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J. Krishnamurti – Bombay (Mumbai) 1984 – Public Q&A 1 – Video

J. Krishnamurti – Bombay (Mumbai) 1984 – Public Q&A 1 – Transcript

There are several questionsa whole packet of them.How do you approach a question?Is the question more important than the answeror does the answer lie in the question itself?So we are asking before we go into these questionshow you receive a question how you look at a questionhow you respond to a question.Or are you merely seeking an answer to the question -if you are seeking an answerthe answer is more important than the question.So we are saying it is very importanthow you approach a question.And in the manner -how you investigate the questionfor the answer lies in the question itselfnot away from it.I hope this is clearthat we are both seeking to find a solution to a questionbut we are saying that it is far more important to understandthe nature and the content of the question.So we are both of us you and the speakerare going to investigate the question itselfand then in understanding the questionthe answer is in the investigation of that question.I hope this is clear.There are several questions here and you and the speaker togetherare going to explore the nature of the questionand then perhapswe will be able to find the answer in the question itself.Is this fairly clear?So we are going to read these questions first.1st Question: What is beauty?Why do we like things that are beautiful?What is beauty and why is it that we like things that are beautiful?That is the question.So we are together going to investigate explorefind out the question itself the content of the question.Is this clear?The questioner asks what is beauty.Now when you look around this hall is it beautiful?When you look at the sky of an eveningwith one star in the heavens is that beautiful?Or when you see a marvellous sunsetfull of colour great depth great sense of expansionand the whole universe is filled with light and colouris that beautiful?Or only the things that man has made are beautiful.Man has made the cathedrals the temples the churchesand the various types of mosques all over the world.So man-made things like a paintinga poem a sculpture a buildingwhich are all man-made and therefore are they beautiful?That is is man the measure of beautyor man is the measure of all things?Do we understand each other?We are asking to find out what is beauty.It is a very complex question and requires a great sensitivityto find out for ourselves what is beauty.You see a marvellous sunsetthe early morning rise of the sun over the trees.Or you see a great mountain against a clear blue skytender quiet silentgreat beauty great sense of tremendous dignitya sense of wonder.When that takes placethat is when you see a great marvellous thingwhat happens when you look at it?When you look at a sunset over the sea and a great lightbrilliance born of sunsetwhat takes place in you?Please we are investigating together.You are not just waiting for the speaker to answer your question.We are together exploring the questionwhatever the question – political economic social and so on.The questioner here is asking ‘What is beauty?’We are saying that beauty exists onlywhen the self the ‘me’ is not.Man-made things like a paintinglike a marvellous photograph of a tree or of a personof a great river flowing down full of light and volumewhen you look at all this the wonder of the earththe beauty of the earth what takes place in youwhen you look at something extraordinarily beautiful?For the moment you cease to exist.You with all your problems with your worrieswith your daily travail and misery confusionall that is dissipated or driven awayby something that you see with great tremendous beauty.You for the moment are absent. Would you agree to that?Are you listening to all this?If you are listening and you see or perceive when there is beauty -great beauty not merely physical beauty of a woman or a man -when you perceive that for the second your self is not there.I would consider that is great beauty.And also -it is a very noisy place isn’t it -and also the question askswhy do we like something that is beautiful?And also that question implieswhy do we tolerate something that is ugly dirty?Like the filthy streets of Bombay.Why do we tolerate it why do we allow it?You might say ‘It is not our responsibilityit is the responsibility of the government’and the government is corrupt and so everything goes to pieces.But are we aware sensitively of the environment in which we live?The room in which we live whether it is orderly cleanwell proportioned or not are we aware of all this?Or we just put up with everything?And so most of us become -when you see constantly day after day the squalorthe dirt the inhumanity of man against manyou get used to it your sensitivity becomes dull corrodedand so you never see actually that which is beautiful.2nd Question: Is perception of the actual possiblewithout the intervention of thought?Is perception of the actual possible without the intervention of thought?You understand the question?Is it possible to perceive a tree your wife or your husbandor your boss or your helper your servantor the nature around youto perceive that without the intervention of thought?If the question is clearthat is can you see a tree or the new moonor the setting of the sunor your wife or your husband and your childrenwithout thought interfering with your perception?That is the question.Let us explore the question.What do we mean perceiving – to perceive to observe?When you perceive your wife or your husbandor your girlfriend or your sondo you actually see them as they areor you have a picture of them an image of themand through that imagethrough those coloured glasses of memories conclusionsyou look through.Please examine kindly what the speaker is saying.Examine your own wife or your husbandor your neighbour or your boss and so onwhether