The thoughts of J. Krishnamurti Prt. 2

In his later years Jedu Krishnamurti saw the implications of the rise of the computer age an its remifications for the human race. He focused his talks on the persisting incapacity of the human race in dealing with the global state of affairs such as the end to global conflicts and the gloom of wars. Despite our claim to have achieved advancement in every aspect of our human endeavour Krishnamurti felt that man is still ignorant of himself, man has yet to discover his true nature or identity which is inevitable if he is to save himself and mankind as a whole. We have the tendencies to look without for our solutions to our misgivings rather than looking within for answers. We fail to utilize our greatest asset and that being the mind when confronted with challenges and we resort to looking for help from the external sources thus empowering others to make the decissions and find the solutions for us. With the introduction of the computer this has been further excerbated and a threat of complacency is eminant over the fate future generation.
Krishnamurti asked us to look deeply without fear or favours , without judgements or prejudices into our mode of thinking, our ways of dealing with whatever that the mind lay before us in our dailly affairs. He emphasizes our need to follow through each and every thought that arises in our minds and follow its course till it is fully comprehended from the beginning, the middle and the end of its course, just as the Buddha taught in his teachings of Dyana or meditation. The methods may differ to each and every spiritual or religious practices but the aim is still the same and that is to understand the processes of the human mind, to look with clarity and detached observation of how our thoughts arises and what makes them disappear. Why we think what we think and how to put an end to this ever prescence of thoughts in our conciousness or at the very least minimizing it to the best of our ability.
What is wrong with having thoughts? According to Krishnamurti, thought is of the past, thought is a product of time anything and everything that we think of is from our memories or from our past expereinces and thus of the past. Being of the past, being subject to time, thought will always be limiting and as such ideas and projections anything having dependance on thought will remain limited, of the past.
As an artist I often ask myself what of originality? How does one strive to create something not a product of the past or an imitation of what has been done before? Or as a Buddhist would ask, "What is the original Buddha nature?" Or who am I before I was conceived by my parents? The answer to these questions has to be realized not through the process of thinking or thoughts, the answers will have to be realized out of the box where thoughts operates, like one looking for answers to a Zen Koan. For example,"Has dog Buddha Nature?" or "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
Remember, Krishnamurti would advice you, the word is not the thing! Thus deliberating out the answers through the thought processes is futile to say the least and in some Zen schools one would receive a stick on the head from a master even before one can open one's mouth to answer. So we find ourselves in a conundrum, die if you do die if you dont, not being able to think has its disadvantages, we think, how to survive with no thoughts?

The Thoughts of J. Krishnamurti.

