<\/p>\n|
<\/p>\n
\n Meeting <\/span>K<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n <\/tr>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n|
<\/p>\n
\nMy First Private Meeting
\nWith K<\/font>\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/font>by Pieter Langedijk <\/font>
\n\u00d3 <\/font>
\nThe Quest<\/font><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n I remember very
\nwell my first meeting with Krishnamurti. At that time, I was only 32 years old.
\nI used to live in a small tent on a camping of a small town. This place was in
\nthe South of Switzerland, beside a small river with beautiful clear water and
\ntrees on both sides of the river. There was a small wooden bridge over the
\nriver. On the other side of the river, there was a big tent where Krishnamurti
\ngave his talks, once every two days at exactly eleven o’clock. He lived in a
\nbeautiful wooden house, a chalet, which belonged to one of his friends.
\n
\nOnce I met Krishnamurti’s Dutch secretary and told her that I was studying
\npsychology and that I would like to have a talk with Krishnamurti. Next day she
\ntold me I could come in the afternoon at three o’clock. That afternoon I went to
\nhis place in my old car, dressed only in shorts and sandals. I parked the car in
\nfront of the house, put on my socks and shirt outside the car, walked to the
\nfront door and rang the bell. Immediately the door was opened by Krishnamurti. I
\nrealized that Krishnamurti was behind the door and had seen me arrive and dress
\nmyself outside the house.
\n
\nIn front of the conference tent I had seen how people were polite, bowing to him
\nand behaving as one does to a very important holy man. At that time he was 72
\nyears old. Somehow I did not have that feeling towards him. For me he was a very
\nnice and interesting person, with whom I felt very much at ease. When he opened
\nthe door, I enthusiastically said ‘Hello Sir’ and shook hands with him, as if we
\nknew each other very well. In the conference tent he was well-dressed, with nice
\nand polished shoes, and very clean pants and shirt. Now he was wearing a blue,
\nsilk ‘peignoir’. He shook hands with me, turned around, and with his hand,
\nshowed me the entrance of his room. At that moment I saw a big orange, Chinese
\ndragon at the back of his peignoir and his naked feet in sandals. When we walked
\nto the door he put his right arm around my shoulder as if I was his friend.
\nTogether we walked to a table in front of the window. For me it felt normal as
\nif it was normal that a total stranger put his arm on my shoulder. I felt
\ntotally at ease as if this was something which happened every day. In the room
\nhe showed me the chair where I could sit and took the chair at the other
\nopposite side of the table. The door of the room was still open.
\n
\nHe asked me what I wanted to talk about. I told him that the problem was very
\npersonal. Immediately he rose, went to the door and closed the door. Then I told
\nhim about the problem. He listened with full attention, constantly looking at
\nme, without any movement of his hands, face or shoulders and as if every word
\nwas very important. The interesting thing was that I did not feel shy, but I
\nfelt that he was just listening, that he was not judging me. When people talk
\nwith another person, they constantly shift their attention: looking one moment
\nat the face, a second later towards the hand or the chest or belly or even to
\nsome other parts of the room and then again to the person. Krishnamurti did not
\ndo that. He looked at me in a very relaxed way, not moving his eyes for one
\nsecond, just looking at me with full attention. He was looked at my face, but I
\nhad the feeling that he saw every part of my body and my face, and even how I
\nmoved my hand while I talked. He was not only was aware of what I said, but also
\n‘how’ I said it. He looked and listened without moving his head and eyes as if I
\nwas the only thing which existed. It seemed that there was no thought in him and
\nthat he just listened and understood exactly what I was saying. I think I have
\nnever met a person in my live who, like Krishnamurti, listened to me so
\nintensely.
\n
\nAfter so many years, I still remember this talk very well. The way he listened
\nhas inspired me to behave in the same way when friends or clients talk to me. I
\nhave the feeling that one can listen in that manner only when one is very quiet
\ninside and if one has a lot of patience. It requires also a lot of attention and
\nenergy. When one is tired it is very difficult to listen with such an attention.
\nIt is therefore difficult to listen in such a way when the mind is not free from
\nthoughts, feelings or problems. Trying to listen in that way is a good
\n‘exercise’ for the mind, especially when one tries to do that every day when
\ntalking with people or listening to people. When one can listen to another
\nperson in this attentive way, one can also apply this kind of ‘looking’ and
\nobservation to observe one’s own feelings and thoughts in all kind of
\nsituations.
\n
\nK’s way of listening is totally different from what one sees in daily life:
\nbetween man and woman, between parents and children, between the boss and the
\npeople who work for him, between the teacher and the student, and among people
\nwho are discussing important problems on religious or political issues. Many
\nadults have big problems with listening and talking. When most people try to
\nlisten to another person, one often sees how the listener is not really
\nlistening. Many times people interrupt the speaker and give their meaning about
\nwhat the speaker is saying. They often try to interpret the meaning or tend to
\njudge the speaker, often negatively, thinking: ‘that is nonsense’, ‘you are
\ncrazy’, etc. When I see the difference between what I experienced during the
\ntalk with Krishnamurti and the normal behaviour in our daily lives, I wonder how
\nlong our road to that kind of ‘mature’ behaviour is!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n
\n | |