Krishnamurti: The Talks on Freedom

                                           NOW OR NEVER
                                                                 § Compiled by : Pradeep Apte

We observe in this world:
· A tremendous conflict in all ways
· An ugliness of man’s relationship to man
· Appalling conditions of poverty
A deep PSYCHOLOGICAL REVOLUTION is needed to transform the essential quality of the human being, which is the MIND. The only possible means is through: MEDITATION

As is popularly understood MEDITATION is NOT :
· Concentration (Exclusive choice)
· Prayer (Supplication)

A Meditative Mind :
· Has a swift pliability hence is extensively and widely aware
· Understands every challenge
· Instantaneously dissolves problems
· Being free from past, can act anew and fresh
· Has complete knowledge of itself
· Thus MEDITATION is the beginning of self-knowledge
· You CANNOT Meditate WITHOUT self-knowledge
· MEDITATION is SELF-KNOWLEDGE

SELF-KNOWLEDGE is
· The total or WHOLE process of THOUGHT which is neither high nor low
· This would include:
· The open familiar thought (Conscious)
· The concealed thought (Unconscious)
This process can be uncovered IMMEDIATELY. TRUTH can be perceived DIRECTLY

What is the self ? Obviously at all levels it is MEMORY. Memory means THOUGHT
· To understand the whole process of “MYSELF” is to understand MEMORY

MEMORY IS :
· Acquired the previous minute or in the many yesterdays
· Accumulated through centuries
· Racial, national, geographical, climatic influences
· Superficial or very deep
· SELF = is the sum total of all these

To uncover ALL these layers of Memory, conscious or subconscious, implies :
· T I M E
·   Thus we are using TIME to achieve the TIMELESS
This is a WRONG means for the RIGHT end. TIME MUST NOT BE USED ! Discipline , Control , Suppression Concentration , Prayer - ALL imply TIME and MEMORY is TIME. Therefore the problem is how THOUGHT which is MEMORY can be dissolved INSTANTANEOUSLY. All other approaches are through TIME

The SELF that is YOU is a bundle of MEMORIES and it must be dissolved because MEMORY is TIME and through TIME you can never find that which is:
· Eternal
· Immeasurable
· Spaceless
· Beyond time

HOW is it to be DONE ? It can be done ONLY WHEN MEMORY COMPLETELY CEASES. Now HOW is that MEMORY to CEASE ?
The moment the mind asks this question or tries to think how to be free of MEMORY, Memory is STILL FUNCTIONING
The very QUESTION implies an ANSWER which is an outcome of MEMORY. The very wish to be free of Memory is a part of memory. THIS IS A FACT. The moment the mind FACES THE FACT that it itself is MEMORY, it does not wish to :
· Be Anything
· Transform
· Become something else

When the mind sees that ANY action on its part is still the functioning of memory and therefore it is incapable of finding truth, what then is the state of the mind ?   IT BECOMES STILL! When the mind perceives that ANY activity of its own is FUTILE, is all part of MEMORY and therefore TIME, seeing the FACT, it STOPS ! DOES IT NOT ?
The whole content of the mind, conscious and unconscious becomes STILL, now the mind
· Is without action
· Has seen that whatever it does is on a horizontal line, which is memory
· Seeing the fallacy of that IT BECOMES QUIET

The mind now
· Has no object in view
· Has no desire for a result
· Is absolutely tranquil, without movement in any direction
Therefore what has happened ? The mind IS TRANQUIL, it has not been MADE TRANQUIL
· See the difference between the mind that is PUT TO SLEEP and the mind that IS QUIET

In that state you will find :
· An enormous movement
· An extreme vitality
· A newness
· Peace and alertness

All positive action has ceased and the mind is in a state of HIGHEST INTELLIGENCE. Because it has approached the problem of memory through NEGATIVE THINKING , which is the highest form of thinking
The mind now is :
· Peaceful, swift yet still
· Not exclusive, not concentrating or focussing
· Extremely aware

In that AWARENESS
· There is no choice but of seeing things as they are
· There is no distortion
· All verbalization, all mentation or intellect has completely stopped
· There is a stillness which is NOT INDUCED
· A stillness in which the mind is using NO THOUGHT to revive itself
· There is neither thinker (Experiencer) nor the thought (Experience)
· Because both come into being by the thought process which has now ENTIRELY STOPPED

The mind which was a product of TIME has completely transformed itself and now is WITHOUT TIME. It is in a state of EXPERIENCING ONLY. THAT which is WITHOUT TIME is
· ETERNAL
· Immeasurable
· Without cause, therefore without effect
· and that which is WITHOUT CAUSE IS REAL

You can experience it NOW, but NOT through centuries of practice, discipline or control. IT MUST BE : NOW OR NEVER !

Another way to go about in understanding yourself is by asking the: MOST IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION
The most IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION would be :
· How is the mind to observe the whole content of itself at once ?
· OR How am I to comprehend myself completely and immediately ? That is in one stroke

MYSELF being :
· My past
· The Experiences
· The hurts
· The anxieties
· The desires
· The ambitions
· The Conditionings
· The guilts
· The various fears
· And much more….

Can all this be understood or seen in one glance ? Or in one shot ?
· That is the most IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION
· Isn’t it ?
The answer to this question is very straightforward : YOU CAN’T DO IT !
And, if you expect somebody to answer that question, then you already know and you’d get all the answers. But a mind that HONESTLY says that it does not know is NOT expecting anything from anybody. So it is ALONE, NOT ISOLATED. Thus in replying the most impossible question the mind has EMPTIED ITSELF OF EVERYTHING:
Every Suggestion

Every Possibility

Every Probability

ALL ARE GONE !

So the mind is completely active and EMPTY of ALL the PAST, which is:
· Time
· Analysis
· The authority of somebody

So the mind has exposed ALL the content of itself by denying the content
· Thus in understanding the WHOLE CONTENT, it has EMPTIED ITSELF
This brings about a great energy that COMPLETELY TRANSFORMS all the activity of the mind, there is:
· No Self-centeredness
· Therefore no cause for CONFLICT or FRICTION
Such a mind is a MIND IN MEDITATION and ONLY such a Mind is capable of comprehending the:
REALITY or
TRUTH or
LOVE

The mind that wishes to understand meditation must begin to understand itself NOT IN ISOLATION BUT IN RELATIONSHIPS

Mind that is a product of TIME can be free from time NOT EVENTUALLY BUT IMMEDIATELY. That freedom comes through a right approach. And MEDITATION is the right approach to ALL human problems
The positive approach is conditioned by a pattern of action. Meditation is the negative approach. Therefore it is the HIGHEST form of thinking, which is, NOT THINKING

ALL thinking is of TIME
To understand a human problem there must be NO THOUGHT PROCESS
To free the mind from the thought process is to MEDITATE

And you CANNOT MEDITATE WITHOUT SELF-KNOWLEDGE. ONLY where there is SELF-KNOWLEDGE of which MEDITATION is the beginning, does REALITY come into being and it is :

         REALITY THAT LIBERATES