountain.
7:43	K: I didn't say it is not a mountain. I just said can you look at that thing high up there without naming it? The naming it means naming it as a mountain. Don't use the word mountain, but just look at it.
8:06	S: Why should we do this?
8:12	K: Why should you do it? Because the moment you have said mountain, your mind has already moved away from looking. Now, carefully examine what I said. Don't accept what I said, look at what I said. I said, when you use the word mountain, you have already moved away from it. Just listen, listen, listen.
8:43	K: What is your name? S: Sanjay.
8:46	K: Sanjay. You are not Gandhi's son, are you?
8:54	S: No.
9:04	K: You are Sanjay. Now, when I say you are Sanjay, what has happened? The word Sanjay has prevented me from looking at you without the word because the word Sanjay I am used to, I have repeated, Sanjay, Sanjay – right? But the word prevents me from looking at you Careful, get what I am saying first.
9:36	S: I can't get it, because if I see a mountain I can look at the mountain, I can see what it is, see it has got rocks, it has got trees and everything. I can name it first as a mountain.
9:46	K: But can you look at it without naming it?
9:50	S: What do you mean by look at it?
9:51	K: Look at it, and don't call it a mountain, just look. This is very important for you to understand.
10:06	S: How does it help? K: I will show you in a minute. Be patient, will you?
10:12	S: That means we have to forget the past.
10:13	K: No. Just go slowly, I will explain it to you. Understand what I am saying.
10:23	K: What is your name? S: Daichu.
10:26	K: Daichu, right. I know you as Daichu. The word Daichu is not you.
10:39	S: What do you mean?
10:42	K: Listen carefully. The word Daichu is not you, is it?
10:49	S: It is.
10:52	K: It is partly you, not the whole of you. So the word Daichu is not the whole of you. Right? S: Yes.
11:02	K: Sanjay is not this whole thing. It is a name. So, just listen carefully. The word microphone is not that. The word is not that. Right? You get it?
11:23	S: Yes, the whole thing is some different thing.
11:26	K: Yes. The word, say for instance, the roof, is not the actual fact, is it?
11:36	S: I can't understand this.
11:41	K: You know a door, don't you? S: Yes.
11:45	K: The word door is not the actual wood out of which the door is made. So the word is not the thing. Is that clear? S: Yes.
11:59	K: No, remember, bear this in mind very, very carefully.
12:03	S: That means a roof is made of cement so you cannot say it is a roof. You can never say what it is.
12:08	K: That is right. The roof is not the thing. The door is not the actual door.
12:17	S: When made in that way, it is known as a door.
12:19	K: Yes. It is made that way, but it is not the actual fact, is it?
12:26	S: You are meaning to say wood is not door.
12:30	K: No, dear. Now, my name is K – right? But I am not K, the word is not me. Got it? The word is not me. The word only represents me. So the word in actuality is not me.
13:05	S: You are just called. K: Yes.
13:08	K: Sanjay is a name of the person, but that person is not the word. Got it? S: Yes.
13:17	K: Be clear on this. This is very important to understand. The word mountain is not that. You have got it? S: Yes.
13:29	K: You are sure? So, you have learned something very important in life – the word is not the thing.
13:40	S: The word represents the object.
13:43	K: That is all.
13:45	S: Yes, but why should the word that represents the object come between you and the actual observation?
13:51	K: What?
13:52	N: The word represents the object, why should the word come between you and the actual observation?
14:00	K: That is it. But generally the word comes in between.
14:05	S: No sir, you call it a mountain, the word mountain represents the object, but you look at the mountain, you have to call it something, but you can see the mountain for what it is despite the fact that you are calling it a mountain.
14:21	K: Yes, but wait a minute, a little more complex than that. I will take you a little further. That is, the word – please bear in mind what I said – the word is not the thing. Right? The word Sanjay is not him. Right? Clear? Now, when the word comes in between the observer and the observed, the word then distracts.
14:58	S: It stops you from looking at it.
15:01	K: That is right, it stops you from looking at you, Daichu. The word prevents me from looking at you. The word – just listen carefully – the word, the symbol, the reputation. Say for instance, I have got a reputation, God knows why, but I have got a reputation. And you have built an image about me – right? To look at me you must be free of image, the reputation, the name, then only you can look at me properly. Got it? You are sure? S: Yes.
15:49	K: So, when you observe, the word mustn't interfere. Go slowly, I am going on with it. Because the word will prevent me from examining you.
16:05	S: But without my knowledge I will name it at once, because I have always been naming it.
