I attended talks by Jiddu Krishnamurti and wrote a thesis on his teaching. Despite his rejection of all spiritual traditions and formal meditation practices, I now think that zazen, "just sitting" meditation, is the way to practice what he said, for example in the attached quotation.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I saw what seemed a contradiction in the quote from Krishnamurti, when he talked about setting all things like "images" so you can "look." After all, you can't "look" at or "see" something without also seeing "images."
Sean
Sean,
When I see a table, there is an image of the table in my eye. When I see a reflection of the table, then I see an image of the table in a mirror. But, of course, he is talking about mental images: my image of myself as a good person even when I am acting wrongly; my image of someone else when I see him merely as representing a social group rather than as an individual; my image of a historical figure as heroic even when I am presented with evidence to the contrary etc.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I fear I had a more literal idea of what is meant by "images." I see an image or picture of Hitler, say, and LITERALLY that is simply an image of a man. When we start thinking about what KIND of a man Hitler was, then we are interpreting or commenting about that image, on what it means.
Sean
Sean,
OK. When sitting for meditation, we suspend the interpreting and commenting. If a memory or mental image of Hitler arises, we let it pass. When not meditating, we know where we stand on Nazism.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Well, I wanted to use a dramatic example!
Sean
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