A mind which is seeking permanency soon stagnates.. said JKM.
But like moths to the light, we are standing in line to conform. Here he is talking about the mind, but for most of us, we don’t even reach the level of thinking about it..we are trying to preserve our bodies and their integrity, mainly by providing it by comfort, mainly by coveting money, mainly sacrificing everything else.. in the end a life of very little consequence. An absence of life which took up some space, reproduced and left some evidence behind!
I meet people like this in Asia, in the name of Family, they destroy the uniqueness of the individual. They have thought only about money, what to do with it when they have it, and while they don’t how to accumulate it and what is that they must do to accumulate it.. discretion, good taste, enjoying the aesthetics are not part of the picture here..
Why are people so keen to follow this? They are willing to sacrifice themselves and their ideals for this, this idea of a future, where they would be healthy and happy.
In her book, Theatre of the Mind, the Paris based New Zealand Psychiatrist had written, most people are waiting as if the stage is about to open and they would feast on some show, without realizing that their life is the show and they are already on stage, only that they have forgotten their lines.. the scriptwriter without a training has left his job and gone, now the grown up man or woman faces a situation in which they are forced to imitate what the others say, rather than have the courage to think for themselves..
All this while being selfish. Selfish to an extreme. In the end what? If those surrounding you, closer to you cant love you, what about the humanity which you have completely ignored, do you expect them to love you? and are you going to the grave knowing that not many people loved you and that you played no significant part in any ones life, including your own children?
There is something of a connection between Security and Decay, you can achieve security only through some process of corruption and decay. That which has stalled cannot bring you happiness, that which is moving, the mind, which is fluid, which is open, will be happy..
But how many of us have courage to do that? to be free like that?
Written after getting an email from Rachel in Hong Kong who likes Jiddu Krishnamurti, one of the lesser appreciated Indian philosophers. This note is dedicated to her.
