Daily Quote, Wednesday June 24, 2009
Good morning everyone,
Apparently the weather is due for at least a minor change soon!
The quote seems to be getting shorter and shorter this week. Is forgetting the ground of relationship? And by turn, is remembering the other the thing that makes relationship impossible? How many times have you heard or said, I'll never forget the first time I saw you? Isn't that the end of the relationship right there, at the beginning? What would it be like if we said instead, I can never recall anything about you? You don't know me and I don't know you? Conventionly that would end most relationships because we look for ground that's permanent, to be with the other has for some reason to involve knowing them and from this possessing the other. What are we afraid of?
Relationship is the most difficult thing in life.
It needs great intelligence for a man and woman to be forgotten, to live together, not surrender to each other or be dominated by one or the other. Relationship is the most difficult thing in life.
Letters to a Young Friend - 14
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Daily Quote, Tuesday June 23, 2009
Looks like it time to start building the ark...again. :-)
Slightly strange metaphor from K today. I guess he was trying to find something that the young friend would relate to!
The inner always overcomes the outer.
Outward beauty can never last, it is marred always if there is no inward delight and joy. We cultivate the outer, paying so little attention to the thing inside the skin; but it is the inner that always overcomes the outer. It is the worm inside the apple that destroys the freshness of the apple.
Letters to a Young Friend - 14
Looks like it time to start building the ark...again. :-)
Slightly strange metaphor from K today. I guess he was trying to find something that the young friend would relate to!
The inner always overcomes the outer.
Outward beauty can never last, it is marred always if there is no inward delight and joy. We cultivate the outer, paying so little attention to the thing inside the skin; but it is the inner that always overcomes the outer. It is the worm inside the apple that destroys the freshness of the apple.
Letters to a Young Friend - 14
Monday, June 22, 2009
Daily quote, Monday June 22, 2009.
I think it might be time to draw a picture of the sun on the wall, just as a reminder! :-)
Isn't it true when you love someone but you take it for granted that they'll be around forever that this love loses something. Isn't attention and love, as Dorothy in our group often says, closely related. In total attention to another person there is always room for wonderment; in fact it's the essence of that relationship, and the relationship is then always love.
How much does security in general destroy our lives? There are countless people in very secure jobs, with pensions, tenure, union rights, etc., that hate their jobs and themselves, and are depressed and taking many pills each day to get through to the next. It's all because the sense of wonderment, the freshness of each day, the uncertainly, has all been taken away. In fact, without really understanding, they gave up everything that made them free and they are no longer in love with life. We can have too much security.
Love is not a habit.
It is the quality of freshness, of newness, that is essential, or otherwise life becomes a routine, a habit; and love is not a habit, a boring thing. Most people have lost all sense of wonderment. They take everything for granted; this sense of security destroys freedom and the wonderment of uncertainty.
Letters to a Young Friend - 13
I think it might be time to draw a picture of the sun on the wall, just as a reminder! :-)
Isn't it true when you love someone but you take it for granted that they'll be around forever that this love loses something. Isn't attention and love, as Dorothy in our group often says, closely related. In total attention to another person there is always room for wonderment; in fact it's the essence of that relationship, and the relationship is then always love.
How much does security in general destroy our lives? There are countless people in very secure jobs, with pensions, tenure, union rights, etc., that hate their jobs and themselves, and are depressed and taking many pills each day to get through to the next. It's all because the sense of wonderment, the freshness of each day, the uncertainly, has all been taken away. In fact, without really understanding, they gave up everything that made them free and they are no longer in love with life. We can have too much security.
Love is not a habit.
It is the quality of freshness, of newness, that is essential, or otherwise life becomes a routine, a habit; and love is not a habit, a boring thing. Most people have lost all sense of wonderment. They take everything for granted; this sense of security destroys freedom and the wonderment of uncertainty.
Letters to a Young Friend - 13
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Weekend Quotes
Well, the weather has chugged slowly downhill but the good news was strawberries at the farmers market. :-)
Saturday June 20.
Perception brings its own action.
To see what is, is really quite arduous. How does one clearly observe? A river when it meets an obstruction is never still; the river breaks down an obstruction by its weight or goes over it or works its way under it or around it; the river is never still; it cannot but act. It revolts, if we can so put it, intelligently. One must revolt intelligently and accept what is intelligently. To perceive what is there must be the spirit of intelligent revolt. Not to mistake a stump needs a certain intelligence; but generally one is so eager to get what one wants, that one dashes against the obstacle; either one breaks oneself against it or one exhausts oneself in the struggle against it. To see the rope as the rope needs no courage, but to mistake the rope for a snake and then to observe needs courage. One must doubt, ever search, see the false as the false. One gets power to see clearly through the intensity of attention; you will see it will come. One has to act; the river is never not-acting, it is ever active. One must be in a state of negation, to act; this very negation brings its own positive action. I think the problem is to see clearly, then that very perception brings its own action. When there is elasticity there is no question of right and wrong.
One must be very clear within oneself. Then I assure you everything will come right; be clear and you will see that things will shape themselves right without your doing anything about it. The right is not what one desires.
There must be complete revolution, not only in great things, but in little everyday things.
Letters to a Young Friend - 10
Sunday June 21
(In principle it's the longest day but probably only by staying up late if the weather is any indication.)
Relationship is more swift than lightning.
What a thing is relationship, and how easily we fall into that habit of a particular relationship, things are taken for granted, the situation accepted and no variation tolerated; no movement towards uncertainty, even for a second, entertained. Everything is so well regulated, so made secure, so tied down, that there is no chance for any freshness, for a clear reviving breath of the spring. This and more is called relationship. If we closely observe, relationship is much more subtle, more swift than lightning, more vast than the earth, for relationship is life. Life is conflict. We want to make relationship crude, hard, and manageable. So it loses its fragrance, its beauty. All this arises because one does not love, and that of course is the greatest thing of all, for in it there has to be the complete abandonment of oneself.
Letters to a Young Friend - 12
Well, the weather has chugged slowly downhill but the good news was strawberries at the farmers market. :-)
Saturday June 20.
Perception brings its own action.
