婚姻学堂
我们许多人似乎都认为，借着教每一个人念书、写字，我们便可解决人类的种种问题;然而这个想法被证实是不正确的。所谓受过教育的人，并非是喜爱和平、完整的人，他们对于世界上的混乱和不幸同样要负起责任。
正确的教育，意指唤醒智慧，培育一种完整的生活，唯有这种教育才能创造出一种新的文化和一个和平的世界。然而，要实施这种新的教育，我们必须由一个完全不同的基础重新出发。
世界在我们的四周崩溃，而我们却讨论着各种学说和无济于事的政治问题，玩弄着一些肤浅的改革。这不是表示我们十足的轻率吗?有些人可能会说，事实却是如此，然而他们自己却继续下去，其所作所为完完全全和过去一样——这正是生活的悲哀。当我们听到一个真理而不实行，它便成了一剂毒药，在我们心中扩散，带来心理上的骚扰、不平衡和疾病。唯有唤醒个人创造性的智慧，和平而快乐的生活才有可能。
我们无法仅仅因为一个政府取代了另一个政府，一个党派或阶级取代了另一个党派或阶级，一个剥削者取代了另一个剥削者，便能成为有智慧的人。血腥的革命永远无法解决我们的问题。唯有一种改变了我们一切价值的深入内心的革命，才能创造出一个全然不同的环境，一种明智的社会结构，而这项革命只有借着你、我才能产生。唯有当我们每一个人破除了自己的心理障碍而成为自由的人，那时，新的秩序才会诞生。
我们可以在纸上绘制灿烂的乌托邦，美丽的新世界;然而，为了一个未知的未来而牺牲了现在，必然无法解决任何问题。在“现在”和“未来”之间存在着许多的因素，无人能够知道未来将是如何。如果我们真诚的话，则我们所能做的，而且必须做的，是即刻处理我们的问题，而非将它们搁延到未来。“永恒”不存在于未来，“永恒”是现在。我们的问题存在于现在，而唯有现在，它们才能获得解决。
我们之中严肃的人必须让自己更新;然而要获得更新，唯有从那些因自我保护以及侵略性欲望所制造出来的价值观中脱离出来。自我认识是自由的开端，唯有当我们认识自己，才能带来秩序与和平。
有人也许会问：“个人能够做出什么，足以改变历史呢?他能借着他的生活方式而有所作为吗?”当然可以的。你和我显然无法阻止迫在眉睫的战争，或在国家与国家之间制造即时的了解，然而，至少在我们日常生活有所关联的世界中，我们能带来一种基本上的改变，这改变将会产生它应有的效果。
个人的醒悟，只要是不汲汲求取结果的话，确实会影响众人，如果一个人所想的是利益与效果，那么正确的转变便不可能了。
人的问题并不单纯，而是非常复杂的。要了解这些问题需要有耐心和洞察力，而最重要的，是作为一个个人，我们要亲身了解这些问题，而且亲自去解决它们。我们无法经由简单的公式或口号去了解它们;也不能将这些问题在它们的各层次上，依据某些埋首于某个特定方针的专家而加以解决——这样只会导致更进一步的混乱和不幸。只有当我们觉察到自己是一项完整的过程，也就是了解整个的心理过程，我们的许多问题才能获得了解与解决;而任何宗教上或政治上的领袖都无法使我们达到这项了解。
要了解自己，我们必须对我们的关系——不只是和他人的关系，而且是对所有事物、对观念、对大自然的关系——有所觉察。如果我们要在人与人的关系——这是一切社会的基础——中产生革命，那么我们自己的价值观和观点必须有基本上的改变;然而，我们却回避这种不可或缺的根本自我改变，而想在世界上制造政治上的革命——此种革命永远导致流血和灾难。
以感觉为基础的关系，永远不是一项使人自我解脱的方法，然而，我们大部分人的关系却是以感觉为基础，这些关系都是我们渴望私人的利益、舒适、心理安全的结果。虽然这些关系可能使我们暂时逃避了自我，然而，它们却以其种种禁锢于束缚的活动增强了自我。关系是一面镜子，自我以及一切自我的活动均可在其中得以窥见。只有当自我的存在方式在关系的种种反应里获得了解，才能由自我之中产生创造性的解脱。
要改变世界，我们内心则要有新生。借着暴力，借着轻而易举的互相清算，是不会有所收获的。我们可能借着依附党派、研究社会和经济的改革方法，制定法律，或借着祷告，而获得暂时的解救;然而无论我们如何做，如果缺乏自我认识以及自我认知中所有的爱，则我们的问题将会继续扩展，不断增加。可是，如果我们全心致力于自我认识的工作，无疑我们将会解决许多冲突和悲哀。