you can look at themwithout a single movement of thought or image or the word.Suppose I am married – which I’m not – suppose I am married.I live with my wife for twenty or thirty years or fifteen daysand during that interval of timeI have built through various incidents accidentsan image about her.She has built an image about me.These images these memoriesprevent me from looking at her actually what she is.And then the question arises:is it possible to look at a human beingwhether it be my wife or a neighbour or a strangerto look at them without a single movement of thought.That is what the questioner is asking.You are sitting there and the speaker is sitting up here.You apparently are here with an image with a conclusionwith memories of the speaker right sirs?Are you responding to my question?Can you observe the speakerwithout all the reputation that you have built about himall the things that have been said about himand all that you perhaps may have read about him or what he has said- to put away all that and look at him observe him.Will you do that can you do it?That is to look at something or a person or anythingwithout a previous memory conclusion remembrance.Just to look afresh – is that possible?That means thought not interfering with your observation.If you have ever tried or if you ever will do ityou will find most extraordinary things happen.You begin to discover something which you have never thought of.You begin to discover something totally new.If you look at your wife or your husband without all the memory that you have accumulated about herand she about youthen you are looking at her or him for the first time afresh!So a relationship is constantly renewed fresh.Not the old memories operating and interfering.Have you ever tried all this? Or you just listen -‘Yes it sounds very grand but I can’t do it’ and carry on.So if you actually do it once or twiceto put away all the accumulated memoriesthat you have about her or himthen you are looking at the person for the first time afresh.And when you look at that person afreshsomething totally new takes placea new kind of relationship comes into being.3rd Question: How can one live with a husband who does not care?How can one live with a husband who doesn’t care?I don’t know.Let’s look into the question.What is a husband and what is a wife?In America and other parts of the worlda boy and a girl are living togetherwithout going through a marriage ceremonyor going through the registrar register their marriage.That’s one thing: a boy and a girl live togetherwithout going through marriage or recording officially.Then there is the other side:you go through a ceremony between a man and a womanand that ceremony – that going to church or registrar -that officially makes you man and wife husband and wife.What is the difference between these two?You understand my question?What is the difference between a man and a woman living togetherwithout going through the ceremony of marriageand what is the difference between them and a man and womanwho goes through expensive marriagewhat is the difference between the two?One has a paper legalised saying you are husband and wife.Society says you are marriedyou have certain responsibilities to look after your wifeyour children and all the rest of it.And also the other who do not go to church and all the restgo through marriage ceremonyeither they are very irresponsible or they are very responsible.Both are responsible.If they take living together seriouslyboth are responsible.So we are asking what is a husband and what is a wife?You answer that question.Most of you I presume who are here are marriedor you have a girlfriend – perhaps not in India so muchbut in Europe and America it is quite common.So what is a husband?A husband is supposed to work go to the officeor go to some kind of work from nine till five o’clockspends most of the day in an office either pleasant or unpleasanta factory and so on and then comes home.The wife the woman cooks the meallooks after – if she has children – the children and so on.This is our daily routine.Do you agree to that?Oh for God’s sake. Yes?This is what is happening the world over.The woman stays at homeor she goes to the office also to earn more moneyand the wife generally looks after the children if she has anyand stays at home.What is the relationship between these two people?The husband who works from nine to fiveand also the woman goes off to work from nine to fivewhat is their relationship?Have you ever thought about it?Life is becoming more and more complexmore and more expensiveso both the woman and the man have to work.And if they have children which perhaps unfortunately they havewhat happens to the children?The woman comes home or the husband comes home tiredand will they care for each other except sexually?Will they really care?You ask this question to the speakerand he is supposed to answer that question.You should put this question to yourself and not to the speaker.The question is:how does one live with a husband who doesn’t care?Either you say goodbye old man or old boy or you put up with it.This is generally what happens you put up with itgetting more and more indifferent to each othermore and more isolated more and more depressedand all the misery of living with a man or a womanwho doesn’t really care at all.It is your problem not mine.So what will you dogo after another woman go after another man?And it will also happen thereafter a little while he will not care.And so you are always caught in this problem.Which means is there love at all?When two people live togetheris it a sexual biological activity of coming togetheror is there love in their life caring for each other?Perhaps you know this answer better than the speaker.4th Question: Is it necessary to marry in life?What is the physical relationship between man and woman?I don’t know.You ought to know.What a strange question this is isn’t it?Is it necessary