To see what is, is really quite arduous. How does one clearly observe? A river when it meets an obstruction is never still; the river breaks down an obstruction by its weight or goes over it or works its way under it or around it; the river is never still; it cannot but act. It revolts, if we can so put it, intelligently. One must revolt intelligently and accept what is intelligently. To perceive what is there must be the spirit of intelligent revolt. Not to mistake a stump needs a certain intelligence; but generally one is so eager to get what one wants, that one dashes against the obstacle; either one breaks oneself against it or one exhausts oneself in the struggle against it. To see the rope as the rope needs no courage, but to mistake the rope for a snake and then to observe needs courage. One must doubt, ever search, see the false as the false. One gets power to see clearly through the intensity of attention; you will see it will come. One has to act; the river is never not-acting, it is ever active. One must be in a state of negation, to act; this very negation brings its own positive action. I think the problem is to see clearly, then that very perception brings its own action. When there is elasticity there is no question of right and wrong.
One must be very clear within oneself. Then I assure you everything will come right; be clear and you will see that things will shape themselves right without your doing anything about it. The right is not what one desires.
There must be complete revolution, not only in great things, but in little everyday things.
Letters to a Young Friend - 10
Sunday June 21
(In principle it's the longest day but probably only by staying up late if the weather is any indication.)
Relationship is more swift than lightning.
What a thing is relationship, and how easily we fall into that habit of a particular relationship, things are taken for granted, the situation accepted and no variation tolerated; no movement towards uncertainty, even for a second, entertained. Everything is so well regulated, so made secure, so tied down, that there is no chance for any freshness, for a clear reviving breath of the spring. This and more is called relationship. If we closely observe, relationship is much more subtle, more swift than lightning, more vast than the earth, for relationship is life. Life is conflict. We want to make relationship crude, hard, and manageable. So it loses its fragrance, its beauty. All this arises because one does not love, and that of course is the greatest thing of all, for in it there has to be the complete abandonment of oneself.
Letters to a Young Friend - 12
Friday, June 19, 2009
Daily Quote, Friday June 19, 2009
Not so great in the forecast today, so get out early for some sun. :-)
Today's quote reminds me of the book about drawing with the right side of the brain. Do we ever draw just what we see? I just spent a few minutes looking at my desk. I find the gaze always has to pick something out. Interesting. Why?
Like seeing the whole content of the room at once.
Be alert to all your thoughts and feelings, don't let one feeling or thought slip by without being aware of it and absorbing all its content. Absorbing is not the word, but seeing the whole content of the thought-feeling. It is like entering a room and seeing the whole content of the room at once, its atmosphere and its spaces. To see and be aware of one's thoughts makes one intensively sensitive, pliable, and alert. Don't condemn or judge, but be very alert. Out of separation, out of the dross comes pure gold.
Letters to a Young Friend - 9
Not so great in the forecast today, so get out early for some sun. :-)
Today's quote reminds me of the book about drawing with the right side of the brain. Do we ever draw just what we see? I just spent a few minutes looking at my desk. I find the gaze always has to pick something out. Interesting. Why?
Like seeing the whole content of the room at once.
Be alert to all your thoughts and feelings, don't let one feeling or thought slip by without being aware of it and absorbing all its content. Absorbing is not the word, but seeing the whole content of the thought-feeling. It is like entering a room and seeing the whole content of the room at once, its atmosphere and its spaces. To see and be aware of one's thoughts makes one intensively sensitive, pliable, and alert. Don't condemn or judge, but be very alert. Out of separation, out of the dross comes pure gold.
Letters to a Young Friend - 9
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Daily Quote, Thursday June 18, 2009
Good morning again with blue sky!
We go to the well with a thimble.
Life is so rich, has so many treasures, we go to it with empty hearts; we do not know how to fill our hearts with the abundance of life. We are poor inwardly and when the riches are offered to us, we refuse. Love is a dangerous thing, it brings the only revolution that gives complete happiness. So few of us are capable of love, so few want love. We love on our own terms, making of love a marketable thing. We have the market mentality and love is not marketable, a give-and-take affair. It is a state of being in which all man's problems are resolved. We go to the well with a thimble and so life becomes a tawdry affair, puny and small.
Letters to a Young Friend - 7
Good morning again with blue sky!
We go to the well with a thimble.
Life is so rich, has so many treasures, we go to it with empty hearts; we do not know how to fill our hearts with the abundance of life. We are poor inwardly and when the riches are offered to us, we refuse. Love is a dangerous thing, it brings the only revolution that gives complete happiness. So few of us are capable of love, so few want love. We love on our own terms, making of love a marketable thing. We have the market mentality and love is not marketable, a give-and-take affair. It is a state of being in which all man's problems are resolved. We go to the well with a thimble and so life becomes a tawdry affair, puny and small.
Letters to a Young Friend - 7
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Daily Quote, Wednesday June 17, 2009
Good sunny morning here in Halifax!
Intensely aware in the present of all conditioning.
Only right thinking can free our thought-feeling from ignorance and sorrow. Right thinking is not the result of time but of becoming intensely aware in the present of all conditioning, which prevents clarity and understanding.
The realization of that which is immortal, deathless, does not lie along the path of self-continuity, nor is it in its opposite. In the opposites there is conflict but not truth. Through self-awareness and in the clarity of self-knowledge, there comes right thinking. The capacity to realize truth is with us. In cultivating right thinking, which comes with self-knowledge, thought-feeling unfolds into the real, the timeless....
What is necessary is to go beyond our narrow beliefs and formulations, our cravings and hopes, to experience that which is deathless and timeless.
Collected Works, Vol. III - 245
Good sunny morning here in Halifax!
Intensely aware in the present of all conditioning.
Only right thinking can free our thought-feeling from ignorance and sorrow. Right thinking is not the result of time but of becoming intensely aware in the present of all conditioning, which prevents clarity and understanding.
The realization of that which is immortal, deathless, does not lie along the path of self-continuity, nor is it in its opposite. In the opposites there is conflict but not truth. Through self-awareness and in the clarity of self-knowledge, there comes right thinking. The capacity to realize truth is with us. In cultivating right thinking, which comes with self-knowledge, thought-feeling unfolds into the real, the timeless....
What is necessary is to go beyond our narrow beliefs and formulations, our cravings and hopes, to experience that which is deathless and timeless.
Collected Works, Vol. III - 245
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Daily Quotes from the last few days.
Here we go. Sorry for the delay as work is quite busy just now.
Sunday June 14.
Truth is the vast ocean which has not been charted: it is fathomless.
Truth you have to find out for yourself; you have to walk the path alone - and there is no path to truth. Truth is the vast ocean which has not been charted: it is fathomless. You have to find it, walking endlessly, and the endlessness becomes a torture, a thing that you are frightened of, if you have not understood the beginning of what we have been talking about. Then there is no time; then you are living so completely in that emptiness that time has gone and there is only the present, this active present.