16:09	K: That is just it. You are always naming me. You are always naming – just a minute – you are always having an image of me. That has been told to you, you have listened to it and so on, you have made an image about me. That image is the word, but that image, that word, is not actually this thing. So when you want to look at me, you must be free of the word, the image, the name. Then I can look at you. If I say to you, if I say you are a communist, it is finished, I can't look at you. You understand?
17:00	S: It is the image that interferes, not the name.
17:05	K: That is it. It is the image, the word, the name prevents me from looking at you if you are a communist. I want to look at you, not the word, not the name. Got it? So it is very important to understand this. Say, for instance, people say, oh, he is a Muslim. Right? The word Muslim has got a great many associations, and that word will prevent me from looking at the human being. You got it?
17:46	S: You leave it at calling him a Muslim.
17:50	K: Don't call him a Muslim. S: No, but you leave it.
17:53	K: Leave it, that is right.
17:56	S: If you look at a mountain, you just say it is a mountain and you don't look at it. If you don't know it is a mountain, you examine it.
18:03	K: That is right, you have got it. You have got it, have you? Will you do it? Don't say yes. Do it. Look at that thing, that enormous height, some height, and look at it, see all the lines of it, the stones on it and so on. But the moment you say mountain, it is finished, you don't look. You have got it?
18:31	S: Yes, that is true, but how do we do it? Because we know it is a mountain, we know.
18:38	K: Of course you know it is a mountain.
18:41	S: So we call it a mountain. K: No!
18:45	K: I know you call it a mountain. Forget the mountain. I am looking at you. Your name is Sanjay. The word Sanjay is not you. The word is not you.
19:05	S: Yes. K: So the word is not you.
19:09	K: The word mountain is not that. Got it? S: I agree, but I have always been conditioned to call it a mountain.
19:19	K: Yes, that is right. S: So how do I get rid of it?
19:22	K: You don't get rid of it, but see how the word prevents you from looking.
19:30	S: Yes. K: That is all.
19:35	S: Suppose while teaching, show the student first the object and then tell him the name.
19:42	K: That is right.
19:45	S: During teaching, he says, you have to first name the object and then tell the story what it is.
19:49	N: No, he is saying just the opposite. While teaching you should first show the object and then give the name.
19:55	K: That is what he is saying. Quite right. You understand how important this is? First see the object, examine the object, look into the object, then name it. But we name it and forget to examine it. You are quite sure you have got it? S: Yes.
20:18	K: You asked that question about observation. Now, this is what I mean by observation: to look without the word, without the name, without the symbol. You understand?
20:36	S: No.
20:37	K: What do you mean no? I have been explaining. You weren't listening, were you?
20:47	S: Probably not.
20:48	K: Quite right. You asked the question and you forgot to listen to the answer. So I will repeat it again. The word microphone is not this thing, is it? Right? Is that clear? So the word is never the actual. If I want to look at the actual, I must put aside the word. If I want to see you, I must put aside the name by which you are recognised. I can look at you then. You understand? Suppose you have prejudice against the Muslims. The word Muslim you remember with lots of other associations. But to look at that human being whom you have called Muslim, you must forget the word. Then you have some kind of relationship with him. You understand? So you have learned – listen carefully – you have learned one thing which is very important in life, that is, to look at the human being and not at the word, not whether he is untouchable or Harijan, is a Vaisya, a Hindu, this, that. You observe the object, you are the object, and you are not the name. You have got this very clearly?
22:35	S: If you see a foreign person, you have not seen him before, the first thing you do is ask him his name.
22:43	K: First look at it.
22:45	S: Yes, but usually first thing you do is ask him for his name.
22:50	K: I don't understand.
22:52	S: Usually when you see a foreign person
22:55	S: who you have not seen before. K: I am a foreign person, yes.
22:58	S: Then at once, first thing I ask you is your name.
23:01	K: Yes. Why?
23:04	S: Because that is the only identification we have.
23:05	K: That is all. But the identification prevents you from looking at the human being. Right? Got it? Be clear, because I am going to go into something which you will presently understand. If this is not clear, you won't understand what I am saying. Right? Understood? So I am saying, to observe, don't let the word or the image interfere.
23:36	S: You said to look at the whole thing.
23:41	K: At the whole thing.
23:42	S: If you have to look at the whole thing you have to take in the name also.
23:47	K: But I said don't let the name prevent you from looking at the whole. Right? Got it? So you have learned – if you have listened, if you have paid attention – you have learned to observe without the word. Right? That is what I mean by observation. Now, can you observe your mind chattering? Can you observe it? S: Yes.
24:24	K: You can, can't you? Say, look, I am chattering. Now, listen carefully, listen, first listen. Don't react, first listen. Which is, you can observe the mind chattering. Is the observer, the one who observes, different from the thing who is observing? Carefully think it out.
