Though we are in turmoil and sorrow, with passing pleasures, why does the self cling to outer and inner gratifications, to pursuits that inevitably bring pain and misery?
The thirst for positive activity as opposed to negation makes us strive to be; our striving makes us feel that we are alive, that there is a purpose to our life, that we shall progressively throw off the causes of conflict and sorrow. We feel that if our activity stopped, we would be nothing, we would be lost, life would have no meaning at all; so we keep going in conflict, in confusion, in antagonism…
The cause of this inward emptiness is the desire to become; and, do what you will, this emptiness can never be filled. You may escape from it in a crude way, or with refinement; but it is as near to you as your shadow. You may not want to look into this emptiness, but nevertheless it is there…
Apart from its name, attributes, idiosyncrasies, possessions, what is the self?
Is there the "I," the self, when its qualities are taken away? It is this fear of being nothing that drives the self into activity; but it is nothing, it is an emptiness. If we are able to face that emptiness, to be with that aching loneliness, then fear altogether disappears and a fundamental transformation takes place.
For this to happen, there must be the experiencing of that nothingness which is prevented if there is an experiencer.
If there is a desire for the experiencing of that emptiness in order to overcome it, to go above and beyond it, then there is no experiencing; for the self, as an identity, continues. If the experiencer has an experience, there is no longer the state of experiencing.
It is the experiencing of what is without naming it that brings about freedom from what is.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti, Commentaries on Living Series 1
May we allow ourselves freedom,
Simeon
Quote of the Week
“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.”
— Yasutani Roshi (attributed)
Christ & Buddha: Love or Detachment?
Is love a form of attachment, or can it exist beyond the need to possess? This video examines the teachings of Christ and the Buddha, uncovering how love and detachment are not contradictions but complementary forces that dissolve the illusion of separation and lead us toward genuine connection.
Suggested Reading
"I Am That" by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
What remains when the self dissolves? In I Am That, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj guides readers beyond identity and illusion to the direct experience of being. His words are simple yet radical, pointing to the freedom that lies in embracing nothingness without fear.