I do not know if you have ever noticed a bird on the wing, a leaf falling, or the sun on the water, or the reflection of the moon on the water. If you have noticed, if you have seen the beauty of it, in that moment there is no time: it is there endlessly, unspoiled, incorruptible, timeless. Similarly, a religious mind is that. And it is only such a religious mind that can receive the immeasurable, the nameless.
Collected Works, Vol. XIV - 118
Monday June 15.
No subject.
When you realize that there is no method, no system, no mantra, no teacher, nothing in the world that is going to help you to be quiet, when you realize the truth that it is only the quiet mind that sees, then the mind becomes extraordinarily quiet. It is like seeing danger and avoiding it. In the same way, seeing that the mind must be completely quiet, it is quiet.
Now, the quality of silence matters. A very small mind can be very quiet, it has its little space in which to be quiet; that little space, with its little quietness, is the deadest thing - you know what it is. But a mind that has limitless space and that quietness, that stillness, has no center as the 'me', the observer, is quite different. In that silence there is no observer at all. That quality of silence has vast space, it is without border and intensely active; the activity of that silence is entirely different from the activity which is self-centered. If the mind has gone that far (and really it is not that far, it is always there if you know how to look), then perhaps that which man has sought throughout the centuries - God, truth, the immeasurable, the nameless, the timeless - is there. Without your invitation, it is there.
The Flight of the Eagle - 42
Tuesday June 16.
Unless you have a new mind; eyes that see what is true.
There is this question as to how the mind, deeply conditioned as it is, can change radically. I hope you are putting this question to yourself because, unless there is morality which is not social morality, unless there is austerity which is not the austerity of the priest with his harshness and violence, unless there is order deeply within, this search for truth, for reality, for God - or for whatever name you like to give it - has no meaning at all....Because, unless you have a new mind, a fresh mind, eyes that see what is true, you cannot possibly understand the immeasurable, the nameless, that which is.
The Flight of the Eagle - 53
Here we go. Sorry for the delay as work is quite busy just now.
Sunday June 14.
Truth is the vast ocean which has not been charted: it is fathomless.
Truth you have to find out for yourself; you have to walk the path alone - and there is no path to truth. Truth is the vast ocean which has not been charted: it is fathomless. You have to find it, walking endlessly, and the endlessness becomes a torture, a thing that you are frightened of, if you have not understood the beginning of what we have been talking about. Then there is no time; then you are living so completely in that emptiness that time has gone and there is only the present, this active present.
I do not know if you have ever noticed a bird on the wing, a leaf falling, or the sun on the water, or the reflection of the moon on the water. If you have noticed, if you have seen the beauty of it, in that moment there is no time: it is there endlessly, unspoiled, incorruptible, timeless. Similarly, a religious mind is that. And it is only such a religious mind that can receive the immeasurable, the nameless.
Collected Works, Vol. XIV - 118
Monday June 15.
No subject.
When you realize that there is no method, no system, no mantra, no teacher, nothing in the world that is going to help you to be quiet, when you realize the truth that it is only the quiet mind that sees, then the mind becomes extraordinarily quiet. It is like seeing danger and avoiding it. In the same way, seeing that the mind must be completely quiet, it is quiet.
Now, the quality of silence matters. A very small mind can be very quiet, it has its little space in which to be quiet; that little space, with its little quietness, is the deadest thing - you know what it is. But a mind that has limitless space and that quietness, that stillness, has no center as the 'me', the observer, is quite different. In that silence there is no observer at all. That quality of silence has vast space, it is without border and intensely active; the activity of that silence is entirely different from the activity which is self-centered. If the mind has gone that far (and really it is not that far, it is always there if you know how to look), then perhaps that which man has sought throughout the centuries - God, truth, the immeasurable, the nameless, the timeless - is there. Without your invitation, it is there.
The Flight of the Eagle - 42
Tuesday June 16.
Unless you have a new mind; eyes that see what is true.
There is this question as to how the mind, deeply conditioned as it is, can change radically. I hope you are putting this question to yourself because, unless there is morality which is not social morality, unless there is austerity which is not the austerity of the priest with his harshness and violence, unless there is order deeply within, this search for truth, for reality, for God - or for whatever name you like to give it - has no meaning at all....Because, unless you have a new mind, a fresh mind, eyes that see what is true, you cannot possibly understand the immeasurable, the nameless, that which is.
The Flight of the Eagle - 53
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Daily Quote, Saturday June 13, 2009
Good morning. More rain today! :-)
Emptiness comes as a sunset comes of an evening.
That emptiness of the mind cannot be produced: the mind cannot be made empty, cannot be put together to be empty. That emptiness comes as a sunset comes of an evening, full of beauty, enchantment, and richness; that comes as naturally as the blossoming of a flower when there is no fear, when there are no escapes, when there is no boredom, and when there is no seeking. And, that is the most important of all - there must be no seeking. Because, you cannot find; you cannot find the everlasting. That which is beyond time you cannot search out. It may come to you but you cannot go to it because your minds are too shallow, petty, empty, full of ambition, fears, ugliness, and distortion. Therefore, the mind must empty itself - not because it wants that. Because, when you want that, you have a motive and, the moment you have a motive, you have lost your energy.
Therefore, it is only the mind that is completely empty that is in a state of inaction. That inaction is action. And, it is only such a mind that is being passionate; it is only such a mind that can live with beauty and not get used to beauty - the beauty of a tree, the beauty of a face, the beauty of an eye, of a smile, of the ugly, dirty road, the squalor, the dirt, the poverty - it is only the passionate mind that can live with it and not get distorted. And it is only such a mind that is so completely empty that is in a state of meditation.
Collected Works, Vol. XIV - 118
Good morning. More rain today! :-)
Emptiness comes as a sunset comes of an evening.
That emptiness of the mind cannot be produced: the mind cannot be made empty, cannot be put together to be empty. That emptiness comes as a sunset comes of an evening, full of beauty, enchantment, and richness; that comes as naturally as the blossoming of a flower when there is no fear, when there are no escapes, when there is no boredom, and when there is no seeking. And, that is the most important of all - there must be no seeking. Because, you cannot find; you cannot find the everlasting. That which is beyond time you cannot search out. It may come to you but you cannot go to it because your minds are too shallow, petty, empty, full of ambition, fears, ugliness, and distortion. Therefore, the mind must empty itself - not because it wants that. Because, when you want that, you have a motive and, the moment you have a motive, you have lost your energy.
