On Faith

"Faith is a state of openness or trust. To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float. And the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding on. In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe, becomes a person who has no faith at all. Instead they are holding tight. But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be."

~ Alan Watts ~

On Acceptance

"Accepting means you allow yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling at that moment. It is part of the isness of the Now. You can't argue with what is. Well, you can, but if you do, you suffer." - Page 184 (Eckhart Tolle "A New Earth")

Acceptance is this allowing of all things, people and situations, including those one has a personal dislike or aversion to. It is also letting go of the attachment to more pleasing emotional state along with everything the self is identified with or invested in... in short, freedom from wanting and having by simply letting it all go. In letting go of what is inessential, including any resistance to the present moment, there is full acceptance of what is now.

"There is the dream, and there is the dreamer of the dream. The dream is a short-lived play of forms. It is the world – relatively real but not absolutely real. Then there is the dreamer, the absolute reality in which the forms come and go. The dreamer is not the person. The person is part of the dream. The dreamer is the substratum in which the dream appears, that which makes the dream possible. It is the absolute behind the relative, the timeless behind time, the consciousness in and behind form. The dreamer is consciousness itself – who you are." - Page 209

Knowing I am the dreamer I fear not what happens, I become attached nothing in this world knowing my life is ultimately dream-like insubstantial and illusory. I am also free to enjoy the universe of transient forms and formations, both mental and material. Allowing all things to be and to pass away with ease and gentle conviction. The dreamer is outside the realm of birth and death, though the person exists within earthly bounds. The dreamer is revealed upon awakening to his/her true self nature, not by self-expansion but by elimination of the excesses of ego

JDZ

Be Simple, Quiet, and Listen

We do not listen. There are too many noises about us; inside us, there is too much talk, too much questioning, too much demanding, too many urges, compulsions. We have so many things and we never listen to any one of them completely, totally, to the very end. And if you would kindly so listen, you will see that, in spite of yourself, the mutation, that emptiness, that transformation, the perception of what is true, comes into being. You don't have to do a thing, because what you do will interfere, because you are greedy, you are envious, you are full of hate, ambition, and all the mischief that thought can make. So if you can listen happily, effortlessly, then perhaps in the quiet, deep, silence you will know what is truth. And it is only that truth that liberates, and nothing else. That is why you must stand completely alone. You cannot listen through another; you cannot see with the eyes of another; you cannot think with the thoughts of others. But yet you listen through others, see through the activities, through the saints, through the dictum of others. So if you can put away all these secondary things, the activities of others, and be simple, quiet, and listen, then you will find out. - J. Krishnamurti, Bombay, 1st March 1964

My Own Business

The secret of the universe really is minding your own business. What we mean by that is: don't get so involved in the desires or beliefs of others that you cause confusion or chatter in your own vibration and compromise your own alignment. When you let nothing be more significant than your own alignment with your own desire then everything in the universe is working in concert for you. It is anyway but you're not letting it in, if you are misaligned.

- Abraham-Hicks -

Freedom from the Known

Now, freedom from all that, is freedom from the known; it is the state of a mind which says, "I do not know", and which is not looking for an answer. Such a mind is completely not seeking not expecting; and it is only in this state that you can say, "I understand". It is the only state in which the mind is free, and from that state you can look at the things that are known - but not the other way round. From the known you cannot possibly see the unknown; but when once you have understood the state of a mind that is free - which is the mind that says, "I don't know" and remains unknowing, and is therefore innocent - , from that state you can function, you can be a citizen, you can be married, or what you will. Then what you do has relevance, significance in life. But we remain in the field of the known, with all its conflicts, striving, disputes, agonies, and from that field we try to find that which is unknown; therefore we are not really seeking freedom. What we want is the continuation, the extension of the same old thing: the known. - J. Krishnamurti The Collected Works Vol. XIV Saanen 3rd Public Talk 11th July 1963

Opening the Door to Creation

Learning in the true sense of the word is possible only in that state of attention, in which there is no outer or inner compulsion. Right thinking can come about only when the mind is not enslaved by tradition and memory. It is attention that allows silence to come upon the mind, which is the opening of the door to creation. That is why attention is of the highest importance. Knowledge is necessary at the functional level as a means of cultivating the mind, and not as an end in itself. We are concerned, not with the development of just one capacity, such as that of a mathematician, or a scientist, or a musician, but with the total development of the student as a human being. How is the state of attention to be brought about?

It cannot be cultivated through persuasion, comparison, reward or punishment, all of which are forms of coercion. The elimination of fear is the beginning of attention. Fear must exist as long as there is an urge to be or to become, which is the pursuit of success, with all its frustrations and tortuous contradictions. You can teach concentration, but attention cannot be taught just as you cannot possibly teach freedom from fear; but we can begin to discover the causes that produce fear, and in understanding these causes there is the elimination of fear.

