K: No, sir, look. The questioner says that when there is anger, there is no
observer or the observed; there is only the reaction of anger, and when he uses
the word anger, that very verbal description of the feeling brings about the
observer who is different from the observed. Right? Do you see all this? When
you are angry, at that second there is neither the observer nor the observed, but a
moment later or a second later begins the observer saying, “I must not be angry,”
or “I was justified in being angry.” Then there is division between the observer
and the observed—not at the moment of anger. Now, at the moment of any crisis
there is neither the observer nor the observed because the thing is demanding,
and we cannot live at that heightened intensity all the time. Therefore we resort
to the observer and the observed. Then from that arises a question—I cannot go
into it now, but you can see it for yourself—which is, Can the mind live without
any challenge whatsoever? Most of us need challenges; otherwise, we will go to
sleep. Challenge means that you are asked of, pushed, demanded of, you are
driven. So you have to find out whether a mind can live without any challenge at
all, which means a mind that is completely awake.
Q: When you are attentive then you form images; it is only when you are
inattentive that there are no images?
K: Look, sir, if you insult me and I react to your insult, what takes place? You
have left, by your insult, a mark, a memory on my mind, haven’t you? The next
time I meet you, you are not my friend because it has left a mark. If you flatter
me, that has also left a mark, and the next time I meet you, you are my friend.
That is, any imprint on the mind is the formation of an image, and we are
pointing out that when the mind is crowded with images, burdened with images,
it is not free and therefore it must live in conflict.