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SD70T2 - Can the human mind be completely free of fear?
San Diego, California - 6 April 1970
Public Talk 2



0:17 Krishnamurti: One has to be serious. It is only those who are really, vitally serious, can live properly, can live a life that is complete and whole. And that seriousness doesn’t exclude joy, enjoyment. But as long as there is fear, one cannot possibly be serious, or enjoy, know what it means to have great joy. And fear seems to be one of the most common things in life, and strangely, we have accepted it as a way of life, as we have accepted violence in all its various forms as a way of life, we have also accepted, and have got used to, being psychologically as well as physically, afraid.
1:58 And this evening, if we can, we should go into this question. We should, I feel, go into it so completely that we understand it so fully, that when we leave the hall, or this place, we shall be rid of this fear. I think it can be done; it isn’t just a theory, or a hope, but if one gives, as we shall presently, complete attention to this question of fear, I’m quite sure, that in exploring the causes of fear and also how to approach it, how to look at it, how to completely end it, so that our mind, the human mind that has suffered so much, that has endured so much pain, that has lived with great sorrow and fear, such a mind can completely be free of this thing called fear.
4:11 And to understand it, we must communicate with each other quite easily. Communication implies, the very word means, creating together, understanding together, working together; not that you merely listen to the speaker, hear a few words or ideas, but with the speaker take a journey together, and understand this very complex problem of fear. And to communicate, to take this journey together, implies neither acceptance nor denial, not saying to oneself, ‘it is absolutely impossible to be rid of fear’, or rationalise fear, or accept it – you need a free mind to enquire into this question, a mind that has no conclusion, that doesn’t say, it is possible or it’s not possible. Because we are enquiring, exploring together. So you must be free to observe, to enquire. And that’s absolutely essential. So that one has no prejudice to find out, prejudice which will prevent the understanding of the truth of it, of ‘what is’.
6:42 You see, there are so many forms of fear, both physical as well as psychological, psychosomatic fears. And to go into each one of these various forms of fear requires enormous time, demands a great many days to go into every aspect of every fear. But I think one can observe the quality of fear, the general fear, not a particular fear, observe the nature of fear, the structure of fear, not get lost in a detail or in a particular form of one’s own fear. Because when we understand the nature and the structure of fear, then we can apply that understanding, or come with that understanding, or approach with that understanding, of a particular fear. One may be afraid of the dark, physically, or one may be afraid of one’s wife or husband, or what the public says or thinks or does. Or one may be afraid of this sense of loneliness, or the emptiness of life, the boredom of a meaningless existence that one leads. Or one may be afraid of the future, the tomorrow, the uncertainty, the insecurity, the bomb. Or one may afraid of death, the ending of one’s life.
9:51 So there are various forms of fear, neurotic as well as sane, rational fears, if fear can ever be rational or sane. But most of us, apparently, are neurotically afraid of both: the past, of today and of tomorrow; the things that one has done in the past, or the ill health that one has had in the past with all its pain and agony, and not wanting it repeated, and is one afraid of that, tomorrow. One is afraid of time, growing old, getting senile, depending on another.
11:11 So there is fear of time, fear of the past and of the future. And this fear of loneliness, of death, of public opinion, of not conforming, not being able to succeed, not being able to fulfil, not being somebody in this stupid world, and so on. And there are so many fears, not only conscious fears, fear that one is aware of, but also there are fears deep down, undiscovered, unexplored, in the deep recesses of one’s own mind.
12:42 So the question is, not only how to deal with the conscious fears, as well as those that are hidden, the fear of time, that is yesterday, of the things that one has done, the repetition of that misery, of tomorrow, the uncertainty, the insecurity, both psychological as well as physical. And there are the fears of great loneliness and the escape from that loneliness. Surely fear is a movement away from ‘what is’, the flight, the escape, the avoidance of actually ‘what is’, the movement, the flight away brings about fear. That is, when there is comparison of any kind, it breeds fear – comparing oneself with another, whom you think is greater, wiser, nobler, etc. And the comparison of what you are with what you should be.
