Daily Quote, Thursday February 19, 2009
Morning everyone,
For those of you away from Halifax at this time of year and missing the snow, today is apparently the day! Grab your groceries this morning as 10cm might be on the way later. Still, it's a nice excuse to say in and read. :-)
Here the daily quote. This one retraces the ground we have already been through this week. I'm still interested in whether the will hyjacks the intellect to achieve desire. Any thoughts?
I've been reading another of Krishnamurti's books recently, Meeting Life, and was thinking of putting up a quote from this 3 times a week. It would follow a different theme from the daily quote. Would that be too much?
Will is the outcome of desire.
As long as the mind is seeking, there must be endeavor, effort, which is invariably based on the action of will, and however refined, will is the outcome of desire. Will may be the outcome of many integrated desires, or of a single desire, and that will expresses itself through action, does it not? When you say you are seeking truth, behind all the meditation, the devotion, the discipline entailed in that search, there is surely this action of will, which is desire...
Collected Works, Vol. IX, - 179
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In looking at the topics covered so far this week I can't help but be reminded of Patanjali's descriptions of the Kleshas.
ReplyDeletePatanjali, in the Yoga Sutras presents the kleshas as obstacles, or afflictions of mind, that keep us from seeing the true nature of our being. I looked at the yoga sutra definitions through the language of JK.
Yoga Sutra Definition - J Krishnamurti
Avidya – Ignorance of the truth of what we are.- Self-contradiction
Asmita – the identification with the me -Self-centredness
Raga – the desire for pleasure or pleasant experiences.- Our will
Dwesha – the aversion to pain or unpleasantness - Our security
Abhinivesha – the fear of death; desire for life - Fear
What JK added to my understanding of the kleshas is the description of our creating of images and memories of all of the above. He also helps me to understand that process through which we can address the Kleshas is through awareness full stop. Not the act of seeking some prescribed method of removal.
The interesting experience I am having through reading JK is that I have new clarity in understanding other yoga related readings. The effort seems to be gone.....go figure...
I agree, though I might put things a bit more strongly!
ReplyDeleteReading Krishnamurti is like reading the living version of the Yoga Sutras. As you read Krishnamurti, Patanjali (the author of the Sutras) looks like someone who sat down and invented a method because it seemed interesting to create something that seemed intellectually feasible. But it feels like he never tried it out. If he had, he would surely have seen the logical contractiction in Yamas and Niyamas (personal restarints and observances, moral codes akin to the 10 Commandments) that we discussed on Sunday.
It truly amazes me that the Yoga Sutras has the authority that is has in yoga circles and it speaks volumes to the fear of non-being that so many yogis take it as a point of reference.
As you read the whole 8 limbs, you are constantly reminded of Krishnamurti's point about violence and the positive approach. As the yogi reading the Sutras tries to not be violent through asana, pranayama, meditation with it's ridiculously multiple stages of samadhi, his violence just continues! As you say Laureen, all this can and can only be addressed through awareness full stop.
The Sutras is great for selling books and recruiting disciples - its just like the Eat Right For Your Blood Type book really - because it gives you a program to follow and so requires very little deep interest and passion. The concepts are very entertaining and it's cool to remember all the 8 limbs and levels of samadhi if you want to impress your friends. It attracts the superficial follower as Krishnamurti says anyone who wants to follow a program is. This leads me to feel that no one following the Sutras as spiritual path is ready to take responsibility, which is to find an adequate response, to another human being or the problems of suffering, conflict and violence in the world.
Krishnamurti has brought a lot of things about yoga into clarity for me too. As you say, all the effort is gone, along with the illusion that the Sutras has carried for so long.