Datasets:
eliwill
/
krishnamurti_discussions

Dataset card Data Studio Files Community
text
stringlengths
12
1.33k
What is habit - repetition. Doing the same thing over and over and over again. Right?
Habit. Something... sir, go on. Do you want to go into this?
Conscious habits. The whole enigma of oneself is a habit. That's just it.
Don't enlarge, take one thing and go right through it. Don't substitute one word for another word, because then we get lost. I have habits.
I have been brought up in a communist world and I have that peculiar habit of thinking on those lines. I have been brought up in a world of Islam, and I do that. So, habit is established, very deeply, from childhood - habit of thinking that I must do this or I must not do that.
Right? Consciously I know; and unconsciously there are all the racial habits. Right?
No? Oh lord! Am I talking to myself?
Unconsciously there is the whole habit of a culture. So my whole consciousness may be the result of habits. No?
Yes. You're saying 'yes'? Now I am aware - there is an awareness of this - the mechanical habits of thinking as an Englishman, Frenchman and so on, as a communist, socialist, labour, believing in god, not believing in god, I'm a Catholic, you are a Protestant, I am this - you follow?
It is all habit, habit, habit, propaganda. Now, I am aware of it, aware this thing exists as a cloud in which my whole mind is caught - not only the habit of getting up regularly in the morning at six o'clock. If I don't get up at six o'clock I feel upset.
You know, all that business. I'm aware of all that - the mechanical process of habits. Now, how is the mind to break from that and not fall into another habit?
(Inaudible) I don't know anything about it, sir, tell me what to do - I'm caught in this. You cannot think about it. You are saying you cannot think about it.
So thought may be a habit, thought may be a habit. You have an awakening. An awakening - how am I to be awakened?
When you say 'I', do you mean mind? My mind, sir, quick to get on. If my mind is thought, is the mind anything else than thought?
I realise that the mind, the body, all our feelings are caught in habits. And my habit is to drink. I somehow got into the habit of drinking - slightly getting tipsy all the time.
What am I to do? How am I to end it without any form of resistance. Sir, I had never smoked in my life, but after the war we got lots of cigarettes in Geneva, and I smoked a few, and I suddenly felt my hand go into my pocket.
And I saw the stupidity and I stopped smoking and without any resistance... You dropped it. Yes. But that was a very short habit.
(Laughter) Oh, lordy, come on sirs! I've a long habit of drinking. I used to know a friend in California, he had to drive home every night, always a little stoned, and he didn't know quite which side of the white line he was driving, and he survived.
But I wouldn't. So, I'm in that position - I drink an awful lot, quietly in my room or... so on. What am I to do?
I had been smoking for sixteen years, and three years ago I dropped it, but I don't know how. The gentleman says he doesn't know how he stopped - he'd been smoking for sixteen years, three years ago he dropped it, he has now stopped. That doesn't solve my problem.
I want to know, how to end my drinking without any resistance. You can't... Work at it, sir, you just answer. I don't know.
Please, it's my problem, help me. Don't throw words at me. If you have helped me to stop, then... (Inaudible) My habit is to force a certain way of feeling myself and that way of feeling myself affects the habit.
If I could become more deeply aware of this way of feeling myself... Sir, have you a problem of habit? Not you... Have any of you a problem of habit? All right.
Take it up, look at it, and see how you will be able to resolve it totally. (Inaudible) No, madam, take a habit I said, don't elaborate, take a habit that you have, which you feel is not pleasant and you want to end it. And you want to end it so that your mind doesn't go through tortures, so that you come out of it clean, healthy, happily.
Drop it. Now, will you investigate the cause of that habit? You can trace it, can't you?
It will take time. It doesn't matter - it may take time. Don't quote me, please, look at it.
You can trace it. At school as a boy I smoked, it was a habit, and gradually fall into it. It tasted filthy but I... and I keep at it.