15:24 So fear is a movement away from the actual, the ‘what is’, the movement, not the object to which you escape. And fear comes about through comparison. And there is the fear, deeply hidden in oneself, of which one is not aware. So that these problems are all very complex. And none of these problems of fear can be resolved through will, – saying to oneself, ‘I will not be afraid’. And the act of will has no meaning. I hope you are following all this. It isn’t a game I am playing with you, nor you playing a game with me. We are considering very serious problems and therefore you have to give your attention to it. And you cannot give attention if you’re interpreting or translating, or comparing what is being said with what you already know – you have to listen. And the art of listening one has to learn, because one doesn’t listen at all, one is always comparing, evaluating, judging, denying. Therefore you prevent yourself from actually listening. To listen so completely to another implies that you give your whole attention – it doesn’t mean you agree or disagree, because there is no agreement or disagreement when we are exploring together. Only the microscope through which you look may be dull, may not be clear. So if you have a precision instrument, then what you see is what another will also see. Therefore there is no question of agreement or disagreement, or denial.
19:00 So we are trying to examine this whole question of fear, so you will have to give your attention, it’s your life, because fear deadens the mind, makes the mind insensitive, dull. How can a mind that is afraid, love? A mind that depends, what can it know of joy, except fear?
19:47 So, there are conscious as well as hidden fears. How do you – first, enquiry – how do you expose those hidden fears? And when you do expose them, how will you be free of them, how can the mind be free of them? That is the first question. Please, do follow this – you yourself are doing it, you yourself are observing it, the speaker is only pointing out.
20:39 How does it happen that the hidden fears are opened, exposed? One can know the conscious fears and how to deal with them will come presently. But there are the hidden fears, perhaps much more important. So how will you deal with them, how will you expose them?
21:15 Would you permit me to take my coat off? You don’t mind?
21:21 So we are considering, how the deep layers of fear, hidden, can be exposed. Can they be exposed through analysis – analysing them, seeing their causes? Will analysis free the mind from fear, not a particular neurotic fear but the whole of fear, the whole structure of fear – analysis? In analysis is implied not only time, taking many, many, many days, years, whole of one’s life, at the end of it perhaps you may understand a little, but you are ready for the grave. And also in analysis implies the analyser. Who is the analyser? Is he the professional, the expert, who has a degree, going to analyse your deep, hidden fears? And he will also take time, and therefore also your money.
23:21 So analysis implies the analyser, who is the censor, who is the result of many forms of conditioning. And he’s going to analyse the fear which he himself has created. Right? I hope you are following all this, because our intention is that when you do leave this rather warm hall, that you no longer have any form of fear. It can be done. And you will know quite a different kind of life, you’ll know what tremendous joy is, a mind that is completely free of this terrible thing called fear. And to be free of that, you have to... We are going to walk together, you are going to work as hard as the speaker is working.
25:14 So analysis implies time and analyser. Please, see the truth of this, not your opinion as opposed to the speaker’s opinion or somebody else’s opinion or knowledge – see the truth of it, that it takes time. And the interval between that which you are analysing and the ending of that, will involve time and therefore many other factors which give it a different direction. The analyser is a fragment among many other fragments which go to make up the ‘me’, the ‘I’, the ego.
26:15 So he becomes the analyser, assumes the authority of the analyser, and his analysis must be complete each time, otherwise what is the point of analysis at all? So analysis, which implies time and division, is not the ending of fear. Is this somewhat clear? To see this means that you have completely put aside the whole idea of progressive change, because the very factor of change is one of the major causes of fear. Are you all being mesmerised? Because to me, to the speaker, this is a very important thing, therefore he feels very strongly, he speaks intensely, he is not doing propaganda – there is nothing for you to join, nothing for you to believe, but to observe and learn and be free of this fear.
