Be A Light Unto Yourself
To be aware is to watch your bodily activity, the way you walk, the way you sit, the movements of your hands; it is to hear the words you use, to observe all your thoughts, all your emotions, all your reactions. It includes awareness of the unconcious, with its traditions, its instinctual knowledge, and the immense sorrow it has accumulated-- not only personal sorrow, but the sorrow of man. You have to be aware of all that; and you cannot be aware of it if you are merely judging, evaluating, saying, "This is good and that is bad, this I will keep and that I will reject," all of which only makes the mind dull, insensitive.
From awareness comes attention. Attention flows from awareness when in that awareness there is no choice, no personal choosing, no experiencing... but merely observing. And, to observe, you must have in the mind a great deal of space. A mind that is caught in ambition, greed, envy, in the pursuit of pleasure and self-fulfillment, with its inevitable sorrow, pain, despair, anguish-- such a mind has no space in which to observe, to attend. It is crowded with its own desires, going round and round in its own backwaters of reaction. You cannot attend if your mind is not highly sensitive, sharp, reasonable, logical, sane, healthy, without the slightest shadow of neuroticism. The mind has to explore every corner of itself, leaving no spot uncovered, because if there is a single dark corner of one's mind which one is afraid to explore, from that springs illusion...
It is only in the state of attention that you can be a light unto yourself, and then every action of your daily life springs from that light-- every action-- whether you are doing your job, cooking, going for a walk, mending clothes, or what you will. This whole process is meditation....
-- J. Krishnamurti
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6 Past Reflections
On May 31, 2023 Suresh Sekharan wrote :
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On Mar 28, 2023 Kusum Tewari wrote :
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On Jun 23, 2022 Jim wrote :
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On Dec 15, 2015 Liam wrote :
I interpret this line as Buddha telling us to be a role model to ourselves. When there is a problem, ask yourself what would I do? If you are scared ask yourself what advice would I give myself?
To be a role model to ourselves we have to live a life in which we respect ourselves. We have to prove to ourselves over time that we are someone that we can trust.
Of course, it is from God that we learn what is right and what is wrong.
To not be a light unto ourselves is saying we are erratic in our actions. We don’t always choose the correct path so what advice we give ourselves may not be trustworthy. Knowing this, can depress us and cause a dis-connect within us between who we are and who we would like to be.
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