24:57	S: Can you repeat it? K: I will repeat it.
25:01	K: My mind is chattering, and I say to myself, it is chattering. I know it is chattering. Now, when the observer says it is chattering, is the observer different from the thing that is chattering? Carefully think it out, don't answer quickly.
25:34	S: No.
25:36	K: They say no. Ask them why. Why do they say that it is not?
25:46	S: I don't know. K: That is just it.
25:50	K: That girl asked, you talked about anger. Sorry, sir, you are not a girl. Which doesn't mean I don't like girls. I have to be awfully careful, haven't I? You are angry, you get angry, don't you?
26:17	S: Yes.
26:19	K: Why do you get angry?
26:22	S: Because I dislike the thing the person is doing.
26:27	K: But what he is doing may be correct. But you don't like what he is doing, so you get angry.
26:38	K: When you get angry – listen carefully to my question, first listen carefully – at the moment of anger, what is taking place?
26:51	S: There is no love. You don't love that person.
26:58	K: No, I am not saying you don't love that person. When you are angry – you have been angry, haven't you? Most human beings have. And when you are angry, at that moment, there is no 'you' saying, I am angry. Right? At that moment you say I am angry. You are just anger. Clear?
27:27	S: You know you are angry.
27:30	K: No, listen to what I am saying. Listen carefully to what I am saying. At the moment of anger, you don't say, I am angry. You say I am angry only when it is over. Be clear on that point. So at the moment of anger there is only a state called anger. A second later or a minute later, I say, I have been angry. Right?
28:14	S: You could also know as you get angry, you could know that I am getting angry.
28:19	K: Which means what? Think it out carefully. I will help you. This is our education, you understand? This is part of education, not only algebra and mathematics or geography or history, this is part of educating yourself, the way to think, not what to think. Do you understand the difference? Not what to think, but how to think. Right? So when you are angry, at the moment of anger, there is no 'you'. Only a second later you say, I have been angry. I am asking a question: is that anger – listen carefully – is that anger different from you?
29:24	S: Of course. It is.
29:27	K: You haven't listened. Is anger different from you? Is envy different from you? When you are jealous, is that different from you?
29:44	S: No. It is because of you that that is formed.
29:47	K: Yes, because of you that exists. But you are that.
29:53	S: Yes.
29:55	K: Clear?
29:56	S: No.
30:02	S: It arises from yourself. That is, you act according to what you know. Like sometimes you get angry, sometimes you are happy. So it is in you.
30:13	K: Look, when you have pain, is that pain different from you?
30:21	S: No.
30:22	K: Careful, think it out. Don't answer quickly. You have a toothache. Is that toothache different from you? Because you are the body, you are the name, you are all the qualities that you have, you have studied so much, all that is you. Your name, your form whether you are a girl or a boy, your form, your characteristics, your tendency, what your father, your mother, the tradition – all that is you. And the part of you is also anger.
31:19	S: Yes.
31:21	K: Have you listened? S: Yes. Anger is a part of you.
31:24	K: That is right. So you can never say anger is different from me. That is very important to understand this.
31:32	S: We never say that.
31:35	K: No, but when you get angry, you try to control it. You try to say it is wrong to be angry. So when you condemn it, you are...
31:47	S: Condemning part of yourself.
31:53	K: So I am saying the thinker – listen carefully – the thinker is the thought. This is little bit difficult. So, let's keep it very simple. To observe, look at it, look at the object without naming it – that is clear – then you can observe. If I want to observe you, your name mustn't interfere, then I can look at you.
32:35	S: But can't you look at me by addressing me?
32:38	K: I just look at you.
32:44	S: In the same way, you observe your emotions without naming them.
32:49	N: She says, in the same way you must observe your emotions without naming them.
32:55	K: That is right. When you get angry, don't name it, but look at it. You have got it? If you learn this, really learn it, it will help you throughout life.
33:14	S: In what way?
33:18	K: If you separate yourself from anger then you try to control it, don't you? Then you try to suppress it, you try to run away from it. But if you are that, you can't run away. Then a peculiar thing takes place: the very thing that you have been calling anger changes completely. You have to go into this very carefully. You are too young probably to go into this.
33:51	S: How do you control it?
33:55	K: Wait a minute. How do you control it – anger. Right? Why do you want to control it?
34:10	S: You don't like it. You don't like that situation.
34:13	K: You don't like that situation. But you like something pleasurable and you like that.
34:19	S: You like to keep on it.
