Talks by Krishnamurti in India; November 1, 1964
(Verbatim Report) Madras, Bombay, New Delhi, Varanasi
The Question of Fear? part 2 of 5
So, before we go into this question of fear, you have to find things out for yourself as a human being - not as an individual, because individuality comes much later. Individuality comes only when you are completely human, not animalistic - with its ambition, greed, envy, hate, and all the rest of it. When the mind is free of all that, then only is it an individual mind. And in that state of mind which is individual, at that moment, something tremendous takes place, and you can go beyond that. You may pretend that you have got a soul, that you are independent, that you are the higher self and all the rest of it: they are just words that have no meaning because you are merely the result of your environment. You are being taught certain patterns of thought; you live in a particular social tribe or race or group or family, and that conditions your mind, and then you repeat that. So a mind that is awake; that is demanding, questioning; that is aware of all the things that are implied in modern existence - such a mind must have the intense quality of humility. It is not a state of underestimation of oneself, or of accepting, acquiescing, adjusting - such a mind is no mind at all. You have to think very clearly, to question very clearly, sharply - not only the speaker, but everybody, all your political, religious, economic leaders so that your mind is made sharp through learning. But that learning is denied when you follow authority.
I do not know if you have not noticed this worship of authority, in yourself and around you - particularly in countries that are old, in countries that have ancient traditions, in countries that are overpopulated. You know, the word authority originates, stems from the one who originates something - originates. We are not original because we do not know, or we have not realized, what it is to think clearly, independently of what Shankara, Buddha, or anyone else has said. To think clearly for oneself demands that one has no authority. But, unfortunately, in this country especially - and perhaps in other countries also - we are talking about it. We are not comparing this country with another country: that is an old trick of the politicians; when you say that this country is corrupt, the politicians say that it is better, that it is not so corrupt as the other country, and they think they have done some marvelous thing. What we are talking about is something entirely different. We are not comparing. We are seeing facts. And to see facts there must be no comparison - how can you compare? And to see facts - not intellectually - demands a great deal of affection, a great deal of sympathy, an intense sense of love, empathy. But that affection, love, is denied when you are worshiping authority.
Do consider what the speaker is saying; don't agree with it. Watch what is taking place in your own life because following authority is one of the origins of fear. We have the Gita or some other book, and that book is our authority; that authority has no meaning whatsoever in relation to contemporary existence. Because the mind is afraid to wander away from what, it thinks, is the real - the real as asserted by a certain group of people or by certain persons - it accepts. You accept authority not only spiritually, if I may use that word, but also politically, religiously, in every way. Authority is not in just one particular direction, the authority of the wife over the husband and of the husband over the wife - to dominate. We all want power, and power goes with ambition, and ambition is a form of self-expression. We all want to express ourselves; which is, we want to be somebody in this world - as a writer, as a painter, as a politician, or as a religious leader, and so on and so on. So a mind that is enslaved by authority - whether it is by the wife or by the husband or by society or by the people - a mind that worships authority cannot possibly have either affection, love, or the capacity to learn. You can follow another, and by following another you do not solve your sorrow. You might run away from your sorrow, from your despair, because he might offer a hope, and that hope might be illusory, unreal, nonfactual. Because we are so frightened of existence, we want some hope, and we invest the authority with that hope.
So a mind that would understand fear must understand authority, self-fulfillment, and the demand for power. Function gives power. That is, you are capable of doing something - capable of running a government, capable of putting machines together, capable of running a house properly, cleanly, simply - and that gives you a functional capacity. But, unfortunately, with that capacity goes status which is position, which is money. So a mind that would learn has this intense - I was going to use the words intensively aggressive humility. Aggressive humility is, of course, contradictory; but you understand what I mean - such a mind has the intensity of nonacquiescence because humility goes with freedom. And if there is no freedom, you cannot possibly learn. So, to understand fear, you must understand this whole psychological process of authority - which does not mean that you disobey; you have to pay taxes. To understand why you obey is important, not that you must disobey. You obey because inwardly, psychologically, inside your skin you are frightened: you might lose your job if you are not extra polite and kowtow to some big man, the manager or the dictator, the boss or your guru; or you might lose your spiritual values and so on.