So attention arises spontaneously when around the student there is an atmosphere of well-being, when he has the feeling of being secure, of being at ease, and is aware of the disinterested action that comes with love. Love does not compare, and so the envy and torture of `becoming' cease. - J. Krishnamurti Life Ahead Saanen 4th Public Dialogue 3rd August 1974.

On Innocence

Innocence alone can be passionate. The innocent have no sorrow, no suffering, though they have had a thousand experiences. It is not experiences that corrupt the mind but what they leave behind, the residue, the scars, the memories. These accumulate, pile one on top of the other, and then sorrow begins. This sorrow is time. Where time is, innocency is not. Passion is not born of sorrow. Sorrow is experience, the experience of everyday life, the life of agony and fleeting pleasures, fears and certainties. You cannot escape from experiences, but they need not take root in the mind. These roots give rise to problems, conflicts and constant struggle. There is no way out of this but to die each day to every yesterday. The clear mind alone can be passionate. Without passion you cannot see the breeze among the leaves or the sunlight on the water. Without passion there is no love. - Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Bulletin 4, 1969

In Defense of Melancholia

We are addicted to happiness. More than any other generation, Americans today believe in the power of positive thinking. But who says we’re supposed to be happy? In Against Happiness, the scholar Eric G. Wilson argues that melancholia is necessary to any thriving culture, that it is the muse of great literature, painting, music, and innovation—and that it is the force underlying original insights.

So enough Prozac-ing of our brains. Let’s embrace our depressive side as the wellspring of creativity. It’s time to throw off the shackles of positivity and relish the blues that make us human.

*An excerpt of the preview for "Against Happiness" by Eric G. Wilson

Concentration -- One-Pointedness

Focus on one thing at a time.. the magic potion, giving one task only my full attention this provides in return (for effort or service) the needed vitality and enthusiasm, the discipline of following through and the clarity of knowing instinctively what to do next, and so it goes from one matter to the next, the right answers to be found at the right time only with this one-pointed concentration....

Sometimes the one task is to multi-task, or to not fixate on one thing but just relax and take it all in... whatever the case, a sense of simplicity is the key to choosing one pointed focus even in the most hectic or widest of situations... remembering to focus on the breath is key in remembering to focus. Rather it is the simplest way to anchor oneself in the here and now.

JDZ

On Attention

We say "Aha... this is IT" with such poignant conviction in the inspiration or vision that fits the missing part of the puzzle... it may have only relative truth, as what is "lacking or disconnected" in me is different from you. Perhaps this is at the root of different paths and inclinations, some active and affirmative, others solemn and pensive. My central theme is *attention* or silent observing of self and world.

In other words... all mistakes I have ever made in life were the result of INATTENTION... though other things factor in as well, this as at the root of all dysfunction in life. The key is in understanding that attention means more than just listening to the teacher and participating in class... it is open and clear awareness, with the ability to see more and focus on whatever I choose as my point of interest, thus indicating intellectual and physical activity and emotional sensory experience that follows. Attention is given also, immediately, to what most urgently needs attending to... the everyday and mundane surviving and providing.

JDZ

On Vigilance versus Letting Go

Writer's Comments (on Previous Posting of Today):

Rather than speak for "Us" I will ask and inquire unto my self, each time I feel and believe myself to be above or beyond darker emotions like fear, anger, greed, envy or jealousy, if my sensation/thought of liberation and transcendence is based wrongly on denial and escape or rightly based on an accurate/precise under...standing, following clear seeing and keen observation(s). Letting go without any further resistance.

When exposed to a situation of potential jealousy, for example, I may shrug it off and say "I am no longer affected this way"... if there is a shadow of jealous behavior that follows, maybe not today but soon enough (or a hint of unspoken denial in tone), then there is denial present. Conversely, when one effortlessly shrugs it off, as the potential situation arises, and there is no shadow of doubt or unease THEN you know that this individual has "gone into it" already and thus no longer needs to give jealous feelings any attention. The shrug off is genuine because this individual has already *done the work*...

There is indeed a fine line between the denial and indulgence of a thing... when that thing is perceived as having great unconscious power over one.

There is self-centered occupation and then there is meditation on that which is "ultimately true" (and not of Samsara.. or "this world of confusion, desire and sorrow"). Self centered occupation is to be honored as well, but quite simply is not to be confused with what is true and eternal... that Source from which all individualized activity emanates from which all individual persons ultimately sustain their individual existence(s). We use the power of thought to manifest the Divine Reality upon this Earth, through this Body... yet if one chooses to go deeper it becomes true that "thought is the denial of love"* and that all ego-centric activity must end, even if only for a moment in the day, if one is to know what lies beyond the human realities of mind and creations, at the Source. To end all seeking, cease all desiring, and allow all to happen or unfold as it will, finding in this very process the will to transform or "be the change you want to see in the world" and in your own life.

* As The Vedas of Vedanta mean "the end of knowledge"

While the background (and foreground) of self, its past conditioning and the inspired visions, feelings and higher sentiments, are wonderful inner projections, creations and inventions in themselves... still, the realm of meditation, connecting with "that which is nameless", is independent of all of this... and the first step or beginning of meditation practice is to acknowledge the self or personality and let go with ease.

