Is Suffering Essential?There are so many varieties and complications and degrees of suffering. We all know that. You know it very well, and we carry this burden right through life, practically from the moment we are born until the moment we collapse into the grave....we say that it is inevitable, then there is no answer; if you it, then you have st…

Integrated UnderstandingWhat do we mean by "grief"? Is It something apart from you?Is it something outside of you, inwardly or outwardly, which you are observing, which you are experiencing? Are you merely the observer experiencing? Or, is it something different? Surely that is important point, is it not? When I say "I suffer," what do I mean vi? A…

Understanding SufferingWhy do we inquire, "what is happiness"? Is that the right approach? Is that the right probing? We are not happy. If we were happy, our world would be entirely different; our civilization, our culture would be wholly, radically different. We are unhappy human beings, petty, miserable, struggling, vain, surrounding ourselves wi…

Happiness That Is Not of the MindWe may move from one refinement to another, from c subtlety to another, from one enjoyment to another; but at the centre of it all, there is "the me"-"the me" that is enjoying, that es looks for, longs for wants more happiness, "the me" that searches, looks for lo happiness, "the me" that struggles, "the me" that be…

Can Happiness Be Found Through Anything?We seek happiness through things, through relationship, through thoughts, ideas. So things, relationship, and ideas become all-important and not happiness. When we seek happiness through something, then the thing becomes of greater value than happiness itself. When stated in this manner, the problem sounds si…

Happiness Is Not Sensationthing to Mind can never find happiness. Happiness is not a be pursued and found, as sensation. Sensation can be found a again and again, for it is ever being lost; but happiness cannot be for Remembered happiness is only a sensation, a reaction for or against the present. What is over is not happiness; the experience of ha…

Happiness Cannot Be PursuedWhat do you mean by happiness? Some will say happiness consists of getting what you want. You want a car, and you get it, and you are happy. I want a sari or clothes, I want to go to Europe and if I Can. I am happy. I want to be the greatest politician, and if I get it, I am happy, if I cannot get it, I am unhappy. So, wh…

One Must Go Deep to Know JoyVery few of us enjoy anything. We have very little joy in osa lovely seeing the sunset, or the full moon, or a beautiful persontree, or a bird in flight, or a dance. We do not really enjoy a We look at it, we are superficially amused or excited by it, we have sensation that we call joy. But enjoyment is something far dee…

Happiness vs. GratificationWhat is it that most of us are seeking? What is it that each one wants? Especially in this restless world, where everybody is to find some kind of peace, some kind of happiness, a refuge.surely it is important to find out, isn't it, what it is that we are trying to seck, what it is that we are trying to discover? Probably…

That Thing Which You Fight You BecomeSurely that thing which you fight you become. ... If I am anger. angry and you meet me with anger what is the result?You have become that which Iam. If I am evil and you fight me with evil means then you also become evil, however righteous you may feel. If I am brutal and you use brutal methods to overcome me, t…

To Destroy Hatethe world of hate taking its harvest at the present.This world of hate has been created by our fathers and their hers and by us. Thus, ignorance stretches indefinitely into st. It has not come into being by itself. It is the outcome of human ignorance, a historical process, isn't it? We as individuals have cooperated with our ancesto…

The Fact Is We Are ViolentWe all see the importance of the cessation of violence. And how am I, as an individual, to be free of violence-not just superficially but totally, completely, inwardly? If the ideal of nonviolence will not free the mind from violence, then will kanalysis of the cause of violence help to dissolve violence?After all, this is…

The Major Cause of ViolenceThe major cause of violence, I think, is that each one inwardly, psychologically, seeking security. In each one of us the for psychological security—that inward sense of being safe-projects the demand, the outward demand, for s security. Inwardly each one of us wants to be secure, sure, certain. That is hy we have all the…

Freedom from Violenceon you see the fact of violence the fact not on of you but also inside you-and not have any time interval between Listening and acting? This means by the very act of listening you are free from violence. You are totally free from violence because you have not admitted time, an ideology through which you can of violence. This re…

Realize You Are ViolentThe animal is violent. Human beings who are the result of the animal, are also violent; it is part of their being to be violent, to be angry, to be jealous, to be envious, to seek power, position, prestige all the rest of it, to dominate, to be aggressive. Man is violent-this is shown by thousands of wars--and he has develope…

The Central Cause of ConflictDo not think by merely wishing for peace you will have peace, when in your daily life of relationship you are aggressive, acquisitive, seeking psychological security here or in the hereafter. You have to understand the central cause of conflict and sorrow and then dissolve it and not merely look to the outside for peace…