to marry in life?What do you say?If the speaker puts this question to you what will you answer?Is it necessary sirs and ladies that I should marry?What would be your answer?Your answer probably would be‘Do what you want to do. Why bother me with it?It’s up to you.’But you see the question is really much more complex than that.We all want companionship we all want sexual relationshipa biological necessity.And also we want somebody on whom we can relyin whom we can find securityin whom there is a sense of comfort supportbecause most of us cannot stand alone on our own feettherefore we say ‘I must marry’or I will have a girlfriend or whatever it is‘I must have somebody with whom I can be at home’.We are never at home with anybodybecause we are living in our own thoughts in our own problemsour own ambitions and so on.And we are frightened to stand alonebecause life is very lonelylife is very complex troublesomeand one needs somebody with whom you can talk things over.And also when you marry you have sexual relationshipschildren and so on.So in this relationship between man and womanif there is no love you use her and she uses you.You exploit her and she exploits you.That’s a fact.So the questioner asks should one marry.And what is the physical relationship between man -don’t you know the question?It’s up to you sirs.But to really enter into this whole complex problemof living together not only with two peopleliving together with humanity – with your neighbourwith your boss with your servant if you have a servantwith your father mother children -to live together it’s a very complex thing.Living together as a family gives you certain security certain safetyand so you extend that family to a groupto a community to a state to a nationand from a nation which is opposed to another nationand so there is always division and conflict and wars.So one has to find out how to live with another without any conflictwithout any sense of struggle adaptation adjustment.That requires a great deal of intelligence integrity.But we just marry off because of sexual biological demands and so on.Did you make up these questions? They say no.5th Question: What is the difference between the brain and the mind?What is the difference between the brain and the mind?This is a very complex question.We know what the brain is.The scientists are saying nowthere is the left side of the brain and the right side of the brain.The left side of the brain is used daily.I won’t go into all the details of it you can read it if you want to.I haven’t read itbut some friends who are scientists have told me about it.The left side of the brain is in operation activityfunctioning with all the daily activity.And the right side of the brainis not operating fully not functioning fullybecause the right side of the brain is much more intelligentmuch more acute much more aware.And also the brain is the centre of all action and reactionof all the sensory responses- this is what the speaker is saying.So the brain contains or has the whole content of consciousness.Consciousness is your belief your faithyour name your faculty capacityall the memories all the hurts pleasure painagony struggle all that affection and so onall that is the content of your consciousness.The content of your consciousness is youis the self is the ‘me’.That content of consciousness may invent a super-super-consciousnessor invent various kinds of unimagined or imagined statesbut it is still within the content of your consciousness.Do we see this?You – you are your name your bodyyour anger your greed your competition your ambitionyour pleasure your pain and so onaffection all that – you are that.And that means the content of your consciousness.The content of your consciousness is the past -past memories past incidentsall kinds of activities experiences – you are the past.You are knowledge which is the past.So that is the brain.We are saying – and the speaker may be wrongand he has discussed this matter with several so-called scientistsand even then the speaker may be wrongplease don’t accept what he saysdoubt what he says question enquire.He says the brain is the whole limited consciousnesswith all its content -pleasant unpleasant ugly beautiful struggleall that is the content.And the mind is something totally separate from the brain.The mind is outside the brain – the speaker is sayingthe scientists are not saying that.The speaker says the brain is one thingand mind is something entirely different.The brain with all its contentwith its struggles with its pain anxietiescan never know understand the beauty of love.Love is limitless.It is not ‘I love one person only’ it is too vast too tremendous.And the brain with all its conflicts miseries confusioncannot comprehend or hold or be alive to love -only the mind which is limitless.So there is a difference between the brain and the mind.Then what the questioner doesn’t askthere is still a further question involved in this:what is the relationship then between the mind and the brain?The brain is limitedlimited because it is made up of all kinds of separate partsfragmented broken upand therefore it is in constant state of struggle conflict.Whereas the mind is totally out of that category.There is a relationship only when the brain is completely freeif that is possible from all the content of its memories.This requires a great deal of enquiry sensitivity.Intelligence is not of the brain.The intelligence of thought cannot contain the intelligence of the mind.You understand all this?Does somebody understand what I am talking about?No all right.Look sirs be very simplebecause if one can be very simple you can go very far.But if you begin with lots of complex theories and conclusionsyou are stuck there so let’s be very simple.Your daily life – going to the office working working workingmoney trained in certain disciplinesas a lawyer surgeon businessman or a cook or whatever it is -your brain is being narrowed