2. Ten Insights

The dialogues between Krishnamurti and David Bohm do not deal only with mundane daily issues. They do not offer you simple advice on how to live a happy life, but help you solve the fundamentals of being a human being. When that is clear, you need no advice.

Krishnamurti had often spoken with intellectuals and scientists, but in Bohm he found a partner who could follow his train of thought, ask the correct questions, make a contribution, and hold the intensity for a long time. As a top scientist, Bohm was familiar with probing into new territories and eager for innovative solutions.

Three things make these dialogues exceptional: the method used, the issues discussed, and the solutions given. A notable dimension of these dialogues is their 25-year span.

The special feature of the method used is in its participative nature. The questions posed are so complex that answering them requires total attention and fierce intensity from the listener as well.

It is totally inadequate to listen and form opinions for or against. Every single question must be put to yourself and understood so that you feel it in your guts. Verbal acceptance is self-deception and leads to superficial replicating of other people's ideas.

Therefore, the goal of these dialogues is not to reach a verbal agreement but to share the reality beyond words, to see something that is the same for us all.

The condition of such a state is that we not only agree but actually see the answer in our mind.

Following a conversation, we are accustomed to agree or disagree, weigh the words read or heard, and make conclusions. Instead of having a dialogue and learning something new together, we are debating and defending our old views or adopting the suggestion of someone we think is smarter than we are.

Real sharing is possible only if we start from 'not knowing'. Knowledge is a burden in understanding reality, blocking open investigation and preventing fresh insight.

When we listen deeply, our minds stay alert, energetic, and creative. It is curious, whole in a healthy manner. This quality produces the ecstasy of learning together.

The dialogues give an incredible view into human nature. The men not only suggest the cause for the awful state of our consciousness but also propose a solution, a way out of this mess: eliminate everything that is not true. What a request!

Many issues in the dialogues include truth, reality, the ground of existence, mind and brain, the self, consciousness and time, love, compassion, meditation, mystery, universe and cosmic order. I wonder if anybody else has tried to cover all this before or after and managed to put it into words.

Of course, various versions of so-called 'truth' have been offered, but there is no agreement on it.

Krishnamurti and Bohm had some obvious advantages. Krishnamurti had been saturated with theosophical doctrines, and Bohm had the latest upgrade of radical

findings in modern physics. Neither of them was satisfied with these, but continued their tour beyond them.

The solution is simple, but to find it, we have to remove many small blocks and a few large ones out of our way. The first big block is about the self and the second is about time. When these two are clear, we are quite far away, if not "there".

Ten Immense Insights

There are many radical insights that challenge us to rethink our present worldview.

To me, the ten key issues are: the cause of human problems, the role of thinking, individuality, human conditioning, division, time, psychological evolution, attention, awareness, and the essence of existence.

Present view

1. Human problems: Human problems are solved one by one as they come up.

2. The role of thinking: Thinking helps us to get rid of our psychological problems.

3. Individuality: We are unique personalities and separate individuals.

4. Human conditioning: We can modify, not eliminate, our human conditioning.

5. Division: The world is divided and consists of separate parts.

6. Time: Living is a process in time from the past to the future.

7. Psychological evolution: To become better, we need time, will, and ideals.

8. Attention and awareness: There is an objective reality outside of us.

9. Mental authority: We need mental help and guides in our inner issues.

10. Essence of existence: All-important is what you believe in, think, feel, and do.

Proposed view

1. Human problems: Human problems have one root, and they can be solved all at once.

2. The role of thinking: Thinking is the cause of disorder, and it prevents seeing.

3. Individuality: We are not individuals; the ego is an image created by thought.

4. Human conditioning: We can eliminate psychological conditioning.

5. Division: Dividing the world is the cause of inward and outward conflict.

6. Time: Psychological time is the enemy of man.

7. Psychological evolution: There is no psychological evolution or becoming.

8. Attention and awareness: The observer and the observed are one indivisible movement.

9. Mental authority: Nobody can help us to know ourselves or see the truth.

10. Essence of existence: The essence of existence is beyond thinking and acting.

1. Human problems have one common root.

Our human problems are so diverse that it may seem almost ridiculous to suggest, as Krishnamurti does, that they could all be solved in the blink of an eye. And yes, the task is impossible if we take each problem one by one and seek a solution.