Is It Possible to End Violence?vou talk about violence, what do you mean by it? Itis really quite an interesting question, if you go into it deeply, to whether a human being, living in this world, can totally cease to be violent. Societies, religious communities, have tried not Lill animals. Some have even said, "If you don't want to kill animals, …

ViolenceWhat takes place when you give complete attention thing that we call violence?-violence being not only what separates human beings, through belief, conditioning, and so on.what comes into being when we are seeking personal security, or the security of individuality through a pattern of society. Can ve at that violence with complete attentio…

What Is Thoroughly Understood Will Not Repeat ItselfIn self awareness there is no need for confession, for self-awareness creates the mirror in which all things are reflected thought distortion. Every thought-feeling is thrown, as it were, on the screen of awareness to be observed, studied and understood, but shis flow of understanding is blocked w…

Passive AwarenessIn awareness there is no becoming, there is no end to be gained. There is silent observation without choice and condemnation, from which there comes understanding. In this process when thought and feeling unfold themselves, which is possible when there is neither acquisition nor acceptance.there comes an extensional awareness, all …

Let a Thought FlowerAwareness is that state of mind which takes in rything the crows flying across the sky, the flowers on the the people sitting in front, the colours they are wearing ng extensively aware, which needs watching, observing, taking in the shape of the leaf, the shape of the trunk, the shape of head of another, what he is doing. To be…

Awareness Cannot Be DisciplinedIf awareness is practiced, made into a habit, then it becomes tedious and painful. Awareness cannot be disciplined. That wh practiced is no longer awareness, for in practice is implied creation of habit, the exertion of effort and will. Effort is distThere is not only the awareness of the outer-of the flight of birdso…

Seeing the WholeHow do you look at a tree? Do you see the whole of the tree?verythatgoes upIf you don't see it as a whole, you don't see the tree at all. You may pass it by and say, "There is a tree, how nice it is!" or say, "It is a mango tree," or "I don't know what those trees are; they may be tamarind trees." But when you stand and look-I am ta…

Introspection Is IncompleteIn awareness there is only the present-that is, being aware, you see the past process of influence which controls the present and modifies the future. Awareness is an integral process, not a process of division. For example, if I ask the question, "Do I beli God?"-in the very process of asking, I can observe, if I am what…

Knowledge Is Not AwarenessAwareness is that state of mind which observes something without any condemnation or acceptance, which merely faces the thing as it is. When you look at a flower not botanically, then you see the totality of the flower; but if your mind is completely taken up with the botanical knowledge of what the flower is, you are not …

There Is No Place at Which to ArriveCan humility be practiced? Surely, to be conscious that you are humble is not to be humble. You want to know that you arrived. This indicates, does it not, that you are listening in order to achieve a particular state, a place where you will never be disturbed where you will find everlasting happiness, permanent …

Elimination of Fear Is the Beginning of AttentionHow is the state of attention to be brought about? It cannot be cultivated through persuasion, comparison, reward, or punishment, all of which are forms of coercion. The elimination of fear is the beginning of attention. Fear must exist as long as there is an urge to be or to become, which is the pur…

Complete AttentionWhat do we mean by attention? Is there attention when I am forcing my mind to attend? When I say to myself, "I must pay attention, I must control my mind and push aside all other thoughts," would you call that attention? Surely that attention. What happens when the mind forces itself to attention? It creates a resistance to preven…

Attention Is Limitless, Without FrontiersIn the cultivation of the mind, our emphasis should not be on concentration, but on attention Concentration is a process of forcing the mind to narrow down to a point, whereas attention is without frontiers. In that process the mind is always limited by a frontier or boundary, but when our concern is to unde…

An Attention That Is Not ExclusiveI think there is a difference between attention that is given to can concentrate on a an object and attention without object. We conce particular idea, belief, object-which is an exclusive proc there is also an attention, an awareness, which is not exclusive.Similarly, there is a discontent which has no motive, whi…

Attention Free of EffortIs there attention without anything absorbing the mind? Is there attention without concentrating upon an object? Is there attention without any form of motive, influence, compulsion? Can the mind give full attention without any sense of exclusion? Surely it can, and that is the only state of attention; the others are mere in…

Attention Without ResistanceYou know what space is. There is space in this room. The distance between here and your hostel, between the bridge and you home, between this bank of the river and the other-all that is Space Now, is there also space in your mind? Or is it so crowded that there is no space in it at all? Of your mind has space, then in th…

The Art of Listening Is the Art of ReleaseSomebody is telling you something you listen. The very act of listening is the act of release. When you see the fact, the very perception of that fact is the release of that fact. The very listening, the very seeing of something as a fact, has an extraordinary effect without the effort of thought.Let us tak…