28:15 So analysis is not the way. Do you understand what that means when you see the truth of that? It means that you are no longer thinking in terms of the analyser, who is going to examine, who is going to analyse, who is going to judge, evaluate, therefore your mind is free of a particular burden called analysis, therefore it is capable of looking directly.
29:29 And, if analysis is not the way and therefore false, how are you to look at this fear? How are you to bring out all the structure, all the hidden parts of fear? Through dreams? Dreams are the continuation of waking hours, through sleep – aren’t they? Are you following all this? I don’t know if you have observed that in dreams there is always action, doing something or something is happening, which is the same in the waking hours, a continuation of the waking hours, when there is sleep, through dreams – it is still part of the whole movement. So dreams have no value. Are you accepting all this? Great Scott, I hope, I’m sure you don’t – but doesn’t matter. Because you see what is happening, we are eliminating the things to which you are accustomed: analysis, dreams, will, time, so that when you eliminate, the mind becomes extraordinarily sensitive. And through this elimination it has become not only sensitive, but intelligent.
32:07 Now with that sensitivity and intelligence we are going to look at fear. Right? Are we going together? You know, this is great fun if you really go into this, because then you turn away, you turn your back on the whole of the social structure in which time, analysis, will is in operation.
32:53 So what is fear? What is fear, how does it come? Fear is always in relation to something, it doesn’t exist by itself: in relation to something that is permanent to another thing that is also permanent. Right? There is fear of what happened yesterday, the repetition of that tomorrow, whether it is pain or some other form, there is always a fixed point from which relationship takes place. We’ll go into that in a little while, in a minute.
34:14 So as we were saying, fear exists only in relationship with some other thing, otherwise there is no fear related to the past – the memory of the past pain and not wanting that, the repetition of that pain tomorrow or today – relation to something that has happened. And what is fear? You have had pain yesterday, that is obvious, you have had it. Or there is some hope tomorrow which might not come about.
35:21 So there is fear of yesterday, there is fear of tomorrow. How does that fear come about? You are asking the question, not I. So you are working hard. I’ve had pain yesterday, obviously, and there is the memory of it, and not wanting it again tomorrow. How does fear come into this? Thinking about the pain of yesterday, thinking, the memory of yesterday’s pain projects the fear of tomorrow, of having pain again tomorrow. So thought brings about fear. Right? No? You’re following this? Thought brings about fear, breeds fear, and also thought cultivates pleasure. To understand fear you must also understand pleasure, because they are interrelated, without understanding one, you can’t understand the other, which is, you can’t say, ‘I must have only pleasure and no fear’, because fear is the other side of the coin which is called pleasure. Right? We are following each other?
37:48 So there was pleasure yesterday, sexual or different kinds of pleasures, you think about it, the image, chew the cud of pleasure, which is thinking about it. And you may not have it tomorrow. So thought engenders fear. I think that’s fairly clear, isn’t it?
38:33 So thought not only sustains pleasure, it also nourishes fear, and thought has separated itself as the analyser, the thing to be analysed is also part of thought. So it is playing tricks upon itself. So then the question is: if thought is doing all this, thought that refuses to examine the hidden unconscious fears, the thought that has set the analyser separate from the thing to be analysed, thought that has brought in time as a means of escaping fear, but sustaining fear, and thought also nourishing pleasure, which has nothing whatsoever to do with joy, because joy is not the product of thought, it is not pleasure. You can cultivate pleasure, you can think about it endlessly and derive great pleasure, but you can’t do that with joy. The moment you do that, it has gone. It has become something from which you derive pleasure and therefore which you are afraid to lose.
41:07 So thought is responsible for both pleasure, pain, fear. And also thought is afraid of being completely lonely. Thought has already condemned it, and so thought invents a way of escaping from that loneliness through various forms of religious entertainment or cultural something or other, the everlasting search for deeper and wider dependencies.