We must take a totally different view.

Krishnamurti says that all problems have a common factor, a root cause, one stem. They are all connected to each other. This realisation is the first insight.

To understand it, we must delve deeper than we ever have, and instead of scattering our energy here and there, we must focus on the one central thing at the back of our minds.

Bohm likes to use the analogy of a polluted river. We can either clean the dirty water endlessly or eliminate the cause of pollution upstream. In the case of our mind, the root cause is in our thinking, not in what we think, but in how we think. Bohm puts it this way: we must focus not on the content but on the process of thinking.

We are wasting our time in seeking answers to the wrong questions. We get lost in wandering in a strange territory without a proper map. Instead of running faster, it is wise to stop and not go further before we know the right route.

The first thing is not to see what we think but to be aware that we are thinking.

This leads to the second insight: the role of thinking in our life.

2. Thinking is not the solution; it is the cause of human disorder.

As opposed to what thinking is usually regarded as being, Krishnamurti argues that thought does not help but prevents us from seeing the facts of life.

When watching something, two things are happening: what actually takes place is one, and what we think of it is another.

What happens is whatever happens. What we think of it varies as much as there are watchers. Life seems to happen outside us, but the essential part of it actually happens inside us, in our consciousness.

This causes our drama and tragedy: we live in our own worlds. We think it is real, but it is made up of our thoughts and is true only to us.

The unfortunate consequence is that there seems to be nothing that we totally agree about. As long as we worship thinking and keep it on a pedestal, we will never get rid of this net of problems.

The third insight is a tough one because it runs counter to our common-sense perception of ourselves. The belief that the ego is real.

3. We are not individuals.

We feel there is somebody inside our body, a self, an ego, a person that is different and separate from other persons. We come to this conclusion when we watch our lives, look into a mirror, or see other people: I am here, and they are there. I think I have my own thoughts and the others think theirs. So we have good reasons to suppose that we are separate individuals.

To deny the separateness of the physical body would be stupid and neurotic. But is there psychological separateness? If yes, how does it come about and why do we stubbornly think it is real?

Our logic is this: I know that I am real, because I think. I remember what I was and did yesterday, and I know what I experience today. I like some people, some not. I see, feel and react in my personal way. I am me!

Yet there is one problem with my ego. Nobody has seen it or can show where it is. I can see and smell my body or feel the presence of others, but that is only the external, physical side.

Of course, I feel I am more than my body! But what exactly is the ego and where is it? Is it in the brain, in the body, around the body, or everywhere?

Our gut feeling is that something inside us is controlling and observing our thinking. We feel that there is an observer in me observing my thoughts. When I say 'I think', I mean that I feel that there is an 'I' doing thinking, reacting to my own thoughts.

From this we conclude that the ego is real. It is definitely something more than my thoughts and mental moods. I am real! And because I am, you are, and all others are. The world is full of separate egos.

But have we ever asked why we are so certain about this? And would I exist if I didn't think? The answer is quite clear.

To Krishnamurti, the ego is only an idea based on experiences, memory, and knowledge. To him, the image of an individual is a fatal mistake, a mixture of misunderstanding, wrong conditioning, and unjustified self-importance. What a pill to swallow!

We identify ourselves with some things and thoughts and call them ours. All thoughts come from someone or something outside us. We collected them in thousands of yesterdays, chose what we like, and rejected many. There is nothing original in our thoughts.

We watch the world through the filters of our conditioned brain and make an image of it. We see and sense separate objects in interaction, and we think the world is built that way.

It simply is not true. Our senses fool us. Actually, we are not separate egos: we are inseparable entities in the flow of the world.

The inevitable and unhappy result of our individual outlook on life is that we no longer live in the same world. Each of us lives in a world shaped by our own minds and pasts.

Thus we not only live in different worlds but also in the past world of memories and recollections, and we project our version of the future based on that.

These inwardly separate worlds do not meet except outwardly - and not always happily. Still worse is that they can never meet. Our bodies can touch, but our thoughts cannot.

On the contrary, they collide all the time, causing nuisances or even severe conflicts among people. We can think alike, but as long as there are two separate thoughts, there is no meeting of minds.

The world where everyone lives in an isolated box is severely divided. There are many kinds of divisions: geographical, racial, sociological, religious, political, educational. Add to that: each one of us is also inwardly divided into many pieces.

