“Ceremonies are not spiritual, nor are dogmas, nor beliefs, nor the practising of a particular system of meditation; for all these things are the outcome of a mind which is seeking security. The state of spirituality can be experienced only by a mind that has no motive, a mind that is no longer seeking; for all search is based on motive. The mind that is capable of not asking, of not seeking, of being completely nothing – only such a mind can understand that which is timeless.”
“True spirituality consists in living harmoniously, with perfect unity in your heart and mind, because there is understanding, and in that understanding there is the delight of living.”
“Organized religion with its beliefs, dogmas and rituals denies the open entry into the vastness of mind. It is this entry that cleanses the brain of space-time. Being cleansed, the brain can then deal with time-space.”
“That which is sacred has no attributes. A stone in a temple, an image in a church, a symbol is not sacred. Man calls them sacred, something holy to be worshipped out of complicated urges, fears and longings. This “sacredness” is still within the field of thought; it is built up by thought and in thought there’s nothing new or holy. Thought can put together the intricacies of systems, dogmas, beliefs, and the images, symbols, its projects are no more holy than the blueprints of a house or the design of a new aeroplane. All this is within the frontiers of thought and there is nothing sacred or mystical about all this. Thought is matter and it can be made into anything, ugly – beautiful.”
J. Krishnamurti
Being unhappy with the life of this world, human beings have always sought something beyond this world. A person pursuing the goals of this world is called as the mundane person while the one pursuing the goals of the other world is referred to as the spiritual person. Job, money, pleasures, social position, power, etc are labelled as mundane pursuits and prayers, rituals, ceremonials, beliefs, faiths, systems of meditation, etc are called as spiritual pursuits. Both the pursuits are the activity of thought and hence qualitatively not much different. So, is there such a thing as true spirituality? What is its significance in our daily life? Does one have to be spiritual or one can pursue it as a hobby? Is there really something untouched by thought, something supremely sacred? How does one find out? Also related to this is the question of God. Is there such a being as almighty or all the search for it is in vain? Is the spirituality an essential aspect of life or one can live without it? All such and many more related questions will be explored during this workshop. Participants can also ask their questions. The participation in this workshop is expected to bring some clarity as to what is spiritual and why does one have to be spiritual? Various selections from Krishnamurti’s works relevant to the theme of this workshop will be provided as a reading material to each participant. Also links to the relevant videos of Krishnamurti will be provided. Each participant is expected to devote these two days fully to the study in order to benefit maximum from this workshop.