K: One is a formula, a conclusion, a statement; the other is a process of finding
out.
P: I find it very difficult. Do you know what you are asking, sir? You are asking
us to perceive an abstraction. Can an abstraction be perceived? The moment there
is no thought, ‘what is’ becomes an idea or an abstraction.
K: Wait. You have drawn your own conclusions when you say that it is an
abstraction; I have not come to any conclusions.
P: I ask myself: When I accept that consciousness is a product of time, is that a
statement or is it something that I see?
K: Is it a statement with a verbal meaning which I accept and which, therefore,
becomes a conclusion or, is it an actual fact, as this room is a fact, that the whole
of my brain, the whole of my consciousness, is this enormous field of time?—Is
it as concrete as that?
P: How can it be as concrete as the other?
K: I will show it to you in a minute. I see that a conclusion is not a fact because
thought has entered into it. Thought hears this statement, accepts it, makes it into
a formula and remains with that formula. That is an abstraction. A formula is an
abstraction created by thought; and therefore it is the cause of conflict. It is of the
very nature of conflict. I see that very clearly. Now, is there a perception which is
not of thought, not of the field of time as the mind? Formulas are the most deadly
things. Formulas and concepts are products of thought and, therefore, are all
within the field of time.
P: Why is it necessary to make this absolute statement at all? Why is it necessary
to make an absolute, finite statement?
K: I will show you in a minute. I am inquiring into the field of time. Time, we
said, is consciousness. Time is the result of centuries upon centuries of
experience. That is my consciousness, and consciousness is made up of all the
content. I hear you state that, and thought picks it up and makes a formula of it. I
see that the very formula is within the field of time, and that that very formula is
the factor of friction. So I do not touch it. I have negated it. I am asking myself:
Have I negated it, or am I still thinking, feeling that I have negated it? Am I still
trying to find a fact which is not within the field of time? (pause)
I am discovering something: When thought operates, it must operate within
the field of time. It must come to a conclusion; and conclusions are part of
consciousness. That is all. I now ask myself: Is there any movement of thought,
or am I pretending to myself that there is no movement of thought and that there
is only perception? When I enter this room there is no movement of thought; I
just see. When thought comes in, there is an entry into the field of time. Now I