illusion; we must consider together the whole phenomenon of existence in which
all these things are included.
As we now are, we are composed of many fragments. We are made up of
many people: the good, the bad, the greedy, the ambitious, the one that is in
sorrow, and the one that is seeking the understanding of and the escape from
sorrow. We are all this fragmentation not only inwardly but also outwardly,
because we are the world and the world is us. Society is made, put together by us,
and though we are caught in it, we are part of it; we have constructed it, and we
have to understand this whole phenomenon of existence.
So let us look first at our lives, your life, not the life of any saint, not the life
described in any book, not the life of your favorite guru, not the life that you
want to live, but the actual daily life: the monotony of it, the boredom of it, the
loneliness of it, the fear of it, the aggression, the violence, the sexual pleasures,
the joy, the shallow mind, the shoddy life, the unthinking acceptance, imitation,
conformity. All that is our life, your daily life. That’s what we have to understand
and, in the very process of understanding, see if we can bring about a radical
change in all that; see whether it is possible to end all sorrow in our life, to be
free from all fear, to find out for ourselves what it means to love, and what death
is—the thing that so many fear. All that is our life. We have to look at what
actually is and not get frightened about it or feel there is no hope or that there is
hope. First we have to look at it.
Can you look at your life? If you do look at your own life don’t you find a
great sense of striving, of insufficiency, conformity, fear, the pursuit of pleasure?
Don’t you find that your life as it is lived, whether you are aware of it or not, is
bound with fear, with anxiety, a great sense of loneliness and utter boredom?
And not being able to solve this we run away from it. So that is our life. And is it
possible to change it at all, not only the outward circumstances but the inner
structure which has created the outer? Is it possible to change radically the
psychological nature of ourselves? If it is not possible, then you have no energy.
If it is possible, you are full of energy. We have concluded that it is not possible,
that we cannot possibly, totally change. We have got into the habit of living with
fear, living with sorrow, hiding ourselves from our own secret miseries. So we
have made life into something that we think cannot possibly be changed, and
therefore we escape from that central issue.
We are going to find out whether, whatever we are, intellectual or emotional,
living a shallow, bourgeois existence, with a middle-class outlook on the whole
of life, it is possible to change at all. We are going to investigate together. When
we are exploring together it means that you must also share, you must also be
very serious to find out for yourself whether it is possible to change. And this
change cannot take place except in relationship. You cannot go away into
isolation and try to dissolve all your troubles. They can only be solved in
relationship, because it’s only in relationship that you discover all your troubles,
all your miseries, all your confusion. It’s our problem together; it’s our misery.
This is our Earth to live on, to be happy, to enjoy the beauty of nature, of life, not
everlastingly live in sorrow, confusion, misery. So, together we have to solve
this. Together means relationship.
michael s
(Michael S)
#1