34:21	K: See what you are playing. Something you like, you keep, something you don't like, you throw away. But anger, is that very different from pleasure, the emotion? I won't go into it, you are too young. So, to look at something without naming – keep that simple. Now, you want to know why your mind is chattering, and what to do about it. First of all, have you ever found out why your mind chatters?
35:11	S: Because you don't have control over it.
35:14	K: No, don't control. I said first, have you observed, have you looked, have you examined why your mind chatters, goes from one thing to another – right?
35:28	S: Because you know many things.
35:33	K: You know many things, all right. But why go from one thing to another like a butterfly?
35:40	S: When I am walking I see so many things, all the thoughts come into my head, they keep going round and round. Even of what I have already seen, I am still thinking of that.
35:49	K: Find out – I am asking you – find out why your mind goes from one thing to another.
35:59	S: Because you are not attentive.
36:06	S: You don't observe. K: No, I am not asking you. You are not answering my question. You are thinking about your exams, you are thinking about going up the mountain, you are thinking about playing tennis – a jumble. Why?
36:32	S: Your mind is yourself. K: No!
36:34	S: Memory?
36:36	K: Why is your mind chattering?
36:42	S: You don't observe.
36:44	K: That is one reason. Is it – listen carefully – is your mind chattering because it is a habit?
36:56	S: Habit? K: Habit.
36:57	S: No. K: No? S: It is not a habit. K: Why not?
37:01	S: It comes to you naturally.
37:03	K: Which may be a habit, which maybe you have inherited from your father whose father...
37:09	S: It can be a habit.
37:10	K: Yes. It can be a habit. Right?
37:16	S: How can it be? Because of you. When you start thinking, you will not say, I am going to start chattering, I am going to make my mind chatter now. You don't say, I am going to make my mind chatter.
37:31	K: No, it chatters. S: It chatters by itself. K: That is it.
37:35	S: Even the habit comes on to you like that.
37:36	K: Yes. You don't understand that? No. I will explain. First of all, what is a habit? Are you interested in what we are talking about? What is a habit?
37:57	S: Something which you maintain.
38:01	K: Maintain. A habit generally means doing something over and over and over again, consciously or unconsciously. You understand the words conscious and unconscious?
38:18	S: Yes.
38:19	K: Without thinking or with thinking. Now, I am asking you, is your chattering a habit?
38:31	S: Yes. K: It is.
38:33	S: It is unconscious. You are not conscious of it.
38:36	K: That is right. So you do it repeatedly. So, your mind is chattering because it has become a habit.
38:50	K: No? S: Yes.
38:53	K: What?
38:55	S: You have made it a habit.
38:59	K: All right. You have made an unconscious habit of it. That is, your mind is chattering, and that chattering has come because of habit, and also, if it stopped chattering, what would happen?
39:23	S: You would be blank.
39:24	K: No.
39:26	S: You would begin to feel bored.
39:28	K: All right, you would begin to feel bored. Or you might get frightened.
39:34	S: Yes, and then we search for something to occupy ourselves. There is an insecurity in...
39:39	K: No, don't introduce too difficult grown-up words yet, I want to keep it very, very simple. It is a habit – right? And also human minds work in tradition, in routine, mechanically – I have done this yesterday and I do this today – like a machine that keeps on repeating.
40:09	S: Does that mean that there should be no routine?
40:17	N: Does it mean that there should be no routine.
40:26	K: First understand what is implied. We will go into whether there should be no routine. Personally I have no routine. That is quite a different matter. Now, let's go into it. Mind chatters either because it is a habit, or because it is frightened what might happen if it is not chattering, it might get bored, it might be empty and nervous and lonely, so it keeps occupied. You know what being occupied is. S: Yes.
41:14	S: But you are always doing something.
41:17	K: Always doing something. So, habit, fear, occupation. Right? So the mind chatters for these reasons. Now, why is it frightened or bored when it is not chattering? And therefore because unconsciously, not knowingly, it might get frightened therefore it keeps occupied. Say for instance, a mother is occupied with her cooking, keeping the house clean, doing the beds and so on. But if she hasn't got to do all that – being occupied – what will she do? She will get nervous, she will get frightened. So the mind says, I might get frightened, therefore let me be occupied.
42:24	K: You have got it? S: Continue thinking.
42:26	K: Not thinking – you have got it?
42:28	S: Why do you get frightened?
42:32	K: Why do you get frightened. Have you ever tried not doing anything, not thinking at all?
42:40	S: No. K: No.
42:43	S: Sort of a meditation.
42:45	K: I am coming to meditation. I am slowly leading up to the word meditation. So, the mind is occupied, and that occupation has become a habit and that habit says, chatter, keep going, going, going. When you wake up and go to sleep it is chattering, and also it is chattering when it has dreams.
