Towards the end of the year visiting Doctor Sahib a friend suggested that we visit “U. G.” who was briefly visiting Bombay.
I hadn’t heard of U. G. Krishnamurti. My friend had a book which described how he became enlightened in his late 40’s. The loss of the Sense of Self occurred during a lengthy and dramatic illness. He then spent the rest of his life trying to destroy the myths and mystique that people believe about enlightenment.
He was born in India but had travelled extensively and now lived in Switzerland. We visited him once a day for 10 days before he travelled back to Europe.
He was staying in a block of apartments. Two or three people would be sitting on floor cushions and we’d join them. U.G. would answer questions in a remarkably down-to-earth way about enlightenment and spirituality, then sit silently until the next question. He didn’t speak for too long, didn’t use big words, fanciful expressions or poetic language. It was a very casual atmosphere. After an hour or so we’d say thank you and leave.
Spiritual education…
U.G. called his enlightenment and the loss of the Sense of Self a calamity: it was not a spiritual awakening but a physiological event. Without a Sense of Self he considered himself to be “a reject on the production line of humanity”.
He told me: “It’s not what you think it is. You don’t want it. If I could give you a taste of it you’d run a mile. And you can’t get it anyway.”
Before I met him I vaguely understood that we exist only in this present moment. I never realised this implies there has never been a previous moment, so how could we possibly experience a continuous existence? U.G. said that the Sense of Self is a mental function that links moments together to create the illusion of a continuous independent existence – like a film projector plays separate images that appear to be continuous.
Those ten meetings with U.G. made the greatest impression on me – they were a unique spiritual education. I loved UG’s straight-talking and I was incredibly lucky to have met him. (More about U.G. here)
Spiritual enquiry
Stumbling into it
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