I have no faith in our intelligentsia, for it is hypocritical, dishonest, hysterical, uncultured, and lazy. I have no faith in it even when it claims to be suffering and is protesting, for its oppressors issue from its very own loins. I do have faith in individuals. I see salvation in individuals--intellectuals and peasant alike-- scatter here and there across Russia, for though they may be few, they have real strength. A prophet has no honor in his own land, and the individuals of whom I speak play an almost imperceptible role in our society. Though they do not dominate, their deeds are manifest. No matter what you might say or do, science is constantly moving forward, social awareness is growing, moral issues are becoming increasingly alarming, etc, etc. And all this takes place irrespective of procurators, engineers, and governors, irrespective of the intelligentsia en masse and in spite of everything.
Anton Chekov ~ Letter to Ivan Orlov Yalta, February 22, 1899
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Point of Focus
What this workshop is about �- we know you could speak it as clearly as we can now, we've said it enough times to you today -� what your work is about is to bring yourself into vibrational harmony with allowing the energy that is you to flow.
And in simple terms, what that means is your work is to look wherever you stand, whether you are looking in the past, present or future, your work is to consume your now with the thought that feels best. With the thought that feels best, with the thought that feels best, with the thought that feels best.
And there are always choices there for you. In other words, you can look at the hole in the wall or you can look at the beautiful painting. You can look at the light bulb that is out or you can see the light bulb that is working. You can look at your mate in his positive aspect or you can look at your mate in his negative aspect. You can look at your own body and find something that pleases you or find something that doesn't. You can remember your childhood and find something of pleasure or you can find something that makes you feel discouraged. You can remember a compliment or you can remember somebody down on you. You can remember your love or you can remember your hate.
In other words, you have that choice in every moment, and you are the definers of that. You are focusers of energy, that's what a creator is. A creator is someone who stands in their now and focuses energy.
Abraham-Hicks 3/4/00
And in simple terms, what that means is your work is to look wherever you stand, whether you are looking in the past, present or future, your work is to consume your now with the thought that feels best. With the thought that feels best, with the thought that feels best, with the thought that feels best.
And there are always choices there for you. In other words, you can look at the hole in the wall or you can look at the beautiful painting. You can look at the light bulb that is out or you can see the light bulb that is working. You can look at your mate in his positive aspect or you can look at your mate in his negative aspect. You can look at your own body and find something that pleases you or find something that doesn't. You can remember your childhood and find something of pleasure or you can find something that makes you feel discouraged. You can remember a compliment or you can remember somebody down on you. You can remember your love or you can remember your hate.
In other words, you have that choice in every moment, and you are the definers of that. You are focusers of energy, that's what a creator is. A creator is someone who stands in their now and focuses energy.
Abraham-Hicks 3/4/00
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Free Your Mind
To understand anything you must live with it, you must observe it, you must know all its content, its nature, its structure, its movement. Have you ever tried living with yourself? If so, you will begin to see that yourself is not a static state, it is a fresh living thing. And to live with a living thing your mind must also be alive. And it cannot be alive if it is caught in opinions, judgments and values. In order to observe the movement of your own mind and heart, of your whole being, you must have a free mind, not a mind that agrees and disagrees, taking sides in an argument, disputing over mere words, but rather following with an intention to understand - a very difficult thing to do because most of us don't know how to look at, or listen to, our own being any more than we know how to look at the beauty of a river or listen to the breeze among the trees. When we condemn or justify we cannot see clearly, nor can we when our minds are endlessly chattering; then we do not observe what is, we look only at the projections we have made of ourselves. Each of us has an image of what we think we are or what we should be, and that image, that picture, entirely prevents us from seeing ourselves as we actually are. It is one of the most difficult things in the world to look at anything simply. Because our minds are very complex we have lost the quality of simplicity. I don't mean simplicity in clothes or food, wearing only a loin cloth or breaking a record fasting or any of that immature nonsense the saints cultivate, but the simplicity that can look directly at things without fear - that can look at ourselves as we actually are without any distortion - to say when we lie we lie, not cover it up or run away from it. Also in order to understand ourselves we need a great deal of humility. If you start by saying, `I know myself', you have already stopped learning about yourself; or if you say, 'There is nothing much to learn about myself because I am just a bundle of memories, ideas, experiences and traditions', then you have also stopped learning about yourself. The moment you have achieved anything you cease to have that quality of innocence and humility; the moment you have a conclusion or start examining from knowledge, you are finished, for then you are translating every living thing in terms of the old. Whereas if you have no foothold, if there is no certainty, no achievement, there is freedom to look, to achieve. And when you look with freedom it is always new. A confident man is a dead human being. - Freedom From The Known Collected Works, Vol. XI
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Life is Now
A Buddhist Monk (of unknown identity) said to a friend once that "there is no life after death and no reincarnation, this is IT". This in spite of the more common belief of Buddhists in rebirth. Yet it is wise to note the difference between rebirth and reincarnation. Rebirth is simply believing that Energy in all individual forms is immortal and eternal, though personal identity (or ego) is lost this essence of Buddha Nature remains. With reincarnation, the Hindu faith in particular believes in a transmigration of individual souls, from one body and life experience to another, over countless lifetimes until the ultimate enlightenment and unity with God (Brahman) is reached.
