On Mind and Thought by Krishnamurti

Author:Krishnamurti [Krishnamurti]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco
Published: 2017-05-28T04:00:00+00:00

Madras, 7 January 1978

We are trying to find out the inmost nature of the self because all our activity is based on self, the ‘me’ first and you second. In all our relationships, in all our office activities, social activities, in our relationship with each other, self-centred activity is constantly in operation, even when we are meditating, even when we are supposed to be religious. So what is the self? Unfortunately, most of you probably have read philosophy, sacred books—I won’t call them sacred because they are just books—or somebody has told you, your guru or your religious leader has probably told you the self is something extraordinary, it is to live everlastingly from the beginning to the end.

So we are asking a very simple question, which is really tremendously complex. How you approach that question matters a great deal: whether you approach it with fear, with a conclusion, or accepting the authority of others, and your approach then is already limited, circumscribed; or whether you see that to investigate one must be free, otherwise you can’t investigate. If you are prejudiced, if you have some ideal, conclusion, wish, then that is going to dictate your investigation. So can you, if I may ask, be free to go into this matter very carefully, logically, sanely, and freely, to find out the nature and the inmost essence of the self? ... Though his form, name, may be different, is the individual, the identity of a human being who feels, or thinks he is separate, actually separate? His idiosyncrasies, character, eccentricities, tendencies, qualities—are they the result of the culture in which he is born, or the development of character as a resistance to the culture? This is very, very important.

So first, what are you? Your activity is based on the self, on self-centred activity from morning until night. So what is that centre from which you are acting, the centre from which you are meditating, if you meditate—I hope you don’t—the centre from which all your fears, all your anxieties, sorrows, griefs, pain, and affections arise, the centre from which you are seeking happiness, enlightenment, God, or truth, or whatever, the centre from which you say, ‘I take a vow to be a monk’, the centre from which, if you are in business, you are trying to become more powerful, richer? That is the centre which we are examining, the self. What is that self and how has it come into being? Is it possible to know yourself as you actually are, not what you think you are, what you hope to be? Is it possible to know it completely, the essence of it, and is it possible to go beyond all the fragmented activity of the self?

So is the self, that centre, put together by thought? Please think and investigate, reason as though you are thinking about it for the first time; then it is fresh, then you can investigate. But if you say, ‘I already know what the self is, I have already come to certain conclusions about it’, you will prevent yourself from examining it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.