Zondag 29 juli 2007 - Krishnamurti

'Truth is a pathless land'

De gedachten van Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895 – 1986) en die van De Mello vertonen overeenkomsten. Het hele denken van Krishnamurti kan in één zin samengevat worden: ‘Truth is a pathless land’, de waarheid is een land zonder vooraf bestaande wegen. Gedurende zestig jaar heeft Krishnamurti deze stelling verkondigd en uitgelegd. Het ideaal van menselijk leven bestaat in ‘choiceless awareness’, ook vaak gezegd en uitgelegd. Onderstaand twee teksten uit ‘The book of life’, een bundeling van korte teksten van Krishnamurti die vaak als dagboek gebruikt wordt. De eerste gaat over het verband tussen ‘awareness’ (De Mello) en een relatie, de andere over ‘emptiness’, een centraal begrip uit Zen.

'To understand relationship, there must be a passive awareness, which does not destroy relationship. On the contrary, it makes relationship much more vital, much more significant. Then there is in that relationship a possibility of real affection; there is a warmth, a sense of nearness, which is not mere sentiment or sensation. And if we can so approach or be in that relationship to everything, then our problems will be easily solved - the problems of property, the problems of possession. Because, we are that which we possess. The man who possesses money is the money. The man who identifies himself with property is the property, or the house, or the furniture. Similarly with ideas, or with people; and when there is possessiveness, there is no relationship. But most of us possess because we have nothing else, if we do not possess. We are empty shells if we do not possess, if we do not fill our life with furniture, with music, with knowledge, with this or that. And that shell makes a lot of noise, and that noise we call living; and with that we are satisfied. And when there is a disruption, a breaking away of that, then there is sorrow because then you suddenly discover yourself as you are - an empty shell, without much meaning. So, to be aware of the whole content of relationship is action; and from that action there is a possibility of true relationship, a possibility of discovering its great depth, its great significance, and of knowing what love is.'

Het mooiste zinnetje uit de eerste tekst vind ik: 'Then there is in that relationship a possibility of real affection'. De keuze van het woord 'affectie' lijkt me hier heel gelukkig. Als mensen elkaar nabij zijn, kunnen ze voeling met elkaar hebben. Maar ze kunnen elkaar ook iets aan-doen, de letterlijke betekenis van 'affectie'.

'What happens when you lose someone by death? The immediate reaction is a sense of paralysis, and when you come out of that state of shock, there is what we call sorrow. Now, what does that word sorrow mean? The companionship, the happy words, the walks, the many pleasant things you did and hoped to do together - all this is taken away in a second, and you are left empty, naked, lonely. That is what you are objecting to, that is what the mind rebels against: being suddenly left to itself, utterly lonely, empty, without any support. Now, what matters is to live with that emptiness, just to live with it without any reaction, without rationalizing it, without running away from it to mediums, to the theory of reincarnation, and all that stupid nonsense - to live with it with your whole being. And if you go into it step by step you will find that there is an ending of sorrow - a real ending, not just a verbal ending, not the superficial ending that comes through escape, through identification with a concept, or commitment to an idea. Then you will find there is nothing to protect, because the mind is completely empty and is no longer reacting in the sense of trying to fill that emptiness; and when all sorrow has thus come to an end, you will have started on another journey - a journey that has no ending and no beginning. There is an immensity that is beyond all measure, but you cannot possibly enter into that world without the total ending of sorrow...'.

Uit de tweede tekst moet je vooral letten op: 'And if you go into it step by step you will find that there is an ending of sorrow...'. Daar spreekt iemand die ervaring heeft met het Zen-begrip 'leegte'.