Now, I know the cause. And I see merely the investigation and trying to find the cause of it doesn't end it. Right?
And mere decision, say, 'I must not', makes for more conflict. My hand goes to my pocket and I say, 'Oh, for god's sake', you know, all the things I go through - torture myself. And I say I don't want to do that - and yet I want to be free of this terrible thing - this thing which is my habit.
Now how am I to do it? (Inaudible). That's right, sir - not ending it totally.
Now, I'll show you something. Shall we go ahead together? Right.
I want to end it - 'I' means, you know, it must be ended, don't quibble over 'I' for the moment. I want to end it. And I want to end it so that at the end of it I have got much more vitality - you understand?
- much more energy. And I won't lose that energy or that vitality in fighting a habit. So at the end when I have dropped it, it is like a new - you follow?
- not just a dissipated old man who has wasted his energy fighting. So I say I must approach it differently. Now what is the approach?
I must begin not with the problem, but somewhere else. Right? I am going to go into it.
Because the more I pay attention to the problem the stronger the problem becomes. Are you following this? I am in the habit of smoking, or drinking, whatever it is, the more I give attention to it, say, 'I must', 'must not' - you follow?
- I am giving all my energy to something that is very trivial. Right? It may be a tremendous problem to me but it is a trivial problem.
Are we meeting each other? So I must begin somewhere else in which the little problem is absorbed, devoured. I don't know if you... Are we meeting?
I must find energy which will not be dissipated by the little problem which I have. If I give attention to that little problem I am wasting energy. So I must find a greater energy which will in its action dissolve the little problem.
Have we understood that, intellectually even, have we, please, are we meeting each other? Right. So where am I to begin?
Where I'll have energy, and when I come to the little problem, the little problem with its triviality is dissolved instantly. I must begin somewhere else. Am I making myself clear?
Now where shall I begin? You understand? They used to say - the old generation - 'Begin with God'.
You follow? You understand? 'Put your faith in God, put your faith in something higher'.
Again that is useless. So I must find a way of never wasting energy because resistance is a wastage of energy, conflict is a wastage of energy, decision is a wastage of energy. I don't know if you are...
So I must find a way of awakening this total energy. Now, I'll go into that. Shall we go into that, if you have understood my problem, if I have made the problem clear.
I am going to begin by being aware, not practising awareness. The moment I decide to practise awareness it is a wastage of energy. I don't know if you see that.
Right? So there must be an awareness without my deciding I must be aware. Right?
There must be an awareness without my deciding that I must be aware. See the importance of just that fact. Shall we move from there?
An awareness at the core, at the centre, not at the periphery - right? - not at my habit, what I am doing, my gestures, the way I sit, but an awareness at the very core, the very centre of my being. Don't say what is your being.
At the very heart of my existence. But I have been accustomed to be aware of everything happening around me - watching the trees, watching the people, of watching what they are saying, watching my bodily movement, my twitching, my opening my mouth, putting my tongue out, you know, all kinds of awareness outwardly, at the peripheral awareness. And I say that doesn't solve, that doesn't enter into the core of it.
You understand? So I must begin at the very core of the thing. Are you doing this with me?
Now what does that mean? I move the whole emphasis from the outer, and not to the inner, but to a different dimension. I don't know if you follow this.
Am I making myself clear? No, you are clear as mud! Could you give us an example of how things happen?
Oh no, I can't do it. Just take this first. Look, sir, I said, just look at it, listen to what I'm saying.
I said, one begins to be aware on the periphery. Right? Periphery means watching the trees, the birds, the people's dresses, one's own habits.
You follow? A very superficial awareness. Right?
And then one turns to an awareness inwardly. Say from there I shall be aware. Right?
Now I am saying, don't do either but have an awareness at an altogether different level. Is that making any sense? No, please, it must be logical, otherwise it has no meaning.