down limited.If I am a physicist I spend years and years learning about physicsstudying it investigating research into itso my brain is naturally through this peculiar culture that we haveis being narrowed down.There are two scientists here they agree.And our brain has become mechanical routine smallbecause we are so concerned with ourselvesalways living in a very small area of like dislike pain sorrowand all the rest of it.But the mind is something entirely different.You cannot understand or comprehend the nature of that mindif your brain is limited.You cannot understand the limitless when your life is limited.So that is the relationship -the relationship between the brain and the mind can only take placewhen the brain is free from its content.This is a complex question it requires much more going intobut we haven’t the time for it.6th Question: What is faith?What is faith? Faith in God faith.I have faith in my wife she won’t betray me.I have faith in my husband.I have faith in my business. Faith.The whole Christendomall the religious structure and nature of Christianityis based on faith.And there they do not questionthey do not have doubt scepticism.If you have faith in God then you cannot possibly allowany form of scepticism doubt to enteror in the Islamic world.But in the Hindu world and in the Buddhist worlddoubt is one of the necessary qualities to cleanse the brain.You have faith haven’t all of you belief?Have you ever questioned your belief your faithand your illusions?Or you just accept them.When you have faithyou have put aside altogether any question of investigation.Suppose I believe in Godbelieve have faith in Godthen every question every doubt must be set asidebecause my belief in God is based on fear.I don’t know what the world is somebody has created itand I like to think God has created itthat’s one kind of belief.The scientists say there is no such thing as Godit is a natural growth of evolution from the cellinto the very complex cells of the human brain.So why do we have faith?Isn’t that very restricting narrowing down limitingand doesn’t faith divide people?The Christians’ faith and Islamic faithand the Hindus who probably have no faith about anything at alland so there is constant conflict between them all.You see there is also another complex question involved in this:why do we have ideals?The whole communist worldis based on the theoretical supposition of MarxStalin and so on Lenin. They are their gods.And they believe in what they have saidas Christians believe in what the Bible says or the Koranor you with your Gita Upanishads or something else.You are all absorbing what the books saybut you never for yourself question the whole thing.Because the moment you question doubtyou have to rely on yourself and therefore you are frightened.Therefore much better to have faith in something illusorysomething that doesn’t really actually exist.But if you know for yourself I have to understand my own lifeI have to see if it is possibleto bring about a great revolution in my lifethen you start from there.But if you have faith in somethingyou are living in an extraordinarily illusory world.You have got a lot of questions.7th Question: If human consciousness is onehow is it that one person is happy and the other is unhappy?Also you say thought is ‘me’. Please show me how.If human consciousness is onehow is it that one person is happy and the other unhappy?Also you say thought is me – please show me how.Are you happy?And why is another unhappy?You are born richyour grandfathers and grandparents have left you a factory or a businessand you are quite happy with it.And another is born in a little village uneducatedtoiling day after day on a piece of earthwhich is the size of this room or half the size of this hallworking on it living on a pittance and he is unhappyhe doesn’t know about happiness or unhappinesshe is working working working.Does happiness depend on circumstances on workon what you are doingor on your satisfaction in doing something?What do you call happiness and what do you call unhappiness?Happiness can be said that when you are satisfied.I am satisfied in doing something and feel very happy about it.And I am not satisfied in doing somethingand I am very unhappy about it.Is satisfaction synonymous with happiness?And am I seeking continuously satisfaction?Which means I am seeking all the time gratificationand I will be happy.Or is happiness something that comes and goesthat is a by-product it is not very important?And also the questioner asksthought is ‘me’ show me how.What do you mean ‘show you how’?On a screen in a television?Or make a diagram?Or show you verbally?Which is you accept intellectually if the speaker explains thought is ‘me’.Would you understand it?The speaker will explain that is he will describehe will explain step by step.And will you see the truth of itor say ‘No that is not the self. Self is something far superior.It is divine it is atman it is something else’.So how will you receive an explanation?Knowing the explanation the description the wordis not the thing?The window the word ‘window’ is not the actual window.I can paint a mountain but the painting is not the actual mountain.So we can go into this together. I can’t show it to you.I can’t put it on a screen televisionand show it to you; there it is.But if we can together investigate if you are willing.If you are bored with it all right be bored with it.So let us together find out.What are you?If you are really frank serious when that question is put to youwhat are you?Aren’t you your name?aren’t you your face your eyes your noseyour hair and so on physically?Aren’t you the anger aren’t you the greedor the greed is separate from you?Aren’t you when there is anxiety aren’t you that anxiety?When you are sufferingsuffering when one loses one’s wife husbandchildren or grandmother etc. are you not suffering?And is that suffering something separate from you?Aren’t you all that?Or do you think – think – that you are separate from all that?Right sir?Are you separate from all that?Are you separate from your anger jealousy from your bank account?You are your bank account aren’t you?Or if I take away your bank account you say ‘That’s not me’.Would you say that?