"As long as the thinker exists apart from his thought, which he is trying to dominate, there can be no fundamental transformation. As long as the 'me' is the observer, the one who gathers experience, strengthens himself through experience, there can be no transformation, there can be no creative release; but, that creative release comes when the thinker is the thought, which is not to be bridged by any effort; that can only come when the mind realizes that any speculation, any verbalization, any form of thought, only creates more, gives strength to the 'me' as long as thought exists separate from the thinker, there must be the limitation, the duality, the conflict.

When I realize that, then I am watching, then the mind is everlastingly watching how it is separating itself from experience, asserting itself, seeking power. That awareness, if you pursue it, if the mind pursues ever deeply, more extensively, without seeking an end, a goal, then you will see that the thinker and the thought are one. In that state there is no effort, there is no becoming, there is no desire to change; in that state there is a transformation which is not of the mind.

What is this 'I'? What is this 'me?' It’s a name, a form, memories, hopes, frustrations, longings, pains, sorrows, passing joys. That 'me' we want to continue, we want it to continue and become perfect and we realize that, so we say beyond this 'me' there is the 'super-me,' the self which is not the 'me,' which is timeless, a state of spiritual entity; but still, that spiritual entity is within the field of time, is it not? Because I have thought of it. If I can think about it, it is still within the field of my reasoning.

Please, if I can think about the spiritual state, I know about it, I know what it is, I know what it tastes like, what it looks like, what its sensations are. If I know about it, it is still, it is already within the field of my knowledge; and my knowledge is based on memory, on my conditioning. So, if I can think about it, surely it is not something spiritual, something timeless; because, thought is the result of the past, of memory, of time; thought has created this spiritual entity, because you are conditioned to accept that theory, because you’ve been brought up from childhood, conditioned that way. Perhaps another is conditioned not to believe in that – which is happening in the world. He’ll deny that you are a spiritual entity, because he is brought up, conditioned to think in those terms.

So, each one of us, seeing our own impermanency, our own transciency, want, crave for some kind of permanency; and the very craving creates the symbol, the sensation, the idea, the belief, and we cling to it. So, there is the 'me,' who is the transient, and there is the 'super-me,' super-self, which is permanent; and so the mind is pursuing the permanent. So, there is a conflict, the conflict of the opposites, of duality, of the 'me' which is impermanent, and beyond 'me,' in 'me,' concealed, deep down, far away, is the timeless, spiritual entity which is permanent, everlasting, changeless, absolute; and the various degrees between 'me' and that. So, I’ve given birth to duality, conflict; and to achieve that I must have time, a psychological growth, a becoming towards that. So, there is always in this process the 'me,' the observer, and the thing which he is going to gain, the observed. And so he gives himself to the struggle, strengthens his longings, his struggles, his desires. And so for that he must have time, the future; therefore he has reincarnation – if not now, tomorrow. But if we can cut across all that and see that as long as there is the thinker and the thought, the observer and the observed, there must be this conflict; and through conflict there can be no understanding, no peace."

J. Krishnamurti
Excerpt from Choiceless Awareness

Sincerely,

 Jaap Sluijter
Executive Director