Don't worship sign boards

Gurus, sacred books, religions, leaders they are no more important than a sign board. Unfortunately we garland sign boards, worship, adore them instead of taking journey further. Real teacher acts just like a mirror, it is our job to use it and diligently correct ourselves.

Rules or Understanding

One should live based on rules or one's own understanding about life? Moment to moment observation and learning can only handle the dynamics of life. Rules formed out of knowledge can only breed conflict. One must live in a state of experiencing, not based on past knowledge, memories or experiences.  Conflict is one of the major reason which makes the mind dull.

Argument vs Discussion

Two people arguing furiously about present state of the world. They both have their own opinions, conclusions, beliefs, set of ideas to bring about a better world. They asked a wise man how to bring a better world.

The wise man said, if you stop arguing and start discussion you are stepping towards better world.

When you are important it is argument, when truth is important it is discussion. The art of discussion must be part of education, it can solve complex human problems without much effort.

what you sow, you reap

A small story which beautifully illustrates that what you sow, you reap.
" Once upon a time there was a small time businessman from a small village who used to sell butter in the nearby town. A big shop owner in the town was his regular customer. The villager used to deliver every month the shop owner the required butter in 1 Kg. Blocks and in turn he used to get grocery items like sugar, pulses etc from the big shop owner.
Once the shop owner decided to weigh the butter and to his surprise every block of butter weighed 900 gms. instead of 1kg. Next month when the villager came to supply Butter, the shop owner was very angry at him and told to leave the shop, to this the villager replied him courteously " Sir, I am a very poor villager,
I don't have enough money to even buy the required weights for weighing the butter, I usually put the 1Kg sugar you give me on one side of Weighing scale and weigh butter on another side". This beautifully illustrates that what we give to others comes back to us.

When we believe in reincarnation, why don't we stay away from self-centered activity of the mind?

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Silence your mind

A worried man said, I can't fight bad.

A wise man said no need to fight, just silence your mind through awareness so that you can listen to your heart that is good enough.

religion

Religion has been reduced to belonging to a group and feeling secure, we lost profound teachings, which are actually foundation for every religion. True religion is a heart full of Love and compassion.

stop thinking

A man out of pride said nothing is impossible, a wise man asked him to stop thinking for few minutes.

Importance of wisdom in you

Each and every human being on this planet desires a life without struggle and suffering. Without struggle doesn't mean being lazy, rather a life full of passion. Through war, competition, comparison, divisions can we bring order, or is it love, compassion, sharing, cooperation? All or most of the times our actions towards a better society are like 'a defected robot is trying to correct another defected robot'.

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power of questioning

Father and son, went to a temple, suddenly son shouted after seeing the pillars of Lions at the entrance of the temple "Run Dad, or those Lions will eat us " Dad consoled him saying "they are just statues and wont harm us"
Son replied " if those lion statues wont harm us then how could statues of God give us blessings" The father wrote in his diary...
"I am still speechless on my childs answer and have started searching for God in Humans instead of statues. . I didn't find God but I found humanity. ....

Are we encouraging the quality of questioning in our children? or are we telling them don't question, rather be a part of this profoundly sick society?

Questioning is the beginning of intelligence... Jiddu Krishnamurti.

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Jiddu Krishnamurti

Some of the profound quotes from JK teachings

1.    It’s not work but your own resistance towards work makes you dull.
2.    Wherever there is division there must be conflict.
3.    What is meditation is important, not how to meditate.
4.    The solution lies within the problem not outside of it.
5.    Discipline means act of learning all the time.
6.    The way you approach a problem is tremendously important.
7.    You can act only in the present.
8.    You can not hurt another without hurting yourself.
9.     It’s no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
10.  All propaganda is false, and man lived on propaganda ranging from soap   to God.
11.  Freedom from the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding   of a problem.
12.  The word GURU means the one who dispels ignorance, not the one who  imposes his own ignorance on you.