Therefore, it is only the mind that is completely empty that is in a state of inaction. That inaction is action. And, it is only such a mind that is being passionate; it is only such a mind that can live with beauty and not get used to beauty - the beauty of a tree, the beauty of a face, the beauty of an eye, of a smile, of the ugly, dirty road, the squalor, the dirt, the poverty - it is only the passionate mind that can live with it and not get distorted. And it is only such a mind that is so completely empty that is in a state of meditation.
Collected Works, Vol. XIV - 118
Friday, June 12, 2009
Daily Quotes, Friday June 12, 2009
Good morning. I think it's supposed to get nicer over the weekend!
Just reflecting for a moment on today's quote: In K's dualistic view of the universe, just as freedom has no foundation, so no foundation means you have nothing to lose! That doesn't lead to irresponsibility but to an extraordinary affection for everything. This is what takes us deeply into life; without a foundation there is nothing to defend, nothing to be afraid of losing, no past of having acquired and no future when there is still ownershop. And so there is no fear.
And just as there is no fear so there is no hope, which is just another kind of fear. See the line I highlighted in the second paragraph below, which gets right to why this is important. Hope is the future; how often are you caught in hope?
There is no end to learning; therefore, there is no despair.
The mind that would really understand what is true, the real - the extraordinary state of mind that comprehends that thing called truth - must have, psychologically, no fear of any kind....A mind which would really understand, take a journey into the most extraordinary thing called reality and go deeply into it - where there is no measure, no time, no illusion, no imagination - must be completely free from fear. And, therefore, such a mind is always living, neither in the past nor in the future...
A mind that is aware of all the things that are connected with fear is not concerned with the past but, as the past arises, it deals with it, not as a steppingstone to the future. Therefore, such a mind is living in the active present and, therefore, comprehends every movement of thought, feeling, fear, as it arises. There is a great deal to learn: there is no end to learning; therefore, there is no despair, no anxiety. This you must have completely in your blood so that you are never caught in the things that have been done or that will be done in the future, so that you are never held in time as thought. It is only the mind that has emptied itself of all this fear that is empty. Then, in that emptiness, it can understand that which is supreme and nameless.
Collected Works, Vol. XIV - 94
Good morning. I think it's supposed to get nicer over the weekend!
Just reflecting for a moment on today's quote: In K's dualistic view of the universe, just as freedom has no foundation, so no foundation means you have nothing to lose! That doesn't lead to irresponsibility but to an extraordinary affection for everything. This is what takes us deeply into life; without a foundation there is nothing to defend, nothing to be afraid of losing, no past of having acquired and no future when there is still ownershop. And so there is no fear.
And just as there is no fear so there is no hope, which is just another kind of fear. See the line I highlighted in the second paragraph below, which gets right to why this is important. Hope is the future; how often are you caught in hope?
There is no end to learning; therefore, there is no despair.
The mind that would really understand what is true, the real - the extraordinary state of mind that comprehends that thing called truth - must have, psychologically, no fear of any kind....A mind which would really understand, take a journey into the most extraordinary thing called reality and go deeply into it - where there is no measure, no time, no illusion, no imagination - must be completely free from fear. And, therefore, such a mind is always living, neither in the past nor in the future...
A mind that is aware of all the things that are connected with fear is not concerned with the past but, as the past arises, it deals with it, not as a steppingstone to the future. Therefore, such a mind is living in the active present and, therefore, comprehends every movement of thought, feeling, fear, as it arises. There is a great deal to learn: there is no end to learning; therefore, there is no despair, no anxiety. This you must have completely in your blood so that you are never caught in the things that have been done or that will be done in the future, so that you are never held in time as thought. It is only the mind that has emptied itself of all this fear that is empty. Then, in that emptiness, it can understand that which is supreme and nameless.
Collected Works, Vol. XIV - 94
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Daily Quote, Thursday June 11, 2009
Good morning on what looks like a rather dull day, at least weather-wise!
A mind that is no longer concerned with change has no fear.
Humility implies total destruction - not of outward, social things, but complete destruction of the center, of oneself, of one's own ideas, experiences, knowledge, traditions - completely emptying the mind of everything that it has known. Therefore, such a mind is no longer thinking in terms of change.
A mind that is no longer concerned with change has no fear and is therefore free....Then it is no longer trying to change itself into another pattern, no longer exposing itself to further experiences, no longer asking and demanding, because such a mind is free; therefore, it can be quiet, still. And then, perhaps, that which is nameless can come into being.
So, humility is essential, but not of the artificial, cultivated kind. You see, one must be without capacity, without gift; one must be as nothing, inwardly. And, I think that if one sees this without trying to learn how to be as nothing...then the seeing is the experiencing of it and then, perchance, the other thing can come into being.
Collected Works, Vol. XII - 200
Good morning on what looks like a rather dull day, at least weather-wise!
A mind that is no longer concerned with change has no fear.
Humility implies total destruction - not of outward, social things, but complete destruction of the center, of oneself, of one's own ideas, experiences, knowledge, traditions - completely emptying the mind of everything that it has known. Therefore, such a mind is no longer thinking in terms of change.
A mind that is no longer concerned with change has no fear and is therefore free....Then it is no longer trying to change itself into another pattern, no longer exposing itself to further experiences, no longer asking and demanding, because such a mind is free; therefore, it can be quiet, still. And then, perhaps, that which is nameless can come into being.
So, humility is essential, but not of the artificial, cultivated kind. You see, one must be without capacity, without gift; one must be as nothing, inwardly. And, I think that if one sees this without trying to learn how to be as nothing...then the seeing is the experiencing of it and then, perchance, the other thing can come into being.
Collected Works, Vol. XII - 200
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Daily Quote on Wednesday June 10, 2009
Good morning on a not so sunny start!
Self-knowing implies self-abandonment.
Surely, the mind has abandoned itself and its moorings only when there is no desire for security. A mind that is seeking security can never know what love is. Self-abandonment is not the state of the devotee before his idol or his mental image....Self-abandonment can come about only when you do not cultivate it, and when there is self-knowing. ...
