"If you pass on through the meadows with their thousand flowers of every color imaginable, from bright red to yellow and purple, and their bright green grass washed clean by last night’s rain, rich and verdant–again without a single movement of the machinery of thought–then you will know what love is. To look at the blue sky, the high full-blown clouds, the green hills with their clear lines against the sky, the rich grass and the fading flower–to look without a word of yesterday; then, when the mind is completely quiet, silent, undisturbed by any thought, when the observer is completely absent–then there is unity. Not that you are united with the flower, or with the cloud, or with those sweeping hills; rather there is a feeling of complete non-being in which the division between you and another ceases.

The woman carrying those provisions which she bought in the market, the big black Alsatian dog, the two children playing with the ball–if you can look at all these without a word, without a measure, without any association, then the quarrel between you and another ceases. This state, without the word, without thought, is the expanse of mind that has no boundaries, no frontiers within which the I and the not-I can exist.

Don’t think this is imagination, or some flight of fancy, or some desired mystical experience; it is not. It is as actual as the bee on that flower or the little girl on her bicycle or the man going up a ladder to paint the house–the whole conflict of the mind in its separation has come to an end. You look without the look of the observer, you look without the value of the word and the measurement of yesterday. The look of love is different from the look of thought. The one leads in a direction where thought cannot follow, and the other leads to separation, conflict, and sorrow. From this sorrow, you cannot go to the other. The distance between the two is made by thought, and thought cannot by any stride reach the other.

As you walk back by the little farmhouses, the meadows, and the railway line, you will see that yesterday has come to an end: life begins where thought ends."


J. Krishnamurti
Excerpt taken from The Only Revolution

Dear Friends,

We have recently released Bulletin #94 and, as we have done every year, it's been sent out to donors. In this Bulletin, we share a previously unpublished excerpt based on the first in a series of small group discussions held in Malibu, California, in 1970. It is a very interesting discussion on the notion of self-improvement which Krishnamurti calls “a terrible thing.” It seems counter-intuitive that the effort to gradually improve aspects of oneself may in fact prevent the urgency of fundamental change in our psyche. Click here to read the digital version.

We have a 5-day in-depth online study program coming up on January 11, 2021, titled Isolation & Loneliness. According to Krishnamurti, human beings are blinded by a conditioning so deep that our very perceptions separate us from the reality we face and the relationships we are involved in. This online program will attempt to explore this theme with care as we acknowledge that we are the subjects and the objects of our examination.

The year-long Residential Student program at the Krishnamurti Center is for those who wish to dive deeply into K's teachings and provides a unique opportunity to live at the Krishnamurti Center. There are openings in the program for a start date in January and August of 2021. If you are considering joining the program in August, do send your application before May. The program is currently only accepting applications from US passport holders. Please contact us if you are interested.

Finally, as we approach the end of the year, we want to direct your attention to our Annual Appeal. Please join us in keeping these teachings and opportunities available by making a one-time or monthly contribution. Call us (805 646 2726) or visit our website to make a donation today.

Sincerely,

 Jaap Sluijter
Executive Director