43:22	S: Can you tell us how this habit would have formed.
43:25	K: I am telling you. Our minds like to work mechanically, that is the easiest way of living. I find something comfortable and I do it. Listen carefully. I am frightened because if my mind isn't occupied, I don't know what to do. I feel lonely, I feel frightened, therefore I keep chattering. Right?
44:07	S: Because I made myself a chatterbox.
44:10	N: Because I made myself a chatterbox.
44:12	K: Yes, that is right. You have made yourself into a chatterbox.
44:23	S: How do we stop it?
44:25	K: I am going to show you – not how to stop it. You know, if you stop something, it will come back again. If you conquer something, you will have to re-conquer it again. This is a little bit too abstract. So, you know why your mind is chattering. By merely saying, I must stop it, you are not going to stop it. Then you will be occupied with stopping it. Got it? S: Yes.
45:16	S: There is nothing to be done. Just go with that.
45:20	K: That is it. You are learning something, which is: don't oppose, don't control, look at it, observe it very closely. You get it? Say your mind is chattering – watch the mind chattering.
45:41	S: Then I would be only watching that, because the mind is always chattering.
45:44	K: No, you haven't listened.
45:47	S: If you are doing something, like in the class...
45:49	K: No, stick to chattering.
45:52	S: Yes, I mean that.
45:54	S: If you are doing something and you observe suddenly that your mind is chattering around.
45:59	K: Yes.
46:00	S: You have no time to observe it at that time.
46:03	K: No. You are observing something, and your attention goes off somewhere else, your thought goes, and another thought comes on. So it keeps on doing this. Now, I am saying watch carefully, attend carefully to the chattering. You know the cause of chattering, and if you stop it it will come back, so watch it – just watch it. Don't say, I mustn't chatter, I must chatter, it is wrong, it is right – just watch it. Have you understood what I have said?
46:46	S: Yes. You can stop a habit. But why is it hard to stop your mind from chattering, if it is a habit?
46:56	K: What?
46:58	N: She is saying you can stop a habit, an external habit, but it is much more difficult to stop the mind chattering.
47:04	K: I understand that. S: Why is it?
47:07	K: Because – lordy! You can stop smoking. Have you smoked? S: No.
47:17	K: Good, I am glad. I have never smoked. Myself, I have never smoked. I never drank, etc. So, you can stop an external habit. Suppose if I have a habit of scratching, I can say, well, this is stupid, I can watch it and say, no, I won't do it. That is fairly simple, isn't it?
47:42	S: Yes.
47:43	K: To stop some external habit, like wiggling, some of these boys do all the time, you can watch it and stop it. Now, the habits which you have formed inside are much more difficult, because those habits have a very long story. I have watched my mother, my father doing this, and I do that. The habit has a very long story. Until I uncover the story, have read the whole story, until I have done that, habit will go on. Until I know the whole movement of habit, habit will go on. When I know it, habit will stop. That is what I am trying to tell you.
48:43	S: How?
48:46	K: It is not how. There is no how.
48:51	S: I mean to say how do you stop your habit after discovering everything?
48:55	K: You don't stop it.
48:56	S: Go with it. K: Go with it, that is it. Go with it, understand it, look at it. Don't resist, just look at it.
49:04	S: See when it, see when it occurs.
49:06	K: Yes, that is right. You are getting it. Slowly get it. How long did it take to learn mathematics? Arithmetic? S: It takes very long.
49:19	K: How many minutes have you given to this?
49:23	S: Zero. K: Zero, quite right. You want to learn about it, so look at it, learn. Don't say, how am I to stop it? All that, learn. You understand?
49:40	S: What is the use of learning about it when you are going to continue with it?
49:45	K: You can't continue. If you learn – just a minute – if you learn that smoking gives you cancer in the lungs, destroys your breathing properly, it affects your brain, it affects your health – doctors have shown this. And if you are at all sane, rational, you say, no, I won't do it.
50:17	S: But the doctors who say don't smoke, and in their hand there will be a cigarette.
50:28	K: Don't smoke, the doctor says, and in their hand they have got a cigarette. You know what they are, they are hypocrites. Right? Now – please listen to this – we started out how to observe the mountain. Right? The word is not the thing.
50:50	S: Yes.
50:51	K: Get that into your skull deeply. The word is never the thing. I can paint a picture of that hill, paint it, but the painting is not that. I can describe the mountain...
51:10	S: The painting is a painting. K: That is all, but not that. I can describe in a most beautiful language, the lines, the beauty, the depth, the shade, but the description is not that. Right? You are clear? S: Yes. K: Absolutely? So you learn to observe without the symbol, the word, the image. You have got it? Can you do it? Do it. Look at that flower, look at it, don't name it, don't say it is a rose, it is a hollyhock, don't mention any of them, but just look.
