6th Public Dialogue - 7th August 1967

This is the last discussion or dialogue. We have talked during these past five days about various forms of violence, self-knowing and the processes of thought. So what shall we talk about this morning?

Questioner: Sir, it seems to me we have forgotten to consider another aspect of our intelligence. Thought can combine in different ways material from our past and therefore bring about something which is apparently new and generally called invention.

Krishnamurti: I understand. I think we have much more important things to discuss, talk about, than merely invention.

Questioner: Sir, you said when there are no thoughts there is energy. There are many ideas about energy. Is it possible to speak about energy?

Krishnamurti: Is it possible to talk about that energy which comes into being, which is part of thought, when thought doesn't bring about a contradiction in itself?

Questioner: Sir, you talked about two kinds of ideas, technical ideas which we are not talking about here, and the ideas created by thought. But aren't there ideas beyond the human mind in the universe?

Krishnamurti: I think it would be much more worthwhile this morning if we could spend some time talking over together the question of awareness, attention and meditation.

We shall perhaps answer some of these questions that have just been put this morning. We'll begin by enquiring into ourselves and finding out what we mean by awareness. Because it seems to me most of us are not aware, not only of what we are talking about, but aware of our feelings, aware of our environment, aware of the colours around us, the people, the kind of cars that we pass by on the road, the shape of the trees, the clouds, the movement of the water. To see the birds - and perhaps some of you saw this morning, very early, long before the sun rose, how extraordinarily clear it was - the air was perfumed. We're not aware of the outside things at all. Perhaps it is because we are so concerned with ourselves, with our problems, with our ideas, with our own pleasures, pursuits and ambitions, that we are not aware, outside, objectively. And yet we talk a great deal about 'being aware'. Once the speaker was travelling with some people in a car, there was a chauffeur driving and I was sitting beside him. There were three gentlemen behind discussing awareness very intently and asking me questions about awareness. Unfortunately at that moment the driver was looking somewhere else and ran over a goat - the three gentlemen were still discussing awareness (laughter) - and yet were totally unaware, unconscious, that they had run over a goat. And the chauffeur was not in the least concerned. When we pointed out this lack of attention, or awareness, on the part of the people who were trying to be aware, it was a total surprise to them. And it is the same with most of us. We are not aware either of outward things or of inward things. So may we this morning spend some time talking about this awareness?

Most of our minds are rather dull, insensitive, because we are unhealthy, we've had problems with which we have lived for days together, months, years - the problem of children, marriage, earning a livelihood, the brutal society in which we live - all that has made us insensitive, dull, our reactions are rather slow. Such a mind attempts to be aware, hoping thereby somehow to go beyond the limitations which society, the individual and so on, have placed upon it. In talking about awareness I think it is important to understand how very simple it is; not to complicate it, not to say, 'it must be this', 'it must not be that', but to begin very, very simply because it's a tremendously complex problem. We must begin very simply, go into it step by step, not analytically, but observing ourselves as we are and being aware of what we are, and from there move step by step. Can we do that this morning, just for the fun of it? I think that will sharpen the mind, because we are rather crude people, assertive, aggressive, self-important, wanting to tell others what we think, what they should do, what they should not do. We want to boss others, we assume responsibility which is none of ours. So we live in a kind of self-important, self-projecting world of our own, and living in that, we talk about awareness as being something extraordinarily mysterious.

So, if we may this morning discuss or talk over together a problem which is very interesting, and also if we could go into it very deeply, we will take a journey without end. Shall we do that? Don't agree with me please. See for yourself if it is important or not. Because I feel if we can understand this very simple thing we shall be able to understand the structure of our own mind, the states of various levels of our own being - where there is contradiction, where there is blindness, where there is self-assertiveness, brutality; we shall then become aware of all the boiling, burning things in us. So let's begin.

First of all don't let us define what awareness is. Because if we do, each one of us will give it a different meaning, a different definition; but we shall find out what awareness means as we go along. The moment you define what awareness is, you've already blocked yourself by words, by a conclusion.

