Transform the self

We see that if there is to be any real change in the world - and there must be a real change - then you and I as individuals will have to transform ourselves. Unless there is a radical change in each one of us, life becomes an endless imitation, ultimately leading to boredom, frustration, and hopelessness.

J. Krishnamurti

Collected Works, Vol. XI - 172

[The Power of People]

The Attitude of Gratitude

The silence was almost piercing in my hotel room. I sat composing this thought in the path of a rapidly approaching dawn. Yet strangely enough, fatigue did not overtake my senses. My thoughts ran wild as I contemplated this and that, mostly however I deliberated upon the topic of gratitude. It amazed me how people with so much against them can still find the strength to push on and conversely for others even the smallest of inconveniences can send their worlds into a tailspin. It is truly a perplexing phenomenon; however, I am not without clues as to why this happens. My most significant clue is the role that gratitude plays in how life's circumstances impact a person's life.

It has often seemed to me to be a bit cliché to think that our mindsets control our prospects. A poetic way to say this inspired by your favorite self-help book (pick one any one) is "what we think the world to be, we will surely see". Over the past few months, I have come to appreciate this viewpoint and I believe that this outlook hinges on the attitude of gratitude. If a person even in the depths of difficulty and trouble can still identify the blessings that are in his or her possession one's mind is allowed to be focused on those blessings. Our strength resides in our blessings, whether they are skills that we have, or a roof over our heads, a supportive family. In creating a better life for ourselves, we can only do that from a position of strength.

Whatever we have to be thankful for we must acknowledge it through gratitude so that we can create a solid foundation from which to stand. The drawbacks of life never disappear we just do not allow them to monopolize our awareness. Our focus is like prime real estate; reserved only for constructive and positive thoughts. Thoughts, which allow us to build the life, we truly desire should be at the forefront of our minds.

[The Power of People]

Dealing With Fear

what the world needs is human beings who are free, who are creative, who have no fear. And most of us are ridden with fear. If you can go profoundly into fear and really understand it, you will come out with innocency, so that your mind is clear. That is what we need, and that is why it is very important to understand how to look at a fact, how to look at your fear. That is the whole problem - not how to get rid of fear, not how to be courageous, not what to do about fear, but to be fully with the fact.

J. Krishnamurti
The Collected Works, Vol. XI - 349

[The Power of People]

Attention and Seriousness

Are you anything in yourself? Strip yourself of your name, title, money, position, your little capacity to write a book and be flattered - and what are you? So why not realize and be that?

You see, we have an image of what it is to be nothing, and we don't like that image; but the actual fact of being nothing, when you have no image, may be entirely different. And it is entirely different. It is not a state that can be realized in terms of being nothing or of being something. It is entirely different when there is no image of yourself.

And to have no image of yourself demands tremendous attention, tremendous seriousness. It is only the attentive, the serious, that live, not the people who have images of themselves.

-Krishnamurti

[The Power of People]

Humanity

Theories & goals of education don't matter a whit if you don't consider your students to be human beings.
-Lou Ann Walker

[The Power of People]

Trying to be something else

The very awareness of what is is a liberative process. So long as we are unaware of what we are and are trying to become something else, so long will there be distortion and pain. The very awareness of what I am brings about transformation and the freedom of understanding.

J. Krishnamurti
The Collected Works, Vol. IV - 75

[The Power of People]

Love What You Are Studying

The what is is what you are, not what you would like to be; it is not the ideal because the ideal is fictitious, but it is actually what you are doing, thinking, and feeling from moment to moment. What is is the actual, and to understand the actual requires awareness, a very alert, swift mind. But if we begin to condemn what is, if we begin to blame or resist it, then we shall not understand its movement. If I want to understand somebody, I cannot condemn him - I must observe, study him. I must love the very thing I am studying.

J Krishnamurti

[The Power of People]

Do the Hard Things

As I have been contemplating the struggles that all of us go through in life, I am reminded of this powerful quote by Albert E. N. Gray:

“The successful person has the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.”

-Dr. Stephen Covey

[The Power of People]

Silence is the Real Dance

My dance is all motion without, all silence within. As much as I love to make music, it’s the unheard music that never dies. And silence is my real dance, though it never moves.

-Michael Jackson

[The Power of People]

Constant Vigilance

The legendary swordsman Miyamoto Mushashi often spoke of courage brought about by one's convictions. Living by the courage of one's convictions also includes respecting one's mission and purpose. Lack of fidelity to one's path manifests in weaknesses of will such as apathy and complacency. Perhaps constant vigilance is the only way to address this challenge...

[The Power of People]

Is it possible to look at the problem comprehensively, wholly?

The more we think over a problem, the more we investigate, analyse, and discuss it, the more complex it becomes. So is it possible to look at the problem comprehensively, wholly? How is this possible? Because that, it seems to me, is our major difficulty. Our problems are being multiplied - there is imminent danger of war, there is every kind of disturbance in our relationships - and how can we understand all that comprehensively, as a whole? Obviously, it can be solved only when we can look at it as a whole - not in compartments, not divided. When is that possible? Surely, it is only possible when the process of thinking - which has its source in the 'me', the self, in the background of tradition, of conditioning, of prejudice, of hope, of despair - has come to an end. Can we understand this self, not by analysing, but by seeing the thing as it is, being aware of it as a fact and not as a theory - not seeking to dissolve the self in order to achieve a result but seeing the a
ctivity of the self, the 'me', constantly in action? Can we look at it, without any movement to destroy or to encourage? That is the problem, is it not? If, in each one of us, the centre of the 'me' is non-existent, with its desire for power, position, authority, continuance, self-preservation, surely our problems will come to an end.

-J. Krishnamurti

The First and Last Freedom - 112

[The Power of People]

Midnight Meditations

Meditating upon the fact that maybe the expert label is a bit limiting. This designation is based upon the assumption that one knows, in a definitive unchanging sense. Life is far from this but rather is ever changing. Perhaps it's more empowering to think of oneself as an earnest seeker, constantly evolving and growing. This alignment would entail much less preassure to uphold a shallow image.

[The Power of People]

Walk the Talk

It's been a long week. I find myself faced with the challenge of designing multiple leadership development programs. It's funny how what I am teaching and researching will help me achieve this large task. Doctor heal thyself...

[The Power of People]

Let Go

When things don't seem to go my way, I let go of my idea of how they should be, trusting that I may not be aware of the big picture.

-Deepak Chopra

[The Power of People]