“Self-knowing is not accumulative as knowledge; learning is from moment to moment. It is not an additive process; in the process of gathering, adding, a centre is formed, a centre of knowledge, of experience. In this process, positive or negative, there is no understanding, for as long as there is an intention of gathering or resisting, the movement of thought and feeling are not understood, there is no self-knowing. Without self-knowing there’s no intelligence.”

“In complete attention there is no experiencing. In inattention there is; it is this inattention that gathers experience, multiplying memory, building walls of resistance; it is this inattention that builds up the self-centred activities. Inattention is concentration, which is exclusion, a cutting off; concentration knows distraction and the endless conflict of control and discipline.”

“Where the self ends, with all its secret and open intrigues, its compulsive urges and demands, its joys and sorrows, there begins a movement of life that is beyond time and its bondage.”

“Freedom is the emptying of the mind of experience. When the brain ceases to nourish itself through experience, memory and thought, when it dies to experiencing, then its activity is not self- centred. It then has its nourishment from elsewhere.”

“Whatever actions one has to do in daily life, the shocks and the various incidents should not leave their scars. These scars become the ego, the self, and as one lives, it becomes strong and its walls almost become impenetrable.”

“Meditation is explosion in understanding. There is no understanding without self-knowing; learning about the self is not accumulating knowledge about it; gathering of knowledge prevents learning; learning is not an additive process; learning is from moment to moment, as is understanding. This total process of learning is explosion in meditation.”

“One of the demands or the urges, or the desires, of the self is to change ‘what is’ into ‘what should be’. Because it doesn’t know what to do with ‘what is’, it cannot resolve ‘what is’, therefore it projects an idea of ‘what it should be’, which is the ideal. Please carefully listen to all this. So the mind, the self, desires to change ‘what is’ into ‘what should be’. The ‘what should be’ is the projection, or the antithesis of ‘what is’. And therefore there is a conflict between ‘what is’ and ‘what should be’, and in that conflict, that very conflict is the blood and the breath of the self.”

“One of the activities of the self as the ‘me’ is the observer. The observer is the past, with all the accumulated knowledge, experience, memories. So the ‘I’, the ‘me’ separates itself as the observer, and the ‘you’ as the observed. So the activity of the self is the ‘me’ as the observer, as the controller and the controlled, as will, as demanding, desiring, experience. Right? As long as any of those activities exist, meditation then becomes a means of self-hypnosis, escape from the daily life, escape from all the misery and problems. If you see the reality of that, not verbally, but actually, then you must understand all the activity of the self. You may sit for an hour very quietly, close your eyes, breathe rightly, put your head over the – god knows where! – and hoping, thinking that you are meditating. You are not meditating. You are just playing games.”

J. Krishnamurti

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Most of us live a self-centred life: as the ‘me’ first and everything else later. This attitude being divisive, leads to conflict and misery. Without understanding this centre which is ourselves, we will not be able to live peacefully, i.e. without any conflict; also, we will not be able to unfold our hidden potential; and we will not be able to explore the deeper and subtler aspects of life. So, what is the self? How does it come into being? Is it a wrong turn or is it naturally inevitable? What is its nature and structure? Why is it necessary to understand it? Why and how does it contaminate every sphere of our life? What is ending of the self? How does it happen? All such and many more related questions will be explored in this workshop. To understand the nature of the self and the quality of selflessness will be the main focus of study in this workshop. It is hoped that participation in this workshop will help the participants understand the significance of selfless life. Various selections from Krishnamurti’s works relevant to the theme of this workshop will be provided as a reading material to each participant. Also links to the relevant videos of Krishnamurti will be provided. Each participant is expected to devote these two days fully to the study in order to benefit maximum from this workshop.