But if you say, I'm going to find out what it means, then your mind becomes supple, elastic, and you can go along So let's go into it. Don't complicate it, because as we begin to look into awareness it will become more and more complex, but if you start with the complexity of it you won't be able to see its extraordinary simplicity, and therefore through the very simplicity discover the diversity and the contradictoriness and the dissimilarity that exists in this awareness. Am I making it complex?

Questioner: You mentioned awareness about things and states of mind. Does that mean that awareness always has an object, such as fear?

Krishnamurti: We're going to find out. We're going to begin. Look! I know nothing about it. Right? I know nothing about awareness. I'm going to find out what it means, not what somebody tells me. First of all am I aware, conscious, of outward things? - the shape of the tree, the bird sitting on the telegraph pole preening itself, the potholes in the road, the face opposite me. That is, just to look? First to look - to see! Or, do I see the image that I have about that bird, or that tree, or the image which I have about the face I see in front of me? right? That is, not only do I see the bird on the post - I also have an image of that bird - so there is the seeing and the image which sees the bird. Is that somewhat clear? I see you - actually, visually - and I also have an image about you - you're old, young, nice looking, or you're dirty, you're this, you're that. Right?

Questioner: How are we ever sure that we are seeing a bird without an image?

Krishnamurti: Sir, look. Forget the bird. You're sitting there and I'm sitting here. How do you know that you see me? How do I know that I see you? - you're there and I'm here.

Questioner: Sir, there is something that is not clear to me. Do I see the bird or the image of it - I can't understand.

Krishnamurti: This is a conundrum! Let's forget the bird, let's forget the tree, let's forget everything. There you are. You're sitting there and the speaker is sitting on the plat form. You see him, not only actually (brown coat, etc.) but also you see him through the image you have about him. Right? I see you not only visually, what you actually look like, but also, because I have known you, I have an image about you. Now that's part of awareness, isn't it? I'm aware of your face, your colour, the scarf around your neck, the brown shirt - but I also have an image about you because I have known you - you have said pleasant or unpleasant things - I have built an image about you. That's part of awareness isn't it? Right? Of course!

Now, go a step further. I see you through the image which I have built about you. I see you - not only the brown shirt and so on - but also I see you through my image. Right? So actually I don't see you at all! That's part of awareness, isn't it? To realize that the image which is looking at you prevents the mind from looking at you directly. This is fairly simple. No? That's also part of awareness isn't it? I am aware of the brown shirt you have and the colour of the scarf around your neck. I'm also aware that I have an image about you and that image is looking at you. That's part of awareness. Obviously, Sirs.

Now, next move. By being aware of this, that awareness says, I am really not looking at you at all - my image is looking at you! Are you following this? My image is looking at you. First of all I am aware that I have an image, which I was not aware of before. Then I am aware how that image has come into being. Right? Now how has that image come into being? That image has come into being because you have hurt me, or you have said pleasant things to me, you have flattered me you have said, 'what a marvellous person you are', or 'for God's sake become more intelligent', or this or that. Through your verbal expression and the feeling which you have put into those words, and my reactions to those words and to those feelings, I have built an image about you - which is the memory that I have about you. Right?

Questioner: But you form an image about someone even the first time you meet....

Krishnamurti: Yes, yes. It can be in an instant. I don't like your face, or I like your face. I like the perfume which you have on, I don't like it, and so on. I've already built an image, instantly. Right? So I am aware for the first time that I have an image about you. And also I am aware that this image has been put together by like and dislike. I am a German and you are a Frenchman and I don't like you and so on. So I am aware through the image I have built about you, from my reactions to you. Right? Shall we go on? Are you following the words or actually watching yourselves, watching the image you have about me or about somebody else, how that image has been built? If you have a husband or a wife you know very well how that image has been built; and are you aware of this image? Not, whether you like it or dislike it. Because if you are aware and say 'I like' or 'I don't like' then you are adding to that image. Right? Or you say, I must get rid of that image. You're again adding to that image. But if you observe without any reaction to the image - I wonder if you're following all this, is it too difficult? - would you like to 'take a trip'?

