religion
Satsang
If you have no questions,
We can sit here,
Selfless,
Self seen through,
And be.
This is the real sadhana:
Just an unforced appreciation of the way things are.
If you have questions, ask them, do not hold back.
The true answer is when the question disappears.
Do not cling to knowledge.
This is the advanced path for advanced seekers.
Krishnamurti’s Method
The following is an excerpt from a talk of Jiddu Krishnamurti that took place in Hamburg, Germany on 5th September 1956. For those of you who are familiar with Krishnamurti’s teachings, you will know that he abhorred the idea of a set method for liberation. However, in his talks he often outlined something that could be called a method in the wider sense, so I have rather cheekily titled this post ‘Krishnamurti’s Method’ 🙂
“So a serious person must surely ask himself this question: is it possible to experience something…beyond the fabrications of the mind? And if it is possible, then what is one to do? How is one to set about it? Continue reading
Insight
Insight is not personal insight.
With personal insight, you have an insight,
You realise this or that,
You realise x, y or z.
All personal insight is based on concepts or thought,
– they are all subject to change,
– they are all subject to doubt.
With Insight it is the person that is seen through;
Insight is there without a person having an insight:
Everything is just Insight,
There is only Insight.
Like realising the lake is a mirage:
Your personal insights and doubts were just ripples on its surface;
Then the whole of spirituality is done for,
No need for any of it anymore,
What else is there to do?
What can be done when there is no doer?
Sensations, fresh and clear
Everything appears fresh,
Fresh, crisp and clear;
A sparkling mirror,
everything perfectly reflected.
Body, mind and senses function by themselves,
As they have always done,
Light! Sensations! Movement!
Is reality impersonal?
This is a question that often comes up, and many teachers often state that reality is impersonal. I myself have written a piece stating just this (complete with an impersonal looking image). However, like so many things we can write and say about reality, it is often correct in one way but false in another. As I’ve stated many times before, reality cannot be captured in words.
We could say that reality is impersonal or both personal and impersonal, or we could say that it is neither personal or impersonal. All these statements would be correct in the correct context.
But are these statements helpful? To say that reality is either personal or impersonal is ultimately besides the point. The essential point is to see things as they are, or rather to stop believing in all our concepts about reality – then reality shines, as it always has done. Who cares if it’s personal or impersonal?
The Sun and the Moon
The sun
Bright, bold, clear, unchanging,
The masculine principle.
The moon,
Mysterious, shape-shifting, temperamental,
The feminine principle. Continue reading
Krishnamurti: How to solve our problems
“I am not speaking as an Indian, nor do I believe that any particular philosophy or religion is going to solve our human problems. No human problem can be understood or resolved through a special way of thinking, or through any dogma or belief.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Hamburg, Germany, 1st Public Talk 5th September 1956
This magical sparkling life
Not trying to get somewhere,
Not clinging,
Not letting go,
Not renunciating,
Not ‘staying in the moment’,
Not ‘being present’,
(This is just more trying to get somewhere,
more clinging),
Just this.
Krishnamurti: Redefining religion, finding God
The following is an excerpt from a talk of Jiddu Krishnamurti that took place in Hamburg, Germany on 5th September 1956
“Religion is not to be found in a set of dogmas, beliefs, rituals; I think it is something much greater and far beyond all that. Therefore it is imperative to understand why the mind clings to any particular religion or belief, to any particular dogma. It is only when we understand and free the mind from these beliefs, dogmas, and fears, that there is a possibility of finding out if there is a reality, if there is God. But merely to believe, to follow, seems to me an utter folly…
Continue reading
Tom Das 