Because if I am aware of outward things, then from the outer I move to the inner, then there is a division between the outer and the inner, and a time interval between the outer and the inner, a space between the outer and the inner, and from the inner I move to some other direction, which again involves time, space, effort. I don't know if you are following this. Do I see this, see it?
Intellectually, do I see this first. Begin intellectually, that is verbally, that is with my thought, using logic, using capacity to think very clearly. Do I see what is involved from moving from the outer to the inner and then trying to go somewhere else?
(Inaudible) In all this there is division - you follow? - and therefore conflict, and therefore resistance, therefore division. So there is an awareness in a different dimension.
Now with that I approach my habit. You understand what I am talking? You get what I am saying?
Am I making myself clear? No. No, no, don't say no, don't say yes or no, do it!
I see in decision there is fear involved in it, a motive, saying, 'By Jove, if I smoke I will get lung cancer, it is terrible for the heart, doctors have said it, it is appalling, and other people say, 'Smoke, old boy, it doesn't matter, after all you have ten more years or five years less, what of it? Have a good time in the meantime', and so on, so on. And I don't want to enter into all that, it is a waste of time and a wastage of energy.
And also I see any form of division implies resistance. This is all part of an awareness of the outer as well as the inner. I am giving you an example, sir.
Are you following all this? Am I moving too fast? Yes.
I am sorry, I can't - I'll go on. I see in decision, in giving up smoking, giving up a particular habit, however good, however bad - bad and good, they are just terms - I see what is involved in it, logically, I see it very clearly. Which is the awareness of the outer as well as the inner.
Right? Which is, the outer habit of smoking, and the inner habit of fear, resistance, saying. 'I must get rid of it, I must fight it, I must...' and I get caught in that.
So I see the outer as well as the inner movement of resistance and habit. Right? And I see that doesn't solve it.
So there must be an action in which there is neither resistance, nor decision, nor fear, nor a motive. Is this giving you a headache? No.
I hope it is! It's a stream of consciousness. No, no, do look at it, sir, do look, what I have said just now.
The outer and the inner, the awareness of the outer is the awareness of my habit, just the smoking, drinking, and the inner action of that habit is to fight it, resist it, decide not to, force myself, control myself, find a substitute for smoking or for drinking - chewing, or whatever it is. I see, and there is a motive behind that, and trying to conform to that motive, therefore failing in that motive, saying, 'I can't do it; I must do it', fighting - all that, saying, 'I have no strength, I am a weak man' - all that nonsense that goes on. Right?
Are you following all this? I see very clearly all that is involved in it - the outer awareness of it and the inner movement of it, and I don't want to touch it at all because that has no meaning. So when I see the thing very clearly I have already entered into a different dimension.
I don't know if you follow this. I... Not 'I', please. (Inaudible) I don't quite understand, madam.
(Inaudible) Ah, no, no, no, no, no. Do you see clearly what is involved in habit and the decision to get rid of it, do you see that very clearly, what is totally involved in it? (Inaudible) No, don't give me examples.
If you want to stop smoking... No, no. I am not interested in stopping smoking. I am much more interested in something else.
And when that operates smoking may have lost its meaning. It's a pleasure and I'm not sure I want to give it up. If you don't want to give it up, don't give it up.
For the love of Pete, let's get on with this! If you want to smoke, smoke. That's much better than fighting it.
Get to the grave as quickly as possible. Enjoy it. I am talking about a man who says, 'Look, I have got this problem - drinking, smoking, you know a great many habits which are most destructive, whether they are good or bad.
And do I after listening to you, do I see this thing completely, see it, understand it, intellectually, verbally, with my heart, with my mind, do I see this thing clearly as I see the microphone, clearly?' And see the futility of it, what is involved, conflict, you know the pain, the agony that one goes through in giving up something. How does one get into the other dimension?
Madam, I don't know what the other dimension is, you can't get into it! It will only happen if I have understood the whole complex, intricate problem of habit, resistance, fear, motive, all that is involved in that, decision. When I have seen that very, very clearly with my heart and my mind, then the other - then I have finished with it.
