Life 16 (Jun 12 - Sep 12)

[winston]

How should we undertake the reading of scriptures and other spiritual literature?

The tongue may utter the Name of the Lord, the ear may be open when the glory of Divine is recited and the hand may shower flowers on the image of the Divine - all this is of no avail, if carried out mechanically, bereft of yearning within.

Reading scriptures or performing worship without relishing the sweetness, is equivalent to being like the spoon which dips into sour and sweet with equal alacrity and insensitivity. The spoon does not refuse or relish any taste.

True joy can be felt only when the heart of the devotee is aware of the Supreme; when the mind is thrilled with the recollections of the glory of the Divine or the study of the scriptures.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 23, 1966.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the true attitude with which we must go about our daily tasks?

There is no scar on the sky, though clouds, stars, the sun and the moon all appear to streak across it. So too let a thousand ideas streak across the mind, ensure that your mind remains unaffected and serene.

Get firm in mind; then, your reason also will not deviate. Without that equanimity, you can get no happiness.

Saint Kabir had no food for three days – but he thanked the Divine for giving him the coveted chance of observing a ritual fast.

The great devotee of Rama, Saint Ramadas was confined in prison – and he thanked the Divine that he got a place where he could meditate on Him without disturbances.

Such is the attitude of the saintly, those who are the beloved of the Divine.

- Divine Discourse, May 23, 1965.


Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Is the ultimate deliverance the destiny of only a select few?

The Divinity in each one, prompts one to stick to truth and to the moral code; you only have to listen, obey and get saved.

Few hear it the moment it whispers; some listen only when it protests loudly; others are deaf; and there are also some who are determined not to hear it. But all have to be guided by it, sooner or later.

Some may ascend a plane, others may travel by car or board a bus; yet others may prefer a train journey, and there could be some who may like to trudge along - but all must reach the goal, some day or other.

The sea of samsaara (worldly life) has to be crossed and all its waves transcended, with the help of the Divine Name.

If you seek to know the highest and secure the award of the Divvine, there can be no place for doubt.

The heart should be set on achieving the task of realising the Divine within you as the Motivator.

- Divine Discourse, Feb 10, 1963


Source: radiosai.org

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

You have not ended your sorrow, and you want to find enlightenment

You can sit in the right posture with your back straight, breathing correctly, do pranayama and all the rest of it for the next ten thousand years, and you will be nowhere near perceiving what truth is, because you have not understood yourself at all, the way you think, the way you live.

You have not ended your sorrow, and you want to find enlightenment.

You can do all kinds of twists and turns with your body and this seems to fascinate people because they feel it is going to give some power, some prestige.

Now, all these powers are like candles in the sun; they are like candle light when the brilliant sun is shining.

- Krishnamurti in India 1970-71, 55


Source: www.jkrishnamurti.com

[winston]

Do not make meditation a complicated affair

Do not make meditation a complicated affair; it is really very simple and because it is simple it is very subtle.

Its subtlety will escape the mind, if the mind approaches it with all kinds of fanciful and romantic ideas.

Meditation, really, is a penetration into the unknown, and so the known, the memory, the experience, the knowledge which it has acquired during the day, or during a thousand days, must end.

For it is only a free mind, that can penetrate into the very heart of the immeasurable.

So meditation is both the penetration and the ending of the yesterday.

The trouble begins when we ask how to end the yesterday.

There is really no 'how.' The 'how' implies a method, a system and it is this very method and system that has conditioned the mind.

Just see the truth of this. Freedom is necessary -not 'how' to be free.

The 'how to be free' only enslaves you.

- Beyond Violence, 54

Source: jkrishnamurti.com

[winston]

The description is not the described

This is something most marvelous if you come upon it.

I can go into it, but the description is not the described.

It's for you to learn all this by looking at yourself -no book, no teacher can teach you about this.

Don't depend on anyone, don't join spiritual organizations; one has to learn all this out of oneself.

And there the mind will discover things that are incredible.

But for that, there must be no fragmentation and therefore immense stability, swiftness, mobility.

To such a mind there is no time and therefore living has quite a different meaning.

- The Impossible Question, 190

Source: www.jkrishnamurti.com

[winston]

Beliefs, like ideals, are escapes from the fact

Belief is so unnecessary, as are ideals.

Both dissipate energy which is needed to follow the unfolding of the fact, the 'what is.'

Beliefs, like ideals, are escapes from the fact and in escape there is no end to sorrow.

The ending of sorrow is the understanding of the fact from moment to moment.

There is no system or method which will give understanding but only a choiceless awareness of a fact.

Meditation according to a system is the avoidance of the fact of what you are;

It is far more important to understand yourself, the constant changing of the facts about yourself, than to meditate in order to find god, have visions, sensations, and other forms of entertainment.

- Krishnamurti Notebook, 41, Meditations

Source: www.jkrishnamurti.com

[winston]

If your meditation is only a personal matter;then it is not meditation.

We have to alter the structure of our society, its injustice, its appalling morality, the divisions it has created between man and man, the wars, the utter lack of affection and love that is destroying the world.

If your meditation is only a personal matter, a thing which you personally enjoy, then it is not meditation.

Meditation implies a complete radical change of the mind and the heart.

This is only possible when there is this extraordinary sense of inward silence, and that alone brings about the religious mind. T

hat mind knows what is sacred.

- Beyond Violence, 133, Meditations


Source: www.jkrishnamurti.com

[winston]

How can we enjoy life truly and to the fullest?

For food to taste good, you need to add salt to it. But only when you place a morsel of the food on your tongue, you get to know if it has enough salt in it or not.

So too only when you have moved about in the world and participated in its activities abiding by a moral code, you discover that, without the salt of jnana (wisdom), it does not taste good;

If you take it with a pinch of this salt - the knowledge that you are not the body but the Indweller; that you are but the witness of the ever-changing panorama of Nature - then you will be happy and peaceful.

- Divine Discourse, Apr 19, 1965


Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

How can a mind which is everlastingly chattering perceive anything?

Meditation implies a quality of mind that can completely attend, therefore, a mind that can be completely still.

The mind is always chattering, always talking, either to itself, within itself or to somebody, always in movement.

How can a mind which is everlastingly chattering perceive anything?

Only a mind that is completely attentive has the total energy to observe, because you need tremendous energy to observe.

The religious monks and others say that you cannot waste energy; therefore no sex, if you want to be a saint.

And when you become a celibate and have taken vows of celibacy, there is havoc in you, because you are denying the whole biological system and there is a wastage of energy.

You are battling, battling, battling. Or you go to the other extreme, indulge, which is another form of wasting energy.

Whereas, if you are attentive, it is the greatest form of all summation of energy.

It means intensity, passion, and you cannot be passionate if you are wasting.

Without any effort the mind can become completely quiet and therefore full of energy without any distortion.

- Talks and Dialogues in Sydney 1970

Source: www.jkrishnamurti.com