When the mind has understood the significance of knowledge, only then is there self-knowing, and self-knowing implies self-abandonment. You have ceased to rest on any experience as a center from which to observe, to judge, to weigh; therefore, the mind has already plunged into the movement of self-abandonment. In that abandonment there is sensitivity. But the mind which is enclosed in its habits of eating, of thinking, in its habit of never looking at anything - such a mind obviously cannot be sensitive, cannot be loving.
In the very abandonment of its own limitations, the mind becomes sensitive and therefore innocent. And only the innocent mind knows what love is - not the calculating mind, not the mind that has divided love into the carnal and the spiritual. In that state there is passion and, without passion, reality will not come near you. It is only the enfeebled mind that invites reality; it is only the dull, grasping mind that pursues truth, God. But the mind that knows passion in love - to such a mind the nameless comes.
Collected Works, Vol. XI - 251
Good morning on a not so sunny start!
Self-knowing implies self-abandonment.
Surely, the mind has abandoned itself and its moorings only when there is no desire for security. A mind that is seeking security can never know what love is. Self-abandonment is not the state of the devotee before his idol or his mental image....Self-abandonment can come about only when you do not cultivate it, and when there is self-knowing. ...
When the mind has understood the significance of knowledge, only then is there self-knowing, and self-knowing implies self-abandonment. You have ceased to rest on any experience as a center from which to observe, to judge, to weigh; therefore, the mind has already plunged into the movement of self-abandonment. In that abandonment there is sensitivity. But the mind which is enclosed in its habits of eating, of thinking, in its habit of never looking at anything - such a mind obviously cannot be sensitive, cannot be loving.
In the very abandonment of its own limitations, the mind becomes sensitive and therefore innocent. And only the innocent mind knows what love is - not the calculating mind, not the mind that has divided love into the carnal and the spiritual. In that state there is passion and, without passion, reality will not come near you. It is only the enfeebled mind that invites reality; it is only the dull, grasping mind that pursues truth, God. But the mind that knows passion in love - to such a mind the nameless comes.
Collected Works, Vol. XI - 251
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Daily Quote, Tuesday June 9, 2009
Very nice here this morning. :-)
No border, no frontier, no limit.
What is important is the state of full attention in which there is no border, no frontier, no limit....When there is that attention which is not induced in any way, then you will see that it is the limitless. But it cannot be captured by the mind, nor can the path of time lead you to it. Seeing all this - and there is much more to it - seeing this whole extraordinary process of the mind, then all that the mind can do is...to be wholly attentive and verbally, intellectually, in thought, completely silent. It is in that state of attention that there is no question; therefore, that which has no time is.
That is why I feel so strongly that a revolution in the quality of the mind is necessary - not merely a change of ideas, thoughts, and beliefs, but a revolution in the quality of the mind itself. This quality of the mind cannot be learned, cannot be cultivated, can be seen only on the instant and forgotten on the instant, cannot be accumulated. But, once the mind sees this quality, this revolution in itself, then it will never lose it. That is why it is very important not to be merely respectable, not to be petty, but to cease all this activity, to break away from this terrific weight of respectability, which does not mean to become disreputable. To break through everything, on the instant, so that the mind lives all the time in a state of noncontinuity - that is full attention.
Collected Works Vol. XI - 83
Very nice here this morning. :-)
No border, no frontier, no limit.
What is important is the state of full attention in which there is no border, no frontier, no limit....When there is that attention which is not induced in any way, then you will see that it is the limitless. But it cannot be captured by the mind, nor can the path of time lead you to it. Seeing all this - and there is much more to it - seeing this whole extraordinary process of the mind, then all that the mind can do is...to be wholly attentive and verbally, intellectually, in thought, completely silent. It is in that state of attention that there is no question; therefore, that which has no time is.
That is why I feel so strongly that a revolution in the quality of the mind is necessary - not merely a change of ideas, thoughts, and beliefs, but a revolution in the quality of the mind itself. This quality of the mind cannot be learned, cannot be cultivated, can be seen only on the instant and forgotten on the instant, cannot be accumulated. But, once the mind sees this quality, this revolution in itself, then it will never lose it. That is why it is very important not to be merely respectable, not to be petty, but to cease all this activity, to break away from this terrific weight of respectability, which does not mean to become disreputable. To break through everything, on the instant, so that the mind lives all the time in a state of noncontinuity - that is full attention.
Collected Works Vol. XI - 83
Monday, June 8, 2009
Daily Quotes for the last three days.
Here we go with lots of reading this morning!
Saturday June 6, 2009
Silence is not built up through practice.
Disciplines, renunciations, detachments, rituals, the practice of virtue - all these, however noble, are the process of thought, and thought can only work toward an end, toward an achievement, which is ever the known. Achievement is security, the self-protective certainty of the known. To seek security in that which is nameless is to deny it. The security that may be found is only in the projection of the past, of the known. For this reason, the mind must be entirely and deeply silent; but this silence cannot be purchased through sacrifice, sublimation, or suppression. This silence comes when the mind is no longer seeking, no longer caught in the process of becoming. This silence is not cumulative, it may not be built up through practice. This silence must be as unknown to the mind as the timeless, for if the mind experiences the silence, then there is the experiencer who is the result of past experiences, who is cognizant of a past silence, and what is experienced by the exp eriencer is merely a self-projected repetition. The mind can never experience the new, and so the mind must be utterly still.
The mind can be still only when it is not experiencing, that is, when it is not terming or naming, recording or storing up in memory. This naming and recording is a constant process of the different layers of consciousness, not merely of the upper mind. But, when the superficial mind is quiet, the deeper mind can offer up its intimations. When the whole consciousness is silent and tranquil, free from all becoming - which is spontaneity - then only does the immeasurable come into being.
Commentaries on Living, Series I - 44
Sunday June 7, 2009
Truth brings freedom; freedom from thought, the result.
'Is there not something which is beyond thought, beyond time, something that is not created by the mind?'
Either you have been told about that state, have read about it, or there is the experiencing of it. The experiencing of it can never be an experience, a result; it cannot be thought about and, if it is, it is a remembrance and not experiencing. You can repeat what you have read or heard, but the word is not the thing; and the word, the very repetition, prevents the state of experiencing. That state of experiencing cannot be as long as there is thinking: thought, the result, the effect, can never know the state of experiencing.
'Then, how is thought to come to an end?'
See the truth that thought, the outcome of the known, can never be in the state of experiencing: experiencing is always the new, thinking is always of the old. See the truth of this, and truth brings freedom - freedom from thought, the result. Then there is that which is beyond consciousness, which is neither sleeping nor waking, which is nameless: it is.
