We’re often boxed in by our conceptual minds, limited by thought patterns that no longer serve us. Our ordinary minds are constantly busy, judging ourselves and others. Is it possible to transcend these distinctions?
As Krishnamurti asked in his February 1962 New Delhi talks, “Is it possible to die to everything that you have known?” This is a question we should ask ourselves daily. He clarified: “This is not annihilation, this is not denial, this is not nothingness. There is an immensity, there is a vastness, something beyond words when you know how to deny the whole ground of that which you have known.”
In accumulating experiences, our minds fill with likes and dislikes, causing us to lose sight of the essential oneness of all things. If we can see everything with new eyes, shedding the myriad distinctions of the thinking mind to focus on Oneness, we can experience immense freedom.
This way of seeing is beautifully described in the Verses on the Faith Mind, attributed to Seng Ts’an, the Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen:
“The Way is perfect, like vast space where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess. Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject that we do not see the true nature of things…To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind… Be serene in the oneness of things, and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves.” (Translation by Richard B. Clarke)
To let go of our judgments, we need to release the holds and controls we exert over others in an effort to “fix” them. Set them free to live their own lives. Free yourself in equal measure. Release the psychic hooks you’ve allowed others to impose upon you.
Breathe slowly, quiet your mind, and give yourself a psychic cleansing. Know that in your essential nature, you are already perfect. Though it may not seem so, everyone and everything in this crazy world is, too. Be happy and be free.