This is a very complex process. Unless you follow this very, very closely you're going to miss the whole thing. Therefore you have to pay attention. I am aware of your brown shirt and scarf and the colour of the scarf. I am also aware that I look at you through the image I have built about you and the image has been built through your words, through your gestures, or through my prejudice about you or my like and dislike of you. That is part of awareness. And also I see I am aware that this image prevents me from looking at you directly. It prevents me from looking at you, coming into contact with you directly. Then I say to myself, 'I must get rid of this image'. You're following this? Then begins the conflict, doesn't it? When I want to get rid of the image which I have built about you, to be free of it, because I want to come closer into contact with you, to see you directly, that is another form of reaction to the image.

I said, I am aware that I have the image which prevents me from looking, from observing exactly what is, what exactly you are or exactly I am. So I want to get rid of it, I want to be free of it because this might be more profitable, it might be more pleasurable, or it might bring me some kind of a deeper, wider experience. And all this is part of awareness. The moment I want to get rid of that image, I have entered a battle with the image which is conflict. So I am aware what has happened now. I am aware of your brown shirt and the colour of the scarf, I am aware of the image that I have built about you. I am aware that this image is preventing me from coming directly in touch with you, seeing exactly what you are, or that the image which I have about myself prevents me from looking at myself. I want to get rid of that image because I've heard you say, self-knowledge is very important. Therefore I don't want to have an image about myself; I want to get rid of it. And when I want to get rid of it, then there is a conflict between the former image and a new image which I have created. You're following all this? So I am now in conflict. And if it is a pleasurable conflict I want it to go on. If the conflict promises a certain pleasure at the end of it, I want it to go on. And if that conflict breeds pain I want to get rid of that pain. So I am aware of the whole pattern of what is taking place. Right? I hope you are doing this with me - taking your own image which you have about somebody, looking at it, being aware of it, as you are aware of the tent, the limitations of the tent, the curve of the tent, the structure of the tent, the patches in the tent, the holes, and so on. Similarly you are aware of yourself with our image and what is implied by it. Now I'm in conflict. Either I am aware of that conflict as it is, or I want to alter that conflict into something which will give me more; or I am in conflict very superficially, just on the surface; or, I am aware of the deeper layers of this conflict. So awareness is not merely a superficial observance of conflicts within myself, but also through this awareness the deeper conflicts are being opened up. Right? If the deeper layers of conflicts are opened up by being aware, then if there is fear in that, I want to shut them all up, I don't want to look. So I run away from them: run away from them through drink, drugs, women, men, amusement, entertainment, churches - all the rest of it. All that is part of awareness, isn't it? - the running away from fear, and giving importance to the things I have run to.

I am aware that I am lonely, miserable. I don't know a way out of it, or if I do know a way out it's too difficult; therefore I run away - run away to church, to drugs, to Communism, to every form of entertainment. And because I have run away from the thing of which I am afraid, to something which helps me to escape, those things become tremendously important. Right? So I'm attached to those things. It may be a wife, a family - whatever it is. Now all that is part of awareness, isn't it? I've begun very slowly - step by step - I watched your shirt, the colour of your shirt, the colour of your scarf, and gone deeper and deeper until I found that I have a whole network of escapes. I haven't searched them out, I haven't analysed them; by being aware I have begun to penetrate deeper and deeper and deeper. Right? Are you following all this?

Questioner: I don't follow. I see about being aware.... but then comes a little jump about inner escapes. Could you please go over it again.

Krishnamurti: Where is the jump?

Questioner: Between awareness and our escape, from for instance, inner loneliness.