现在的教育将我们塑造成一个个毫无思虑的人，对于我们天赋的发掘，现代教育甚少助益。我们通过某些考试，如果幸运的话，便获得了一项工作——这通常意味着，在此后的一生，干着无尽的例行公事。我们可能不喜欢我们的工作，然而我们不得不继续做下去，因为我们没有其他的谋生能力。我们可能想做一些完全迥异的事，然而，义务和责任逮住了我们，而我们被自己的忧虑和恐惧所围堵。由于受到挫折，我们便在性、酗酒、政治，或是空想的宗教中寻求逃避。
一旦野心受到阻碍，我们便会对某种平常的事物给与过分的重视，而在心里产生了扭曲。除非我们对于自己的生活和爱，对于政治上、宗教上、社会上的欲望以及由这些欲望而来的渴求和障碍，有深入的了解，否则，在我们的种种关系中，问题将会逐日增多，导致我们的不幸与毁灭。
无知，是对于自我的存在方式缺乏认识，此项无知无法借着肤浅的活动和改革而加以清除，而只能借着一个人对于自我在其一切关系中的运行和反应，加以时时地觉察。
应该明白的是，我们不仅受到环境条件的限制，而且我们即是“环境”——我们并非是环境外的东西。我们的思想和反应，被社会——而我们是社会中的一部分——加诸我们身上的价值观局限了。
我们一直不曾明白，我们即是环境，因为在我们心中存在着无数个实体，每个实体都以自我为中心。自我便是由这些实体所组成——这些实体只是各种形式的欲望而已。由这些众集着的欲望出现了一个中心体——思想者，“我”和“属于我的”的意志;而在自我和非自我，在“我”和环境或社会之间，便由此产生了区分。这项分离，是内在或外在冲突的起源。
对整个意识里的过程或潜藏着的过程的觉察，即冥想(meditaion);而经由这种冥想;自我及其种种欲望和冲突便得以超越。如果一个人要从自我藏身期间的种种影响和价值之中解脱，则必须要有自我认识，唯有在此种自由中，创造、真理、上帝，或随便你称它什么，才能存在。
从我们幼年起，舆论与传统便塑造了我们的思维和情感。直接而瞬时的种种影响和印象产生了一种强力且持续的效果，在我们意识的和无意识的整个生活过程中留下了痕迹。在孩童时期，由于教育和社会的压力，顺从附和的行为便开始了。
在我们的生活中，不仅是在表面的层次里，而且在深入的层次里，模仿的欲望是个强而有力的因素。我们几乎难得有任何独立的思维和情感。一旦有这种独立的思维和情感产生，它们也只是一种反作用而已，因此无法从既成的模式中解脱出来，因为在反作用中，绝对没有自由。
哲学与宗教定下某些方法，使我们得以达到真理或上帝的体现;然而仅遵循一项方法，这是处于不加思虑、不完整的状态，虽然，这项方法在我们日常社会生活中可能有利。顺从附和的需要——这是渴求安全感的欲望——制造了恐惧，而且推出了政治上和宗教上的种种权威、领导人和英雄人物，这些人鼓励人们奴颜婢膝，并且以狡诈或粗野的方法控制着人们。然而“不”顺从附和，却仅仅是一种抵抗权威的反作用，它绝对无法帮助我们成为一个完整的人。反作用是没有止境的，它只能再产生其他的反作用。
顺从附和以及潜伏其中的恐惧是一项障碍;然而，对于这件事实仅有智力上的认识，无法消除这项障碍。我们唯有以整个身心觉察到这项障碍时，才能由其中解脱，而不再制造其他更艰深的阻碍。
一旦我们的内心有所依赖，那么我们便被传统紧紧地控制住了;依照传统方式思考的心灵，无法发现新的事物。由于附和顺从，我们便成了凡庸的模仿者，成了这残酷的社会机器中的齿轮。重要的是我们自己的思想，而非别人所冀望于我们的思想。一旦我们附和了传统，我们便只会想到我们应该变成什么模样，而加以模仿。
对于我们应该达到的模样加以模仿，会使人滋生恐惧，而恐惧则扼杀了创造性的思想。恐惧使我们的内心迟钝，以至于我们对生活的整个意义毫无觉察;对我们自己的悲哀、飞鸟的翱翔、别人的微笑和不幸，我们变得麻木，毫无感觉。
意识的或无意识的恐惧，都有许多不同的原因，必须加以灵敏的留意才能铲除它们。恐惧无法借着戒律、升华或任何意志的行为而加以驱除，而必须找出恐惧的原因，加以了解。这需要耐心以及一种毫无任何批判意味的觉察力。
要了解意识上的恐惧，且加以解决，是比较简单的。然而无意识的恐惧，大部分人甚至还不曾发现它们，因为我们不让它们浮升到表面来;而一旦它们浮到表面上时，我们却赶紧将它们加以掩盖，逃避它们。潜藏的恐惧常常借着梦和其他的暗示，来显示它们的存在，它们比表面的恐惧，更能引起冲突和堕落。
我们的生活不只是存在于表面的，它的绝大部分都隐藏于深处，难以观察。如果我们要使潜藏的恐惧显露出来，获得解决，那么人的意识部分必须稍微缓和下来，不可持续不断地繁忙。当这些恐惧浮上表面时，必须毫无阻碍地对它们加以观察，因为任何形式的责难或辩解都只会增强恐惧。要从一切的恐惧解脱出来，我们必须对它使人混乱的影响有所觉悟，而唯有持续不断地警觉留意，才能揭露出它的种种原因。
