Krishnamurti: Why is there no humility?
First man:
For the simple reason that if one were humble,
one would not be able to do anything.
Humility is for the recluse, not for the man of action.
Krishnamurti:
You have not moved away from your conclusions,
have you?
You came with them, and you will leave with them;
and to think from conclusions is obviously not to think at all.
Second man:
What prevents humility?
Krishnamurti:
Fear. Fear of saying "I don't know";
fear of not being a leader, of not being important; fear of not being in the
show,
whether it be the traditional show or the latest ideology.
Second man:
Am I afraid?
Krishnamurti:
Can another answer that question?
Mustn't one discover the truth of the matter for oneself?
Second man:
I suppose I have been in the limelight for so long that I have taken it for
granted that the activities in which I am engaged are the good and the true.
You are perfectly right.
There's a certain amount of modification and adjustment on our part,
but we dare not think too deeply,
because we want to be among the leaders, or at least with the leaders;
we don't want to be forgotten men.
Krishnamurti:
Surely, all this
indicates that you are really not interested in the people,
but in ideologies, schemes and Utopias.
You do not love the people, or feel sympathy for them;
you love yourself, through your personal identification with certain
theories,
ideals and reformatory activities.
You remain, clothed in a different respectability.
You help the people in the name of something, for the good of something.
You are actually concerned, not with helping the people,
but with advancing the plan or the organisation which you assert will help
the people.
Isn't this where your real interest lies?
They remained silent and departed.
(Krishnamurti)
Obscure books
Tao
Te Ching, Chuang Tzu and
I Ching are the three core books that
inspired
tai chi.
They are poetic, vague and difficult to understand.
Many of the ancient insights are foreign to our consciousness.
Krishnamurti does not consider these
books at all but his insights offer a way into the taoist texts.
Fact & opinion
Krishnamurti was the inspiration for
jeet kune do and is fundamental reading
for students of our school.
He had absolutely no interest in personal opinions and spoke only of
facts.
Refusing to supply any methods or techniques, Krishnamurti asked the
inquirer to find out for themselves.
He questioned the need for gurus and masters.
Relying on somebody else to supply information is a dependency and a form
of laziness.
You only truly understand it when you experience it for yourself.
We have adopted this approach in our school.
Students are encouraged to find things out for themselves through trial and
error, through friendly exploration.
Do not treat your instructor as some font of knowledge - treat them as a
guide, not a guru.
No argument
When facts are uncovered, argument ceases.
If a punch is thrown and you counter, the success of your response is easy
to evaluate.
Failure normally involves being struck.
There is no room for argument, reasoning or excuses.
It was a fact.
It happened.
Argument requires resistance and conflict, force meeting force.
This is not tai chi.
Clarity
When you can look at a
situation without the bias of perspective and interpretation, there is
usually a core precept involved.
Seeing the simplicity is actually very
difficult for most people.
We tend to overcomplicate matters.
Tai chi is very simple.
Its very simplicity is what makes it hard to learn.
Totality of
the moment
Zen and tao speak of being utterly immersed in the immediate moment.
What does this mean?
Reading Krishnamurti helps you to slowly uncover what many of the cryptic
statements actually refer to.
Initially you will find the books very hard work.
The writing style is smooth, the sentences easy to read,
but the content is contrary to your own experience.
Most people initially see Krishnamurti as critical, cynical or cruel.
Later they realise that he is not.
He is not saying what you want to hear and for most people this is
difficult.
The heart of the
matter
To cope with self defence, your mind must be capable of striking
right to the very centre of your opponent.
You must see the opening pre-consciously and strike instinctively -
without expectation, without anticipation.
It is the mind you must train first, not the body.
If your mind cannot operate with clarity and suppleness, your body will
not soften.
Do not under-estimate the importance of reading.
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Page created 4 May 2002