Daily Quote, Thursday March 12, 2009
Good morning,
It looks bright and sunny this morning and quite warm too!
Have a great day.
Robert
Today's quote is:
The self is a problem that thought cannot resolve.
Can thought resolve our problems? By thinking over the problem, have you resolved it? Any kind of problem - economic, social, religious - has it ever been really solved by thinking? In your daily life, the more you think about a problem, the more complex, the more irresolute, the more uncertain it becomes. Is that not so - in our actual, daily life? You may, in thinking out certain facets of the problem, see more clearly another person's point of view, but thought cannot see the completeness and fullness of the problem; it can only see partially, and a partial answer is not a complete answer, therefore it is not a solution.
The more we think over a problem, the more we investigate, analyze, and discuss it, the more complex it becomes. So, is it possible to look at the problem comprehensively, wholly? How is this possible? Because that, it seems to me, is our major difficulty. Our problems are being multiplied - there is imminent danger of war, there is every kind of disturbance in our relationships - and how can we understand all that comprehensively, as a whole? Obviously, it can be solved only when we can look at it as a whole - not in compartments, not divided. When is that possible? Surely, it is only possible when the process of thinking - which has its source in the 'me', the self, in the background of tradition, of conditioning, of prejudice, of hope, of despair - has come to an end. Can we understand this self, not by analyzing, but by seeing the thing as it is, being aware of it as a fact and not as a theory - not seeking to dissolve the self in order to achieve a result but seeing the activity of the self, the 'me', constantly in action? Can we look at it, without any movement to destroy or to encourage? That is the problem, is it not? If, in each one of us, the center of the 'me' is non-existent, with its desire for power, position, authority, continuance, self-preservation, surely our problems will come to an end.
The self is a problem that thought cannot resolve. There must be an awareness which is not of thought. To be aware, without condemnation or justification, of the activities of the self - just to be aware - is sufficient.
The First and Last Freedom - 112
This ties into a point that I got out of some reading I did last night, in which Krishnamurti suggests that thought is involves analysis. Each analysis is incomplete based on our past experience, then we make up new analysis over the already incomplete ones and keep adding. So the whole thing just ends up being a mess! Which is exactly how I feel when I try to think myself out of problems :)
ReplyDeleteIn the "analysis" of anything, the truth of the matter can really show up in the written word. In a blog on clear writing I found the following comment that I believe supports JK's discussion on analysis.
ReplyDeleteIn the classic textbook The Modern Researcher (1985), Barzun & Graff included two chapters on clear writing.
Jargon, clichés, and tricks of speech … are not simply sets of words or faults of writing, but forms of escape. They denote a failure of courage, an emotional weakness, a shuffling refusal to be pinned down to a declaration. The cowardice comes out on paper like fingerprints at the site of the crime. (p.307)
Great quote, and great comments. I think this point about "problems" is one of Krishnamurti's most provocative. It's anathema to our everything we're taught in our culture -- that problems always have solutions that can be found like lost keys -- and, yet, I think it's also intuitive.
ReplyDeleteA teacher of mine (a Krishnamurtian, if there's such a thing) once put it simply: "there's no solution but to look at the problem." I think about this when I think I have problems, but mostly when other people talk to me about their problems. As Laureen suggested, jargon and cliches are a failure of courage (and also, I would add, an intricate part of the way power works, e.g., all the arguments lately about how helping out struggling homeowners is "socialism," as if an actual ethical/political argument is being communicated with that word). So quoting Krishnamurti to people is no good.
It's far better, I think, to ask people questions about their past "problems." A few questions is usually enough to allow people to realize that past "solutions" have not come from thought, but from the passage of time (which seems to make problems old, leached of energy, boring), or from a kind of epiphany that came out of nowhere. (Of course, the big problem, the one Krishamurti is talking about, remains.)
Intuitive, then. I find that, despite all our culture's teachings, people seem to know that problems can't be solved in thought. Perhaps they just need to have it pointed out. I need to have it pointed out too! The self becomes so invested in seeing problems as real and solvable; it's hard to let go sometimes ...
Thanks all.