Saturday, July 12, 2008

You just look

J. Krishnamurti, from Speaking Tree, The Times of India. Excerpt are from the book Freedom from the Known:

There is only you — your relationship with others and with the world — there is nothing else. When you realise this, it either brings great despair, from which comes cynicism and bitterness, or, in facing the fact that you and nobody else are responsible for the world and for yourself, for what you think, what you feel, how you act, all self-pity goes. Normally we thrive on blaming others, which is a form of self-pity.

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What is important is to observe what is actually taking place in our daily life, inwardly and outwardly. If you observe very closely what is taking place and examine it, you will see that it is based on an intellectual conception, and the intellect is not the whole field of existence; it is a fragment, and a fragment cleverly put together, however ancient and traditional, is still a small part of existence whereas we have to deal with the totality of life.

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To be able to look at this is all that is needed, because if we know how to look, then the whole thing becomes very clear, and to look needs no philosophy, no teacher. Nobody need tell you how to look. You just look. Can you then, seeing this whole picture...easily, spontaneously, transform yourself? That is the real issue. Is it possible to bring about a complete revolution in the psyche?

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Monday, July 7, 2008

Aamir

Last day my friend Raghuveer told me about a TV show in which Aamir Khan gave a special appearance. Though in few words, he talked in-depth about education and the way a child should be nurtured. Also expressed that education was not just passing exams and earning degrees, but something lot more important than that. And also that he was only a class 12th pass, not even a graduate.

I recalled why listening to him in past I always felt that this guy has attained some sort of self-realization. Same was with Shashank Atom, a teacher whom I interacted with during my days in Delhi.

I was later also recalling Aamir’s moves 15 years back, when he decided to do only one film at a time, and that too after reading the whole script, listening to the music and judging the conviction and enthusiasm of the director. What a risky move it was and how it could seemingly have ruined his career, but even then he did what his heart and conviction guided him to, and today what kind of body of work and success the decision has created.