The nature of the mind
Scientists Discussion 1
The roots of psychological disorder
Scientists Discussion 1 Ojai, California
April 16, 1982
Q: What is the source of psychological disorder? Is not the self the beginning of all disorder? I have created society through my anxiety, through my desire for security, through my desire to have power. Like the animal. It’s biologically inherited. Also my own individualistic activity has created this society. Is it possible to be free of my conditioning? If my relationship with life is not 'right' how can I find out something that’s immensely beyond all this, beyond time, beyond thought, beyond measure? Will knowledge transform me? Is there a deep, abiding security?
Scientists Discussion 2
Psychological suffering
Scientists Discussion 2 Ojai, California
April 17, 1982
What is security? I have an image about myself. I am a great cook, a great scientist, a great carpenter, whatever you will. I have got that picture in myself and you come along and put a pin into it. And that gets hurt, the image gets hurt. The image is me. What is a human being? You are not basically different from me. You may be tall, you may be born in England, I may be born in Africa, I have dark skin, but deep down, the river, the content of the river is the water. The river is not an Asiatic river or European river, it is a river. Love is not English, American or Indian. Agony is not yours or mine, it is agony. But we identify ourselves with agony - it is my agony, which is not yours. Why do we want to identify with something? Is there a learning about oneself which is not constant accumulation about myself?
Scientists Discussion 3
The need for security
Scientists Discussion 3 Ojai, California
April 17, 1982
Why do we want security? Am I separate from the agony I go through? When one is frightened, actually, there is no me separate from fear. The whole content of one’s consciousness is unclear, messy. There is no part of it that is clear. We think there is a part, which is the observer, separating himself from the mess. The observer is the observed. When there is observation that consciousness is messy, that fact can only exist when there is total attention. When there is total attention, confusion doesn’t exist anymore. It is only inattention that creates the problems. If I know how to read myself I don’t need anybody to tell me. But we have never attempted deeply to read the book of myself. I come to you and say, ‘Please, help me to read,’ and then the whole thing is lost. You must be free to examine. Free from your prejudice, from your previous experience, otherwise you can’t examine. You can’t investigate. Investigare means explore, push it, push it, further and further. Are you willing to do that, so that actually the self is not?
Scientists Discussion 4
What is a healthy mind?
Scientists Discussion 4 Ojai, California
April 18, 1982
What is analysis and what is observation? Attention implies a great deal of care, affection, love. It’s not just mental attention, it’s attention with all your being. You have established a kind of relationship, perhaps very profound, when there is love. I may reject you but you have that responsibility of love - not only to the particular person but to the whole of humanity. What is an enemy? Is there such thing as an enemy? I am mankind. Because I suffer or I enjoy, I go through all the tortures, and so do you. You are the rest of mankind, and therefore you have a terrible responsibility for that, in that. Is there anything sacred in life? Not thought creating something sacred and then worshipping that as sacred, which is absurd. If there is something beyond, why do we create the symbol, the intermediary? If I want to find out if there is anything sacred I must start very near. The very near is me. Can I free myself from fear, agony, sorrow, despair? When there is freedom I can move, I can climb mountains. Is silence of the mind a state of attention? What is a healthy mind?