Jedu Krishnamurti's lifelong works has been considered highly controversial by many and simply and easily understood and acceptable by some. In most of his talks Krishnamurti invited everyone present to participate in the 'Discussions' rather than listen to one man's lecture or point of views. Krihnamurti did not consider himself a spiritual 'Guru' or an exponent of any particular teaching or philosophy, he was more into taking his audiences for a Stroll through the maze of the human mind. Picking it to pieces and putting them back together in every which way like a jig saw puzzle, that often seemed impossible yet fits and makes sense. Jedu Krishnamurti offered a peek into the workings and the trappings of thoughts, the hidden truths of our reliance on it and the dangers of not recognizing our ignorance of its functions.
Throughout his life Krishnamurti tried in every which way to expose the falacies of organized religion. the education system and the institutions that deals with them, he tried to free the human mind and spirit from the bonds of 'follow the leader' mentality simply through having a thorough understanding of 'Who you are' or who am I.Through self discovery and right understanding of relationship man can eleviate himself from manyof the man made horrors such as wars and oppressions. 'You are the World', 'The world is You', he emphasized time and again and change for the better can only come through your each and every individual self realizations.
"What you are , the world Is."
For those who have studied him with greater depth and insight krishnamurti's thoughts and reflections runs a whole lot deeper in meaning than meets the eye especially when put into practice on a daily basis. From the simplest act of watching your mind in action to understanding the workings of your neurosystems in the brain in relation to these actions, you may gain an insight into the hows and whys of the human conflicts, and an insight even unto the process of death and dying itself.
"...to die...an ending to all things of memory - that is death, a death not seperable from living."
Krishnamurti spoke of Intelligence ...
" Intelligence is the capacity to discern, to understand, to distinguish, it is also the capacity to observe, to put together all that we have gathered and to act from that. That gathering, that discernment, that observation can be prejudiced; and intelligence is denied when there is prejudice. If you follow another intelligence is denied, the following of another however noble denies your own perception, denies your own observation - you are merely following somebody who will tell you what to do, what to think. If you do that, than intelligence does not exist, because in that there is not observation and therefore no inttelligence. Intelligence demands doubting, questioning, not being impressed by others, by their enthusiasm or their energy..."
Most of his thoughts and lectures were not too far from the teachings of the great teachers of old such as The Buddha, Christ and the Rishis of India, but it is the manner in which he laid them down that made Krishnamurti a man unto himself. I came to know the man sometime in the late seventies when I was at the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay. I stumbled upon a small book of his entitled "The Way of Intelligence" and the rest was history. I was hooked and from then on I made it my mission to fully understand the man and his teachings as it challenged my own intelligence. His words evoked from within me my own thoughts came alive from his words like sparks from a flintstone triggering wildfires within my mind, I was never the same after this chance encounter.
It was after my introduction to J. Krishnamurti's works that I decided to change my University course and designed my own program till I graduated with a BA degree of my own design. I remember being in a quagmire of college life with very little meaning other than the waste of time and money while not learning very much from the studio classes I was in. Krishnamurti shouted in my mind one night "Change!! Now!!" and I did the very next morning when I woke up from the dream I was having. I opted to do my studies off campus with my first trip to London and Wales in 1979. The trip further opened my eyes and my mind and art took a whole new dimension in my life, I became a full time artist living on the street as one and I still do.
"A man who is passionate about the world and the necessity for change, must be free from political activity, religious conformity and tradition - which means free from the weight of time, free from the burden of the past, free from the action of the will; this is the new human being. This only is the social, psychological, and even political revolution."
Pg.147.."The Urgency of Change"

