Many years ago, I attended Vernon Howard classes on a regular basis. In the town where I lived, I had an opportunity to be employed at one of Jiddu Krishnamurti’s schools. Vernon Howard’s teaching was aligned with Mr Krishnamurti’s, so when I asked Vernon if I could have his permission to work there, he responded, “Absolutely!” They both taught that the lower self must go if a person was to live a Real and Free Life. Here is a short paragraph and an exercise from Mr Krishnamurti: very helpful guides for attaining this unknown ‘secret’ life.
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“You know, if we understand one question rightly, all questions are answered. But we don’t know how to ask the right questions. To ask the right question demands a great deal of intelligence and sensitivity. Here is a question, a fundamental question: is life a torture? It is, as it is; and man has lived in this torture centuries upon centuries, from ancient history to the present day, in agony, in despair, in sorrow; and he doesn’t find a way out of it. Therefore he invents gods, churches, all the rituals, and all that nonsense, or he escapes in different ways. What we are trying to do, during all these discussions and talks here, is to see if we cannot radically bring about a transformation of the mind, not accept things as they are, nor revolt against them. Revolt doesn’t answer a thing. You must understand it, go into it, examine it, give your heart and your mind, with everything that you have, to find out a way of living differently. That depends on you, and not on someone else, because in this there is no teacher, no pupil; there is no leader; there is no guru; there is no Master, no Saviour. You yourself are the teacher and the pupil; you are the master; you are the guru; you are the leader; you are everything. And to understand is to transform what is.
“I think that will be enough, won’t it?”
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Inner Life Exercise
“Follow the wandering, the distraction, find out why the mind has wandered; pursue it, go into it fully. When the distraction is completely understood, then that particular distraction is gone. When another comes, pursue it also.”
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This is fantastic! I’ve been noticing lately certain mechanical actions that I’ll start to do in order to keep myself distracted from what is going on in the present moment. Just becoming aware of that has helped me to see the distraction and not go along with it. And it gets easier every time I do it!
“They both taught that the lower self must go if the person was to live a Real and Free life”.
The statement begs the question(s), what is the “lower self” and where would it go? And then its
existence implies that somewhere exists its opposite i.e, a “higher self”. Maybe this is the question
K implored us to ask and with a “great deal of intelligence and sensitivity”. Has mankind just been
thrashing about in the dark for eons trying to find an answer to the wrong question.?