Daily Quote, Saturday February 21, 2009

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post this morning as it's Farmers Market day here in Halifax!

Today the daily quote is shifting to a different Krishnamurti text, Think On These Things, and there is a change of theme too. So I'm wondering if there is a weekly theme for the quote. We'll see.

If you are not posting on the blog yet, please start soon, as there are just 3 or 4 of us that are in conversation right now.

Here's the quote:

We say, 'That is beautiful', or, 'That is ugly', and pass by.

Questioner: What is the difference between awareness and sensitivity?

Krishnamurti: I wonder if there is any difference? You know, when you ask a question, what is important is to find out for yourself the truth of the matter and not merely accept what someone else says. So, let us find out together what it is to be aware.

You see a lovely tree with its leaves sparkling after the rain; you see the sunlight shining on the water and on the gray-hued feathers of the birds; you see the villagers walking to town carrying heavy burdens, and hear their laughter; you hear the bark of a dog, or a calf calling to its mother. All this is part of awareness, the awareness of what is around you, is it not? Coming a little closer, you notice your relationship to people, to ideas and to things; you are aware of how you regard the house, the road; you observe your reactions to what people say to you, and how your mind is always evaluating, judging, comparing, or condemning. This is all part of awareness, which begins on the surface and then goes deeper and deeper, but for most of us awareness stops at a certain point. We take in the noises, the songs, the beautiful and ugly sights, but we are not aware of our reactions to them. We say, 'That is beautiful', or, 'That is ugly', and pass by; we don't inquire into what beauty is, what ugliness is. Surely, to see what your reactions are, to be more and more alert to every movement of your own thought, to observe that your mind is conditioned by the influence of your parents, of your teachers, of your race and culture - all this is part of awareness, is it not?

Think on These Things - 202