由恐惧所产生的诸种结果之一，便是在与人有关的事物中接受了权威，但任何出自恐惧的事物，都无法帮助我们了解自身的问题，即使恐惧可能以对所谓智者的尊敬或服从的形式出现。智者并不使用权威，而掌握权威的人绝非智者。任何形式的恐惧，都阻止了我们对于自身以及和一切事物之间关系的了解。
顺从权威，乃是摒弃了智慧。接受权威，则是甘受控制，使自己受制于宗教上或政治上的某一个人，某一个集体或某一种意识形态;而此种使自己受制于权威的行为不仅摈弃了智慧，而且摒弃了个人的自由。屈从于一种教条，或一套思想体系，是一种自我保护的反应。接受权威可能暂时有助于掩饰我们种种的困难和问题，然而避开一项问题，却只能强化了这项问题，而在此过程中，自我认识和自由便被舍弃了。
自由和接受权威之间，如何能有妥协的余地呢?如果有所谓妥协，则那些自称寻求自我认识和自由的人，即在他们的努力之中缺乏真诚。我们似乎认为自由是一项最终的目的、一个目标，而为了自由，必须先使自己屈从于各种压制和恐惧。我们希望经由附和顺从的途径而达到自由，然而，手段和目的，不是同样的重要吗?目的，不是由手段所形成的吗?
要和平，一个人必须使用和平的手段，因为如果手段是残暴的，怎会有和平的结果呢?如果目标是自由，则开始就必须自由，因为终点和起点是一体的。唯有在开端便有自由，自我认识和智慧才能存在;而接受权威，便是摒弃了自由。
我们以种种的形式崇尚着权威：知识、成功、权利等等。我们在年轻人身上行使权威，同时却害怕更高的权威。当一个人没有内在的审视能力，则外在的权威和地位便显得重要了，于是他越来越受制于权威和压制，变成了别人的工具。我们可以在四周看到这种过程随时在进行着，比如在危机时期，民主国家采取集权主义的做法，忘却了民主，逼迫人民顺从。
如果了解存在于我们渴望支配他人或被支配的欲望背后的强制性，渴望恒久不变的欲望，在我们心中筑起以个人经验为主的权威，制造了社会上、家庭上、宗教上等等的外在权威。不过，如果仅仅对权威不闻不问，只抖掉它外在的象征，这是没有多大意义的。
冲出一项传统而附和另一项传统，离开一个领袖而跟随另一个领袖，这都是一种肤浅的行为。如果要觉察出权威的整个过程，如果要看出权威之所以存在的心理因素，如果要了解欲望而超越它，则我们需要有广泛的觉察力和领悟力，我们必须在开端——而非在结尾——得到自由。
渴求确定，渴求安全，是自我的种种主要活动之一，这种逼人的驱力必须随时加以注意，而不仅仅将它歪曲或强行进入另一个方向，或使它符合某种我们所希望的模式。我们大部分人的自我——“我”以及“属于我的”——都非常强烈，不论在睡眠或行走时，它总是十分机敏，随时在增强自己。然而，如果对自我加以觉察，并且觉悟到，自我的一切活动，不论如何巧妙，必会造成冲突和痛苦，那么对确定的渴望，对自我延续的渴望便会终止。一个人必须随时注意自我，揭露它种种存在的方式以及种种诡计。然而，当我们开始了解它们，并且了解权威所含的错综复杂的内容，以及我们在接受权威或否认权威的行为中所隐含的意义，则我们已经将自己从权威的牢笼中解脱出来了。
一旦心灵被渴求安全的欲望所控制与支配，那么它便无法从自我以及自我的种种问题中获得解脱，这也是为何无法经由教条和组织化的信仰——我们称之为宗教——而获得自我的解脱。教条和信仰，只是我们内心的外在投射而已。仪式、礼拜、被人尊奉的形式、不断重复的字句、虽然这些可能产生某些使人满足的反应，却无法将心灵从自我以及自我的种种活动中解脱出来，因为自我在基本上，是由感觉而产生的结果。
在悲哀的时候，我们转向所谓的上帝——这只是我们内心的意象而已;或者去寻求一些使人心满意足的解释，使自己获得暂时的安慰。我们所遵循的宗教，是由我们种种的希望和恐惧，由我们渴求内心安全与保证的欲望所制造出来的。随着对权威的崇拜——不管它是救世主、神父或教士的权威——便产生了服从、接受和模仿。因此，我们被人以上帝之名所利用，而我们继续地受苦过日子。
不论我们用什么名字称呼自己，我们都是人，而受苦成了我们的命运。悲哀，是我们大家所共有的，不论是理想主义者或是唯物论者，都是一样。理想主义，是对现存事物的一种逃避，而唯物论，却是否定了深邃莫测的“现在”的另一种逃避方式。理想主义者和唯物论者都有他们自己逃避这一复杂问题的方法;他们两者都被自己种种的渴望、野心和冲突，弄得心劳神疲，而他们的生活方式并无助于安宁。对于世界上的混乱和不幸，他们都难辞其咎。