Whatever concepts we speak of... attaching versus letting go, action versus surrender, sensitivity versus firm boundaries, desire and not desiring, EVERYthing in life is a balancing act, extremes of view always relative to the immediate matter at hand... and if I am not mistaken, THIS IS the Great Way, the Tao or "middle path", that so many sages speak of... and it is the honoring of all polarity, light and dark.

JDZ

Vigilance is the realm of immortality; negligence is the realm of death. People who are vigilant do not die; people who are negligent are as if dead. The vigilant are attuned to objective reality, which is eternal; not fixated on subjective delusion, which is temporal ~~ Dhammapada The Sayings of Buddha ~~

Is there such a thing as transformation?

Q: Is there such a thing as transformation? What is it to be transformed?

Krishnamurti: When you are observing, seeing the dirt on the road, seeing how politicians behave, seeing your own attitude towards your wife, your children and so on, transformation is there. Do you understand? To bring about some kind of order in daily life, that is transformation; not something extraordinary, out of this world. When one is not thinking clearly, rationally, be aware of that and change it, break it. That is transformation. If you are jealous watch it, don't give it time to flower, change it immediately. That is transformation. When you are greedy, violent, ambitious, trying to become some kind of holy man, see how it is creating a world of tremendous uselessness. I don't know if you are aware of this. Competition is destroying the world. The world is becoming more and more competetive, more and more aggressive, and if you change it immediately, that is transformation. And if you go very much deeper into the problem, it is clear that thought denies love. Therefore one has to find out whether there is an end to thought, an end to time, not philosophize over it and discuss it, but find out. Truly that is transformation, and if you go into it very deeply, transformation means never a thought of becoming, comparing; it is being absolutely nothing. - Krishnamurti Foudation Trust Bulletin 42, 1982

To See the Truth in the False

The craving for experience is the beginning of illusion. As you now realize, your visions were but the projections of your background, of your conditioning, and it is these projections that you have experienced. Surely this is not meditation. The beginning of meditation is the understanding of the background, of the self, and without this understanding, what is called meditation, however pleasurable or painful, is merely a form of self-hypnosis. You have practised self-control, mastered thought, and concentrated on the furthering of experience. This is a self-centred occupation, it is not meditation; and to perceive that it is not meditation is the beginning of meditation. To see the truth in the false sets the mind free from the false. Freedom from the false does not come about through the desire to achieve it; it comes when the mind is no longer concerned with success with the attainment of an end. There must be the cessation of all search, and only then is there a possibility of the coming into being of that which is nameless. - J. Krishnamurti Commentaries on Living Series III

Truth & Sacredness

It Will Come to you, you cannot go to it

Please let us be clear on this point—that you cannot by any process, through any discipline, through any form of meditation, go to truth, God, or whatever name you like to give it. It is much too vast, it cannot possibly be conceived of; no description will cover it, no book can hold it, nor any word contain it. So you cannot by any devious method, by an sacrifice, by any discipline or through any guru, go to it. You must await it, it will come to you, you cannot go to it. That is the fundamental thing one has to understand, that not through any trick of the mind, not through any control, through any virtue, any compulsion, any form of suppression, can the mind possibly go to truth. All that the mind can do is be quiet but not with the intention of receiving it. And that is one of the most difficult things of all because we think truth can be experienced right away through doing certain things. Truth is not to be bought any more than love can be bought. - The Collected Works vol XI, p 20

Once the mind comes upon this sacredness

Therefore sacredness is the essence of religion. You know, a great river may become polluted as it flows past a town, but if the pollution isn’t too great, the river cleanses itself as it goes along, and within a few miles it is again clean, fresh, pure. Similarly, when once the mind comes upon this sacredness, then every act is a cleansing act. Through its very movement the mind is making itself innocent, and therefore it is not accumulating. A mind that has discovered this sacredness is in constant revolution-not economic or social revolution, but an inner revolution through which it is endlessly purifying itself. Its action is not based on some idea or formula. As the river, with a tremendous volume of water behind it, cleanses itself as it flows, so does the mind cleanse itself when once it has come upon this religious sacredness. - The Collected Works vol XV, pp 244-245

Under every stone and leaf that which is eternal exists
What brings understanding is love. When your heart is full, then you will listen to the teacher, to the beggar, to the laughter of children, to the rainbow, and to the sorrow of man. Under every stone and leaf, that which is eternal exists. But we do not know how to look for it. Our minds and hearts are filled with other things than understanding of "what is". Love and mercy, kindliness and generosity do not cause enmity. When you love, you are very near truth. For, love makes for sensitivity, for vulnerability. That which is sensitive is capable of renewal. Then truth will come into being. It cannot come if your mind and heart are burdened, heavy with ignorance and animosity. - The Collected Works vol. IV, p 200