Dialogue Titles and Content
Dialogue 1: Are we aware that we are fragmented?
How can one be aware of the wholeness of life if one is fragmented? I am a fragment and therefore am creating more fragments, more conflict, more confusion, more sorrow. Is the centre the very cause of fragmentation? Does the beginning of fragmentation take place when I am seeking security? Is security in knowledge, used wrongly, one of the factors of fragmentation? Can I be free of the desire to be psychologically secure?
Dialogue 2: A mechanical way of living leads to disorder.
Is there psychological security at all, a sense of well-founded, deep-rooted existence? When you hear that there is no security, is it an abstract idea or an actual fact? My security lies in some image, a picture, a conclusion, an ideal. The brain needs order in order to function. It finds order in mechanical process because it is trained from childhood to do so. When the past meets the present and continues, it is one of the factors of time, bondage, fear. But when the past meets the present and I am completely aware of this moment, then it stops. Then I meet you as though for the first time.
Dialogue 3: Can I completely change at the very root?
Why do human beings live in such appalling misery, accepting it for millennia? Is it possible for a human being to change at the very root of his being? Who is going to tell me? Is it Marx, Lenin, Mao, the Pope, or the local priest? Authority exists because human beings are in disorder. In the rejection of authority I become very sane. When I reject authority I have more energy. What is correct action in life? I can only find that out if there is no disorder in me. ‘Me’ is the disorder. However ‘real’ the ‘me’ is, it is the source of disorder.
Dialogue 4: In aloneness you can be completely secure.
Do human beings not radically transform themselves because they are really frightened not to belong to a group, to something definite? Are they afraid to stand completely alone? To be alone implies not to carry the burden of tradition with you. Tradition being knowledge. To be alone implies total freedom. Alone is all one, when there is no fragmentation. That is total order. Can we step out of the stream of this utter confusion, disorder, sorrow, hope, travail, and despair? Our whole society, all religion, all culture is based on thought. Does thought realize it has made this mess, this chaos? Is thought aware of itself as a movement, which brings about a fragmentary action? When the movement of thought comes to an end, there is total action. When you are faced with fact, there is no fear.
The purpose of this study workshop is to explore and study the 4 dialogues between J. Krishnamurti, Prof. David Bohm and Dr. David Shainberg. This is a series of seven dialogues out of which the first four dialogues will be studied in this workshop. These dialogues took place in 1976 at Brockwood Park, UK. These dialogues are published as a part of the book: The Transformation of Man (New Title) or The Wholeness of Life (Old Title). The topics and the content of these dialogues are as given above. The study will not be just of academic nature but will involve the application to our daily life situations. Our intention will be to enquire into ourselves in the context of these dialogues and see whether they lead to different understanding of our life. It will be our endeavour to begin with scientific enquiry first and then pursue it to its logical end to enter into religious enquiry through which alone the deeper and subtler aspects of our existence can be explored. Through various interactive sessions, this will be attempted. Participants will be provided with the text of these four dialogues between K, DB and DS. They will also be provided with the links to the video recordings of these dialogues so that they can listen to the original unedited version of these dialogues.