Understanding ourselves
Public Talk 1
Living without resistance
Public Talk 1 Brockwood Park
September 06, 1969
Is it possible for human beings to find out if they can live in a state of non-duality? The very nature of thought is to divide, bring about fragmentation as the observer, the experiencer, the watcher, and the thing watched, experienced observed. A great deal of energy is necessary to be alert, aware, sensitive, to understand this separative, dualistic life of resistance. Real meditation is when the mind is aware of itself and not creating the observer, the outsider who is looking in. Q: How can you live peacefully or with any degree of happiness, knowing the terrible and heart-rending things that are going on in the world? Q: Asking us to be silently aware of ‘what is’ seems to be asking too much. The pain of ‘what is’ seems to be much more than we can bear for any length of time without trying to escape from it.
Public Discussion 2
Can I live completely without resistance?
Public Discussion 2 Brockwood Park
September 11, 1969
Is it a fact that resistance is a wastage of energy? Any form of conclusion or opinion is a resistance, and divides people. I recognise I am resisting and I am learning about it, so my mind is curious to find out why I am resisting. Why do I have opinions? Thought takes hold of natural biological urges and demands, and transforms them into something we call cravings and appetites. Resisting and yielding. Shall I resist fear by cultivating courage? Can I live without comparison?