Krishnamurti: Oh, I thought I had made it clear. I have built an image about you and I was never aware of that image; and I become aware of it by observing outer things, by being aware of external things. Naturally from the external things I move to inner things. And there I discover I have an image about you. I went into it, that's clear, isn't it? Now, by becoming aware of that image I find that I have built it in order to protect myself; or I have built it because you have said such brutal things to me that they remain in my memory, or you have said pleasant things which again remain in my memory. So there is the image which I have built, and I realize this image prevents me from looking deeper into my relationship with you. Right?

Questioner: You mean, Sir, that this awareness that you have is not just limited to one person but in every field...?

Krishnamurti: Of course, of course I have images about everything - about you, about my wife, about my children, about my country, about God. (Sound of jet overhead) Were you aware of the noise of that jet - were you aware of it? Were you aware of your reaction to it? And the reaction was: I wish it would go away because I want to find out, I want him to talk more, it's preventing me from listening. Or did you just listen to that extraordinary thunder? When you listened to that thunder without any choice you listened entirely differently, didn't you? No? You followed the thunder as it went further and further away. You listened to it and then you became aware of the different sounds of the river - didn't you? - of those children far away? But if you said, I don't like that sound because I want to listen here, I want to find out, then what has happened? Then you're in conflict, aren't you? You want to listen and you're prevented by that noise, so there is resistance between the noise and the desire to listen, to find out; therefore there was conflict, and you were lost in that conflict. You neither listened to the thunder nor listened to what was being said. So let's proceed.

I have built an image about you, and I have several other images - perhaps dozens of them - and I see, I realize, I am aware that this image prevents me from looking at you more clearly; and I want to get rid of that image because I want to see you more clearly, understand you directly. This image prevents me, therefore I want to get rid of it; hence a conflict, because I want to understand you better. So there is a conflict - follow this - a conflict between the original image which I have about you and the new image which I have in mind, which is to look at you. Right? So there is conflict between the two. And as I don't know how to get rid of both these images I get tired, I get weary and as I have no way of solving this, the old image and the new image and the conflict between them, I escape - and I have a network of escapes, of which I am slowly becoming aware: drink, smoking, the incessant chatter, the offering of opinions, judgments, evaluations - dozens of escapes. I'm aware of superficial escapes and as I watch, as I am aware of these superficial escapes, I'm also beginning to discover the deeper layers of escapes. Are you following all this?

Questioner: In doing so I lose touch with the observed.

Krishnamurti: I'm coming to that Sir. You see you are not actually doing it. If you are doing it step by step you will soon discover the nature of the observer. So what has happened? Awareness has exposed a network of escapes - superficial escapes - and also with that awareness I see a deeper level of escapes - the motives, the traditions, the fears which I have and so on. So there I am. Beginning with the brown shirt and the scarf I have discovered - awareness has shown - this extraordinary complex entity that I am - actually shown it! - not theoretically. You're following, Sir? That is, this awareness has actually shown what is. Until now the observer has been watching all this taking place. I have watched that shirt, the colour of the scarf, as though it were something outside me - which it is - right? Then I have watched the image which I have built about you. Then that awareness has shown the complexity of this image and I'm still the observer of this image. So there is the image and the observer of that image. (I am working and you are not!) So again there is the duality: the observer and the thing observed which is the image; and the dozens of images which I have (if I have them) and the escapes from the various forms of conflict which these images have caused, superficially and deeply. And there is still the observer watching them.

Now, that awareness again goes on, deeper. Who is the observer? Is the observer different from the images? Is not the observer another image? So one image, as the observer, observes the several images round him or in him. No? This observer is really the censor, the person who says 'I like', 'I don't like', 'I like this image so I'm going to keep it', 'the other image I don't like so I want to get rid of it'. But the observer is put together by the various images which have come into being through the reactions to the various images. Are you following all this?

Questioner: But all images are in the observer.

Krishnamurti: Of course, of course.

Questioner: They are not separated.

Krishnamurti: Perfectly right.

Questioner: But you say it is an image that sees another image.