当处于冲突、受苦的状态时，我们是不会有所了解的。在这种状态下，不管我们如何机灵、如何谨慎地设计出我们的行动，这行动只会产生更大的混乱和悲哀。要了解冲突，并且从中解脱的话，则对于意识的或非意识的心灵的种种存在方式，须加以留意警觉。
任何理想主义、任何制度或任何模式，都无法帮助我们解开深奥的心灵作用;相反地，任何公式或结论，都会阻碍我们对心灵作用的发掘，对于“应该如何”的追求，对于原则、理想的执着，对于目标的设置，这一切都造成诸多的迷惘。如果我们要认识自己，则必须自动自发，能自由地观察;而如果心灵局限于理想主义或唯物论的价值观，局限于一些肤浅的东西，则这一切都是不可能的。
生活，意指存在于关系之中。不论我们是否属于某种有组织的宗教，是否生活在俗世，或陷于理想的追求，我们的痛苦要获得解决，唯有借着了解存在于关系中的我们自己。唯有自我认识，才可以为人带来宁静与快乐，因为自我认识是智慧与人格完整的开端。智慧，并非是指从事于表面上的适应，不是心智的培养或知识的获取，而是对生活方式的了解能力，对正确价值的知觉力。
现代的教育在发展智力的同时，提供了越来越多的理论和事实，然而却没有启发对人生整体过程的了解。我们成了具有高度智力的人，我们发展了狡诈的心智，陷身与种种解释之中。智力可以借着种种学说和解释来满足，而智慧却不行。而为了了解生活的整体过程，则心智与情感必须在行动中完整一致。智慧与爱，是不可分的。
对于大部分人来说，要完成这项内心的革命是非常困难的。我们知道如何冥想，如何弹琴，如何写作，然而对于冥想者、弹琴者、写作者的本身却一无所知。我们缺乏创造力，因为我们以知识、见闻和傲慢填满我们整个内心;我们满肚子都是别人思考过的或说过的话。然而，首要的是亲身的体验、而非那体验的方式。要表现，必得先有爱。
因此，显而易见地，仅仅培育智力——即发展能力或知识——并不能产生智慧。智力和智慧，有所区别。智力是思想脱离情感而独自发生作用，而智慧则是感情和理智合一的能力。除非我们以智慧面对生活，而非仅以智力或感情来处理它，否则世界上任何政治制度或教育制度，都无法解救脱离混乱和毁灭的困境。
知识无法与智慧相比，知识不是智慧。智慧是无法换取的，它不是能借学识或戒律而购得的商品。智慧无法在书中寻获，无法加以聚集、背诵、或储存。智慧起于自我的舍弃。谦虚的心比学识更为重要，而要具有一颗谦虚的心，并非借着种种知识来填满它，而是对我们自己的思维、情感加以觉察，要细心注意我们自己以及四周的种种影响，要倾听他人，观察富人、穷人、有权势的人、卑微的人。智慧，并非经由恐惧或压制而产生，而是对每天人与人之间所发生的种种事件，加以观察和了解。
在我们追求知识、贪得无厌的欲望中，我们失去了爱，我们磨损了对美的感受，以及对残酷事物的敏感性;我们变得越来越有所专长，也越来越破碎不完整。知识无法取代智慧，不论有多少的解释，聚集了多少的知识，都无法使人从痛苦中解脱出来。知识是必须的，科学也有它的地位;然而，如果心灵被知识所窒息，如果借着解释而将痛苦的原因敷衍过去，则生活便是虚度而无意义。我们大部分人不正是如此吗?教育使我们日趋肤浅，它并未帮我们揭露生命的深邃底层，我们的生活日益空洞而不和谐。
见闻、知识虽然一直增加，然而由其本质看来，它却不是无限的。智慧是无限的，它包括了知识和行动方式;我们抓住一根树枝，以为它就是整棵树。经由“部分”的知识，我们无法体会“整体”的喜悦。智力永远无法构成整体，因为它只是一个片段，只是一部分。
我们将智力和情感分开，发展了智力，却戕害了情感。我们像是一件三条腿的东西，有一条比其他两条长，因此我们失去了平衡。我们被训练成徒具智力的人。我们的教育培养智力，使其锐利、狡诈、贪得无厌，因此，智力在我们的生活中占了最重要的地位。智慧远比智力重要，因为，智慧是理智与爱的结合。然而，唯有认识自我，对自己的整体过程有深入的了解，智慧才会产生。
不论年轻人或老年人，重要的是充分而圆满地生活，因此，重要的问题是在培育那使人完整一致的智慧。过分强调我们整个结构的任何一部分，会造成一种残缺不全的，也就是歪曲的生活观，而这项歪曲便制造出我们大部分的问题。我们整个人格任何一部分的残缺发展，必然为我们自己和社会带来不幸。因此，以一种完整的生活观来面对我们的人生问题，非常重要。
