here are a lot of people and I hope some of you understand what is being said. You know we have been talking over together for the last week our human problems not only talking over together as two friends but what each one of us has discovered for himself in our conversation and in our exploration and investigation. It must become quite obvious for most of us if we are at all serious and not treat these gatherings as a kind of festival - a little more serious than the pop festival or other kinds of festivals. This morning it will be good to talk over together as we have talked over fear, pleasure sorrow, pain and death I think we ought to talk over this morning the very complex and subtle problem of what is meditation. It is quite a serious issue and perhaps some of you will kindly pay sufficient attention to what is being said, if you care to. This word is now becoming so common even the governments are beginning to use it even the people who want money are trying to meditate more to get more money. They are trying to meditate in order to become quiet so that they can do better business. And the doctors are practising meditation because it will help them to operate properly and so on and on and on and on. And there are different kinds of meditations Zen, Tibetan and the ones you invent for yourself. And with all this in mind, the Indian type of meditation the Tibetan, the Zen, the Encounter Group meditation and the aspiration to have a still, quiet, silent mind bearing all this in mind let us try to find out, if we can this morning why one should meditate and what is the significance of meditation. This word has recently been popularised from India. And people go to India and to Japan and other places in order to learn meditation in order to practise meditation in order to achieve some kind of result through meditation enlightenment, better understanding of themselves have peace of mind, whatever that may mean and generally they have a little peace but not a peaceful mind. And the gurus have invented their own type of meditation and so on and on and on. Right? I am sure you are aware of all this. And of course there is the passing fad which is called transcendental meditation. It is really a form of siesta in the morning siesta after lunch, siesta after dinner or before dinner so that your mind kind of becomes quiet and you can do more mischief afterwards. (Laughter) So consider all this the various types and practices and systems and question them. It is good to have doubt it is good to be sceptical up to a certain point. It is like a dog on the leash you must let the dog go occasionally, run freel 56so doubt, scepticism must be kept on a leash all the time but often it must be allowed to run free. And most of us accept the authority of those who say 'We know how to meditate, we will tell you all about it'. So please, we are together examining the whole problem or the whole question of what is meditation not how to meditate for then if you ask how am I to meditate then you will find a system to meditate the 'how' implies a method. But whereas if you are enquiring into this question of what is meditation and why should one meditate then we will never ask how to meditate. The very questioning the very asking is the beginning of enquiry which is the beginning of meditation. As we said, this is a very complex problem and we have to go very slowly and hesitantly but subtly into this question. As we said during the last week we are investigating we are enquiring into it so that you are not listening to the speaker you are asking the question to yourself and finding the right answer without accepting any kind of authority especially the authority of the speaker sitting on this unfortunate platform. It doesn't give him any authority because he sits on a platform and talks. There is no authority in so-called spiritual matters if I can use that word 'spiritual' in the matter of the spirit in the matter of enquiring into something that demands very, very, very careful examination. So we are doing this together1 not meditating together1 but enquiring what is meditation1 and from that discover for oneself1 as we go along the whole movement of meditation.1 Is this all right?1 First I think one must be careful in observing1 that meditation is not something that you do.1 Meditation is something entirely, a movement1 into the whole question of our living.1 That is the first thin :07how we live, how we behave1 whether we have fears1 anxieties, sorrows1 or if we are pursuing everlastingly pleasure1 whether we have built images about ourselves and about others.1 That is part of our life and in the understanding of that life1 and of those various issues involved in life1 and being free from those1 actually being free1 then we can proceed to enquire1 into what is meditation.1 That is why we have, for the last ten days or the last week1 we have said we must put order in our house1 our house is ourselves - complete order.1 Then1 when that order is established not according to a pattern1 