Krishnamurti: Of course. I examined, I explored it, until I came to the point where I said the observer is also the image, only he has separated himself and observes. Sir, please, this requires a great deal of real looking, not accepting anything that anybody says. This observer has come into being through the memories of various images and their reactions. So the observer separates himself from the other images and then says, 'how am I to get rid of these images?' So this image is a permanent image! And this permanent image which thinks it is permanent says, I want to get rid of all the other images because they are really the cause of trouble, they really bring conflict, so it puts the blame on the other images. Whereas the observer who is the image, he is the central cause of all this mischief.

Questioner: The image must get rid of itself.

Krishnamurti: Who is the entity that is going to get rid of it? Another image! It is really very important to understand this.

Questioner: Sir, if we look at these images we see they are made of thought. If we look at the image of ourself, the observer, we see that it is he that builds up in the same way.... I've got to this point.

Krishnamurti: Yes Sir, you're perfectly right. We've got to that point. This awareness has revealed that there is a central image put together by the various other images, which has taken precedence; it is the censor, the evaluator, the judge, and it says, 'I must get rid of all those others'. So between him and the others there is a conflict. Right Sir? And we keep up this conflict all the time, and because we don't know how to resolve this conflict we have further escapes. Either through neurosis or through conscious, deliberate escapes - drink, church, whatever it is. As this awareness pushes itself deeper - not you push it - you ask: is the observer different from the other images? The other images are the result of judgments, of opinions, conclusions, hurts, nationality - so the observer is the result of all the other images.

Questioners: We are afraid of such complexity....

Krishnamurti: But life is that! Therefore you are afraid of life, therefore you escape from life. You see, you're not really paying complete attention to this, and that's why it's so difficult to talk 'against' something. Look Sir, I have an image about you. That image has been put together by hurt, by like and dislike - that's a fact. That like and dislike has created another image in me - hasn't it? - not only the image about you but the other image, that I must not like or dislike; because it is absurd to like and dislike. Therefore I have built an image which says, 'I must not like or dislike', which is the outcome of building an image and seeing what is implied in it; this brings the other image into being.

Questioner: Some minds don't work that way at all.

Krishnamurti: I don't know how some minds work.

Questioner: Well mine doesn't.

Krishnamurti: All right. We're talking about awareness, not how your mind works or my mind works.

Questioner: Supposing you don't create images?

Krishnamurti: There's no question of 'supposing'.

Questioner: But I don't.

Krishnamurti: What do you mean 'suppose'?

Questioner: I'm not supposing, if I feel it is a fact.

Krishnamurti: What is a fact? If you say, 'I'm a stupid person', won't it hurt you? Or hurt me?

Questioner: It won't, it won't hurt.

Krishnamurti: 'Why should it', and being hurt, are two different things.

Questioner It won't, it won't hurt.

Krishnamurti: All right, it won't hurt, I'm very glad. You see how we go off on something very trivial. So the observer is the observed. You understand Sirs? There is the image of the observer; between the observer and the various images he has around him, there is a division, there is a separation, a time interval, and hence he wants to conquer them, he wants to subjugate them, he wants to destroy them; he wants to get rid of them and hence there is a conflict between the observer and the observed. Right? And he says, 'as long as I have conflict I must be in confusion'. So he says, 'I must get rid of this conflict'. The very desire to get rid of that conflict creates another image. Follow all this Sir, very closely. Awareness has revealed all this, which is to reveal the various states of my mind, reveal various images, the contradictoriness between the images, the conflict, the despair of not being able to do anything about it, the escapes, the neurotic assumptions and so on. All that has been revealed through cautious, hesitant awareness; and there is an awareness that the observer is the observed. Please follow this! Not a superior entity is aware that the observer is the observed, but this awareness has revealed the observer as the observed. Not, who is aware! Are you following all this? You know this is real meditation.

