Word Gems: Krishnamurti: Feb 15 1953

excerpts

Editor’s note: This is a strange question. The lady is saying, how rude of you to awaken me to my illusions. I was happy when fast asleep, but now you’ve ruined me.

Question: My life is one constant adjustment with my husband, with my relations. I thought I was happy; but I have heard you, and the bleakness of my life has been laid bare. What is the use of my listening to you if what you talk about does not bring light to my ordinary everyday life?

Krishnamurti: Is it not important to be stripped off of all Illusions? Is it not important to find out what actually one is, to find out the events in the world? You cannot do it through a Socialist, Communist, Capitalist or religious point of view; you must see them as they are. Then you can deal with them. But if you live in an illusory world and through that illusion look at various problems, then there is no resolution of those problems.

The question appears to be this: should one be stripped of these illusions to see exactly what one is? Is it not necessary to be aware, to be conscious of this bleakness?

After all, we are human beings without joy, without happiness, in sorrow, exploiting others; that is our actual state - using others for our fulfilment, either the State or the party or the idea. We are empty human beings. Inwardly, we are very lonely, afraid, dependent on so many people, on so many ideas, without love; that is what actually we are.

Can't we look at it and must we not know of it? Can we avoid it? We try to avoid it by going to cinemas, reading books, doing various activities; but the fact still remains that, behind these activities, we are dull human beings, unhappy, living in miserable conditions. Is it not important to face that fact, to know exactly what we are? When we know what we are actually, then what happens? Then we try to alter that, to consciously bring about a change. Do you understand Sirs, what I am saying?

We are living in a world of escapes, in a world of mass illusion; we run away from things as they are actually; and when somebody, anybody, brings them to us and makes us look at the actuality of them, we don't like it. And then we try to do something about `what is', the actuality; this is again creating resistance, again running away from it.

So that is our difficulty. If I know I am lonely, if I am antisocial, if I am greedy, if I am afraid, I want somebody to tell me what to do. If I am aware of my greed, if I am conscious of it, then my immediate reaction is to act upon it, to do something about it. So I set the chain going again - which is, to do something about it, to create resistance against it. If I can look at it, be with it, live with it, if I can get acquainted with all the intricacies of it, then there is a possibility of going beyond it. But as long as I am desirous of operating on what I am, I can never deal with it. I am lonely, I am afraid, I am unhappy; if I can look at this without any kind of compulsion, without any kind of interpretation, then an unconscious revolution takes place.

We want to act consciously and our conscious action is very limited; because, our minds are conditioned all the time. It does not matter whose thought it is, all thinking is conditioned, all thinking is reaction; and thought is not productive, it does not bring about freedom. What brings about freedom is when the conscious mind is quiet, when the whole being is quiet with the fact - with the fact of loneliness, with the fact of fear, with the fact that `I hate', with the fact that "I am ambitious". When the mind is silent with the fact, then there is an unconscious revolution. The revolution is in releasing creativity. It is that revolution that is so essential in bringing a creative society into being.

But, you see, we never come to that point; we are always wanting to do something about the fact - the fact that I am unhappy, the fact that I am depressed, ambitious. The moment I recognise the fact, my mind is operating upon it to alter it, to see whether it can control it, to shape it. That is the mind.

The conscious mind does not face the fact and remain with the fact, without any desire to alter, to bring about a change in it. Real acceptance means seeing the thing as it is. Then I assure you there is the revolution of the unconscious, the revolution without motives.

That is the only true revolution; because, in that revolution, there is the release of creativity, that creativity which is love.