42:10 So thought is responsible. Then what is one to do? You understand all this, I hope. What is one to do when one realises that thought, which is the response of memory to any challenge, minor or major, which sustains both pleasure and fear, these are all facts, not the speaker’s invention, or his peculiar philosophy or theory, these are absolute daily observable facts. Then the next question is, what is one to do? There is thought, you can’t kill it, you can’t destroy it, you can’t say, ‘well, I’ll forget it’, you can’t resist it – if you do, that’s another form of thought. Thought is the response of memory. And you need that memory to function daily, to go to your office, to go to your home, to be able to talk – that memory is the storehouse of your technological knowledge. So you need memory, completely.
44:40 And also you see how memory sustains fear through thought, having had pleasure yesterday, seeing the beauty of that lovely sunset, and you want that again repeated, that same experience, either through drug or through going to that particular spot to look at that exquisite light. And when it doesn’t happen there is pain, disappointment, frustration. So thought. You need memory with all the purity and clarity of thought in one direction, technologically, to function daily, to earn a livelihood, and so on. And also you see there is the fact that thought also breeds fear.
46:09 So what is one to do? What is the mind to do? You’ve understood the question? Is it clear? You’re putting the question to yourself, I’m not putting the question to you. If you are accepting my question, the speaker’s question, then it’s not your question. If it is your question, which it must be, after this examination; if it is not, you are asleep. If it is your own, then how will you answer it? How will you answer this question, after having gone through the various facts of analysis, of time, of escape, of dependency, seeing that a movement away from ‘what is’ is fear, the movement itself is fear. After observing all that, seeing the truth of all that, not opinion, not your casual judgement, what is your answer to this question that thought must function most efficiently, sanely, and yet that very thought becomes a danger, because it breeds fear.
48:40 Now before you answer that question, what is the state of the mind that has gone through all this? You understand what I mean? What is the state of the understanding of your mind, the mind that has examined all these various forms which have been exposed, which has been explained or observed, what is the quality of your mind now, because on that quality you’re going to answer. If you have not taken the journey, you have no answer; but if you have actually taken the journey, step by step, and gone into everything that we have discussed, then your mind, you will see, has become extraordinarily intelligent, live, sensitive, because it has thrown off all the burdens that it has accumulated.
50:10 Then the question is, how do you observe this whole process of thinking? Is there a centre from which you think? Do follow all this, please. The centre being the censor, the one who judges, evaluates, condemns, justifies – do you still think from that centre? Or there is no centre from which to think at all, but you think. Right? You see the difference? Is this getting all too much? – do tell me, please.
51:28 No? I’m surprised – you’re merely listening, I’m afraid.
51:42 Look, sirs, thought has created a centre as the ‘me’ – me, my opinions, my country, my God, my experience, my house, my furniture, my wife, my children, my country – you know, me, me, me. That is the centre from which you act, think. That centre divides, and because of that centre and that division, there must be conflict, obviously. When it is your opinion against somebody else’s opinion, my country, your country, and all that – division. Which means the centre is always dividing. And if you think from that centre and observe from that centre fear, you’re still caught in fear, because that centre has separated itself from the thing it has called fear, and therefore it says, ‘I must get rid of it, I must analyse it, I must overcome it, resist it’, and so on. So you are strengthening fear.
53:26 So can you look, can the mind look at fear – which we will go into a little bit more – without the centre? Can you look at that fear without naming it, because the moment you say ‘fear’ it is already in the past, because you have named it. You are following all this? The moment you name something, don’t you divide it? The white and the black, and the brown, and the Communist – don’t you? And so that very division is a form of resistance, conflict and fear.
54:33 So the question is: to observe without that centre, and not to name the thing called fear as it arises. All this requires tremendous discipline. You know, the word ‘discipline’ means to learn, to learn from somebody – you’re not learning from the speaker, you’re learning from yourself.
55:18 And to observe all this very closely, with care, which means with affection and attention, then the mind is looking without the division as the centre, to which it has been accustomed. Therefore there is the ending of fear, both the hidden and the open. If you haven’t done it this evening, don’t take it home and think about it. Truth is something that you must see immediately. And to see something clearly and immediately, you must give your heart, and your mind, and your whole being.