You see, it's like a man who has got a belief, very strong - deep rooted belief - he is attached to it, consciously or unconsciously, he can't give it up, it is part of him. And so that belief divides divides him, his family, his wife - you follow? - divides.
And he says, 'I begin to see the importance, or the danger of such a habit', and he begins to see the whole pattern of it, the whole nature and structure of belief - fear, the desire to find security in an idea. He has physical security perhaps, but he demands psychological security which is much more urgent, much deeper. And so he is attached to it, he can't break away.
And as he begins to explore, enquire, he sees the whole structure of it, the nature of it, the division between you and me as believe in this, and you believe in that. So he sees that very, very, very clearly. When he sees very clearly there is no choice in it.
He doesn't say, 'I decide to give it up'. I don't know if you are following. When he sees clearly, the habit of belief is gone, he can never be caught in it again.
So, do we see very clearly, see - not visually, of course you can't see this visually - perceive, understand, this whole structure of habit, resistance, motive, fear, decision, choice? (Inaudible) Sir, do you see it? Yes.
Ah! What is it? What is important in awareness.
Is awareness a simple act of perception? And if awareness is there the whole pattern is revealed. Is awareness, the simple act of perception, and if awareness is there, this whole pattern is revealed.
Is that what you are asking? (Inaudible) In awareness there is, the gentleman says, the decision to be aware, and also in awareness there is the act of perception. Right?
There is that which is perceived. Yes, yes, perception, the perceiver and the perceived. (Inaudible) Sir, would you please, just a minute, would you please listen?
Listen? Do you know what listening is? When I listen to you I have no other thought.
I listen to you. I have not my conclusions, my opinions, my understanding, is this right, is that wrong, should it be this way or that way, I listen to you. Right?
I am listening to that man sitting on the platform, and he says, are you aware of this whole - you are listening - he is asking me, are you listening to what I am saying. Which is, are you aware that you have got a habit, and because you have a habit, because you are aware of it, in that awareness there is the movement of decision, resistance, fear, achievement, all the rest of it - are you are listening to what is being said, he tells me. Am I listening?
Or am I saying no, I quite, I understand a little bit, I don't quite understand all of it, does he mean this, does he mean that. You follow? An act of listening is to listen from the beginning to the end, not just take one sentence, or one verb and say, does he mean...
Listening from the beginning, going through the whole of it to the end. Have you such capacity to listen? Capacity in the sense, are you listening that way?
Or you are saying, 'I began with him there, and I lost him there, now I will pick him up a little later, and I have learnt now the conclusion'. Or is it one continuous movement? I listen to that man sitting on the platform, and I have listened to him from the beginning of the word till the end, I haven't projected any of my opinions, any of my conclusions, either I understand, don't - I have listened.
That means I am going to listen to him. He says, decision implies - from the beginning, he put that question, he said what is involved in decision, why do we decide - he said decision implies choice, choice implies between the two, and we do choose between that car and that car, between that material and so on, so on, but we don't choose when we say, 'I love that woman' - do you? You don't - it doesn't matter.
And he says, resistance implies not only division but conflict. I decide to give up smoking. It is a partial act, not a total act, the decision - listen carefully to what the man is saying - the decision is partial because it is an intellectual conclusion that I must give up smoking because it is bad for you, the doctor says it will hurt your heart, your life will be in danger, therefore there is fear, therefore I have decided to give it up.
That decision is partial, not total, and therefore there is conflict between an intellectual decision and the fact that I must give it up. Right? And in that decision there is conflict because there is a motive involved in it, because there is an end towards which I am to give up.
So I say, that we know very well, that is our traditional, everyday, cultural habit, to say that is the only way to achieve something. And the man says I want to be a revolutionary, not just a traditionalist, and I want to wipe the whole thing out, look at it totally differently. So he says, be aware of this whole thing - aware of your habit.