Commentaries on Living, Series I - 160
Monday June 8, 2009
The mind cannot go to it.
How is the mind to allow that thing to come to it? Obviously, the mind cannot go to it; it must come, and how is it to come? You cannot invite it, you cannot make a habit of it, you cannot sacrifice yourself for it, or make yourself into this or that to get it: it must come. And, the how - in the sense of by what conduct, by what path, by what system, by what process of thinking - is not the problem. You see, to put this question seriously to yourself, you must be aware, totally, of the full implications of the question. Knowing all the habits of the mind, knowing that you can do anything now with the mind through drugs which will have no aftereffects, then surely you see that such a mind, which has been influenced, cannot possibly receive that which has no measure, which is nameless.
And yet, without that other, it is like having a perfect body, a beautiful mechanical mind, which is but an empty shell. So, how is that unknown to come? You cannot induce it, you cannot buy it through any means. It is too vast, immeasurable, and so fleeting that the mind cannot capture it. It cannot be held within the field of time.
Collected Works, Vol. XI - 82
Here we go with lots of reading this morning!
Saturday June 6, 2009
Silence is not built up through practice.
Disciplines, renunciations, detachments, rituals, the practice of virtue - all these, however noble, are the process of thought, and thought can only work toward an end, toward an achievement, which is ever the known. Achievement is security, the self-protective certainty of the known. To seek security in that which is nameless is to deny it. The security that may be found is only in the projection of the past, of the known. For this reason, the mind must be entirely and deeply silent; but this silence cannot be purchased through sacrifice, sublimation, or suppression. This silence comes when the mind is no longer seeking, no longer caught in the process of becoming. This silence is not cumulative, it may not be built up through practice. This silence must be as unknown to the mind as the timeless, for if the mind experiences the silence, then there is the experiencer who is the result of past experiences, who is cognizant of a past silence, and what is experienced by the exp eriencer is merely a self-projected repetition. The mind can never experience the new, and so the mind must be utterly still.
The mind can be still only when it is not experiencing, that is, when it is not terming or naming, recording or storing up in memory. This naming and recording is a constant process of the different layers of consciousness, not merely of the upper mind. But, when the superficial mind is quiet, the deeper mind can offer up its intimations. When the whole consciousness is silent and tranquil, free from all becoming - which is spontaneity - then only does the immeasurable come into being.
Commentaries on Living, Series I - 44
Sunday June 7, 2009
Truth brings freedom; freedom from thought, the result.
'Is there not something which is beyond thought, beyond time, something that is not created by the mind?'
Either you have been told about that state, have read about it, or there is the experiencing of it. The experiencing of it can never be an experience, a result; it cannot be thought about and, if it is, it is a remembrance and not experiencing. You can repeat what you have read or heard, but the word is not the thing; and the word, the very repetition, prevents the state of experiencing. That state of experiencing cannot be as long as there is thinking: thought, the result, the effect, can never know the state of experiencing.
'Then, how is thought to come to an end?'
See the truth that thought, the outcome of the known, can never be in the state of experiencing: experiencing is always the new, thinking is always of the old. See the truth of this, and truth brings freedom - freedom from thought, the result. Then there is that which is beyond consciousness, which is neither sleeping nor waking, which is nameless: it is.
Commentaries on Living, Series I - 160
Monday June 8, 2009
The mind cannot go to it.
How is the mind to allow that thing to come to it? Obviously, the mind cannot go to it; it must come, and how is it to come? You cannot invite it, you cannot make a habit of it, you cannot sacrifice yourself for it, or make yourself into this or that to get it: it must come. And, the how - in the sense of by what conduct, by what path, by what system, by what process of thinking - is not the problem. You see, to put this question seriously to yourself, you must be aware, totally, of the full implications of the question. Knowing all the habits of the mind, knowing that you can do anything now with the mind through drugs which will have no aftereffects, then surely you see that such a mind, which has been influenced, cannot possibly receive that which has no measure, which is nameless.
And yet, without that other, it is like having a perfect body, a beautiful mechanical mind, which is but an empty shell. So, how is that unknown to come? You cannot induce it, you cannot buy it through any means. It is too vast, immeasurable, and so fleeting that the mind cannot capture it. It cannot be held within the field of time.
Collected Works, Vol. XI - 82
Friday, June 5, 2009
Daily Quote, Friday June 5, 2009
Good morning,
Wonderfully sunny here in Halifax this morning!
Uncovering the 'me'.
When we are aware of ourselves, is not the whole movement of living a way of uncovering the 'me', the ego, the self? The self is a very complex process which can be uncovered only in relationship, in our daily activities - in the way we talk, the way we judge, calculate, the way we condemn others and ourselves. All that reveals the conditioned state of our own thinking, and is it not important to be aware of this whole process? It is only through awareness of what is true from moment to moment that there is discovery of the timeless, the eternal.
Without self-knowledge, the eternal cannot be. When we do not know ourselves, the eternal becomes a mere word, a symbol, a speculation, a dogma, a belief, an illusion to which the mind can escape. But, if one begins to understand the 'me' in all its various activities from day to day, then, in that very understanding, without any effort, the nameless, the timeless, comes into being. But, the timeless is not a reward for self-knowledge: that which is eternal cannot be sought after; the mind cannot acquire it. It comes into being when the mind is quiet, and the mind can be quiet only when it is simple, when it is no longer storing up, condemning, judging, weighing. It is only the simple mind that can understand the real....
Collected Works, Vol. VII - 325
Good morning,
Wonderfully sunny here in Halifax this morning!
Uncovering the 'me'.
When we are aware of ourselves, is not the whole movement of living a way of uncovering the 'me', the ego, the self? The self is a very complex process which can be uncovered only in relationship, in our daily activities - in the way we talk, the way we judge, calculate, the way we condemn others and ourselves. All that reveals the conditioned state of our own thinking, and is it not important to be aware of this whole process? It is only through awareness of what is true from moment to moment that there is discovery of the timeless, the eternal.
Without self-knowledge, the eternal cannot be. When we do not know ourselves, the eternal becomes a mere word, a symbol, a speculation, a dogma, a belief, an illusion to which the mind can escape. But, if one begins to understand the 'me' in all its various activities from day to day, then, in that very understanding, without any effort, the nameless, the timeless, comes into being. But, the timeless is not a reward for self-knowledge: that which is eternal cannot be sought after; the mind cannot acquire it. It comes into being when the mind is quiet, and the mind can be quiet only when it is simple, when it is no longer storing up, condemning, judging, weighing. It is only the simple mind that can understand the real....