Now we can proceed. Now what takes place when the observer realizes that he is the observed? He has realized it not through any form of intellectual concept, idea, opinion, enforcement; he has realized this whole structure through this awareness - by being aware of the colour of the shirt, the scarf, and moving, moving, deeper and deeper.

Questioner (1): Sir, I am extremely sorry to interrupt but there's an important question that I don't understand and that is, you say awareness sees that the observer is the observed. Now, does that mean that he is the actual observed or the reaction to the observed?

Krishnamurti: I don't quite understand your question, Sir.

Questioner (1): Well, you say that the observer is the observed.

Krishnamurti: I don't say it.

Questioner (1): All right, awareness discovers that. You said that.

Krishnamurti: I did.

Questioner (1): So, here I have an image of you, let's say, and then awareness discovers that I am that observed, the observed is the image. Do you mean that the observer is the image of you that he sees, or is he a reaction to that image?

Krishnamurti: Of course, he is the reaction to that image.

Questioner (1): And therefore he is the observed, because of that reaction.

Krishnamurti: You understand?

Questioner (2): Could you explain this a little more?

Krishnamurti: (to first questioner: Would you explain it Sir?

Questioner (1): Well if you ask me to say something, I will.

Krishnamurti: Go ahead Sir, we asked. You stand up, or come here - whatever you like.

Questioner (1): The speaker uses the words, that it is seen that the observer is the observed. Now we have been talking about things that are observed. A tree, that is the observed. Does the speaker mean that awareness sees that I am that tree? No. He says that what I see is not the tree, I see an image of the tree. So, therefore does he mean that I, as the observer, am that image of the tree, or does he mean that I as the observer am the reaction to that image of the tree? That was my question.

Krishnamurti: That's right Sir. You are the reaction to the image which you have created about that tree. If you had no image about that tree there would be no observer.

Questioner: Sir, could one express this a little differently and say that the images that are built by like and dislike through innumerable associations about everything have also built up some conglomerate aggregate that has formed the observer? Now, when we understand this inwardly, without trying to understand it, but are simply aware of it....

Krishnamurti: That's right Sir! That's perfectly right.

Questioner:.... then you ask, what happens?

Krishnamurti: Now I'm going into it.

Questioner: Yes, then continue.

Krishnamurti: I'm going on. This awareness has revealed that the observer is the observed, therefore any action on the part of the observer only creates another image - naturally! If the observer has not realized that the observer is the observed, any movement on the part of the observer creates other series of images, and again he's caught in it. So what takes place? When the observer is the observed, the observer doesn't act at all. Go slowly Sir, go very slowly, because it's a very complex thing that we're going into now. I think this must be very clearly understood otherwise we shan't go any further. The observer has always said, 'I must do something about these images', 'I must get rid of them, I must suppress them, I must transform them, I must give them a different shape'. The observer has always been active with regard to the observed. Right? I observe that I dislike my wife - for various reasons - and the observer says, I mustn't dislike her, I must do something about it, and so on. The observer is always active with regard to the thing observed. Right Sir?

Questioner: You mean that we are reacting all the time with all these images, constantly, in terms of like and dislike, and adding to them; that we are always doing this?

Krishnamurti: That's right; and this action of like and dislike on the part of the observer is called positive action.

Questioner: And that's what you mean when you say it is always active.

Krishnamurti: Yes; it is what is called positive action. I like, therefore I must hold or I don't like, therefore I must get rid of it. It's reacting, either passionately or casually. But when the observer realizes that the thing about which he is acting is himself.... What Sir?

Questioner: The gentleman over there wanted some more clarity on the observer and the observed. Now what you said then was that these images are not the actual things them selves; you don't know what they are, you only react to these images continuously. And when we see that, then this conflict between the observer and the observed ceases.

Krishnamurti: Sir, keep it very simple. I look at that brown shirt and the scarf. If I say, 'I don't like that brown shirt and the scarf' or, 'I like that brown shirt and the scarf', I've already created an image, which is a reaction.

Questioner: And that stores up in the past, in memory.

