Krishnamurti: The Talks on Freedom - The Way of Change: Listening without Motive

                                                                       Listening Without Motive

                                                                                                           "In listening is transformation."
                                                                 (The Way of Intelligence: Chapter 2, Part 3; 3rd Seminar, Madras, January 16, 1981)

                                                                                 "In listening, there is no time."
                                                                          (Jayakar Biography: Chapter 32, page 372)

                                                     “Listening has importance only when one is not projecting one's own desires through which one
                                                                listens. Can one put aside all these screens through which we listen, and really listen?”
                                                                          (Book of Life Daily Medtations: 'Putting aside screens' - January 2, 2008)

Do we really feel that it is this simple - that listening by itself will bring about transformation? Many will say that people have listened for centuries, yet man has not changed. But have they actually listened to another (as well as to nature and the environment around them at the same time) - or have they been listening only to themselves?

Have you ever listened to another without all the usual reactions of the mind to what you are hearing? And are not these reactions the things your mind is paying attention to?

Of course, this is just another case of where the talks lose us. It cannot possibly be as simple as just listening. We are inherently suspicious of simplicity, believing that only in complexity is the truth to be found. That is why we have created a society in the hands of myriad experts (and driven leaders, like the new U.S. President, Barack Obama). We distrust simple things and people who have no authority, academic standing or established social position. Can we take in the statement that by actually paying full attention and listening to what is being said (ie, to the reflected mirror of the talks) that we can change?

What is the relationship between listening and learning? Is not someone who is actively listening, also learning? You cannot learn by accumulating knowledge, as life is new all the time. This is a very difficult aspect to see - that all knowledge, even from past experiences, must end so that one can see anew in the present. The accumulator is the self, and the self is the antithesis of learning. To learn, the state of mind has to be in a position where it doesn't know, where it demands to find out. All the past is a burden that holds back this state of mind.

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Is there such a thing as altruism? The word means: 'the quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others.' (Not to be confused with empathy, which is a feeling of closeness to another whose feelings are recognized and identified with.) Can a self-centered mind take a premeditated action that is entirely unselfish? Does not one have to look at the underlying motive? Do the carers, charity workers, social workers, doctors, psychologists, and philanthropists do their work out of unselfish concern, or is there always the taint of what do I (can I) get out of this? For instance, if a social worker says he feels good by tending to or giving his time to others, is not the primary motive this reward of feeling good about themselves, of boosting their self-esteem - which is pleasure?

This is not to deny for one moment the instances of spontaneous actions of help and goodwill. People will act entirely unselfishly in moments of immediate injury and danger experienced by others - this is undeniable. If you observe carefully though, when these actions occur they arise instantaneously, without premeditated thought. The minute you start mulling over or delaying whether to take action or not, behind this thinking process - whether overt or hidden - is the primary motive: 'What can I get out of this?' This lies at the very core of selfishness. It is not readily acknowledged by the populace, by social authorities.

This is only fitting in a society that is founded on reward; where everyone accepts this as a natural way of acting. Indeed, if you consistently take actions without any overt social reward - monetary, psychologically, status-wise - people will begin to question why you are doing it, searching for some hidden motive or agenda.

Morality itself is only social convention, which changes over time. What we see as progress in moral standards, in moral conventions, is merely conformity to changing values, to broader views of what is in society's interest. Collective self-interest (self-protection) becomes as important as individual self-interest. Nations will act together, will join together, because to do so will bring greater benefits for the individual states. Behind all this so-called evolution of a greater empathy, a greater cooperation... is base self-gain.

This raises the question whether all thought has an inner motive behind it - that is, is all thought self-centered? Even so-called necessary practical thought about everyday life matters - does all this have an element of gain in it, an ambition to achieve something, or live up to an idealized image? Does not this thought have to fall away (that is, the self fall away) before humans will act truly cooperatively and altruistically?

To summarize: Is not all premeditated action done with a motive? Indeed, can thought be without motive at all? Do we not listen in order to get something out of it? Do we not take social action for the greaer gain of socity itself? With the talks, are we listening without any desire whatsoever, or is there something we want at the end of it - enlightenment, freedom from suffering, becoming an authority, etc? Can we listen completely and dispassionately, which means to listen entirely objectively, indifferent to any desire or bias?
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What is Total Listening?
            (Enlightenment: The Key to the Door)

"Listening is an art not easily come by, but in it there is beauty and great understanding. We listen with the various depths of our being, but our listening is always with a preconception or from a particular point of view. We do not listen simply; there is always the intervening screen of our own thoughts, conclusions, and prejudices....

To listen there must be an inward quietness, a freedom from the strain of acquiring, a relaxed attention. This alert yet passive state is able to hear what is beyond the verbal conclusion. Words confuse; they are only the outward means of communication; but to commune beyond the noise of words, there must be in listening an alert passivity.

Those who love may listen; but it is extremely rare to find a listener. Most of us are after results, achieving goals; we are forever overcoming and conquering, and so there is no listening. It is only in listening that one hears the song of the words."
(Book of Life Daily Meditations: 'Beyond the Noise of Words' - January 3, 2009; ellipsis and paragraphs added)
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Q: “Why is it so difficult to empty one's mind?

K: “Now just listen to that question. Why is it so difficult to empty the mind? Listen to this. The speaker stated: meditation is the emptying of the mind of the activity of the self. You heard it. You have drawn a conclusion from it, saying, "How am I to do it?" - and in the very doing of it, it has become very difficult. So you ask the question, "Why is it so difficult to empty the mind?" That is, you haven't listened to the statement at all....

But if you listen to it, listen to the statement, knowing you can't do a thing about it, just listen to it - look sirs, I listen to that aeroplane, listen to it. Listen to it without any resistance...

Whereas if you just listen to that aeroplane without any resistance, then what takes place? You are just listening. There is no difficulty.... If you listened totally and completely then that very act of listening has produced in the mind a movement which is not the activity of the self. And that movement operates in daily life without any difficulty.”
(Collected Works: Saanen, 7th Public Talk, 29th July, 1973; paragraphs and ellipses added)
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