Knowing oneself is the beginning of freedom
Public Talk 1
Action not based on knowledge
Public Talk 1 Bombay
January 24, 1979
One can observe what is going on in the world, but it is difficult to observe the state of one’s mind and heart. You are not different from anybody else, psychologically. Investigation implies a mind capable of observation, action and perception, seeing what is true and false. What place has knowledge psychologically in our relationship with each other? The intellect is not the whole nature of man. Is there a possibility of action without constant battle and desire for something more?
Public Talk 2
Security not based on thought
Public Talk 2 Bombay
January 27, 1979
The art of learning, which is not memorising, comes about by listening and seeing what is false and true. The self, the ‘you’, is knowledge. It is possible not to dream when problems are resolved instantly and not carried over. Fear is great pressure on the brain: it cannot act fully. Is it possible to be free of fear? Have you realised thought is never still?
Public Talk 3
Desire, will, pleasure and sorrow
Public Talk 3 Bombay
January 28, 1979
Why have religions said you must control desire? Will and desire, with which one acts, is energy operating in one direction. Is there is a way of living without the operation of will? There is a different kind of operation, function or action when all the senses are in harmony and move together. Is pleasure love? If you have not ended sorrow, you cannot have compassion, and compassion is love.
Public Talk 4
Time, death, space and meditation
Public Talk 4 Bombay
January 31, 1979
Time is a factor in our life as a movement of avoiding, running away, suppressing or transcending. If you don’t understand the meaning of living, you won’t understand the meaning of dying. Order can only come into being when there is pure observation. Space implies emptiness. Death is the ending of that which had continuity. Meditation implies the emptiness of consciousness, in which there is no ripple of thought.