The Mahabaratta- A Reflection

Space is a 'mind field'...While Time tells 'His-story', And God sang His song of Truth and Untruth...thus was the story told, MAHABARATTA!! You Tube has over a hundred videos of this epic Hindu story that is today still considered the longest epic ever written; the Mahabaratta! To have a good understanding of Hinduism and the socio cultural as well as political back ground that has laid the foundation for the hindu religion the Mahabaratta is still a great point of refference. Loyalty, fidelity, faith and devotion, jealousy, anger and revenge, this epic story that had led to the "Greatest War" was all about human values, human frailites and devine interventions. The Story unfolds with the conflict set upon by the ambitious and arrogant prince of the Kauravas, prince Duryodhan whose obsessive crave for power was fueled by his uncle whose sole purpose for existance was to destroy the Kuru dynasty. Relationship implies existence; and so nothing can live in isolation, to be is to be related.Our conflict is in relationship of all levels of our existence, and the understanding of this relationship, completely and extensively is the only problem that each of us have. Each of us has to start anew, afresh; for what we are the world is. This little world of our problems extended becomes the world and the problem of the world. We despair of our understanding in relation to the vast problems of the world. We do not see that it is not a problem of mass action but of awakenning of the individual to the world in which he lives and to resolve this problem of his world however limited. The mass is actually you and I and another- an abstaraction which is being exploited by the politicians or by one who has an ideology. The individual then is important, not his idea or whom he follows, his country or his beliefs. You are important, not to what ideology or nation you belong, to what color or creed; the ideology is only a projection of our conditioning. The purification of the brain is necessary. The brain is the center of all the senses: the more the senses are alert and sensitive the sharper the brain is; its the center of remembrance-the past; its the storehouse of experiences and knowledge-tradition. So its limited, conditioned. Its activites are planned, thought out, reasoned but it functions in limitation, in space-time. The complete, the whole is the mind; it is empty, totally empty and because of this emptiness the brain exist in space-time... only when the brain has cleansed itself of its conditioning, greed envy, ambition, then only can it comprehend that which is complete. LOVE is the completeness. Self critical awareness is essential . Imagination and illusion distort clear observation. Illusion will always exist, so long as the urge for the continuation of pleasure and the avoidance of pain exist; the demand for those experiences which are pleasurable to continue or be remembered; the avoidance of pain, suffering. Both these breed illusion. To wipe away illusion altogether, pleasure and sorrow must be understood, not by control or sublimation, identification or denial. To be satisfied is ugly but to be discontented breeds hatred. To be virtuous in order to gain heaven or the approval of the respectable of society, makes of life a barren field which has been ploughed over and over again but has never been sown. This doing somethingfor the sake of somehting else is in essence an intricate series of escapes from oneself, from what is. Without experiencing the essence there is no beauty. Beauty is not merely in the outward things orin the inwards thoughts, feelings and ideas,there is beauty beyond thought and feeling. Its this essence that is beauty,But this beauty has not opposite. Control in any form is harmful to total understanding. A disciplined existence is a life of conformity there is no freedom from fear. Habit destroys freedom; habits of thought, habit of drinking and so on makes for superficial and dull life. Organized religion with its beliefs dogmas and rituals denies the open entry into the vastness of mind. It is the entry that cleanses the brain of of space-time. Being cleansed the brain can then deal with space-time. Based upon Krishnamurti's teachings.

A Memorable Day in Kuwait

Not a great picture quality wise but its the best i got taken by 'The Genius" Adam so it iwll do. My niece and her two other boys the youngest girl was sleeping down with Chicken pox.

Sometime on the twentieth of March I visited my nephew and niece in Kuwait and spent soemtime with the kids .. my grand kids!! It was a memorable experience which helped me to come back to earth in a sense after living with my son for the past few months having a huge villa all to myself!

So the father decided to take the boys and me for a trip to downtown Kuwait and to the Science Muzeum where they had an aquarium and many other entertainments for children.

It was located on the water front with speed boats zooming by every now and then and ther was also a permanent display of the local heritage boats from days gone by.

We had fun and I was thrilled by the 3D movie we saw of the dinasour era of the sea creatures, it was very fascinating and brought out the child in me watching it.

On the way home i caught a cloud bank far off in the distant horizon and mentioned it to my nephew who did not think much of it at the time.

As we kept heading homeward the cloud bank seemed to loom larger than before and I started for my camera...

The mosue stood still ni comaprisson as the cloud bank rose and continued on menacingly towards us...Foreboding thoughts began to infest my imagination as we dreove on and I noticed other drivers driving alongside us raising their eyes and making gestures towards the sky like..what in heavens name??

Like in a movie of horror natural disasters the sky began to become darker and the traffic began to pick up.

As this cloud bank looms even more closer I thought of the movie "The Fog", naah, I told myself I am sure this is something that happens here every so often..

The ooldest of my nephew was asking my to roll up the window and I kept snapping away every few hundre yards as we drove along...

Thie drive of the pickup truck drove by looking at me questioningly raising his two palms skywards as if praying...

We camt to a junction with a street light and where we had to turn left otwards the apartments but had a hard time doing it because the crossing traffic was not stopping even when the red light had turned on for them. There was alot of honking as everyone it seemed were running from the oncoming wall of strong wind and sand.

Fortunately we made it towards the apartments where my nephew and niece lived and as we pulled into the parking lot the whole sky was almost covered in darkness.

It was like night had fallen withing fifteen minutes from the moment I noticed the cloudbank till we got to the parking lot.

We barely made it into the elevator before we were slammed by sandblasting of mother nature.