(Verbatim Report) Madras, Bombay, New Delhi, Varanasi
The Question of Fear? part 2 of 5
So, before we go into this question of fear, you have to find things out for yourself as a human being - not as an individual, because individuality comes much later. Individuality comes only when you are completely human, not animalistic - with its ambition, greed, envy, hate, and all the rest of it. When the mind is free of all that, then only is it an individual mind. And in that state of mind which is individual, at that moment, something tremendous takes place, and you can go beyond that. You may pretend that you have got a soul, that you are independent, that you are the higher self and all the rest of it: they are just words that have no meaning because you are merely the result of your environment. You are being taught certain patterns of thought; you live in a particular social tribe or race or group or family, and that conditions your mind, and then you repeat that. So a mind that is awake; that is demanding, questioning; that is aware of all the things that are implied in modern existence - such a mind must have the intense quality of humility. It is not a state of underestimation of oneself, or of accepting, acquiescing, adjusting - such a mind is no mind at all. You have to think very clearly, to question very clearly, sharply - not only the speaker, but everybody, all your political, religious, economic leaders so that your mind is made sharp through learning. But that learning is denied when you follow authority.
I do not know if you have not noticed this worship of authority, in yourself and around you - particularly in countries that are old, in countries that have ancient traditions, in countries that are overpopulated. You know, the word authority originates, stems from the one who originates something - originates. We are not original because we do not know, or we have not realized, what it is to think clearly, independently of what Shankara, Buddha, or anyone else has said. To think clearly for oneself demands that one has no authority. But, unfortunately, in this country especially - and perhaps in other countries also - we are talking about it. We are not comparing this country with another country: that is an old trick of the politicians; when you say that this country is corrupt, the politicians say that it is better, that it is not so corrupt as the other country, and they think they have done some marvelous thing. What we are talking about is something entirely different. We are not comparing. We are seeing facts. And to see facts there must be no comparison - how can you compare? And to see facts - not intellectually - demands a great deal of affection, a great deal of sympathy, an intense sense of love, empathy. But that affection, love, is denied when you are worshiping authority.
Do consider what the speaker is saying; don't agree with it. Watch what is taking place in your own life because following authority is one of the origins of fear. We have the Gita or some other book, and that book is our authority; that authority has no meaning whatsoever in relation to contemporary existence. Because the mind is afraid to wander away from what, it thinks, is the real - the real as asserted by a certain group of people or by certain persons - it accepts. You accept authority not only spiritually, if I may use that word, but also politically, religiously, in every way. Authority is not in just one particular direction, the authority of the wife over the husband and of the husband over the wife - to dominate. We all want power, and power goes with ambition, and ambition is a form of self-expression. We all want to express ourselves; which is, we want to be somebody in this world - as a writer, as a painter, as a politician, or as a religious leader, and so on and so on. So a mind that is enslaved by authority - whether it is by the wife or by the husband or by society or by the people - a mind that worships authority cannot possibly have either affection, love, or the capacity to learn. You can follow another, and by following another you do not solve your sorrow. You might run away from your sorrow, from your despair, because he might offer a hope, and that hope might be illusory, unreal, nonfactual. Because we are so frightened of existence, we want some hope, and we invest the authority with that hope.
So a mind that would understand fear must understand authority, self-fulfillment, and the demand for power. Function gives power. That is, you are capable of doing something - capable of running a government, capable of putting machines together, capable of running a house properly, cleanly, simply - and that gives you a functional capacity. But, unfortunately, with that capacity goes status which is position, which is money. So a mind that would learn has this intense - I was going to use the words intensively aggressive humility. Aggressive humility is, of course, contradictory; but you understand what I mean - such a mind has the intensity of nonacquiescence because humility goes with freedom. And if there is no freedom, you cannot possibly learn. So, to understand fear, you must understand this whole psychological process of authority - which does not mean that you disobey; you have to pay taxes. To understand why you obey is important, not that you must disobey. You obey because inwardly, psychologically, inside your skin you are frightened: you might lose your job if you are not extra polite and kowtow to some big man, the manager or the dictator, the boss or your guru; or you might lose your spiritual values and so on.
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