To find out what I must do at the most fundamental level of human existence, I must find out what it means to be human. But to do that, I must find out why I, a human, doesn’t know why our species should exist if we can’t live intelligently, compassionately?
Krishnamurti and others demonstrated that a human can live intelligently and compassionately. And we may take comfort in thinking that there must be others living that way (though we can’t know unless we’re living that way). It’s a comforting thought to feel there is hope for our species. But hope is waiting for something or nothing to happen, and it may be too late to wait.
I don’t get it. Is this a profession of pessimism Inquiry? - I hope you won’t think me harsh if I try to unpack what you have written here.
On the one hand you say that you want to find out what it means to be human.
But then you seem to immediately create a stumbling block for yourself when you say that you must first of all
This is a very complicated sentence.
On the one hand you are saying that you need to know if the human race “should exist” - when it does exist. So this “should” seems to be unnecessary. Are you planning to kill all human beings if they turn out to be lacking in compassion? I hope not!
The fact is, looking at the world, I think we can confidently say that an awful lot of human beings (I don’t know what percentage) are neither compassionate nor intelligent. Does this mean they “shouldn’t” exist? - The fact is, they exist. It is not a matter of “should” or “should not”. They exist. It would be great if they were compassionate and intelligent, but they are not. So this is just a fact.
The main question for us is are we ourselves compassionate and intelligent? And if we aren’t, why aren’t we? Isn’t it that we are ourselves confused, caught up in ourselves, lost? So this is our ‘what is’. This is what it means for us, presently, to be human (or part of it at least).
Krishnamurti may have been deeply compassionate and intelligent, but even if he was, this doesn’t change the fact of my confusion, right? So it is my confusion, my lostness, which is important to look at and explore. No?
It’s not a matter of hope or hopelessness, optimism or pessimism, but of being aware of whatever is actual in our lives, without being judgemental or condemnatory, and without being reductive. There is probably a lot more to us than being lost and confused. But if lostness and confusion is a major part of my life, then I have to own up to it, face it - with tenderness, care, consideration, affection.
From what we know about evolution, the species that survive play an important role in the development of more complex species. The human species is certainly more complex than the ape it was, but something has gone wrong and it is malfunctioning… the “wrong turn” we so often speak of.
Krishnamurti may have been deeply compassionate and intelligent, but even if he was, this doesn’t change the fact of my confusion, right? So it is my confusion, my lostness, which is important to look at and explore. No?
It depends on how one feels about being lost, confused, conflicted; whether one hopes that looking and exploring might lead to finding out, or hoping is just coping.
There is probably a lot more to us than being lost and confused. But if lostness and confusion is a major part of my life, then I have to own up to it, face it - with tenderness, care, consideration, affection.
Yes, but this might just be the latest variation of what one has always done; the illusion of doing something one has never done.
If one is not a light to oneself, one could be operating in total darkness with confidence that one is doing what must be done. Choosing to explore, be aware, open-minded, sensitive, etc., does not mean that one can/will do it. It just means that one is hoping, and that one’s hope plays out in behavior that seems to address the problem.
Does it mean one is hoping? Or is this a distorted interpretation of what it means to explore, be aware, be open-minded, sensitive, etc?
To me, awareness has nothing to do with either hope or hopelessness. Both hope and hopelessness are time. And the act of being aware is not focussed on either the past or the future.
If one is not interested in being aware, are you proposing that we can only endlessly complain about the world and/or ourselves? Because I don’t think this will be either productive nor to our own benefit.
What is blocking you, Inquiry - if I could ask - from just paying attention, non-verbally, to your daily life? What is stopping you from listening to the story of your own heart?
It’s not a matter of hope or defeatism - such things are immature. Maturity, as I understand it, is about taking responsibility for one’s own darkness, one’s own confusion and disorder, and meeting it with integrity, intelligence, care. I don’t think you can argue with this.
The challenge - not just for you, but for me, and for everyone else too - is just to do it.
Not to say “it is too hard”, “it is a matter of hope, you’re all fooling yourselves”, or “it is hopeless, humanity is doomed”, “I am doomed”, etc. These are all escapes, evasions, procrastinations. To be a light to oneself means to put order in oneself, and not wait for someone or something else to do it for us.
What is blocking you, Inquiry - if I could ask - from just paying attention, non-verbally, to your daily life? What is stopping you from listening to the story of your own heart?
Why do you presume to know how I’m living? How do you know the story of your heart isn’t sentimental and self-serving?
Maturity, as I understand it, is about taking responsibility for one’s own darkness, one’s own confusion and disorder, and meeting it with integrity, intelligence, care. I don’t think you can argue with this.
No, I find no fault with the statement, but if you aren’t a living demonstration of maturity, it’s just a platitude.
The challenge - not just for you, but for me, and for everyone else too - is just to do it.
How would you know if you haven’t done it?
Not to say “it is too hard”, “it is a matter of hope, you’re all fooling yourselves”, or “it is hopeless, humanity is doomed”, “I am doomed”, etc. These are all escapes, evasions, procrastinations.
According to Krishnamurti, anyone who is not transformed is escaping, evading, procastinating.
To be a light to oneself means to put order in oneself, and not wait for someone or something else to do it for us.
We know what it means to be a light to oneself, but no one here is a light to oneself, which is why we are here.
Ok. I get that you reject everything I have attempted to share with you, but I guess I reject the implicit defeatism and futile plaintiveness of your original post.
Yes. I view you as a kind of grumpy uncle or relative who I feel I need to encourage to get out of the house all the time. I realise this isn’t who you are, and it may be influencing my responses to you. So I will drop it if I can, and respond to you without this image.
