To live with 'what is' | Krishnamurti

Is it possible to live without any conflict? The speaker says yes. And you might say, don't be silly, you are deceiving yourself.

Or you like to think you are living without conflict but you actually are. And it is no good arguing with such a person because he has made up his mind. But when the speaker says it is possible to live without any conflict whatsoever, either he is speaking the truth, or he is indulging in some kind of hypocritical illusion.

So we have to examine not only the illusion, the hypocrisy of oneself, and also find out if it is possible to live a life without conflict. The speaker says, I will tell you about it. Don't accept it, because then if you accept it that becomes the authority and you are back in the old game.

He says it is possible. It is only possible when you live completely with what is. 'What is' being what actually is taking place, live with it.

Don't try to transform it, don't try to go beyond it, don't try to control it, don't try to escape from it, just look at it, live with it. Will you do it now? Do it now, for God's sake, not tomorrow.

There is no tomorrow. To live with what is, if you are envious, or greedy, or jealous, or you have problems, sex, fear, whatever it is, to live with that without any movement of thought that wants to move away from it. You understand?

Am I communicating something? That is, I am envious of you because you are intelligent, you are bright, you look nice, you speak so intelligently, I am envious of you. You have got a big car, a big house, whatever it is, I want that, I am envious.

My education has been to deny it, which means I must control it, I must suppress it, I must try to go beyond it. That has been my background, my education. You come along and tell me, there is a different way of living, which is, don't condemn it, don't evaluate it, don't throttle it, don't run away from it, just look at it.

Like a newborn child, terribly ugly – the baby, the actual baby, you have seen them, terribly ugly – but the mother says, it is my baby, I am living with it, it is not ugly, it is the most beautiful child I have. So in the same way live with it, which means what? You are not wasting your energy – please listen to this – you are not wasting your energy in control, in suppression, in conflict, in resistance, in escape, all that energy has been wasted.

Now you have gathered that, because you see the absurdity of it, the falseness of it, the unreality of it, you have now got the energy to live with what is. Am I making myself clear? Very clear?

Good. Then do it. Then you have that energy to observe without any movement of thought.

It is the thought that has created jealousy, and thought says, I must run away from it, I must escape from it, I must suppress it. That is my education, my background, my conditioning. But somebody says to me, don't do that, that's too childish, you can't solve this problem of envy that way.

Live with it. Don't move away from the thing which thought has created. Don't let another kind of thought say, run away from it, resist it.

After all, envy is created by thought, thought, awakening a reaction which is emotional, sentimental and romantic, etc. That thought has created this reaction which is called envy. Thought has created it.

And thought says also, I must run away from it, I don't know what to do with it. I must escape, resist, swallow. So we are saying if you see the falseness of escape, resistance, suppression, then that energy which has gone into suppression, resistance, escape, is gathered to observe – you see?

Then what takes place? You do it, please do it with me as we go along together, otherwise there is no point in my talking. So now you are not escaping, not resisting, and you are envious, which is the result of the movement of thought.

Envy is comparison, is measurement – I have not, you have. So thought has brought about this feeling of envy. And thought itself says, I must run away from this enormous thing I don't know.

I have been educated to run away. Because you see the falseness of it you stop. And you have this energy to observe this envy.

The very word envy, the very word is its own condemnation. When I say I am envious, there is already a sense of pushing it away. So the word – the word – one must be free of the word to observe.

All this demands tremendous alertness, tremendous watchfulness, awareness, so not to escape and see the word envy – has the word created the feeling ? Without the word is there a feeling? If there is no word and therefore no movement of thought – right ?

You understand what I am saying? then is there envy? I am envious, envy implies comparison, measurement, desire to be something other than what is, or to have something which I have not got.

My education has been to run away from it, suppress it. Now, by listening to what you are saying very, very carefully, I see the absurdity of it, therefore the very perception of it puts it all away from me, therefore there is a gathering of energy.