June 6th ~ An idea about energy is entirely different from the fact of energy itself. We have formulas or concepts of how to bring about a quality of energy that is of the highest quality. But the formula is entirely different from the renovating, renewing quality of energy itself. . . . . …
June 7th ~ Somebody is telling you something, you listen. The very act of listening is the act of release. When you see the fact, the very perception of that fact is the release of that fact. The very listening, the very seeing of something as a fact, has an extraordinary effect without the effort …
June 8th ~ You know what space is. There is space in this room. The distance between here and your hostel, between the bridge and you home, between this bank of the river and the other–all that is space. Now, is there also space in your mind? Or is it so crowded that there is …
June 9th ~ Is there attention without anything absorbing the mind? Is there attention without concentrating upon an object? Is there attention without any form of motive, influence, compulsion? Can the mind give full attention without any sense of exclusion? Surely it can, and that is the only state of attention, the others are mere …
I think there is a difference between attention that is given to an object and attention without object. We can concentrate on a particular idea, belief, object–which is an exclusive process; and there is also an attention, an awareness, which is not exclusive. Similarly, there is discontent which has no motive, which is not the …
June 11th ~ In the cultivation of the mind, our emphasis should not be on concentration, but on attention. Concentration is a process of forcing the mind to narrow down to a point, whereas attention is without frontiers. In that process the mind is always limited by a frontier or boundary, but when our concern …
June 12th ~ What do we mean by attention? Is there attention when I am forcing my mind to attend? When I say to myself, “I must pay attention, I must control my mind and push aside all other thoughts,” would you call that attention? Surely that is not attention. What happens when the mind …
June 13th ~ How is the state of attention to be brought about? It cannot be cultivated through persuasion, comparison, reward, or punishment, all of which are forms of coercion. The elimination of fear is the beginning of attention. Fear must exist as long as there is an urge to be or to become, which …
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Can humility be practiced? Surely, to be conscious that you are humble is not to be humble. You want to know that you have arrived. This indicates, does it not, that you are listening in order to achieve a particular state, a place where you will never be disturbed, where you will find everlasting happiness, …
June 15th ~ Awareness is that state of mind which observes something without any condemnation or acceptance, which merely faces the thing as it is. When you look at a flower non-botanically, then you see the totality of the flower, but if your mind is completely taken up with the botanical knowledge of what the …