We may get used to these divisions and perhaps see no possibility to get rid of them, although we see many appalling consequences of them: endless conflicts, hatred, many forms of violence, cruelty, fear, insecurity, loneliness.

The basis of these divisions is the idea of individuality, which supports the notion of separate selves fighting for their space and rights in a world composed of matter and mind, things and thoughts.

There are few, if any, important matters that we as people actually and fully agree on and share globally. On a personal level, our daily actions are based on images, opinions, and beliefs. When we meet someone with different views on life, we either oppose, quarrel with, tolerate, or run away.

Seven billion different worldviews on one small planet create many problems, especially when everybody thinks they are right and good, while others are more or less wrong, misguided, or just bad.

Which of us is right? Only those who see the world as it is and not through their 'individual' ideas and ideals. But can anybody actually live like that? Aren't we all conditioned to a mindset based on personal experiences and knowledge?

Furthermore, we might quite rightly ask, what is the world actually?

Is there, and can there even be, common ground or truth that we can agree on?

We can only find that out by looking at the world without our inward filters and concepts, but we hardly ever do so. We don't even try; instead, we stick to our ideas as stubbornly as everybody else. Many people seem to be even proud of their prejudices and narrow-minded views!

According to Bohm and Krishnamurti, the problem is that we do not realise that our actions are based on images and what this means in our relationships. We feel we are dealing with facts also when we are stuck in images.

Only a small part of our images is based on facts, and we are unable to separate which part. This is due to thinking. We mistakenly think that our thoughts more or less reflect or interpret the world.

The interpretation takes place in the brain. We define and classify our perceptions in a nanosecond and react unconsciously before we even notice that we have reacted. Our reactions are based on our knowledge and experiences, not the facts.

This leads us to the fourth insight about our human conditioning and its nature.

4. We can eliminate our psychological conditioning.

There is widespread agreement that the human mind is conditioned, and that humanity is fragmented into billions of bits. But we disagree on what we should do about this.

Many people feel that little or nothing can be done. They say that we can change the conditioning slowly.

Krishnamurti and Bohm propose a radical alternative. They say we must release mankind from psychological conditioning, and that will happen immediately, without us having to do a thing about it.

When we see what conditioning is doing to us, the inevitable consequence is that the conditioning falls away like an autumn leaf, and we will start to behave in a totally different way. The trouble is that we don't see.

The partial way we have tried to solve our problems has not solved them, and never will. On the contrary, it effectively prevents us from finding solutions. The only solution is a state of insight in which our mind naturally frees itself from conditioning. Then we will start to live in direct contact with the facts and 'float in the stream of life'.

The fifth insight concerns our habit of dividing the world.

5. The world is one whole, not fragmented.

For practical reasons, we sometimes must divide reality into limited areas, but when we apply this to everything, we end up with a world of conflicts.

Division is a cunning trick of thinking. When we separate two things in our thoughts, we start to act as if they were actually separate. We fail to see the connection between them.

One division we cling to is individuality. It is based on a materialistic view of reality.

To Krishnamurti and Bohm, thought is a material process and the source of division. It is the very nature of thought to divide. There can be no holistic thought.

The trouble with division is that it creates conflict. The whole is never in conflict; only parts of it can be. Ending division means the ending of conflict.

The sixth insight concerns time. It is a deeply rooted belief in our mind that everything in the cosmos - including us – is moving in time. Some processes do that, but not all.

6. Psychological time is the enemy of man.

After seeing that the separate 'me' is only an image created by thinking, there is still one tough myth to be resolved: that of time.

According to Krishnamurti, time is the real enemy, and getting rid of it is a prerequisite for freedom.

Chronological time - time by the clock - is necessary, but the continuation created by our mind is the basic element of all our troubles. Time brings fear, sorrow and desire into our mind. Without time we would be free of all these.

Imagine a world without fear, sorrow and vain desires. What a paradise it would be!

To Krishnamurti, time and thought go together. The perception of time is a product of thought. Without thinking there is no time, and also the other way around: without time there is no thought needed, except functionally.

It is quite easy to understand the simple logic of this.

Time consists of the past, this moment, and the future. Time is a movement from the past to the future. In between there is the present in which we are actually living.