but when there is understanding1 complete understanding of what is disorder1 what is confusion1 why we are in contradiction in ourselves1 why there is this constant struggle between the opposites1 and so on, which we have been talking about1 for the last ten days or last week.1 Having put that in order, our life in order1 and the very placing things in their proper place1 is the beginning of meditation.1 Right?1 If we have not done that, actually, not theoretically1 but in daily life1 every moment of our life1 then if you have not done that1 then meditation becomes merely another form1 of illusion1 another form of prayer1 another form of wanting something1 money, position, refrigerator and so on.1 So we are asking no :55what is the movement of meditation?1 First of all we must understand the importance of the senses.1 Most of us react1 or act according to the urges1 demands and the insistence of our senses.1 And those senses1 never act as a whole but only as a part.1 Right? Please understand this.1 If you don't mind enquiring into this a little more1 for yourselves, talking over together1 that all our senses1 never function, move, operate as a whole, holistically.1 If you observe yourself and watch your senses1 you will see that one or the other of the senses1 becomes dominant.1 One or the other of the senses1 takes a greater part in observation1 in our daily living1 so there is always imbalance in our senses.1 Right?1 May we go on from there?1 Now is it possible1 this is part of meditation, what we are doing now1 is it possible1 for the senses to operate as a whole1 to look at the movement of the sea1 the bright waters1 the eternally restless waters1 to watch those waters completely, with all your senses?1 Or a tree, or a person1 or a bird in flight, a sheet of water1 the setting sun, or the rising moon1 to observe it, look at it with all your senses fully awakened.1 If you do, then you discover for yourself.1 I am not telling you, I am not your authority1 I am not your guru, you are not my followers.1 Followers are the most destructive people1 and the gurus too1 if you observe this1 if you observe this operation of the whole senses acting1 you will find there is no centre1 from which the senses are moving.1 Are you trying this as we are talking over together?1 To look at your girl, or your husband, or your wife1 or the tree, or the house1 with all the highly active, sensitive senses.1 Then in that there is no limitation.1 You try it.1 You do it and you will find out for yourself.1 That is the first thing one has to understan :12the place of the senses.1 Because most of us1 operate on partial or particular senses.1 We never move or live with all our senses fully awakened, flowering.1 Because as most of us live1 operate and think partially1 so one of our enquiries into this is1 for the senses to function fully1 and realise the importance and the illusions that senses create1 you are following all this?1 And to give the senses their right place1 which means not suppressing them, not controlling them1 not running away from them1 but to give the proper place to the senses.1 You understand?1 This is important because in meditation1 if you want to go into it very deeply1 unless one is aware of the senses2 they create different forms of neurosis2 different forms of illusions2 they dominate in our emotions and so on, so on, so on.2 So that is the first thing to realis :22if when the senses are fully awakened, flowering2 then the body becomes extraordinarily quiet.2 Have you noticed all this?2 Or am I talking to myself?2 Because most of us force our bodies to sit still2 not fidget, not to move about and so on - you know.2 Whereas if all the senses2 are functioning healthily and normally, vitally2 then the body relaxes2 and becomes very, very quiet, if you do it.2 Do it as we are talking.2 Then the question arise hat is time?2 What is the place of time in meditation?2 And what is the place of control in meditation?2 You understand?2 May I go on?2 I hope we are meeting each other, are we?2 First let's take whether it is possible to live a life2 daily life, not occasionally but live a life2 without any form of control2 which doesn't mean permissive activity2 or doing what one likes2 rejecting tradition and you know all the modern2 young people are doing2 that is, no regret, no restraint2 no control, do what you want2 which the old people do anyhow2 only you think it is their prerogative2 something they have invented.2 Now we are asking a question, please consider it seriousl :11whether it is possible to live a life2 without any form of control2 because when there is control there is the action of will.2 Right?2 Are you following?2 So what is will?2 I will do this. I must not do that.2 Or, I should2 in the future must do that, and so on.2 The operation of will.2 So we have to enquire what is will.2 Is will not desire?2 Is not will the essence of desire?2 Right?2 Please look at it.2 Don't reject it or accept it, enquire into it.2 Because we are now asking whether it is possible