Midway Through Ojai with Jiddu Krishnamurti: A Pause for Reflection
Seven lectures in, I feel as though I’ve been walking alongside Jiddu Krishnamurti through a shifting landscape of thought, belief, and awareness. Each talk has given me thoughts to chew on and sharper questions to ask. This midway reflection is my pause, a chance to gather what has stayed with me before continuing the journey.
1. Seeing Without Escape
Again and again, Krishnamurti warns that our escapes—beliefs, rituals, searching, distractions—keep us from seeing reality directly.
Fear and desire fuel these escapes, whether in religion, relationships, or meditation.
Freedom begins when we stop running and face “what is” without avoidance.
2. Self-Knowledge in Relationship
Self-knowledge is not abstract. It unfolds in how we react, relate, and respond to others.
To see clearly in relationship means seeing without projection, expectation, or justification.
Relationship is the mirror where the self is revealed.
3. Awareness vs. Effort
True awareness is choiceless, effortless, without will or technique.
Discipline, meditation methods, and systems often become subtle forms of desire or suppression.
Simplicity, tranquility, and even meditation arise naturally when one observes without trying to control.
4. Action vs. Activity
Much of what we call action is just restless activity born of memory, fear, or desire.
Genuine action is immediate, direct, unconditioned by thought.
This distinction is central to living fully rather than mechanically.
5. Truth and Tranquility
Truth is not created by thought, belief, or vision; it shines when the mind is still and free of filters.
Tranquility cannot be forced—it appears when fear and seeking end.
Immortality is not survival of the ego but pure experiencing without the division of “me” and “not-me.”
As I look ahead to the remaining lectures, I carry no expectation of answers, only the willingness to keep listening. If the first half has taught me anything, it is that reflection is not an end but a beginning. Each question opens the door to the next.
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From today until the end of September, I plan to listen to a series of lectures given by Jiddu Krishnamurti in 1949 to an audience in Ojai, California. These lectures—14 of them—are digitally remastered recordings available in an audiobook collection from NLB.
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