Inquiry Sunday

Inquiry Sunday Sunday, July 3, 2016 For the morning session six of us listened to a forty-minute audio presentation of Adyashanti in conversation with a member of his organization. The topic of discussion was “True Love”. Adya started off commenting on the duality of good and evil and the field of consciousness beyond them both. He emphasized that, although good and evil, right and wrong, do not exist in the absolute dimension, this does not mean that anything goes or that all actions are justified. There is a higher good outside the realm of conventional good and bad and this is the truth to which he is pointing. The audio went on to cover other subjects related to relationship, both romantic and otherwise, and the group then engaged in an verbal exploration of the ideas heard and personal questions and insights about relationship. Relationship was seen to be a powerful opportunity for self-understanding. In the afternoon we watched three video clips of Krishnamurti answering questions from the audience at various talks over the years. The first question was “What is enlightenment?” K responded that to see an issue, such as sorrow, clearly, to understand it and thereby end it, it to be enlightened about that issue. All sorts of projections are made about enlightenment – what it is, and who has it, and so on, but these are mental projections of an ideal state rather than simple facts. The second question was “What is the art of questioning?” K seemed to answer the question by demonstrating how to inquire. He spoke of the art of learning and then took as an example the issue of action without thought. He went into an inquiry concerning the issue without providing a conceptual answer, which would have no meaning. The third question concerned the longing to be loved. K asked why we need to be loved and suggested that it was more important to find the love in oneself than to be loved by another. He didn’t give a method for doing that, but the exploration of various aspects of the issue was perhaps pointing to the kind of inquiry required to address such a profound and universal question.