Foundation Focus
Winter/Spring 2022

"The primary cause of conflict is escape; escape through idea. Please observe yourself: how, instead of facing, let us say, jealousy, envy –coming directly into contact with it– you say, ‘How shall I get over it? What shall I do? What are the methods by which I can not be jealous?’, which are all ideas and therefore an escape from the fact that you are jealous; and by going away from the fact, through ideas, prevents you not only wasting your energy, but prevents you from coming into contact directly with that feeling. Now, if you gave your complete attention – not through idea; idea, as we pointed out, prevents attention. So when you observe or become aware of this feeling of jealousy and give complete attention, without idea, then you will see that not only are you directly in contact with that feeling but because you have given your complete attention then it ceases to be; and you have then greater energy to meet the next incident or next emotion, next feeling.

That is, to discover, to bring about a complete mutation, you must have energy; not the energy which is brought about through suppression, but that energy that comes when you’re not escaping through ideas or through suppression. We only know two ways to meet life: either escape from it altogether, which is a form of insanity leading to neurosis, or suppress everything because we don’t understand. That’s all we know.


Suppression is not merely putting the lid on the feeling or any sensation, but suppression also is a form of intellectual explanation, a rationalization. Please observe yourself and you will see how factual all… what is being said. So when you don’t escape – and it’s one of the most important things to find out: never to escape. And it’s one of the most difficult things to find out, because we escape through words; through not only running to the temple and all the rest of that silly business, but through words, through intellectual argument, opinions, judgments, evaluations; and we have so many ways of escaping from the fact; the fact that one is dull. If one is dull, that’s a fact; and when you become conscious that you are dull, the escape is to try to become clever. But to become sensitive demands all your attention directed to that state of mind which is dull.

So we need energy, energy which is not the result of any contradiction, any tension, but which comes about when there is no effort at all. Please do understand this one very simple, actual fact: that we waste our energy through effort and that waste of energy, effort, prevents us from coming directly into contact with the fact. When I’m making a tremendous effort to listen to you, all my energy is gone in making an effort and I’m actually not listening. When I am angry or impatient, all my energy is gone in trying to say, ‘I must not be angry.’ But when I pay attention completely to anger or to that state of anger by not escaping through words, through condemnation, through judgment, then in that state of attention there is a freedom from that thing called anger; and therefore that attention which is the summation of energy is not effort. And it is only the mind that is without effort is the religious mind and therefore such a mind alone can find out if there is or if there is not. 

Now, then there is another factor, which is we are imitative human beings; there is nothing original. We are the result of time, of many, many thousand yesterdays. We have been brought up to imitate, from childhood, to copy, to obey, to copy tradition, to follow the scriptures, to follow authority. We are talking not the authority of law, which must be obeyed, but the authority of the scriptures, the spiritual authority, the pattern, the formula; and we obey and imitate. And when you imitate – which is to conform inwardly to a pattern, whether imposed by society or by yourself through your own experience – such conformity, such imitation, such obedience, destroys this clarity of energy; because you imitate, you conform, you obey authority because you are frightened. A man who understands, who sees clearly, who is very attentive, he has no fear and therefore he has no reason to imitate; he is himself – whatever that himself be – at every moment." 


J. Krishnamurti
Excerpt from What Are You Looking For?

Dear Friends,

We want to share with you the digital edition of the Foundation Focus, our bi-annual printed newsletter that features the KFA’s numerous activities. To view the full digital version, click here.

Next month our weekend retreat, Yoga + Inquiry: Embodied Self-Knowledge, runs from March 11-13 and is facilitated by Francesca Michelle Gold. She describes her teaching style as observation-based and meditative and has been facilitating retreats at the KFA since 2012. This retreat is for anyone interested in exploring the intersections of modern-day postural Yoga, what embodiment, presence, and alignment mean in the context of relationship with oneself and others, and the ways in which self-inquiry might inform how to live. In this 3-day retreat, participants will have the opportunity to fully engage in Yoga and self-inquiry in a reflective and sharing atmosphere. There will be daily yoga practices, a hike in the surrounding mountains, short silent sittings, vegetarian meals, and open discussions. Yoga classes will be breath-centered and focus on adaptation to the needs of the individual. Participants will explore the coordination of movement with breath to bring attention to the subtle movements of the body, breath, and mind through yoga. 


