“Meditation is not a practice, following a system, a method; these only lead to the darkening of the mind and it is ever a movement within the boundaries of the known; there is despair and illusion within their activity”
“Meditation is without the meditator. The meditator interferes with his stupidities and vanities, ambitions and greed. The meditator is thought, nurtured in these conflicts and injuries, and thought in meditation must totally cease. This is the foundation for meditation.”
“Thought is an impediment to meditation but only through meditation can this impediment be dissolved. For thought dissipates energy and the essence of energy is freedom from thought and feeling. Meditation is the emptying the mind of all thought, for thought and feeling dissipate energy; they are repetitive, producing mechanical activities which are a necessary part of existence. But they are only part, and thought and feeling cannot possibly enter into the immensity of life. Quite a different approach is necessary, not the path of habit, association and the known; there must be freedom from these. Meditation is the emptying of the mind of the known. It cannot be done by thought or by the hidden prompting of thought, nor by desire in the form of prayer, nor through the self-effacing hypnotism of words, images, hopes and vanities.”
“The many systems of meditation merely trap the mind in a pattern offering marvelous escapes and sensations; it is only the immature that play with them, getting a great deal of satisfaction from them. Without self-knowing all meditation leads to delusion and to varying forms of self-deception, factual and fancied.”
J. Krishnamurti
In this modern age, meditation is practised more as a system, as a repetitive method. It is practised for a variety of reasons. To relieve the psychological stress, to calm the agitated mind, as a religious practice, as a part of Yoga to keep the body and the mind healthy, and to get various powers (siddhis) are some of the purposes for which meditation is practised. Each religion has its own systems of meditation. It is practised as a prayer, as a repetition of words (Japa), as an elaborate ritual, as a breathing system (pranayama), or just sitting quietly. According to J. Krishnamurti, none of this is meditation. So what is meditation? Why should one meditate? Understanding Krishnamurti’s approach to meditation and its application in our day-to-day life is the theme of this workshop. It is expected that the participants will be able to apply this approach to their daily 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.