Collected Works, Vol. VII - 325
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Daily Quotes for the last three days.
Hi everyone,
Plenty of reading this morning! :-) Looks like they are back on track.
Tuesday June 2, 2009
Beginningless ignorance.
To be able to experience reality, you must be free of all the masks which you have developed in the struggle for acquisition, born of craving. These masks do not conceal reality. We are apt to think that, by getting rid of these masks, we will find reality or that, by uncovering the many layers of want, we will discover that which is hidden; thus, we are assuming that, behind this ignorance, or in the depths of consciousness, or beyond this friction of will, of craving, lies reality. This consciousness of many masks, of many layers, does not conceal within itself reality. But, as we begin to comprehend the process of development of these masks, these layers of consciousness, and as consciousness frees itself from its volitional growth, there is reality.
Our conception that man is divine but limited, that beauty is concealed by ugliness, wisdom buried under ignorance, supreme intelligence hiding in darkness, is utterly erroneous. In discerning how, through this beginningless ignorance and its activities, there has arisen the 'I'-process, and in bringing that process to an end, there is enlightenment. It is an experience of that which is immeasurable, which cannot be described but is.
Collected Works, Vol. III - 44
Wednesday June 3, 2009
Truth is always new.
Truth is always new, therefore timeless. What was truth yesterday is not truth today, what is truth today is not truth tomorrow: truth has no continuity. It is the mind which wants to make the experience which it calls truth continuous, and such a mind shall not know truth.
Truth is always new: it is to see the same smile and see that smile newly, to see the same person and see that person anew, to see the waving palms anew, to meet life anew. Truth is not to be had through books, through devotion or through self-immolation, but it is known when the mind is free, quiet; and that freedom, that quietness of the mind, comes only when the facts of its relationships are understood. Without understanding its relationships, whatever it does only creates further problems. But, when the mind is free from all its projections, there is a state of quietness in which problems cease; and then only, the timeless, the eternal, comes into being. Then truth is not a matter of knowledge, it is not a thing to be remembered, it is not something to be repeated, to be printed and spread abroad.
Truth is that which is; it is nameless. And so, the mind cannot approach it.
Collected Works, Vol. VI - 135
Thursday June 4, 2009
When thought as we know it has come to an end.
It seems to me that the important thing is for the mind to be in a state when it can allow itself not to ask, not to demand, which does not mean acquiescence, acceptance, but that the mind is really silent. The mind, being thought - thought as the verbalization of certain experiences, thought as memory, thought that is seeking, investigating - cannot such thinking come to an end, so that the mind is no longer projecting, is really still? For then only is it possible for the mind to be free from all illusion; then only shall we find out what is reality: not the description of reality, not the explanations, not the speculations, not the reality of someone else who has experienced it - those things are utterly valueless, they have no meaning. But, when the mind is really in that state when thought as we know it has come to an end - thought which is always strengthening the background of the conditioned mind - then we shall find out what that nameless thing is.
Collected Works, Vol. VII - 271
Hi everyone,
Plenty of reading this morning! :-) Looks like they are back on track.
Tuesday June 2, 2009
Beginningless ignorance.
To be able to experience reality, you must be free of all the masks which you have developed in the struggle for acquisition, born of craving. These masks do not conceal reality. We are apt to think that, by getting rid of these masks, we will find reality or that, by uncovering the many layers of want, we will discover that which is hidden; thus, we are assuming that, behind this ignorance, or in the depths of consciousness, or beyond this friction of will, of craving, lies reality. This consciousness of many masks, of many layers, does not conceal within itself reality. But, as we begin to comprehend the process of development of these masks, these layers of consciousness, and as consciousness frees itself from its volitional growth, there is reality.
Our conception that man is divine but limited, that beauty is concealed by ugliness, wisdom buried under ignorance, supreme intelligence hiding in darkness, is utterly erroneous. In discerning how, through this beginningless ignorance and its activities, there has arisen the 'I'-process, and in bringing that process to an end, there is enlightenment. It is an experience of that which is immeasurable, which cannot be described but is.
Collected Works, Vol. III - 44
Wednesday June 3, 2009
Truth is always new.
Truth is always new, therefore timeless. What was truth yesterday is not truth today, what is truth today is not truth tomorrow: truth has no continuity. It is the mind which wants to make the experience which it calls truth continuous, and such a mind shall not know truth.
Truth is always new: it is to see the same smile and see that smile newly, to see the same person and see that person anew, to see the waving palms anew, to meet life anew. Truth is not to be had through books, through devotion or through self-immolation, but it is known when the mind is free, quiet; and that freedom, that quietness of the mind, comes only when the facts of its relationships are understood. Without understanding its relationships, whatever it does only creates further problems. But, when the mind is free from all its projections, there is a state of quietness in which problems cease; and then only, the timeless, the eternal, comes into being. Then truth is not a matter of knowledge, it is not a thing to be remembered, it is not something to be repeated, to be printed and spread abroad.
Truth is that which is; it is nameless. And so, the mind cannot approach it.
Collected Works, Vol. VI - 135
Thursday June 4, 2009
When thought as we know it has come to an end.
It seems to me that the important thing is for the mind to be in a state when it can allow itself not to ask, not to demand, which does not mean acquiescence, acceptance, but that the mind is really silent. The mind, being thought - thought as the verbalization of certain experiences, thought as memory, thought that is seeking, investigating - cannot such thinking come to an end, so that the mind is no longer projecting, is really still? For then only is it possible for the mind to be free from all illusion; then only shall we find out what is reality: not the description of reality, not the explanations, not the speculations, not the reality of someone else who has experienced it - those things are utterly valueless, they have no meaning. But, when the mind is really in that state when thought as we know it has come to an end - thought which is always strengthening the background of the conditioned mind - then we shall find out what that nameless thing is.
Collected Works, Vol. VII - 271
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Absence of quotes
Hi everyone,
Unfortunately, there have been no quotes from the KFA to reflect upon for the last 2 days. If this keeps up I'll start putting up quotes from one of the books by K that I have and we'll work from that.
Remember, if you are reading The Ending of Time and want to post any quotes from that go ahead.