We invite you to our Annual May Gathering held on the first weekend in May (May 7-8) at Oak Grove School in Ojai. Friends both local and from around the world come to listen to speakers, participate in dialogues, attend workshops, and enjoy the beauty of the Oak Grove School campus. This year’s theme is What Are You Looking For?, the title of a recently published book. Choose from different programs on topics such as consciousness and education, and engage with teachers from our schools and scholars of Krishnamurti’s teachings who share their understanding. 

Should the Covid situation worsen, the Gathering will be available online only. While this is a free event, registration is required. Click here to register and access the online live video streaming at the time of the event.


Sincerely,

 Jaap Sluijter
Executive Director

Residential Student/ Scholar Program
Seamus Morrison

 
Since arriving here over two months ago I have focused on recalibrating myself and the need for control in my life. In the book Beyond Violence, Krishnamurti says that one must give up all control. The control of desiring a certain outcome, the control of wanting a person to be different than they are, and the control of trying to maintain an identity that will change over time. What better place to let go of control than the home of Krishnamurti?
 
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Oak Grove School
The Art of Relationship | Pastoral Care Time

The intention of Pastoral Care Time (PCT) at Oak Grove is to honor the start of each new day, to mark the transition from home to school. This is an opportunity to root or ground in the present moment; to slow down and connect with our current state, physically, mentally, emotionally, and otherwise; an opportunity to be in touch with what’s happening for each of us as we begin the day, and to more fully engage in the rest of what the day may bring. PCT takes place during the first 15 minutes of each school day. Parents are also invited to join an adult PCT held each morning as they drop off their children.

 
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What Are You Looking For?
Annual May Gathering

Our Annual May Gathering will happen at Oak Grove School in Ojai. Friends both local and from around the world come to listen to speakers, participate in dialogues, attend workshops, and enjoy the beauty of our campus. Choose from different programs on topics such as consciousness and education, and engage with scholars of Krishnamurti’s teachings who share their understanding. The theme for this gathering is What Are You Looking For? and it will be an in-person and online event. If the Covid situation worsens by that time, the event will be online only.
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Publications 
Cory Fisher

The KFA has been working to increase the number of ebooks available in our online store. Our growing list of ebooks contains the 17 volumes of the Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, as well as the latest release, Unconditionally Free: The Life and Insights of J. Krishnamurti. The KFA’s ebooks are compatible with all e-readers and are readable on a variety of devices, with the exception of Kindle. Krishnamurti books on Kindle are available on Amazon.

 
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An Inquiry: Rooted and Growing
Karen Hesli

After the welcome rains and beneath the Topa Topas (sprinkled with snow), the orchards are rinsed and the roots of the great pepper tree are quenched. Pine Cottage, the Archive and the Pepper Tree Retreat hum with vibrancy where staff, visiting guests and residential students meet.

Likewise, across the valley to the west, the meadows of the Oak Grove campus are greening and the children have returned from winter break; their voices seem to harmonize with the clear vista of Chief ’s Peak. Nearby, in the grove where K gave talks, some old oaks have weakened and fallen from drought; their massive, gnarled trunks and branches decomposing among hundreds of sprouting acorns.

 
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Archives
Cory Fisher

In terms of preservation, the Krishnamurti Archive can be subdivided into two distinct branches; there is the physical collection, consisting of the original recording media and subsequent duplications, and the digital collection, which has been amassed over the years as the original materials have been digitized by the staff and volunteers from the various archives. The preservation of these different aspects of the collection differ significantly. Each are critical components of the archive today, and each offer unique advantages for the preservation and accessibility of the teachings.

 
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