‘You can take my bank account because it is not me’.How you would howl if I took away your bank account.So you are your bank account you are your furnitureyou are your house your insurance your mortgage your money.But if you say ‘I am not all thatthere is something in me that is watching all this’is that a fact?Or you have invented it?Many people say there is super-super-consciousnessabove all this consciousness.That is is that not invented by thought?Is not your bank account – not the coin not the notes -all that is not the result of thought?Is not your recognition of your wife your husbandisn’t that thought?So aren’t you all the memory of the pastall the tradition of the past -as a Hindu as a Brahmin non-Brahminand all that business – aren’t you all that?Of course you are.So you are the knowledge which is the past.You are nothing but memories.Would you accept that? Of course not.Aren’t you?If all your memories were taken away what are you?You would be a vegetable.So your memories which is always the past is what you are.Your tradition as a Hindu as a Parsi as a Muslim and so onthat’s the result of years of propaganda years of traditionwhich is the activity of thought.So you are thought.If you don’t think at all what are you?So you are the whole content of the past.That past is modifying itself in the presentand continues as the future.So you are the past the present and the future.In you all time is contained.Oh you don’t understand all this.And the self the ‘me’ my name my quality my achievementmy ambition my pain my sorrow is all the past.And so the self is the essence of the pastwhich is memory knowledge.And therefore the self is very very limited.And that’s why the self is causing so much mischief in the world.Each self is out for itself.You are out for your own self aren’t you?If you were honest see this clearly aren’t you out for yourself?Your ambition your achievement your fulfilment your satisfaction.So thought is you.Thought is limited because all knowledge is limited.Therefore your self is the most limited thing.And therefore you are causing enormous sorrow enormous conflictbecause the self is separative divisive.So sirs the speaker has explained. The explanation is not the fact.The fact is for you to see this for yourself.If you see this for yourself and say ‘I like the way I am going on’perfectly all right.But you know for yourself that you are creating havoc in the worldand you prefer to live that way good luck to you.But there might be some who say that is not the way to live.One must live with a global brainwithout any division without any nationalitywithout any self.Don’t make that into some kind of heightened illuminationonly a few can reach.Anybody who sets his brain and heartto understand the nature of the selfand be free of that selfanybody can do it if they put their mind.Right sir.May I answer one more question? After that we’ll stop.It’s ten o’clock.Probably you have to go to your own jobs and all the rest of it……Ten past ten sorry. One more\squestion and that’s the end of it.Oh I’ve answered this question.8th Question: If the great religions of the worldare not religions what is then religion?That’s the question.It is not printed clearly.If the great religions of the world are not true religionswhat is true religion?Why do you say ‘if’ the great religions are not true religions?Why do you say ‘if’?Are they religions?You answer that question.You all go to temples probably.You have all had marriage ceremonies and puja etc.Are they religions?Great religions; Christianity Islam Hinduism Buddhismare they religions?Which is their rituals their hierarchytheir faith belieftheir going to temple and offering enormous sums of moneyto some things made by hand or by the mind which you call Godis all that religion?You accept it as religion.But if you question doubtthen you begin to askobviously these things are all put together by thought.The Bible the Koran and your own so-called religious booksthey are all put down by thought.They are not divine revelationsthey are not straight from God’s mouth.I know you love to think that.But thought has operated and put down on a piece of paperand then you accept it as something extraordinarily sacred.So if you brush aside all that and that requires scepticisma sense of freedom to observefreedom from feartotally from fearthen you can find out for yourself what is religion.That is is there something sacrednot invented by thought not measured by wordsis there something that is immeasurable timeless?This has been a question from the ancient of times.The ancient Egyptians the Greeksall the great past civilizations have asked this question:is there something beyond all this which thought has not invented?Which thought has not touched?Because thought can be measured.Thought is a material processand whatever it invents is not sacred.So to find that outthe brain must be entirely free from its contentfrom fear from anxietyfrom the sense of terrible loneliness from death.Then only you will find out what is truthwhat is the highest form of religion.\s

J. Krishnamurti – Bombay (Mumbai) 1984 – Public Q&A 1 – Notes

Please note that this video titled J. Krishnamurti – Bombay (Mumbai) 1984 – Public Q&A 1 is from J Krishnamurti’s Youtube channel. More information about J Krishnamurti is available on his website at www.jkrishnamurti.org. The transcriptions on this page are automated transcriptions. In case you find any errors please leave a comment below. If you would like to watch this video on the Youtube channel of Jiddu Krishnamurti then please search for J. Krishnamurti – Bombay (Mumbai) 1984 – Public Q&A 1 on Youtube