to live2 a life in which there is not a shadow of control2 which means not a shadow of the operation of will.2 And will is the very movement of desire.2 We went into the whole question of what is desire.2 I won't go into it now because I have a lot to cover this morning.2 Desire is2 contact, perception2 seeing, contact2 sensation2 from that arises desire2 and thought with its image - all that is desire2 which we went into but I won't go into now.2 And we are askin :29is it possible to live without the action of will?2 Most of us live a life of restraint, control2 suppression, and so on, escape.2 And you have to as ho is the controller?2 When you say, 'I must control myself, my anger2 my jealousy, my laziness, my indolence' and so on2 who is the controller?2 Is the controller different from that which he controls?2 You understand?2 Or are they both the same?2 The controller is the controlled.2 This is probably too difficult.2 Is it all right? Do we understand?2 After all you have listened to me for a week or ten days2 by now our language2 our use of words must be quite common and understood.2 So as long as there is a controller2 he is exercising his capacity to control.2 And we are saying the controller is the essence of desire.2 And he is trying to control his activities, his thoughts2 his wishes and so on, so on.2 So realising all that2 can one live a life which is not promiscuous2 which is not doing what you like2 but a life without any form of control, either sexual2 and not indulgence2 the will to control what you should, should not2 you know the whole problem of control.2 Very few people have gone into this question.2 And the whole eastern form of meditation is partly control.2 And personally I object to the whole2 their system of any form of control2 because the mind then is never free2 always subjugating itself to a pattern2 whether that pattern is established by another or by oneself.2 So the senses, the control.2 Then we must as :54what is time?2 Not the scientific fiction2 science fiction of time.2 What is, in our daily life, what is time?2 What part does it play in our life?2 How important is it in our daily activities?2 You understand my question?2 Of course there is time by the watch.2 There is time according to the sun2 the setting and the rising of the sun.2 There is time as yesterday, today and tomorrow.2 There is time as something that happened in the past2 remembered, and shaping the present and the future.2 Right?3 So there is physical chronological time3 and we have also psychological time3 I will be, I must, I am violent, I will be non-violent.3 All that implies a movement of time.3 Right? Movement means time.3 Please understand this really very carefully because3 we are going to enquire into meditation3 which is whether the mind can be absolutely quiet3 in which time as movement doesn't exist at all.3 You are following all this?3 Are you interested in all this? es.3 ven as intellectual curiosity?3 Because this is very important to understand3 whether time, not chronological time3 but psychological time, can that come to an end?3 Or must there be always till I die this movement of3 I will be, I must not be, I should be, I shall not be3 regret, remembrance - you follow?3 the whole psychological activity in which time is involved.3 That is, can time come to an end?3 Please see why it is important.3 Because our brains are conditioned to time3 our brains are the result of a million years and more3 how many it doesn't matter - immemorial3 centuries upon centuries the brain is conditioned3 it has evolved, grown, flowered.3 It is a very, very ancient brain3 and as it has evolved through time3 evolution implies time - as it evolved3 it functions in time.3 You understand?3 I wonder if you understand all this!3 The moment you say, 'I will' it is in time.3 When you say, 'I must do that' it is also in time.3 Everything that we do involves time3 and our brains are conditioned3 to not only chronological time, sun, rising, sun setting3 but also to the psychological time.3 So the brain has evolved through millennia3 and the very idea3 the very question whether it can end time3 you follow? - it is a paralysing process.3 I wonder if you understand this?3 It is a shock to it. Does somebody understand this?3 Because we are going to ask presently3 whether the brain itself can be absolutely quiet.3 You understand?3 Not your body, not your breathing3 not your eyes and thought - the brain itself3 which is constantly chattering3 constantly thinking about this, that and the other.3 Whether those very brain cells can be absolutely quiet.3 So therefore we must understand the nature of time.3 That is, psychologically, inwardly3 we are caught in a network of time.3 I am going to die, I am afraid3 I shall be, I have been3 and I remember the happy things or the painful things.3 And the brain is functioning, living in time.3 Right?3 You can see this yourself. This is an obvious fact.3 So part of meditation is to find out for oneself3 whether time can stop.3 Not - you can't do