做一个完整的人，要了解自己潜藏的以及表面意识的整个过程。如果我们过分强调智力，上述的了解即不可能。我们十分重视心智的培育，然而我们的内心却残缺、贫乏、混乱。因为观念犹如信仰一般，只会造成互相冲突的集团，而无法促进人类团结。
只要我们依持思维，把它当作是使人圆满完整的一种方法，那么分裂的现象便在所难免;而要了解思维的分裂作用，便要对自我的种种存在方式，对自己的欲望的种种存在方式加以觉察。必须觉察到我们集体的和私人的行为，以及它的种种反应。唯有当一个人充分地觉察到自我的种种活动，觉察到互相矛盾的欲望、追求、希望和恐惧，才有可能超越自我。
唯有爱和正确的思考，才会产生真正的革命——我们内心的革命。然而我们如何才能具有爱?这并非是将爱做为理想而加以追求，而是在仇恨、贪婪、造成对立的原因结束时。一个陷身于剥削、贪婪、疑忌的人，是永远无法爱的。
没有爱和正确的思考，迫害和残酷的行为将有增无减。人与人互相对立的问题要获得解决，并非借着对和平这一理想的追求，而是借着对战争原因的了解——这原因存在于我们面对生活和其他人类的态度中;这项了解，唯有经由正确的教育才能获致。如果没有内心的改变，没有善意，没有经由自我觉悟而得来的内在改造，人类将无法获得和平与幸福。
EDUCATION AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LIFE CHAPTER 3 ‘INTELLECT, AUTHORITY AND INTELLIGENCE’
MANY of us seem to think that by teaching every human being to read and write, we shall solve our human problems; but this idea has proved to be false. The so-called educated are not peace-loving, integrated people, and they too are responsible for the confusion and misery of the world.
The right kind of education means the awakening of intelligence, the fostering of an integrated life, and only such education can create a new culture and a peaceful world; but to bring about this new kind of education, we must make a fresh start on an entirely different basis.
With the world falling into ruin about us, we discuss theories and vain political questions, and play with superficial reforms. Does this not indicate utter thoughtlessness on our part? Some may agree that it does, but they will go on doing exactly as they have always done – and that is the sadness of existence. When we hear a truth and do not act upon it, it becomes a poison within ourselves, and that poison spreads, bringing psychological disturbances, unbalance and ill health. Only when creative intelligence is awakened in the individual is there a possibility of a peaceful and happy life.