The Highest Form of EnergyAn idea about energy is entirely different from the fact of energy itself. We have formulas or concepts of how to bring about.quality of energy that is of the highest quality. But the formula entirely different from the renovating, renewing quality of energy itself.The highest form of this energy, the apogee, is the state …

Creative EnergyNow the question is: Is there an energy which is not within the field of thought, which is not the result of self-contradictory, compulsive energy, of self-fulfilment as frustration? You understand the question? I hope I am making myself clear. Because, unless we find the quality of that energy which is not merely the product of thou…

Where There Is Contradiction There Is ConflictYou see that most of us are in conflict, live a life contradiction, not only outwardly, but also inwardly. Contradiction implies effort.... Where there is effort, there is wastape ther.waste of energy. Where there is contradiction, there is conifers Where there is conflict, there is effort to get over t…

The Pattern of an IdeaIf you say, "How am I to save energy?" then you have created a pattern of an idea-how to save it and then conduct your life according to that pattern; therefore, there begins again a contradiction. Whereas if you perceive for yourself where your energies are being wasted, you will see that the principal force causing the waste…

Duality Creates ConflictConflict of any kind-physically. psychologically, actually is a waste of energy. Please, it is extraordinary difficult to understand and to be free of this because most of brought up to struggle to make effort. When we are at school, thar the first thing that we are taught to make an effort. And the struggle, that effort is …

Energy Creates Its Own DisciplineTo seek reality requires immense energy, and if man is not doing that he dissipates his energy in ways that create mischief, and therefore society has to control him. Now, is it possible to liberate energy in seeking God or truth and, in the process of discovering what is true, to be a citizen who understands the fu…

Observe How Habits Are FormedWithout freedom from the past there is no freedom at all, because the mind is never new, fresh, innocent. It is only the fresh, innocent mind that is free. Freedom has nothing to do with age, it has nothing to do with experience, and it seems to me that the very essence of freedom lies in understanding the whole mechani…

The Interval Between ThoughtsNow, I say it is definitely possible for the mind to be free from all conditioning-not that you should accept my authority. If you accept it on authority, you will never discover, it will be another substitution and that will have no significance....The understanding of the whole process of conditioning does not come to…

The Burden of the UnconsciousInwardly, unconsciously, there is the tremendous weight of the past pushing you in a certain direction....Now, how is one to wipe all that away? How is the unconscious to be cleansed immediately of the past? The analysts think that the unconscious can be partially or even completely cleansed through analysis through inv…

No Part of the Mind Is UnconditionedYour mind is conditioned right through there is no part of you which is unconditioned. That is a fact, whether you like it or not. You may say there is a part of you the watcher, the supersoul, the atma-which is not conditioned; but because you think about it, it is within the field of thought, therefore, it is c…

Simple AwarenessSurely any form of accumulation, either of knowledge experience, any form of ideal, any projection of the mind, awy determined practice to shape the mind what it should be and should not be all this is obviously crippling the process of investigation and discovery....So I think our inquiry must be not for the solution of our immedia…

Freedom from ConditioningThe desire to free oneself from conditioning only furthers conditioning. But if, instead of trying to suppress desire, one understands the whole process of desire, in that very understanding there comes freedom from conditioning. Freedom from conditioning is not a direct result. Do you understand? If I set about deliberatel…

There Is No Noble or Better ConditioningDoes not the urge of the mind to free itself from its conditioning set going another pattern of resistance and conditioning? Having become aware of the pattern or mould in which you have grown up, you want to be free from it; but will not this desire to be free condition the mind again in a different manner?T…

Awareness May Burn Away the ProblemsAll thinking obviously is conditioned; there is no such thing as free thinking. Thinking can never be free, it is the outcome of our conditioning, of our background, of our culture, of our climate, of our social, economic, political background. The very books that you read and the very practices that you do are a…

Freedom from the SelfTo free the mind from all conditioning, you must see the reality of it without thought. This is not a conundrum; experiment with it and you will see. Do you ever see anything without thought?have you ever listened, looked, without bringing in this whole process of reaction? You will say that it is impossible to see without thou…

All Thought Is PartialYou and I realize that we are conditioned. If you say, as some people do that conditioning is inevitable, then there is no problem:you are a slave, and that is the end of it. But if you begin to ask yourself whether it is at all possible to break down this limitation.this conditioning, then there is a problem; so you will have…

Subtle TruthYou have the flash of understanding, that extraordinary humidity of insight, when the mind is very still, when thought is rapidity ant when the mind is not burdened with its own noise. So, the understanding of anything-of a modern picture, of a child, of your wife, of your neighbour, or the understanding of truth, which is in all things…