Krishnamurti's teaching

What is for me the central part in K's teaching is the meditation part, but this is not to be understood by meditation in the usual sense, where you sit cross-legged on a mountain top, but more in what is commonly referred to as "mindfulness" - wherein you pay attention and are aware of your every thoughts and actions during the day, and therefore learn to increasingly discover your own self and "wake up":

"If you really want to know yourself, you will search out your heart and your mind to know their full content and when there is the intention to know, you will know. Then you can follow, without condemnation or justification, every movement of thought and every feeling as it arises; by following every thought and every feeling as it arises you bring about tranquility which is not compelled, not regimented, but which is the outcome of having no problem, no contradiction. It is like the pool that becomes peaceful, quiet, any evening when there is no wind; when the mind is still, then that which is immeasurable comes into being." 

-- bernie

Truth Is A Pathless Land

page one

Lecture given by J. Krishnamurti, in 1929,
when he dissolved the Order of the Star of the East.

We are going to discuss this morning the dissolution of the Order of the Star. Many will be delighted, and others will be rather sad. It is a question neither for rejoicing nor for sadness, because it is inevitable, as I am going to explain....

I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organised; nor should any organisation be formed to lead or coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organise a belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organise it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallised; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others.

This is what everyone throughout the world is attempting to do. Truth is narrowed down and made a plaything for those who are weak, for those who are only momentarily discontented. Truth cannot be brought down, rather the individual must make the effort to ascend to it. You cannot bring the mountain-top to the valley....

So that is the first reason, from my point of view, why the Order of the Star should be dissolved. In spite of this, you will probably form other Orders, you will continue to belong to other organisations searching for Truth. I do not want to belong to any organisation of a spiritual kind; please understand this....

If an organisation be created for this purpose, it becomes a crutch, a weakness, a bondage, and must cripple the individual, and prevent him from growing, from establishing his uniqueness, which lies in the discovery for himself of that absolute, unconditioned Truth. So that is another reason why I have decided, as I happen to be the Head of the Order, to dissolve it.

This is no magnificent deed, because I do not want followers, and I mean this. The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth. I am not concerned whether you pay attention to what I say or not. I want to do a certain thing in the world and I am going to do it with unwavering concentration. I am concerning myself with only one essential thing: to set man free. I desire to free him from all cages, from all fears, and not to found religions, new sects, nor to establish new theories and new philosophies. Then you will naturally ask me why I go the world over, continually speaking. I will tell you for what reason I do this; not because I desire a following, not because I desire a special group of special disciples. (How men love to be different from their fellow-men, however ridiculous, absurd and trivial their distinctions, may be! I do not want to encourage that absurdity.) I have no disciples, no apostles, either on earth or in the realm of spirituality.

Nor is it the lure of money, nor the desire to live a comfortable life, which attracts me. If I wanted to lead a comfortable life I would not come to a Camp or live in a damp country! I am speaking frankly because I want this settled once and for all. I do not want these childish discussion year after year.

A newspaper reporter, who interviewed me, considered it a magnificent act to dissolve an organisation in which there were thousands and thousands of members. To him it was a great act because he said: "What will you do afterwards, how will you live? You will have no following, people will no longer listen to you." If there are only five people who will listen, who will live, who have their faces turned towards eternity, it will be sufficient. Of what use is it to have thousands who do not understand, who are fully embalmed in prejudice, who do not want the new, but would rather translate the new to suit their own sterile, stagnant selves?....

Because I am free, unconditioned, whole, not the part, not the relative, but the whole Truth that is eternal, I desire those, who seek to understand me, to be free, not to follow me, not to make out of me a cage which will become a religion, a sect. Rather should they be free from all fears - from the fear of religion, from the fear of salvation, from the fear of spirituality, from the fear of love, from the fear of death, from the fear of life itself. As an artist paints a picture because he takes delight in that painting, because it is his self-expression, his glory, his well-being, so I do this and not because I want any thing from anyone. You are accustomed to authority, or to the atmosphere of authority which you think will lead you to spirituality. You think and hope that another can, by his extraordinary powers - a miracle - transport you to this realm of eternal freedom which is Happiness. Your whole outlook on life is based on that authority.

You have listened to me for three years now, without any change taking place except in the few. Now analyse what I am saying, be critical, so that you may understand thoroughly, fundamentally....

For eighteen years you have been preparing for this event, for the Coming of the World Teacher. For eighteen years you have organised, you have looked for someone who would give a new delight to your hearts and minds, who would transform your whole life, who would give you a new understanding; for someone who would raise you to a new plane of life, who would give you new encouragement, who would set you free - and now look what is happening! Consider, reason with yourselves, and discover in what way that belief has made you different - not with the superficial difference of the wearing of a badge, which is trivial, absurd. In what manner has such a belief swept away all unessential things of life? That is the only way to judge: in what way are you freer, greater, more dangerous to every society which is based on the false and the unessential? In what way have the members of this organisation of the Star become different?....