Best wishes
Robert
Unfortunately, there have been no quotes from the KFA to reflect upon for the last 2 days. If this keeps up I'll start putting up quotes from one of the books by K that I have and we'll work from that.
Remember, if you are reading The Ending of Time and want to post any quotes from that go ahead.
Best wishes
Robert
Monday, June 1, 2009
Ravi is talking on Gurdjieff on June 7
Hi everyone,
An extra note to say that Professor Ravi Ravindra is giving an introductory talk on George Gurdjieff at the Yoga Loft on Sunday June 7 from 4-6pm. Gurdijieff was one of the "philosophers" who formed the basis of Ravi's spiritual practice for many years and still does.
There will be a talk, an exchange and discussion, and maybe some short exercises to practice steady attention. And it's free.
To find out more about Gurdjieff, please visit www.gurdjieff.org
Best wishes
Robert
An extra note to say that Professor Ravi Ravindra is giving an introductory talk on George Gurdjieff at the Yoga Loft on Sunday June 7 from 4-6pm. Gurdijieff was one of the "philosophers" who formed the basis of Ravi's spiritual practice for many years and still does.
There will be a talk, an exchange and discussion, and maybe some short exercises to practice steady attention. And it's free.
To find out more about Gurdjieff, please visit www.gurdjieff.org
Best wishes
Robert
Daily Quote, Monday June 1, 2009.
Good morning on what does actually feel like June1!!
Here are my reflections on (or perhaps generated by is a better way to put it) today's quote.
Sometimes you hear people say that K's famous coment that truth is a pathless land means that there are many paths to truth, many ways of reaching truth. You might recall the brief exchange i had with Ravi the other week over Being vs. Becoming. The traditional idea in Yoga and the West is that everything is Becoming. In the West it is evolution; in India and Yoga it is realising our own true nature, the Atman is the Brahman as is often quoted. This school of thought would allow that there are many paths to truth, hence the different types of yoga outlined by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita for instance. K, however, is taking the route of Being, whereby there is a complete difference between Being and Non-Being. This is how truth gets to be a pathless land. There is no way of Becoming truth for K. As Ravi puts it so well, there is no bridge from here (Non-Being) to there (Being), the bridge being the technique through which we become ourselves. But perhaps we can build a bridge from there to here (Being to Non-Being).
For K we can realise everything in ourselves that is Non-Being, become receptive to Being, so that Being might become us. That is why K talks about transformation happening instantly; in observing your Non-Being (your conditioning, fears, habits and the rest of it) you are Being. When you Become the transformation happens gradually, you take a journey, you struggle, there is effort and trying. But for K there is no journey, no struggle. Instead, through your self-study, self-understanding, through seeing the danger of Non-Being, the violence and fear created by Non-Being.
This is what people mean when you hear tem talk about Dualistic and Non-Dualistic philosophy. K is dualistic whereas Yoga cliams to be non-dualistic. Can Being and Becoming ever be reconciled? In my Ph.D. dissertation, I showed how I think they can be. Some day if any of you reading this are interested, we can you a study group session on this and I'll do my best to explain how I thought through the problem. It's interesting to look at how the Non-Dualists deal with the gap between Being and Non-Being, and also at how empowering the gap can be and why it is important.
Truth is not of the past or of the present; it is timeless.
There is no path to truth and there are not two truths. Truth is not of the past or of the present - it is timeless - and the man who quotes the truth of the Buddha, of Shankara, of the Christ, or who merely repeats what I am saying, will not find truth because repetition is not truth: repetition is a lie. Truth is a state of being which arises when the mind - which seeks to divide, to be exclusive, which can only think in terms of results, of achievement - has come to an end. Only then will there be truth. The mind that is making effort, disciplining itself in order to achieve an end, cannot know truth because the end is its own projection and the pursuit of the projection, however noble, is a form of self-worship....He alone shall know truth who is not seeking, who is not striving, who is not trying to achieve a result.
Collected Works, Vol. VI - 134
Good morning on what does actually feel like June1!!
Here are my reflections on (or perhaps generated by is a better way to put it) today's quote.
Sometimes you hear people say that K's famous coment that truth is a pathless land means that there are many paths to truth, many ways of reaching truth. You might recall the brief exchange i had with Ravi the other week over Being vs. Becoming. The traditional idea in Yoga and the West is that everything is Becoming. In the West it is evolution; in India and Yoga it is realising our own true nature, the Atman is the Brahman as is often quoted. This school of thought would allow that there are many paths to truth, hence the different types of yoga outlined by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita for instance. K, however, is taking the route of Being, whereby there is a complete difference between Being and Non-Being. This is how truth gets to be a pathless land. There is no way of Becoming truth for K. As Ravi puts it so well, there is no bridge from here (Non-Being) to there (Being), the bridge being the technique through which we become ourselves. But perhaps we can build a bridge from there to here (Being to Non-Being).
For K we can realise everything in ourselves that is Non-Being, become receptive to Being, so that Being might become us. That is why K talks about transformation happening instantly; in observing your Non-Being (your conditioning, fears, habits and the rest of it) you are Being. When you Become the transformation happens gradually, you take a journey, you struggle, there is effort and trying. But for K there is no journey, no struggle. Instead, through your self-study, self-understanding, through seeing the danger of Non-Being, the violence and fear created by Non-Being.
This is what people mean when you hear tem talk about Dualistic and Non-Dualistic philosophy. K is dualistic whereas Yoga cliams to be non-dualistic. Can Being and Becoming ever be reconciled? In my Ph.D. dissertation, I showed how I think they can be. Some day if any of you reading this are interested, we can you a study group session on this and I'll do my best to explain how I thought through the problem. It's interesting to look at how the Non-Dualists deal with the gap between Being and Non-Being, and also at how empowering the gap can be and why it is important.
Truth is not of the past or of the present; it is timeless.
There is no path to truth and there are not two truths. Truth is not of the past or of the present - it is timeless - and the man who quotes the truth of the Buddha, of Shankara, of the Christ, or who merely repeats what I am saying, will not find truth because repetition is not truth: repetition is a lie. Truth is a state of being which arises when the mind - which seeks to divide, to be exclusive, which can only think in terms of results, of achievement - has come to an end. Only then will there be truth. The mind that is making effort, disciplining itself in order to achieve an end, cannot know truth because the end is its own projection and the pursuit of the projection, however noble, is a form of self-worship....He alone shall know truth who is not seeking, who is not striving, who is not trying to achieve a result.
Collected Works, Vol. VI - 134
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