this saying, 'Time must stop'3 it has no meaning.3 But to understand the whole structure3 and the nature and the depth of this question.3 Right?3 That mean :20is it possible3 for the brain to realise3 that it has no future?3 Do you understand what I am saying?3 We live either in despair, or in hope.3 Right?3 Don't you?3 Hope is part of time.3 I am miserable, unhappy, uncertain, I hope to be happy3 do you understand?3 Part of time is this destructive nature of hope3 or the invention of the priests throughout the world - faith.3 You suffer but have faith in God, everything is all right.3 Do you follow all this?3 Again that is, faith in something involves time.3 Can you stand - stand in the sense3 can you tolerate that there is no tomorrow psychologically?3 Can you?3 That is part of meditation, to find out3 psychologically there is no tomorrow.3 We were once talking with somebody quite intelligent3 quite learned, about this question.3 And it was a real shock to him3 when we sai :39hope, faith, movement of the future as tomorrow3 is non existent.3 He was appalled at the idea - you understand, sir?3 'I shan't meet you tomorrow, whom I love'3 do you understand what I am saying?3 I may meet you, I probably will3 but the hope, the pleasure3 the looking forward to something3 all that is involved in time.3 Which doesn't mean if you have no hope3 that you discard hope3 which means that you understand the movement of time.3 If you discard hope then you become bitter3 then you say, 'Why should I live, what is the purpose of life?'3 and all that nonsense begins - depression3 agony to live without anything in the future3 do you understand all this?4 So one has to go into this question not verbally4 not theoretically but actually4 to find out psychologically in yourself4 if you have the slightest sense of tomorrow.4 And the next question in meditation is4 whether thought as time can stop?4 Thought, as we have talked a great deal about it4 is important, important in its right place.4 But it has no importance whatsoever psychologically.4 I wonder if you see this.4 We shall, I must go briefly into it.4 Thought is the reaction of memory, it is born from memory.4 Memory is experience4 experience as knowledge stored up in the brain cells themselves.4 You can watch your own brain4 you don't have to become a specialist4 I am not, I've just observed myself very carefully.4 The brain cells hold this memory.4 It is a material process.4 There is nothing sacred, nothing holy about it.4 And everything that we have don :12going to the moon, planting a silly flag up there4 going down to the depths of the sea4 and living there4 thought has created all this4 the immense complicated technology and its machinery.4 Thought has been responsible for all this.4 Thought has also been responsible for all wars4 Right?4 this is obvious, you don't have to question it even4 because your thought has divided Britain, France4 Germany, Russia - you follow?4 And thought has created4 the psychological structure as the 'me'.4 Right?4 That 'me' is not holy, something divine.4 It is just thought putting together the anxieties4 the fears, the pleasures, the sorrow, the pain4 the attachments, the fear of death4 it has put all this together which is the 'me'.4 It is this 'me' with its consciousness.4 Right I wonder.4 May we proceed from there? You are following all this?4 This is 'me', this consciousness.4 This consciousness is what it contains.4 Consciousness, your consciousness is what you are4 it is your anxieties, your fears, your struggle4 your wounds, your psychological despairs, pleasure and so on.4 The content of your consciousness is its content.4 Right?4 Again there is nothing to argue, made difficult, it is simple.4 And that is the result of time.4 Right?4 I have been hurt yesterday, psychologically4 you said something brutal to me, it has wounded me4 and it is part of my consciousness.4 I have had pleasure, that's part of and so on.4 So consciousness is involved in time.4 When we say can time end4 it implies the total emptying of this consciousness with its content.4 It implies that.4 Whether you can do it or not, that is a different matter.4 But it implies that.4 When you are enquiring into time4 whether the innumerable layers of this consciousness4 sensation, desire and all that4 layer after layer, the whole structure of it4 whether that consciousness which is a result of time4 yesterday I was hurt and so on and so on4 whether that consciousness can empty itself completely4 therefore time psychologically ends.4 I am putting first this question for you to look at.4 Then we can as s it possible?4 Do you understand my question?4 You are aware of your consciousness - aren't you?4 you know what you are, if you have gone into it sufficiently4 at least for the last week you might have done it, somewhat.4 But if you have gone into it4 you will see all this travail, all this struggle4 all the misery, uncertainty is part of you4 part of this consciousness, your ambitions, your greed4 your aggressiveness, your anger, your