The Sun represents and IS an Eternal Divine Spark of Life, a Universal Energy of Beingness that sustains all and "is the mighty breath in which all is bound up". This is the Star of our universe, and exists (as life essence) within *all of us*. Although eternal, it's message is NOW or TODAY, THIS IS IT, no second chances, no patchwork, no preparation for future events and definitely no putting off till tomorrow what can be done today. Right NOW is the only opportunity, the only shot I've got and it's right here on the spot.
Much has been said and written on living today, this day, as though it is your last... if I was certain to die any day now (or by tomorrow) then how vividly would I live this day? The issue is not what I would do.... limiting this further to circumstances of being alone and could not possibly visit or say goodbye nearly anyone (let alone everyone). How vivid would this day be? How much less I would be stuck up in my head and more living from my heart. How valuable life would be this moment if I knew it would pass any moment now... and at the same time how powerless I would be to grasp or hold on to it. Letting go and letting be, total surrender, would be the only option... however I choose to spend that day, it is the most alive, lucid and present I have ever felt.
Then as this body dies, rising above earthly existence into another realm (hopefully a heavenly realm, with angels), maybe the next step forward is simply a continuation elsewhere, where every moment is effortless in letting go into the cosmic heavenly flow. Maybe it is only in living this way, with the assumption that NOW is all I've got and all I ever have, that I begin to truly LIVE. Not ever thinking about what comes after, and not needing the reassurance that there is more... THIS IS IT, however temporal or eternal this moment is, the goal is to never once think about an end, only an eternity of new beginnings and a most vivid joyful presence of eternal life...
JDZ
The Sun represents and IS an Eternal Divine Spark of Life, a Universal Energy of Beingness that sustains all and "is the mighty breath in which all is bound up". This is the Star of our universe, and exists (as life essence) within *all of us*. Although eternal, it's message is NOW or TODAY, THIS IS IT, no second chances, no patchwork, no preparation for future events and definitely no putting off till tomorrow what can be done today. Right NOW is the only opportunity, the only shot I've got and it's right here on the spot.
Much has been said and written on living today, this day, as though it is your last... if I was certain to die any day now (or by tomorrow) then how vividly would I live this day? The issue is not what I would do.... limiting this further to circumstances of being alone and could not possibly visit or say goodbye nearly anyone (let alone everyone). How vivid would this day be? How much less I would be stuck up in my head and more living from my heart. How valuable life would be this moment if I knew it would pass any moment now... and at the same time how powerless I would be to grasp or hold on to it. Letting go and letting be, total surrender, would be the only option... however I choose to spend that day, it is the most alive, lucid and present I have ever felt.
Then as this body dies, rising above earthly existence into another realm (hopefully a heavenly realm, with angels), maybe the next step forward is simply a continuation elsewhere, where every moment is effortless in letting go into the cosmic heavenly flow. Maybe it is only in living this way, with the assumption that NOW is all I've got and all I ever have, that I begin to truly LIVE. Not ever thinking about what comes after, and not needing the reassurance that there is more... THIS IS IT, however temporal or eternal this moment is, the goal is to never once think about an end, only an eternity of new beginnings and a most vivid joyful presence of eternal life...
JDZ
Monday, February 15, 2010
Total Self Awareness
A clear bright light of observation, energy of pure attention and an open all-inclusive awareness, must remain constant and vigilant. This Light of all lights must continue to shine most thoroughly into all dark corners of the mind so that what was once hidden is now revealed, and thus healed. In so doing the tendency to act out on past conditioning (on darkness & past influences) becomes weaker, gradually to become completely dissolved in pure light..