52:02	N: If you are looking at it without naming it, does it mean you are looking at it in a different way each time.
52:11	K: Of course. It means that the word which is interfering with your look, you are looking at it differently each time, because the flower is different each time. It is different in the morning, it is different in the afternoon, it is different in the evening light. You have got it?
52:33	S: If I look at that flower there, when I look at it, if I do not know it, if I have never seen it before, then I first look at it and then find out later. But now, I have seen this girl, when I see her again, I first will be naming her, I cannot help it.
52:51	K: That is it. So can you stop naming her and look at her?
52:56	S: I can't. K: You will, if you see,
52:58	K: if you want to understand her, if you want to look at her, if that is your interest, don't let the word interfere. You understand? So you have learned, I hope, that the word is never the thing. The husband says, my wife, the word 'wife' is not her. Got it?
53:27	S: But it represents her. The word 'wife' represents the lady.
53:35	K: Yes, but the word is not her, that is all.
53:40	S: It represents their relationship.
53:42	K: Yes, it represents their relationship – I won't go into the whole problem of relationship, but the word represents her. So when the man says, she is my wife, he has never even looked at her, she is just 'my wife'. You get the point? Or your father says, 'my son'. So he never says, my son, now let me look at him, let me understand him, see what he is. They don't take the trouble, will they? But the moment you say, he is my son... S: It is understood.
54:23	K: It is understood. You have got the idea?
54:26	S: Yes.
54:27	S: Does it mean looking at something is understanding it?
54:31	K: Yes, understanding it, looking at all the details of it. You have never looked at the details of those flowers, have you?
54:41	S: No.
54:43	K: No, because you are not interested in it. You say oh, that is a flower, and pass by.
54:52	S: If I see a rose, I can still look into it and see each part, I can still see it, even after naming it, I can still see it.
55:01	K: Yes, that is right. But if you say that is a rose and walk away...
55:06	S: But you could say it is a rose, and then look at it closely.
55:08	K: Yes, but look at it first, don't call it a rose.
55:12	S: But you can do that also.
55:13	K: Yes, you can do both, but first look and then name it if you want to. Got it? S: Yes. K: Right. How long it has taken to explain a very simple thing which is: the door, the word door is not the thing.
55:32	K: Right? S: Yes.
55:33	K: Clear? S: Yes.
55:36	K: Don't say yes vaguely.
55:40	S: You said that looking is understanding.
55:42	K: Yes. Understanding – wait– understanding, having a relationship to it, going into the relationship, whether you have actual relationship or imaginary relationship – all that is implied.
55:57	S: This is a microphone and I look at it today, and I understand everything in it... K: Finished.
56:04	S: Tomorrow when I see it again, what is the use...
56:06	K: You don't have to – because that is not a living thing, though it is a living thing in atoms, etc., it is fixed.
56:17	S: So, the next day can I name it? K: But the flower is living, your husband is a living thing, your wife is a living thing, but when you say, oh, it is my wife, you don't observe the living thing. You have got it?
56:33	S: You connect the image with the name. Each time you name something, that image falls in the way, so you don't see it as clearly...
56:41	K: What is she saying?
56:45	N: She said, when you name something the image comes in the way, comes in the way of looking. K: That is all.
56:54	K: Oh, Goodness. You have understood this? Now, let's move. You want to know why the mind is chattering, and you have found out the cause of chattering, you have understood why people chatter because they may be nervous, they may be frightened – if they don't chatter, what will they do? If your mind isn't occupied, what will happen?
57:26	S: You have fear. K: Fear.
57:30	K: So, find out why you have fear, therefore you might not chatter.
57:44	S: Somebody says, I am going to slap you, so you keep quiet, then automatically you are keeping quiet.
57:52	K: Of course, you are frightened.
57:54	S: Of course, but how can you get rid of that fear?
57:56	K: I am going to show you. I might slap you – I won't.
58:03	S: No, he says, I will slap you if you talk any more. So you do not talk any more, you just listen to him, that is all.
58:11	K: Yes, you get nervous, frightened and you don't.
58:13	S: How do you get rid of that fear?
58:15	K: That fear? Tell the teacher, don't slap me.
58:22	S: He may slap you. K: No, I don't want to be slapped.
58:24	S: But sir, if you do the wrong thing...
58:29	K: Then the teacher says, my girl, you are doing the wrong thing, let's talk it over, why you are doing it.
58:36	S: I think he is not a patient teacher.
58:39	K: That is right. S: Then what do you do?