bitterness4 all that is part of this consciousness4 which is the accumulation from 1000 yesterdays to today.4 And we are asking whether that consciousness4 which is the result of time4 psychological as well as physiological4 can empty itself so that time has come to an end.4 You have understood the question first?4 Please, somebody say 'yes' or 'no' - (laughs) at least.4 es.4 on't go to sleep.4 We are going to find out if it is possible.4 If you say it is not possible then you have closed the door4 then you might just as well walk out4 don't sit here and waste your time4 if you say it is not possible.4 And if you say it is possible you have also closed the door.4 But whereas if you say let's find out4 then you are open to it, you are eager to find out.4 Right?4 Please this is not an intellectual game.4 This is not an entertainment on a Sunday morning.4 This is not a sermon either.4 I must tell you a lovely story about it.4 There was a preacher with his disciples4 and every morning he used to give a sermon4 for ten minutes, quarter of an hour.4 And all the captive audience listened to him. (Laughter)4 And one day he gets on the rostrum and begins4 just about to begin.4 A bird comes along, sits on the window-sill and begins to sing.4 And the preacher doesn't say a word.4 the bird, after singing, flies away.4 The preacher then says4 'The sermon is over for this morning'. (Laughter)4 Right?4 I wish I could say that too! (Laughter)4 So the question now is4 if you are serious enough to go into i :51whether it is possible to empty totally4 the whole content of ourselves4 the content of our consciousness5 this consciousness which has been built through time.5 Is it not possible - just please listen to it5 is it not possible to end one of the contents of your consciousness5 your hurt, your psychological wound?5 Surely you know what that means.5 Most of us psychologically have been hurt5 from childhoo arents, school, you know, whole existence5 we are hurt.5 That is part of your consciousness.5 Can you end that hurt completely5 totally wipe it out without leaving a mark?5 You can, can't you?5 If you pay attention to the wound5 know what has caused it5 and the wound is the image you have about yourself5 that has been wounded5 and end that image that is wounded5 you can do that if you have gone into it very, very deeply.5 Or if you are attached to somebody5 if you are attached to your wife or your husband5 it doesn't matter what it is, attached to a belief5 to a country, to a sect, to a group of people and so on5 to Jesus and so on, can you not completely5 logically, sanely, rationally end it?5 Because you see attachment implies jealousy, anxiety, fear, pain5 and having pain you become more and more and more attached5 seeing the nature of attachment5 the perception of attachment is the flowering of intelligence.5 That intelligence says5 how stupid to be attached - it is finished.5 You understand this?5 So go into it.5 Or you have a particular psychological habit5 thinking always in a certain direction.5 That is part of your consciousness.5 Can thought move away from the groove, from the rut?5 Of course it can.5 So it is possible - please listen - it is possible5 to empty totally, completely the content.5 Now if you do it one by one, that is5 attachment, your hurts5 your anxiety and so on, it will take infinite time.5 See what is involved if you do it one by one, it will take time.5 So you are caught in time again. I wonder if you see this.5 Whereas is it possible to empty it5 without involving time instantly, as a whole, not parts?5 No, I'll show it to you, don't shake your head, or agree or disagree!5 Do you understand my question?5 When you do part by part you are still involved in time.5 If you realise that, if you really see the truth of it5 then you won't do it partially.5 Right?5 Naturally.5 Then you move to a different question which i :32can it be done in its entirety?5 That is, is there an observation of this consciousness5 which is not mine really5 it is not my particular consciousness5 it is the universal consciousness.5 My consciousness is like your consciousness5 or somebody else's consciousness, because we suffer5 we go through agony, etc., etc.5 There may be a few who have said 'Out'5 they have flowered out, gone beyond.5 That is irrelevant.5 So we are askin s it possible5 to observe the thing in its entirety5 wholly5 and in the very observation of that totality5 the ending of it?5 You understand my question?5 So is it possible to observe5 your hurt, or your anxiety5 or your guilt or whatever it is, totally?5 You understand my question?5 Suppose I have guilt.5 I feel guilty5 which I don't, but suppose I do.5 Can I look at that guilt5 how it arose, what was the reason for it5 and how I am dreading further, and so on5 the entire structure of guilt, can I observe it wholly?5 Of course you can - no?5 You can observe it only wholly5 when you are aware of the nature of being hurt.5 You can be aware of it and the guilt and so on5 all the various things that we have