I opened my rear window trying to catch the last remaining light bust was too latr, the picutre I got was just full of sand!

Next morning I took a look at the swimming pool area down below and what a sight it was! Even the walls were covered with sand from God knows where...perhaps as they said in the News media, from the Iraqi desert somewhere. The News paper claimed that wind guste at no less the eighty miles per hour and that all flights were and cancelled, it was a storm of the Century for Kuwait...and I was there!!

Dubai Art Show Oppening

START is a non profit organization established by Art Dubai and the AlMadad Foundation which applies the universal language of ar to heal, educate and enrich the skills and opportunities of children in the poorest areas of the Middle East.

The programme seeks to educate and empower the younger generation by giving them a voice through the expression of art by engaging them with their communities and their peers and by teaching them a sense of self-worth.

START has a permanent prescence in Jordan offering art education for refugee and orphaned children, along with operating workshops in Palestine and Lebanon. In the UAE, START also provides workshops for children with special needs including Autism and Down Syndrome.

START uniquely encourages artists to become volunteers in the field of humanitarian aid and education by participatig in the workshops,

Tanaz Dizadji, START Director

"The philosophy underpinning START is that art or the creative process invoolved in artistic self-expression is healing, empowering and can help children resolve inner conflict, gain a measure of self worth and self awareness, and achieve insight.

...Art is our one true global language. It knows no nation, it favours no race, and acknowledges no class. It speaks to our need to reveal, heal and transform. It transcends our ordinary lives and lets us imagine what is possible. I creates a dialogue between individuals and communication between communities. It allows us to see and to listen to each other."

Richard Kamler.

"Children and young adults are the building blocks of the future. We live in a world ravaged by natural or human devastation and divided by geographic, political, religious, linguistic and cultural boundaries. Art is a language without bordders that communicates across boundaries."

Richard Kamler, (artist and creator of Seeing Peace Project.}

START has an artist in Residency programme in Jordan, inviting international artists to stay i the "START House" and volunteer their time in the workshops. This provides a great learning opportunity for the children which uplifts, inspires and promotes expression."

How Jewelry Design has Evolved 2

" Les Voyages Extraordinaires...Dubai." The collections of - Van Cleef & Arpels.

"The story begins as most fairy tales end with a heaven sent wedding between Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef in 1896. Estelle is a daughter of of a precious stone wholesaler and the siuster of an expert gemmologist. Alfred is the son of a diamond merchant in Amsterdam.

Since its oppening Van Cleef has incessantly developed it craftsmanship. creating refined jewelry collections that embody pure elegance and which pay homage to both beauty and femininty.

" Since its foundation, journeys have always been an intergral part of Van Cleef and Arpels' creations, both in terms of its search and prospection of its jemstone and its High Jewellry creations. To bring this concept of journeying to life, the Maison has grawn inspiration from four of Jules Verne's key novels: Five weeks in a Balloon,Journey To The Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Resonating with the work of this famous 19th Century French Novelist,virtual explorer and visionary of genius, these creations are evasions into other worlds of marvels and magic. They required the Mains d Or of the Maison of Paris to use all their expertise, patience ingenuity and talent."

"Their creative audacity, together with the dazzle of shimmering jewels defiend as Stones of Character, has given birth to 100 pieces, each one unique, all richly coloured and highly diverse.

Art Dubai has enabled Van Cleef & Arpels to continue pledging in support od START, an art project which provides vulnerable children and children with special needs the chance to explore art and exhibit their works while having fun.

I took these pictures with the permission of one of the curator assistants at the Art Dubai Show, just in case.

As can be seen jewelry design has matured in style and technique in elegance and beauty since the days of my father and his peers. jewelry is the heart and soul of most women in terms of wear and appearences and it will always be the centerpiece of all designs in the market as well as in the arts.

It is not just the price of gold or the uniqueness of the diamond tha matters, it is in how they are assembled and worn that makes it special.