We cannot be intelligent by merely substituting one government for another, one party or class for another, one exploiter for another. Bloody revolution can never solve our problems. Only a profound inward revolution which alters all our values can create a different environment, an intelligent social structure, and such a revolution can be brought about only by you and me. No new order will arise until we individually break down our own psychological barriers and are free.
On paper we can draw the blueprints for a brilliant Utopia, a brave new world; but the sacrifice of the present to an unknown future will certainly never solve any of our problems. There are so many elements intervening between now and the future, that no man can know what the future will be. What we can and must do if we are in earnest, is to tackle our problems now, and not postpone them to the future. Eternity is not in the future; eternity is now. Our problems exist in the present, and it is only in the present that they can be solved.
Those of us who are serious must regenerate ourselves; but there can be regeneration only when we break away from those values which we have created through our self-protective and aggressive desires. Self-knowledge is the beginning of freedom, and it is only when we know ourselves that we can bring about order and peace. Now, some may ask, `What can a single individual do that will affect history? Can he accomplish anything at all by the way he lives?" Certainly he can. You and I are obviously not going to stop the immediate wars, or create an instantaneous understanding between nations; but at least we can bring about, in the world of our everyday relationships, a fundamental change which will have its own effect.
Individual enlightenment does affect large groups of people, but only if one is not eager for results. If one thinks in terms of gain and effect, right transformation of oneself is not possible.
Human problems are not simple, they are very complex. To understand them requires patience and insight, and it is of the highest importance that we as individuals understand and resolve them for ourselves. They are not to be understood through easy formulas or slogans; nor can they be solved at their own level by specialists working along a particular line, which only leads to further confusion and misery. Our many problems can be understood and resolved only when we are aware of ourselves as a total process, that is, when we understand our whole psychological make-up; and no religious or political leader can give us the key to that understanding.
To understand ourselves, we must be aware of our relationship, not only with people, but also with property, with ideas and with nature. If we are to bring about a true revolution in human relationship, which is the basis of all society, there must be a fundamental change in our own values and outlook; but we avoid the necessary and fundamental transformation of ourselves, and try to bring about political revolutions in the world, which always leads to bloodshed and disaster.
Relationship based on sensation can never be a means of release from the self; yet most of our relationships are based on sensation, they are the outcome of our desire for personal advantage, for comfort, for psychological security. Though they may offer us a momentary escape from the self, such relationships only give strength to the self, with its enclosing and binding activities. Relationship is a mirror in which the self and all its activities can be seen; and it is only when the ways of the self are understood in the reactions of relationship that there is creative release from the self.
To transform the world, there must be regeneration within ourselves. Nothing can be achieved by violence, by the easy liquidation of one another. We may find a temporary release by joining groups, by studying methods of social and economic reform, by enacting legislation, or by praying; but do what we will, without self-knowledge and the love that is inherent in it, our problems will ever expand and multiply. Whereas, if we apply our minds and hearts to the task of knowing ourselves, we shall undoubtedly solve our many conflicts and sorrows.
Modern education is making us into thoughtless entities; it does very little towards helping us to find our individual vocation. We pass certain examinations and then, with luck, we get a job – which often means endless routine for the rest of our life. We may dislike our job, but we are forced to continue with it because we have no other means of livelihood. We may want to do something entirely different, but commitments and responsibilities hold us down, and we are hedged in by our own anxieties and fears. Being frustrated, we seek escape through sex, drink, politics or fanciful religion.
When our ambitions are thwarted, we give undue importance to that which should be normal, and we develop a psychological twist. Until we have a comprehensive understanding of our life and love, of our political, religious and social desires, with their demands and hindrances, we shall have everincreasing problems in our relationships, leading us to misery and destruction.
Ignorance is lack of knowledge of the ways of the self, and this ignorance cannot be dissipated by superficial activities and reforms; it can be dissipated only by one’s constant awareness of the movements and responses of the self in all its relationships.
What we must realize is that we are not only conditioned by environment, but that we are the environment – we are not something apart from it. Our thoughts and responses are conditioned by the values which society, of which we are a part, has imposed upon us.
We never see that we are the total environment because there are several entities in us, all revolving around the `me’, the self. The self is made up of these entities, which are merely desires in various forms. From this conglomeration of desires arises the central figure, the thinker, the will of the"me" and the "mine; and a division is thus established between the self and the not-self, between the"me" and the environment or society. This separation is the beginning of conflict, inward and outward.
Awareness of this whole process, both the conscious and the hidden, is meditation; and through this meditation the self, with its desires and conflicts, is transcended. Self-knowledge is necessary if one is to be free of the influences and values that give shelter to the self; and in this freedom alone is there creation, truth, God, or what you will.