collected5 you can be aware of it5 if there is no direction or motive involved in that awareness.5 Capito?5 Have you understood this? I'll explain, I'll go into it.5 Suppose I am attached to something or somebod :24can I not observe5 what are the consequences of attachment5 what is involved in attachment, how that attachment arose5 can't I observe the whole nature of it instantly?5 I am attached because I am lonely, I want comfort5 I want to depend on somebody because I can't stand by myself.5 I need companionship5 I need somebody to tell me you are doing very well, old boy.5 I need somebody to hold my hand, I am depressed, I am anxious.5 So I depend on somebody5 and out of that dependence arises attachment5 and from that attachment arises fear, jealousy, anxiety.5 Right?5 Can't I observe the whole nature of it instantly?5 Of course you can if you are aware5 if you are deeply interested to find out.5 So we are saying that instead of doing it piecemeal by piecemeal5 it is possible to see the whole nature and the structure5 and the movement of consciousness with all its content.5 The content makes up the consciousness5 and to see it entirely is possible.5 And when you see the entirety of it5 it disintegrates.5 The question then is - we are asking this questio :32as the content is part of our daily life of our consciousness5 and that consciousness is the accumulation through time5 whether that time can stop5 which means is there an ending of all the struggles5 you know, all the rest of it, instantly?5 We say it is possible.6 I have shown it to you.6 It has been shown through examples.6 That is6 to have a complete insight into the whole nature of consciousness.6 Right?6 Insight means, implies6 without any motive, without any remembrance6 just to have instant perception of the nature of consciousness6 and that very insight dissolves the problem.6 I'm sorry if you have You have understood this, somewhat?6 Then we can go to the next thing, which i :13We are occupied with measure.6 Right?6 I am tall, I am short.6 I must be different from what I am.6 Measure - you understand?6 which is comparison, following an example.6 Our whole technological development is based on measure.6 If you had no measurement6 there could be no technological advance.6 That is, knowledge is movement in measure.6 I know, I shall know.6 It is all measurement.6 And that measurement6 has moved into the psychological field.6 Follow all this sir.6 Are you following?6 es.6 atch yourself, how it works, you can see it very simply.6 And so we are always comparing psychologically.6 Now can you end comparison6 which is also the ending of time.6 Right?6 Measure means measuring myself with somebody6 and wanting to be like that, or not like that.6 The positive and the negative process is part6 through comparison, of measurement.6 I wonder if you see?6 Are you getting tired?6 o.6 o into it for yourself, you will see.6 So is it possible to live a daily life6 without any kind of comparison?6 You do compare two materials6 one corduroy colour against another corduroy colour6 but psychologically, inwardly6 to be free of comparison completely6 which means to be free of measurement.6 Measurement is the movement of thought.6 So can thought come to an end?6 You follow all this?6 You see most of us try to stop thinking - try to6 which is impossible.6 You may for a second say 'I have stopped thinking'6 but it is forced, it is compelled, it is a form of saying6 'I have measured a second when I was not thinking'.6 So we are asking something6 which all the original real people who went into this question6 who said, 'Can thought come to an end?'6 That is, thought born from the known - you understand?6 of course knowledge is the known, which is the past6 can that thought come to an end?6 That is, can there be freedom from the known?6 You understand my question?6 Because we are always functioning from the known6 and therefore we have become extraordinarily capable6 and imitative, comparing6 and this constant endeavour to be something.6 Right?6 So can thought come to an end?6 Thought itself, when it is aware of itself6 knows its limitation and therefore it has its place.6 I wonder if you are6 Are you doing all this while we are talking?6 So we have talked about6 measurement, control6 the importance of the senses and their right place6 all this is part of meditation.6 And we are asking nex :06when one has come to a certain point6 the senses can develop6 extra sensory perception6 because they become extraordinarily sensitiv :31telepathy, read other people's thoughts6 control, various forms of clairvoyance and so on and so on.6 They are still within the field of the senses.6 Right?6 So they have not6 this colossal importance that man is giving to them.6 Right?6 I wonder if you see this.6 The speaker has been through all this.6 Forgive me for entering personally6 one has been through all this and one sees the danger of it6 caught in all that sensory excitement, all that.6 It is stupid.6 So though these things there are6 definitely, but the