Foundation Focus

Foundation Focus

Krishnamurti Foundation of America

The Individual & Society

"Can we together think the absolute need of a good society? The society is what we are, society doesnât come into being mysteriously, it is not created by god; man has created this society with all the wars and all that is going on. We donât have to go into all the horrible details of it. And that society is what we are, what each human being is. That is fairly obvious. That is, we create the society with all its divisions, with its conflicts, with its terror, with its inequality, and so on and so on and so on, because in ourselves we are that, which is: in our relationship with each other we are that. We may be fairly tolerant, fairly affectionate in private relationships; even thatâs rather doubtful, but with regard to the rest of the human beings we are not. Which is again fairly obvious when you read the newspapers, magazines, and actually see what is going on.

So good society can only come into being, not in the future but now, when we
human beings have established right relationship between ourselves. Is that possible? Not at some future date but actually in the present, in our daily life, could we bring about a relationship that is essentially good? Good being without domination, without personal interest, without personal vanity, ambition and so on. So that there is a relationship between each other which is based essentially on â if I may use the word and I hope you wonât mind â love. Is that possible?"

â J. Krishnamurti | Talk 1, Brockwood Park, 25 August 1979

Dear Friends,

In this edition of our e-newsletter, we are presenting you with our bi-annual publication titled Foundation Focus, which showcases the many facets of the work of the KFA. Many of you have received the printed version by mail. If you haven't and would like to receive it, please reply back to this email with your postal address so we can add you to our list of recipients.

You may also view the digital version here. Some of the articles are featured below.

One of the KFAâs activities is to host different programs at our Center in Ojai, in an effort to create and foster an environment of questioning, probing into questions such as âWho or what am I?â and exploring the underlying structure of our human condition. We seek to emphasize the importance of such exploration in an authentic and living way that circumvents the trap of intellectualism.

We just hosted a program called Coming to the Ultimate: Science and the Ground of Being. This weeklong afternoon program was able to strike a balance between exploring the personal and the general and was received with appreciation by the participants.

Karen Hesli, who is the former head of Oak Grove School, will facilitate a program titled Krishnamurti Education & Poetry that will run on the weekend of September 27-29. The backdrop for this weekend exploration will be the questions that Krishnamurti discusses with students, parents, and teachers. Participants will explore the transformative power of words. Words (most) often separate and compartmentalize lifeâ¦ yet the words in a poem can inspire a kind of wondering, an awakening of the heart or widening of perspective. Immerse yourself in reading and writing poems that have the potential to shed the skin of superficiality and invite insight.

The weekend of October 4-6 we are offering a program called Opposition: On Freedom and Fixation. The purpose of this retreat is to create an environment in which we may explore the movement and function of conflict in a series of dialogues and writing exercises, looking at the specific relationship between language and conflict. Join us at the Center for this program.

Sincerely,

Jaap Sluijter
Executive Director

125th Birth Anniversary of J. Krishnamurti
R.E. Mark Lee

History will long remember the two-century span of the life of J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986). No one since the Gautama Buddha has had a teaching life as well chronicled and well documented as that of Krishnamurti. Whereas the Buddha renounced the temporal world as a prince to live as a monk, Krishnamurti renounced the traditional spiritual world to live for 90 years as the world teacher.

Can the Mind Be Quiet?
New Book

Can the Mind be Quiet? is a new Krishnamurti book published in August of this year. It contains sixty conversations, previously unpublished, recalled and written down by Krishnamurti in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They contain probing inquiries into such topics as the self and consciousness, the essential qualities of good education, and the meditative and religious mind. As with all of his writings, the style is direct, eschews rhetoric, and states deep truths as obvious and factual information, available to any who will listen. The pieces also include Krishnamurtiâs much-loved descriptions of nature. This is a short excerpt from the chapter titled How we waste our life!

Opposition
Amanda Lezra & Liam O'Mara

Amanda Lezra and Liam OâMara will facilitate Opposition, a theme weekend that will take place October 4-5, 2019, at the Krishnamurti Center. The program will explore the movement and function of conflict in a series of dialogues and writing exercises, focusing on the specific relationship between language and conflict. Liam and Amanda are both nonfiction writers and activists currently based in Portland. This is an article written by them on Opposition.

Freedom from the Known: The Krishnamurti Perspective
Explorations Conference

We hosted a very interesting Explorations Conference this year at the Krishnamurti Center on the theme of Freedom from the Known. The intent of the conference is to bring together individuals from different disciplines to delve into the questions raised by Krishnamurti, from different angles, and in new ways. It features a series of formal presentations and discussion sessions, with ample opportunities for informal exchanges. This is a short excerpt from the presentation given by Cory Fisher who is the Archivist and Publications Director of the KFA.

Oak Grove School
The Power of the Published Word

The spaciousness to ask both practical and perennial questions is an essential part of the Oak Grove educational program. Through academic inquiry (Socratic, scientific, normative, conceptual, etc.), dialogue, Council, as well as reflective practices, students and teachers explore questions about the world outside and within.

The student newspaper, The Oak Grove Times, is a place students may give form to such inquiry â a public forum. Students choose an area of focus and are supported to develop questions, a clear direction, and to establish a detailed research plan (focus groups, data, etc.).

Archives & Publications
Cory Fisher

The Krishnamurti Archive is the repository of original material pertaining to the teachings of Krishnamurti. This includes handwritten manuscripts, letters, photographs, original audio and video recordings, and related materials. Its mission is to preserve the teachings of Krishnamurti as they were written and spoken, without distortion or interpretation. The Krishnamurti Archive also exists to give scholars and others doing research access to original documents.

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Krishnamurti Foundation of America

PO Box 1560

Ojai, CA 93024

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