The past is what we have collected into our memory. It is stored up in our brains, and this storage is available when needed.

In thinking about our thousand yesterdays, we have a feeling that time is moving, but, of course, it is not. The only movement is in our brain. Everything is happening now, and if there is no thinking, the now is timeless.

Based on our past memories, we project our future. We know what we have done and plan what we will do. That is just fine.

Problems arise when this idea of time enters our psyche. Then we create this thing we call 'me' and assume that it lives in time. There was a 'me' yesterday, there is a 'me' right now, and there will be a 'me' tomorrow.

Only one of these three is actual: there is a 'me' right now. But what is the 'me' actually in the now?

The past 'me' is limited by our experiences, knowledge, and memory. The future 'me' is a dream based on hopes and desires or a nightmare based on our fears. Usually, it is all these: we hope for the best and fear the worst.

This movement in time we call living. Krishnamurti challenges this narrow view vigorously. There is more to life than this shallow affair, he says, much more than this. To perceive it one must end time, stop the process we have adopted.

There are powerful forces in our way. Our lives are anchored in time, continuance and causality. Time is our curse, but we regard it as our only hope. We believe that whatever we are now, we can be better in the future. We must trust, believe and work for our ideals to come true. This is the beginning of self-deception.

The seventh insight is that of becoming.

7. There is no psychological evolution.

The idea of mental progress is to Krishnamurti a primitive and vain form of self-deception. To him, the only thing that matters is what we are and do right now.

When we cannot deal with psychological facts, we create an ideal. Pursuing that ideal means living in perpetual conflict. We need time to become what we want to be, so we are no longer living in the now.

To end time means to stay with the facts of life from moment to moment. Doing that, we are free of time and thought and get rid of conflicts and psychological problems. When there is no becoming, there is only timeless flow.

8. The observer and the observed are one movement.

The eighth insight is very fundamental. It is a sentence that was very important for both Krishnamurti and Bohm.

To be aware of reality and to go beyond thought, thinking must remain in its proper place and not twist facts according to the program of our conditioning.

Attention means seeing and listening to everything around us with an open mind. In pure attention there is no me, time, division, or becoming, no observer different from the observed.

Living with facts is the essence of attention and awareness. No illusion, no memory, no hope, just to be absorbed by the beauty of everything. It is a state of no problems.

The last two insights are closely related.

After meeting many obstacles in understanding oneself and going beyond thought, many people give up hope of finding the way and turn to others for help. A big mistake!

It is easy to find comforting thoughts from others whom we have appointed as authorities and to fill our lives with spiritual gymnastics. But this only further confuses the mind, and the confused mind can never choose correctly.

The ninth insight is freedom from all authority, including that of our own.

9. Nobody can help us see the truth.

If we want to see the truth, we must say goodbye to all mental guides. It is okay to ask the way when you are lost, but nobody knows the truth. They may know their version of truth. Truth is a living thing that we cannot hold in our mind. It is at once everywhere and nowhere.

When we actually realise that nobody can show us the light, we have to be a light to ourselves. Then the door is wide open for the tenth insight.

The last, tenth insight is like a resume and goes far beyond what we can ever grasp:

10. The essence of existence is beyond thinking and acting.

We are programmed to think that what we believe, think, feel, and do is all-important. That is the content of our consciousness.

Only a free mind is able to enter the world beyond limits and see into the dimension that Krishnamurti calls what is, and Bohm refers to as the implicate order.

We cannot touch it with thought, but our thoughts are influenced by it when they are in order.

For what is to be, thought must come to an end. There must be insight and intelligence that are not produced by thought. That brings about a new order in the mind, and that is the solution to human chaos.

As long as we worship thinking and keep it on a pedestal, there will be conflict and disorder in our minds and in the world. The insight that thought is not the solution, but the very tool of destruction, is a shock to the brain. It does not want to see this. And perhaps it cannot even see it the same way we usually see things.

We are invited to engage in a dialogue about our lives and find out whether we can live in an intelligent and coherent manner. If we can actually share our life and mind, we will go beyond our certainties and convictions and enter the limitless.

The ten insights mentioned here are not to be seen as steps in the path to freedom. Nor are they tasks to do. They clean the table and empty the contents of consciousness, so that it changes to something totally different. The crazy paradox is that only an empty mind is full, filled with existence.