Feeling is the mental-emotional response to specific earthly experiences... it is that inner radar that tells me "yes or no", "pleasant or unpleasant", "worthwhile or not worthwhile to pursue". So in the clearest observation and awareness of this bondage, of my feeling and emotional response to conditioned sensory stimuli, I am now AWARE of a more appropriate, empowering and healing feeling response. I know that something which provides a certain pleasure I've grown accustomed (or addicted) to is in fact at the root of much self-created pain.
When alcohol, taken out of moderation (to get drunk), is seen as the destructive and life draining poison that it is (in excess), then I would say clear observation and total awareness or mindfulness is operating unobstructed. Where once there was pleasure and comfort there now is repulsion, where self-destructive activity or consumption is transformed into constructive withdrawal from all active engagement in detrimental immediate gratification.
Likewise the same can be applied to one's thoughts, inner dialogue and negative self-talk (or self-limiting beliefs)... to that which is perceived as painful and burdensome as well as that which is pleasurable. Simply shining the light of conscious clarity upon ALL that IS, both inside and outside, allows for a healing to take place whose one and only salvation is in stillness, where all energy and light is withdrawn from all activity for the supreme human purpose of looking, listening, transforming and healing via total self awareness...
JDZ
"When you have established the discipline of this constant awareness, this constant watchfulness upon all that you think and feel and do, then life ceases to be the tyrannical, tedious, confusing thing that it is for most of us, and becomes but a series of opportunities towards that perfect fulfillment. The goal of life is, therefore, not something far off, to be attained in the distant future, but it is to be realised moment by moment in that now which is all eternity." J.Krishnamurti - Early Works, circa 1930
Feeling is the mental-emotional response to specific earthly experiences... it is that inner radar that tells me "yes or no", "pleasant or unpleasant", "worthwhile or not worthwhile to pursue". So in the clearest observation and awareness of this bondage, of my feeling and emotional response to conditioned sensory stimuli, I am now AWARE of a more appropriate, empowering and healing feeling response. I know that something which provides a certain pleasure I've grown accustomed (or addicted) to is in fact at the root of much self-created pain.
When alcohol, taken out of moderation (to get drunk), is seen as the destructive and life draining poison that it is (in excess), then I would say clear observation and total awareness or mindfulness is operating unobstructed. Where once there was pleasure and comfort there now is repulsion, where self-destructive activity or consumption is transformed into constructive withdrawal from all active engagement in detrimental immediate gratification.
Likewise the same can be applied to one's thoughts, inner dialogue and negative self-talk (or self-limiting beliefs)... to that which is perceived as painful and burdensome as well as that which is pleasurable. Simply shining the light of conscious clarity upon ALL that IS, both inside and outside, allows for a healing to take place whose one and only salvation is in stillness, where all energy and light is withdrawn from all activity for the supreme human purpose of looking, listening, transforming and healing via total self awareness...
JDZ
"When you have established the discipline of this constant awareness, this constant watchfulness upon all that you think and feel and do, then life ceases to be the tyrannical, tedious, confusing thing that it is for most of us, and becomes but a series of opportunities towards that perfect fulfillment. The goal of life is, therefore, not something far off, to be attained in the distant future, but it is to be realised moment by moment in that now which is all eternity." J.Krishnamurti - Early Works, circa 1930
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Musings
INDIVIDUAL/PERSONAL: My life is one big work out... not just physical, but intellectual and emotional. Where is there toxicity to be released, in both body and mind, and where are those tight muscles of resistance? All is Alchemy... the removal of baser elements to reveal a pure positive essence. Awareness of deep pain, of limitation and hardship, is what motivates and inspires real healing and transformation.
Life is slowed down only by holding onto too much stuff, in the instance of my computer, it is too many saved files that I don't need! Where the body is concerned it is the weight factor and the attachment to eating good food. Where the mind is concerned it is excess (unhealthy) thoughts and emotions.
SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS: The Abraham-ic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam referred to above in the caption is not in my mind referring in any way to the spiritual essence at the heart of these religious movements and paths... there are enlightened people in every faith, who understand the essential and common truth inherent to us all, and thus do not ultimately define themselves in terms of being a Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim. It is this righteous of assertion of one world-spiritual ideology over another which is brought about and justified so much hell on earth... the authoritarian aspect of religion, not the truth and beauty of a truly religious spirit.
"A man of knowledge is free... he has no honor, no dignity, no family, no home, no country, but only life to be lived." -don Juan (as translated by author and friend Carlos Castaneda)... I would apply this identification with oneself as a Buddhist or Christian in any absolute sense... Truth goes beyond all labels and ultimately has no path.
