Random B&W of Penang.-J.Krishnamurti Exerpts

Beyond the noise of words

Listening is an art not easily come by, but in it there is beauty and great understanding.

We listen with the various depths of our being, but our listening is always with a

preconception or from a particular point of view. We do not listen simply; there is always

the intervening screen of our own thoughts, conclusions, and prejudices...To listen there

must be an inward quietness, a freedom from the strain of acquiring, a relaxed attention.

This alert yet passive state is able to hear what is beyond the verbal conclusion. Words

confuse; they are only the outward means of communication; but to commune beyond the

noise of words, there must be in listening an alert passivity. Those who love may listen;

but it is extremely rare to find a listener. Most of us are after results, achieving goals; we

are forever overcoming and conquering, and so there is no listening. It is only in listening

that one hears the song of the words.

To inquire and to learn is the function of the mind. By learning I do not mean the mere

cultivation of memory or the accumulation of knowledge, but the capacity to think clearly

and sanely without illusion, to start from facts and not from beliefs and ideals. There is no

learning if thought originates from conclusions. Merely to acquire information or

knowledge is not to learn. Learning implies the love of understanding and the love of

doing a thing for itself. Learning is possible only when there is no coercion of any kind.

Most people think that learning is encouraged through comparison, whereas the contrary

is the fact. Comparison brings about frustration and merely encourages envy, which is

called competition. Like other forms of persuasion, comparison prevents learning and

breeds fear.

Wisdom is something that has to be discovered by each one, and it is not the result of

knowledge. Knowledge and wisdom do not go together. Wisdom comes when there is the

maturity of self-knowing. Without knowing oneself, order is not possible, and therefore

there is no virtue.

Virtue has no authority