Opinion and tradition mould our thoughts and feelings from the tenderest age. The immediate influences and impressions produce an effect which is powerful and lasting, and which shapes the whole course of our conscious and unconscious life. Conformity begins in childhood through education and the impact of society.
The desire to imitate is a very strong factor in our life, not only at the superficial levels, but also profoundly. We have hardly any independent thoughts and feelings. When they do occur, they are mere reactions, and are therefore not free from the established pattern; for there is no freedom in reaction.
Philosophy and religion lay down certain methods whereby we can come to the realization of truth or God; yet merely to follow a method is to remain thoughtless and unintegrated, however beneficial the method may seem to be in our daily social life. The urge to conform, which is the desire for security, breeds fear and brings to the fore the political and religious authorities, the leaders and heroes who encourage subservience and by whom we are subtly or grossly dominated; but not to conform is only a reaction against authority, and in no way helps us to become integrated human beings. Reaction is endless, it only leads to further reaction.
Conformity, with its undercurrent of fear, is a hindrance; but mere intellectual recognition of this fact will not resolve the hindrance. It is only when we are aware of hindrances with our whole being that we can be free of them without creating further and deeper blockages.
When we are inwardly dependent, then tradition has a great hold on us; and a mind that thinks along traditional lines cannot discover that which is new. By conforming we become mediocre imitators, cogs in a cruel social machine. It is what we think that matters, not what others want us to think. When we conform to tradition, we soon become mere copies of what we should be.
This imitation of what we should be, breeds fear; and fear kills creative thinking. Fear dulls the mind and heart so that we are not alert to the whole significance of life; we become insensitive to our own sorrows, to the movement of the birds, to the smiles and miseries of others.
Conscious and unconscious fear has many different causes, and it needs alert watchfulness to be rid of them all. Fear cannot be eliminated through discipline, sublimation, or through any other act of will: its causes have to be searched out and understood. This needs patience and an awareness in which there is no judgment of any kind.
It is comparatively easy to understand and dissolve our conscious fears. But unconscious fears are not even discovered by most of us, for we do not allow them to come to the surface; and when on rare occasions they do come to the surface, we hasten to cover them up, to escape from them. Hidden fears often make their presence known through dreams and other forms of intimation, and they cause greater deterioration and conflict than do the superficial fears.
Our lives are not just on the surface, their greater part is concealed from casual observation. If we would have our obscure fears come into the open and dissolve, the conscious mind must be somewhat still, not everlastingly occupied; then, as these fears come to the surface, they must be observed without let or hindrance, for any form of condemnation or justification only strengthens fear. To be free from all fear, we must be awake to its darkening influence, and only constant watchfulness can reveal its many causes.
One of the results of fear is the acceptance of authority in human affairs. Authority is created by our desire to be right, to be secure, to be comfortable, to have no conscious conflicts or disturbances; but nothing which results from fear can help us to understand our problems, even though fear may take the form of respect and submission to the so-called wise. The wise wield no authority, and those in authority are not wise. Fear in whatever form prevents the understanding of ourselves and of our relationship to all things.
The following of authority is the denial of intelligence. To accept authority is to submit to domination to sub- jugate oneself to an individual, to a group, or to an ideology, whether religious or political; and this subjugation of oneself to authority is the denial, not only of intelligence, but also of individual freedom. Compliance with a creed or a system of ideas is a self-protective reaction. The acceptance of authority may help us temporarily to cover up our difficulties and problems; but to avoid a problem is only to intensify it, and in the process, self-knowledge and freedom are abandoned.
How can there be compromise between freedom and the acceptance of authority? If there is compromise, then those who say they are seeking self-knowledge and freedom are not earnest in their endeavour. We seem to think that freedom is an ultimate end, a goal, and that in order to become free we must first submit ourselves to various forms of suppression and intimidation. We hope to achieve freedom through conformity; but are not the means as important as the end? Do not the means shape the end?
To have peace, one must employ peaceful means; for if the means are violent, how can the end be peaceful? If the end is freedom, the beginning must be free, for the end and the beginning are one. There can be self-knowledge and intelligence only when there is freedom at the very outset; and freedom is denied by the acceptance of authority.
We worship authority in various forms: knowledge, success, power, and so on. We exert authority on the young, and at the same time we are afraid of superior authority. When man himself has no inward vision, outward power and position assume vast importance, and then the indi- vidual is more and more subject to authority and compulsion, he becomes the instrument of others. We can see this process going on around us: in moments of crisis, the democratic nations act like the totalitarian, forgetting their democracy and forcing man to conform.