58:41	K: Then help him to be patient.
58:45	S: How to help him?
58:46	K: Wait, don't shake your head. Help him and help yourself to be patient.
58:52	S: How? K: Do it!
58:55	S: It is possible for the teacher to get angry when you tell him not to slap you.
59:03	S: He says, don't argue with me. What can you do then?
59:06	K: Then go to Mr Narayan, and say, sir, this teacher is not decent, he is trying to frighten me.
59:15	S: But you have made a mistake.
59:18	K: Yes, I have made a mistake.
59:20	S: So? K: All right, correct the mistake,
59:21	K: don't get angry with me, don't slap me.
59:23	S: I think it has been repeated many times.
59:25	K: Wait. So, what happens? Don't you repeat it every time.
59:28	S: So it is your fault. K: Yes. If you repeat it, repeat it.
59:33	S: So, there you cannot do anything about it.
59:35	K: That is right. If it is a fault of yours, change it. If it is not your fault, then ask the teacher, please sir, look at it, it is not my fault, I may be mistaken. You follow? Establish a relationship. You understand? S: Yes.
59:57	K: Where am I now? S: Rishi Valley.
1:00:01	K: That is right. Now, it is half past ten. Yes, twenty five past, I mean, twenty five to eleven. Now, have you understood one thing at least? How to observe without the word, without the symbol, without the name. Will you do it? Do it! Don't say, yes, I agree. Quite right. But if you don't do it...
1:00:46	S: Promise broken.
1:00:48	K: Yes, that is right.
1:00:56	S: The basic function of the brain is to think. So if I am watching an object, one part tells me that I am watching the object. So are you trying to imply there is a form of looking without these thoughts?
1:01:10	K: Have you understood that question? I can't quite make it out.
1:01:14	N: He says the basic function of the brain is to think and when you observe, thoughts come in along with observation. Are you implying there is a different kind of observation.
1:01:29	K: Yes, obviously. Just a minute. What is the function of the brain?
1:01:36	S: To think.
1:01:37	K: Don't say, to think – find out. You have got a brain. What is its function?
1:01:46	S: To help me.
1:01:47	K: Who is you to help? Are you different from the brain? Look, I asked you something: what is the function of the brain?
1:02:01	S: To control our whole body.
1:02:08	K: Yes, to look after the nervous organism, to look after the body – and what else? Go on, think it out.
1:02:19	S: To think and store your knowledge.
1:02:22	K: Partly, quite right. That is, the brain functions to preserve the body, to store up the knowledge that you have acquired – mathematics, this or that. Right? And what else? Go on.
1:02:40	S: Directing you. K: What?
1:02:42	S: Directing you to do something.
1:02:44	N: Directing you to do something.
1:02:46	K: Yes, directing. Directing – don't say to do something. Directing. What else?
1:02:54	S: If you are going to store the knowledge, what is the use when you are going to look at it in a different way each time?
1:02:58	K: No, we will come to it, first find out. I asked what is the function of the brain. One said, to look after the organism. The other, having knowledge, to use that knowledge carefully, skilfully. What else? Go on.
1:03:25	S: To distinguish between something.
1:03:30	K: Yes, to distinguish between black and white, between red and blue, between man, woman, between the mountain and the flat field – it is to discern. Go on, what else?
1:03:46	S: To relate things.
1:03:51	K: To relate things. Go on. Watch it, watch your own brain, don't invent.
1:03:59	S: To figure out.
1:04:03	K: To figure out. That is, to remember – listen, all that you have told me is this: to remember, to design – figure out – to design and to communicate.
1:04:23	S: Differentiate also.
1:04:26	K: Design is involved in that. All that in that word design means to differentiate, to see the black and white and so on. So, to remember, to plan out – if you don't like the word design – then to communicate. Now, listen carefully. What did I say? S: To plan out.
1:04:57	K: To plan out. S: To remember.
1:04:59	K: To remember, to communicate. You can communicate wrongly or rightly. But our brain, after a million years, is heavily conditioned. It says I am a Hindu, I am a Hindu, I am a Hindu. And the other says I am a Muslim, I am a Muslim, I am a Muslim. Or I am a Christian, Christian. And also the brain says, I must have protection. I must be protected otherwise I can't function. That means the brain must be secure. Got it? So it says I am secure in saying I am a Hindu. Right? S: Yes.
1:06:01	K: But being a Hindu is an illusion, it is just an invention.
1:06:08	S: Yes. God is also an invention.
1:06:12	K: Quite right. God is an invention. But the brain says, in the word God I will take protection. Protection, design, remembrance, communication, that is the function of the brain. Got it?
1:06:40	S: What do you mean by communication?
