Life 04 (Aug 09 - Sep 09)

[winston]

Understanding conflict as a whole

Understanding the nature of conflict demands not the understanding of your particular conflict as an individual but the understanding of the total conflict as a human being—the total conflict, which includes nationalism, class difference, ambition, greed, envy, the desire for position, prestige, the whole sense of power, domination, fear, guilt, anxiety, in which is involved death, meditation—the whole of life.

And to understand the whole of life, one must see, listen, not fragmentarily, but look at the vast map of life. One of our difficulties is, is it not, that we function fragmentarily, we function in sections, in one part—you are an engineer, an artist, a scientist, a businessman, a lawyer, a physicist, and so on—divided, fragmentary. And each fragment is in battle with the other fragment, despising it or feeling superior.

The Collected Works vol XVI, pp 4-5

Source: jkrishnamurthi.com

[winston]

If one is disappointed in not receiving what they asked for in prayer, what should be done?

1) Having grasped what ought to be grasped, do not let go of the grip till you succeed. 2) Having desired what ought to be desired, hold on till your desire is fulfilled.
3) Having asked what ought to be asked, hold on till your request is answered.
4) Having thought what ought to be thought, hold on till you succeed.

Either the divine should yield to your prayer or you should ask with wholehearted intensity. That is the path a true devotee should pursue.

-Divine Discourse, 12 Oct 2002

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

To look at the totality of life

So the question then is how to look at the totality of life non-fragmentarily. When we look at the totality of life—not as a Hindu, a Muslim, a communist, a socialist, a Catholic, a professor, or a religious man—

when we see this extraordinary movement of life in which everything is included—death, sorrow, misery, confusion, the utter lack of love, and the image of pleasure that we have bred through centuries for ourselves, which dictates our values, our activities—

when we see this vast thing comprehensively, totally, then our response to that totality will be entirely different.

And it is this response, when we see totally the whole movement of life, that is going to bring about a revolution in ourselves.

The Collected Works vol XVI, p 5

Source: jkrishnamurthi.com

[winston]

If you intend to be of assistance, your eye is not upon the trouble but upon the assistance, and that is quite different.

When you are looking for a solution, you are feeling positive emotion— but when you are looking at a problem, you are feeling negative emotion.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from "The Law of Attraction, The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham"

Source: abraham-hicks.com

[winston]

Do not waste time. At present, you are wasting a lot of time in vain pursuits. In fact, time is our life.

If you spend such a valuable time, indulging in vain and unsacred things, how can you get it back? It is only to sanctify this life, the Divine has given you your span of time. If you channelize your thoughts in the right path, your actions will be timely.

The time, the action, the cause and the duty should be harmonized. Do not ever leave the sacred path; the path will help you lead a sacred life. You can definitely achieve this.

- Divine Discourse, 12 Oct 2002

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

It is not a selfish affair

You might ask, “If I, as a human being, change, will it affect in any way the rest of mankind? If I do change, if there is a change in a particular person, how will it affect the whole consciousness of mankind?”

Please do put that question to yourself; even as a single isolated human being you are asking, “If I change, what effect has it in the world?”

The question is, if you change fundamentally, you affect the whole consciousness of man. Napoleon affected the whole consciousness of Europe. Stalin affected the whole consciousness of Russia. The Christian saviour, he has affected the consciousness of the world, and the Hindus with their peculiar gods have affected the consciousness of the world.

When you, as a human being, radically transform psychologically, that is, be free of fear, have right relationship with each other, end sorrow and so on, which is a radical transformation, then you affect the whole consciousness of man.

It is not an individual affair. It is not a selfish affair. It is not individual salvation; it is the salvation of all human beings of which you are.

Mind Without Measure, p 38

Source: jkrishnamurthi.com

[winston]

Why are difficulties created for everyone?

In my view, difficulties are better than pleasure and comforts. It is not prudent to pray for happiness and comfort. The wisdom you gain in times of difficulty is not available in happy times.

You ask any realized soul or saintly person as to how he acquired great wisdom. He will tell you that he underwent several sorrows and difficulties and then only he could get wisdom.

Today, people desire to have liberation without undergoing any difficulty or without spending a single pie. How is it possible? You must work hard. Just by sitting somewhere and happily enjoying things, you will find difficulties painful. It is only after undergoing challenges that you must enjoy happiness.

- Divine Discourse, 12 Oct, 2002.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Your Attention, Your Life

Anything can be true in your experience, it's just a matter of where your attention is. If you put your attention on negative things, negative things will be active in your life. Likewise, if you put your attention on positive things, positive things will be active in your life.

People say, "Well, I can't deny that negative things are happening in this world, I see them happening all the time."

It's not about denying the negative things that exist; it's about affirming the positive things that exist. Positive things are also happening in this world all the time. It's not a denial; it's a shift of attention from one place to another.

It's no different than choosing to watch a light, uplifting movie instead of a dark, depressing movie. They both exist, but which one would you rather watch? If you choose the lighter movie, you wouldn't be denying the existence of the dark movie, you'd simply be choosing to place your attention on something else, something that uplifts your spirit instead of dampens it.

There are a myriad of choices of where to place your attention. Choosing one over another doesn't negate the other, it simply activates the one you choose into your experience. Where your attention is, your life is.

Source: www.FollowYourSoul.com.

[winston]

To live a life without conflict

Human beings have lived in this state of conflict as long as human history is known. Everything they touch turns into conflict, within and without. Either it’s a war between people, or life as a human being is a battlefield within. We all know this constant, everlasting battle, outwardly and inwardly.

Conflict does produce a certain result by the use of the will, but conflict is never creative. That’s a dangerous word to use; we’ll go into a little later. To live, to flower in goodness, there must be peace, not economic peace, the peace between two wars, the peace of politicians negotiating treaties, the peace which the church talks about, or what the organized religions preach, but peace that one has discovered for oneself.

It is only in peace that we can flower, can grow, can be, can function. It cannot come into being when there is conflict of any kind, conscious or unconscious.

Is it possible to live a life without conflict in the modern world, with all the strain, struggle, pressures, and influences in the social structure? That is really living—the essence of a mind that is inquiring seriously.

The question of whether there is God, whether there is truth, whether there is beauty can only come when this is established, when the mind is no longer in conflict.

The Collected Works vol XVI, pp 80-81

Source: jkrishnamurthi.com

[winston]

We're asking you to trust in the Well-being. In optimism there is magic. In pessimism there is nothing. In positive expectation there is thrill and success. In pessimism or awareness of what is not wanted, there is nothing.

What you're wanting to do is redefine your relationship with the Stream. We do not ask you to look at something that is black and call it white. We do not ask you to see something that is not as you want it to be and pretend that it is. What we ask you to do is practice moving your gaze.

Practice changing your perspective. Practice talking to different people. Practice going to new places. Practice sifting through the data for the things that feel like you want to feel and using those things to cause you to feel a familiar place.

In other words, we want you to feel familiar in your joy. Familiar in your positive expectation, familiar in your knowing that all is well, because this Universe will knock itself out giving you evidence of that Well-being once you find that place.

We have enjoyed this interaction immensely. There is great love here for you. We are complete

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in San Rafael, CA on Wednesday, March 4th, 1998 #193

Source: abraham-hicks.com