If we can understand the compulsion behind our desire to dominate or to be dominated, then perhaps we can be free from the crippling effects of authority. We crave to be certain, to be right, to be successful, to know; and this desire for certainty, for permanence, builds up within ourselves the authority of personal experience, while outwardly it creates the authority of society, of the family, of religion, and so on. But merely to ignore authority, to shake off its outward symbols, is of very little significance.
To break away from one tradition and conform to another, to leave this leader and follow that, is but a superficial gesture. If we are to be aware of the whole process of authority, if we are to see the inwardness of it, if we are to understand and transcend the desire for certainty, then we must have extensive awareness and insight, we must be free, not at the end, but at the beginning.
The craving for certainty, for security is one of the major activities of the self, and it is this compelling urge that has to be constantly watched, and not merely twisted or forced in another direction, or made to conform to a desired pattern. The self, the "me" and the "mine," is very strong in most of us; sleeping or waking, it is ever alert, always strengthening itself. But when there is an awareness of the self and a realization that all its activities, however subtle, must inevitably lead to conflict and pain, then the craving for certainty, for self-continuance comes to an end. One has to be constantly watchful for the self to reveal its ways and tricks; but when we begin to understand them, and to understand the implications of authority and all that is involved in our acceptance and denial of it, then we are already disentangling ourselves from authority.
As long as the mind allows itself to be dominated and controlled by the desire for its own security, there can be no release from the self and its problems; and that is why there is no release from the self through dogma and organized belief, which we call religion. Dogma and belief are only projections of our own mind. The rituals, the puja, the accepted forms of meditation, the constantly-repeated words and phrases, though they may produce certain gratifying responses, do not free the mind from the self and its activities; for the self is essentially the outcome of sensation.
In moments of sorrow, we turn to what we call God, which is but an image of our own minds; or we find gratifying explanations, and this gives us temporary comfort. The religions that we follow are created by our hopes and fears, by our desire for inward security and reassurance; and with the worship of authority, whether it is that of a saviour, a master or a priest, there come submission, acceptance and imitation. So, we are exploited in the name of God, as we are exploited in the name of parties and ideologies – and we go on suffering.
We are all human beings, by whatever name we may call ourselves, and suffering is our lot. Sorrow is common to all of us, to the idealist and to the materialist. Idealism is an escape from what is, and materialism is another way of denying the measureless depths of the present. Both the idealist and the materialist have their own ways of avoiding the complex problem of suffering; both are consumed by their own cravings, ambitions and conflicts, and their ways of life are not conducive to tranquillity. They are both responsible for the confusion and misery of the world.
Now, when we are in a state of conflict, of suffering, there is no comprehension: in that state, however cunningly and carefully thought out our action may be, it can only lead to further confusion and sorrow. To understand conflict and so to be free from it, there must be an awareness of the ways of the conscious and of the unconscious mind.
No idealism, no system or pattern of any kind, can help us to unravel the deep workings of the mind; on the contrary, any formulation or conclusion will hinder their discovery. The pursuit of what should be, the attachment to principles, to ideals, the establishment of a goal – all this leads to many illusions. If we are to know ourselves, there must be a certain spontaneity, a freedom to observe, and this is not possible when the mind is enclosed in the superficial, in idealistic or materialistic values.
Existence is relationship; and whether we belong to an organized religion or not, whether we are worldly or caught up in ideals, our suffering can be resolved only through the understanding of ourselves in relationship. Self-knowledge alone can bring tranquillity and happiness to man, for self-knowledge is the beginning of intelligence and integration. Intelligence is not mere superficial adjustment; it is not the cultivation of the mind, the acquisition of knowledge. Intelligence is the capacity to understand the ways of life, it is the perception of right values.
Modern education, in developing the intellect, offers more and more theories and facts, without bringing about the understanding of the total process of human existence. We are highly intellectual; we have developed cunning minds, and are caught up in explanations. The intellect is satisfied with theories and explanations, but intelligence is not; and for the understanding of the total process of existence, there must be an integration of the mind and heart in action. Intelligence is not separate from love.
For most of us, to accomplish this inward revolution is extremely arduous. We know how to meditate, how to play the piano, how to write, but we have no knowledge of the meditator, the player, the writer. We are not creators, for we have filled our hearts and minds with knowledge, information and arrogance; we are full of quotations from what others have thought or said. But experiencing comes first, not the way of experiencing. There must be love before there can be the expression of love.