1:06:43	K: I am communicating something to you now. Right? I will tell you a story.
1:06:59	S: Sighed with relief. Some of them sighed with relief.
1:07:05	K: Sigh of relief. I will tell you a story. In the telling of the story, you are going to listen, aren't you? And that is communication – the telling and the listening. Have you understood this? The telling, I am telling you, and you are listening. If you don't listen, I can't tell you. Right? You want the story? Many: Yes.
1:07:41	K: A sigh of relief, as this chap says. I don't know. All right, I will tell you a story. Have you heard of a place called Ranikhet? It is beyond Delhi about 100 to 200 miles northeast. Isn't it? I was staying there with a friend, and the friend left for some reason, because his son was ill, so he left. A few days afterwards, a man comes to me, I didn't understand his language, but Parameswaran translated it to me. You know Parameswaran? S: Yes.
1:08:49	K: You don't know him? S: Yes, sir, I know him.
1:08:53	K: So he translates. He says a tiger has killed a cow, and if you want to see the tiger, I will arrange it. He said, I will put on a machaan, you know, put a platform on a tree and we will tie a goat at the bottom, and the bleating of the goat will attract the tiger, and then you can see it. And I said, I don't want to see the tiger under those circumstances, because killing a goat for my curiosity is absurd, cruel – so I said, sorry, I don't want to see it. So that afternoon, I said let me go into the forest and perhaps I might see it. You understand the story? You understand? S: Yes.
1:09:48	K: What are you smiling at? S: Nothing.
1:09:55	K: Don't you believe what I am saying? Is that it? Hey, is that it? S: No.
1:10:06	K: What are you smiling at then? Come on, sir, what is it that you are smiling?
1:10:21	S: Nothing. K: Come on! Be brave, I won't frighten you. S: No, sir, you don't frighten me.
1:10:29	K: So, either you listen – I am telling you facts, I am not the kind of person who will invent. You understand? I won't tell lies.
1:10:40	S: No, you are trying to make us understand through listening. You told us that we should listen. So you are telling the story to make us listen.
1:10:48	K: No. That is only part of it. If you are not interested in it, don't listen. You understand? S: Yes.
1:11:03	K: So, that afternoon, towards the evening, I said I must go and see the tiger. I am telling you facts, I am not exaggerating, I am not telling lies, I wouldn't do that because I am not a hypocrite, I don't want to be a hypocrite, I don't pretend to be a hero, I don't pretend to be a great man – nothing. I am just telling you the facts. So, I started out, I was high up and came down the hill and went into the forest. I walked about half an hour, it was getting little dark, and suddenly everything around me became quiet. Birds stopped singing, absolute silence. And I said, this is very odd, and I realised some dangerous thing was near. You understand? That is, probably the tiger was very close. You have never been in a forest, have you?
1:12:18	S: I have been.
1:12:20	K: And when danger appears, there is quietness, because all the animals are frightened.
1:12:29	S: I read about it in books.
1:12:30	K: Yes. You read about it in books. So this happened to me. Everything was absolutely quiet. And I said, by Jove, there is danger – listen carefully, I am telling you the truth – there was danger, so my mind said, it was curious, it said let us go and find out. I came down all that way to see the tiger. So the silence indicated there was some danger. Probably the tiger was very close. So my mind wanted to go, my body refused. You understand? S: Yes.
1:13:21	K: So I said, no, let's go. So it went and got behind a tree, a big tree, and stood there. And the mind wanted to go on, but the body refused. Believe all this – I am not trying to make you believe, these are facts. So I stood there, and the body wouldn't move, and presently about five minutes or two or three minutes later, the birds began, the noises of the forest began, etc. The tiger must have gone. So I said I am so sorry I didn't see the tiger. So I come back, and I pass an opening, a clearing in the forest, and again there was an extraordinary quietness. There was the quietness of little noises, but not big. So the body wasn't frightened. Then I looked round, there was nothing. So I look up. On the trees there were about 50 langurs, you know, the big monkeys? Big monkeys with black faces, with a long curving tail, and big animals, they are about that high. They were all sitting around the tree with their little babies looking at me. You understand? So I looked at them and they looked at me, and we stood there looking at each other for a little while, and the silence broke, because they were a little nervous to see me in their middle. So I went back, and I never saw the tiger which I really wanted to see. Right. What? S: Nothing. K: Good.
1:15:26	K: It is ten to eleven. We better stop, don't you think? Do you want to sit quietly for a minute?
1:15:37	S: Yes.
1:15:38	K: Do it only if you want to. It is all right. If you want to play, play. If you want to sit quiet, sit quiet.
1:16:29	Right, sirs.