HERE & NOW:
Inspiration abounds... as the great VISION and the necessary preparation for a happy successful outcome. Divine Intuition continues to grow in the letting go of identification/attachment to concepts and ideals, trusting this wise inner guidance is there already working. Continue to take that next step, inquiring ever further and deeper, not knowing, embracing the boredom and and letting go of attachment to outcome...
HIGHER PURPOSE: Add to this an intention of service to humankind, and the desire to affect all (or most, within reason) others inter-personally in a happy and positive manner. This other-oriented awareness is naturally at the heart of any successful outcome... wanting more from life than just my own well being and abundance alone.
"Victory must be already achieved before any battle is fought" -- Sun Tzu "The Art of War"
JDZ
Life is slowed down only by holding onto too much stuff, in the instance of my computer, it is too many saved files that I don't need! Where the body is concerned it is the weight factor and the attachment to eating good food. Where the mind is concerned it is excess (unhealthy) thoughts and emotions.
SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS: The Abraham-ic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam referred to above in the caption is not in my mind referring in any way to the spiritual essence at the heart of these religious movements and paths... there are enlightened people in every faith, who understand the essential and common truth inherent to us all, and thus do not ultimately define themselves in terms of being a Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim. It is this righteous of assertion of one world-spiritual ideology over another which is brought about and justified so much hell on earth... the authoritarian aspect of religion, not the truth and beauty of a truly religious spirit.
"A man of knowledge is free... he has no honor, no dignity, no family, no home, no country, but only life to be lived." -don Juan (as translated by author and friend Carlos Castaneda)... I would apply this identification with oneself as a Buddhist or Christian in any absolute sense... Truth goes beyond all labels and ultimately has no path.
HERE & NOW:
Inspiration abounds... as the great VISION and the necessary preparation for a happy successful outcome. Divine Intuition continues to grow in the letting go of identification/attachment to concepts and ideals, trusting this wise inner guidance is there already working. Continue to take that next step, inquiring ever further and deeper, not knowing, embracing the boredom and and letting go of attachment to outcome...
HIGHER PURPOSE: Add to this an intention of service to humankind, and the desire to affect all (or most, within reason) others inter-personally in a happy and positive manner. This other-oriented awareness is naturally at the heart of any successful outcome... wanting more from life than just my own well being and abundance alone.
"Victory must be already achieved before any battle is fought" -- Sun Tzu "The Art of War"
JDZ
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Can we stop war by praying for peace?
Question: Can we stop war by praying for peace? Krishnamurti: I do not think that war can be stopped by prayer. Isn't praying for peace merely a particular form of emotional release? We think that we are incapable of preventing war and so we find in prayer a release from this horror. Do you think that by merely praying for peace you are going to stop violence in the world? Prayer only becomes an escape from actuality. That emotional state which results in prayer can also be worked upon by propagandists for the purposes of war, hatred. As one eagerly prays for peace, so, equally enthusiastically, one is persuaded about the beauties of nationalism and the necessity of war. Prayer for peace is utterly useless. The causes of war are manufactured by man, and it is of no value to appeal to some outside force for peace. War exists because of psychological and economic reasons. Until those causes are fundamentally altered, war will exist, and praying for peace is of no value. - Ojai 8th Talk in the Oak Grove 24th May, 1930
What is the Central Core of Your Thinking?
Is it not, therefore, an obvious fact that what I am in my relationship to another creates society and that, without radically transforming myself, there can be no transformation of the essential function of society? When we look to a system for the transformation of society, we are merely evading the question, because a system cannot transform man; man always transforms the system, which history shows. Until I, in my relationship to you, understand myself I am the cause of chaos, misery, destruction, fear, brutality. Understanding myself is not a matter of time; I can understand myself at this very moment. - The First and Last Freedom Chapter 1
A mind that has understood the nature of pleasure and fear is no longer violent and can therefore live at peace within itself and with the world. - Talks and Dialogues Saanen 1967
What is the Central Core of Your Thinking?
Is it not, therefore, an obvious fact that what I am in my relationship to another creates society and that, without radically transforming myself, there can be no transformation of the essential function of society? When we look to a system for the transformation of society, we are merely evading the question, because a system cannot transform man; man always transforms the system, which history shows. Until I, in my relationship to you, understand myself I am the cause of chaos, misery, destruction, fear, brutality. Understanding myself is not a matter of time; I can understand myself at this very moment. - The First and Last Freedom Chapter 1
A mind that has understood the nature of pleasure and fear is no longer violent and can therefore live at peace within itself and with the world. - Talks and Dialogues Saanen 1967
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