To read more please follow below links: (Free ebooks link)

Freedom from the known
The first and last freedom
Free Ebooks

JK Schools and study centers:

Jiddu_Krishnamurti_Schools

www.jkrishnamurti.org (An international website)

What is education?

Is education all about merely acquiring knowledge and passing exams? With such kind of education can we build a better world, where we all can live happily and peacefully? The most fundamental part of education, which is "knowing about yourself" is missing from present education system. Observing your own life, and your own mind and it's distractions, capacities must be primary education. From ignoring the importance of self knowledge, all kinds of disorder comes into being. Disorder being fear, loneliness, conflict, endless divisions between man and man, ugly wars, suffering..etc. If education cannot produce young people, who are passionate to solve human problems what is the meaning of such education?

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To Calm A Disturbed Mind

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!”

So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.” After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.

This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. The disciple reached the lake to find the lake absolutely clean and clear with pure water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said,” See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be…. and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water. Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.

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walk to put away burdens

After a good nap in the afternoon, went for a walk. There is great beauty to go for a walk all by yourself. Walking alone with a sense of joy is beneficial for both body and mind. That 'sense of joy' is not possible when one walks out of force, or by making a resolution that 'I must walk'. It must begin with a sense of freedom. Can there be freedom when the motivation is from outside? It is even more joyful to walk in nature. It's therapeutic to lose incessant chattering of the mind, by watching trees, birds, and clouds as a whole. The incessant chattering, makes the mind dull. Unfortunately we can see people walking while talking on their phones, or chattering with another. When we are walking for health, we must do it for its own sake and with a sense of joy. Not only walk, but any action in life should be for its own sake not to escape from ourselves. Can we act in such a way that, we are bonding with ourselves NOT escaping from ourselves?

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THE PARROT'S TRAINING

In ‘The Parrot’s Training’, we are told of a golden cage that is built to imprison a wild and uncivilized parrot so that she could be properly educated. In addition to the usual school curriculum, she was also expected to learn to listen and obey. She was allowed to question but within the structure and not question the structure itself. First, the teachers tried stuffing her with pages of the official textbooks. Days went by but that did not work. Then teachers, educators came together to brainstorm on some creative means to make things more interesting. More activity based things were introduced to drill the concepts in. A UNICEF project came with all kinds of child-friendly and joyful techniques. The cage was decorated with all sorts of colourful pictures and charts. There was a blip in interest, but it died as soon as it came. The educators from all over came together to talk once again. They decided that more investment is required in the system. The World Bank was approached. It gave a loan to the king to build a bigger cage with a nice toilet. A software company gave her a laptop with free internet connection. Many other facilities were added. But still, there was no considerable difference in parrot’s attitude towards learning! Finally the intellectuals came in and debated for days. It was decided that researchers from the Harvard researchers should be invited to conduct studies on the parrot’s brain and multiple intelligences. They came and as a result many papers were published, and many a books were written. The parrot’s case became famous, however, it’s personal condition only worsened. As her distress increased she was given mindfulness training. They also taught her about child rights. Some concerned individual advised the parrot needs sometime alone. Not understanding what he or she truly meant, an hour of silence and meditation was included in the already overly packed timetable.

The only thing parrot was not allowed to do was the little thing she so dearly wanted to do – to leave the cage. Whenever she tried to break out she was put in back. In fact, she was scolded for being ungrateful and impertinent. Time and again she was reprimanded, “We are doing so much for you, spending so much on you and you do not even care.”

Over the years parrot did end up learning a few things but lost the interest in learning itself. She slowly became dependent on the very cage she earlier wanted to break out from. She internalized the fact that the people around her were indeed doing a favor to her; that she and eventually her children too needs support of this wonderful cage. One day the cage was accidentally left open but she was afraid to venture out. Her dreams were reduced to being a rat in the rat-race. Slowly her spirit withered away. In the end, a lot of people made a lot of money on the parrot’s education, everyone benefited except the parrot.

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