Krishnamurti: That's right, that's right. Now, can I look at that brown shirt and the scarf without like and dislike, which is not to react to it but merely to observe? Then there is no image. You've got it, Sir? Have you got that very simple thing?

Questioner: (inaudible)

Krishnamurti: Look Sir, I see somebody has got a red shirt or a red blouse, I look at it. My immediate reaction is: I like or dislike. The like and dislike is the result of my culture, of my training, of my tendency, my inclination, which has already an image which says, 'I don't like that shirt', or 'I like that shirt'. So, the like and dislike and the past training - culture, inherited tendency - all that, has created the image. That is my central observer, that is the observer put together by dislike and so on. That observer is always separate from the thing he observes - obviously; and this awareness has revealed that the observer is the observed. Right?

Questioner: The thing observed - do you mean by that the image that the mind built up?...

Krishnamurti: That's right, that's right. You've got it. Then when the observer is the observed image, then there is no conflict between himself and the image. He is that! He is not separate from that. Before, he was separate and took action about it, did something about it, reacted to it. But when the observer realizes he is that, there is no like or dislike. Sir, don't - you examine yourself Sir.

Questioner: The observer is creating all the other images....

Krishnamurti: No! I'm not going to go back into that, Sir. We have gone into it sufficiently. You understand what we have said so far, that between the observer and the observed, between the image which the observer has created about him- self and the images which he has created about various things there is a separation, a division, and hence, between himself and them, there is a conflict of like and dislike and reaction. And he is always doing something about it. Now, when the observer realizes he is the observed - the images - then conflict ceases. That is, when I realize I am fear - not, that there is fear and me separate from that fear - then I am that fear; I can't do anything. Follow this closely. Because, what am I to do? I am part of that fear. I am not separate from fear. Therefore I can look at that fear without any form of escape. I am that fear, I am that pain which I have now in the tummy, or in my leg, or whatever it is. I am that fear. So I don't rebel against it or accept it or run away from it - it is there. So all action, which is the outcome of the reaction of like and dislike, has come to an end. All right - you follow? Now what has happened?

Questioner: There's only awareness.

Krishnamurti: No.

Questioner: There is neither the observer nor the observed.

Krishnamurti: That's it. There is an awareness which is becoming more and more - I'm using more and more not in the sense of time - more and more acute, sharp, intense.

Questioner: Not wasting energy.

Krishnamurti: That's right. It's becoming tremendously alive, it is not bound to any central issue, or to any image. And it is becoming intensely aware; from that intensity there comes a different quality of attention. Right?

Questioner: And this intensity, Sir, has no direction and no purpose.

Krishnamurti: Watch it Sir, you don't have to ask me. Watch it yourself. The moment there is a choice in this awareness, then there is a direction directed by this observer. Right? But when the whole pattern, when this whole structure has been understood, conflict has come to an end; and therefore the mind - because the mind is this awareness - has become extraordinarily sensitive, highly intelligent. Because sensitivity goes with intelligence - there is no intelligence without sensitivity, physical as well as psychological - the mind has become highly intelligent and sensitive! Because that intelligence is not put together by any conflict. There is the intelligence which has been put together through conflict, which is the observer. The observer separate from the observed has its own intelligence. I don't want to go into that.

In this awareness, because it has exposed everything very clearly, there has been no choice (choice only exists when there is confusion) and so this awareness has removed every form of conflict; therefore there is clarity. And this clarity is attention. Don't agree please! This requires actual doing, not just agreeing. When there is this attention, in which there is no observer nor observed, this attention is intelligence. In this attention there is no conflict whatsoever, therefore there is no demand for anything. And, this attention has its own activity, its own action. So there is an action which is not born out of the observer. When the observer acts, his action is always separate. Sir, look. We cannot go further into this matter unless you have actually done it - actually do it. Then you will find that attention, being intelligence, is beauty and love - which the observer, separate, tries to imitate - then the mind has no limit.

7th August 1967