been fixed on this little bit, and I do not know how to remove my eyes and look
at the whole. If I could look at the whole, I would see that there is no duality, no
contradiction. But if I say that I must suppress the fragment in order to see the
whole, there is duality.
R: That much is intellectually clear.
K: First, I have to understand intellectually what is being said. The intellect,
however, is only a part of the whole. You know that as long as perception is
focussed on a fragment of the carpet, there is no perception of the whole carpet.
You say that you can understand this intellectually, but then you have already
moved away from the whole. You also see that the intellect is a fragment: you
are looking at the whole with different parts. Therefore, deny the intellect.
(pause)
You see, we are used to reading in straight lines. Therefore we always think
in straight lines. If we read vertically like the Chinese do, then our thinking
would be vertical. But whether we think horizontally or vertically, thinking itself
is a linear process and, so, a form of fragmentation. So, what is the question?
(pause) Is there a perception which is non-linear and, therefore, non-
fragmentary?
How do you see something totally? What is the perception that sees the whole
structure of human life, the whole field at a glance? Look, there is the whole field
of life: the physical, the emotional, the intellectual, the psychosomatic. In that
field of existence there are various contradictions: sex, no sex; God, no God;
communism and so on; there is also sorrow, anxiety, guilt, humility, pride. Now,
how does the mind see the whole of this field? If it does not see the whole field,
but tackles merely one problem in the field, it will create mischief.
A: The seventy-five thousand years of human history has produced this; there is
no going back.
K: First listen. There is the whole field of existence, which we have described.
There are other factors also. Now, how do I look at this whole map with all its
little bridges, hamlets and towns—all that—at one glance? I cannot go up in an
aeroplane—the ātman is an aeroplane invented by thought.
You come along and tell me: Look, if you try to answer the whole problem of
existence through one fragment, you will only create more confusion. You say to
me: Therefore, see the whole of it. You say that and disappear. It is now my job
to find out. How do I set about doing it? I do not know what this total perception
is. I see the beauty, the logic and the sanity of what you say. How am I to
proceed?
A: There is a very great intensity, and passion in all this because I feel it is a
precipice. It is all there at this moment.