You are all depending for your spirituality on someone else, for your happiness on someone else, for your enlightenment on someone else.... when I say look within yourselves for the enlightenment, for the glory, for the purification, and for the incorruptibility of the self, not one of you is willing to do it. There may be a few, but very, very few. So why have an organisation?....

No man from outside can make you free; nor can organised worship, nor the immolation of yourselves for a cause, make you free; nor can forming yourselves into an organisation, nor throwing yourselves into work, make you free. You use a typewriter to write letters, but you do not put it on an alter and worship it. But that is what you are doing when organisations become your chief concern. "How many members are there in it?" That is the first question I am asked by all newspaper reporters. "How many followers have you? By their number we shall judge whether what you say is true or false." I do not know how many there are. I am not concerned with that. If there were even one man who had been set free, that were enough....

Again, you have the idea that only certain people hold the key to the Kingdom of Happiness. No one holds it. No one has the authority to hold that key. That key is your own self, and in the development and the purification and in the incorruptibility of that self alone is the Kingdom of Eternity....

You have been accustomed to being told how far you have advanced, what is your spiritual status. How childish! Who but yourself can tell you if you are incorruptible?....

But those who really desire to understand, who are looking to find that which is eternal, without a beginning and without an end, will walk together with greater intensity, will be a danger to everything that is unessential, to unrealities, to shadows. And they will concentrate, they will become the flame, because they understand. Such a body we must create, and that is my purpose. Because of that true friendship - which you do not seem to know - there will be real co-operation on the part of each one. And this not because of authority, not because of salvation, but because you really understand, and hence are capable of living in the eternal. This is a greater thing than all pleasure, than all sacrifice.

So those are some of the reasons why, after careful consideration for two years, I have made this decision. It is not from a momentary impulse. I have not been persuaded to it by anyone - I am not persuaded in such things. For two years I have been thinking about this, slowly, carefully, patiently, and I have now decided to disband the Order, as I happen to be its Head. You can form other organisations and expect someone else. With that I am not concerned, nor with creating new cages, new decorations for those cages. My only concern is to set men absolutely, unconditionally free.

 

Lecture Delivered at Benares, India on December 28th, 1921,

by J. Krishnamurti

As it is December 28th, you are all probably expecting something miraculous, and I am afraid you will be rather disappointed, because I am a very matter-of-fact person, and I want to present you with a common-sense point of view. I want you to leave this meeting to-day, to go away, with a perfect understanding of what a World- Teacher is.

As you will notice in the principles of the Order of the Star in the East, we specially declare that a World Teacher is coming, not a particular Teacher. We to be universal, and not sectarian; we want to be international, not national; we want to embrace all nationalities - it does not matter what our colour, religion or evolution may be. What does matter is that we should have a common goal, a common ideal for which to work, and a common inspiration to give us energy, creative force, without which we as an Order can do nothing in the world.

I am not going to say anything this morning which will give mere happiness, mere satisfaction to the suffering soul, because no individual, it does not matter who he is - a Buddha, a Christ, a Krishna - can give that happiness from the outside. What He can do - and does do - is to awaken the Divinity which abides in each one of us, a Divinity which shows the path to true Enlightenment, to true happiness.

Now, it is of no avail to read books, as we Brahmans are apt to do, and to practice meditation, which lulls our conscience to sleep; what is wanted, and what we must do, if we are going to do anything in the world as an active body to make the world better, is to dig deep down into ourselves first; we must make ourselves perfect before we can make the world perfect. What I mean by that is that we must think out for ourselves, in the light of the knowledge that we already possess, the various problems that exist in the world nowadays. Any problem, of whatever dimensions it may be, will dwindle down to this: Do we regard it personally or impersonally? If we take it personally, I think we are not acting as true Star members. We must study all our questions impersonally.

Each one of us has that Divinity within which shows us the path to Enlightenment. Why is it that Divinity is more often asleep than awake? Because we are children, not men who can suffer. We do not like to face suffering; not one of us is capable of real suffering. We hold up a coloured glass before the sun because we dare not look the sun in the face. We like to hide the truth which cleanses, which purifies, which makes us big, which makes us supreme and happy; we like to cover up our Divinity with trivialities. We like to busy ourselves the whole day long with the little things of life, little things that are of no consequence, little angers, little worries, little happinesses that we shall be ashamed of in a few years' time. We like to pacify the waking consciousness with false ideas and false conceptions of greatness. How many of us are earnestly longing for true enlightenment? Very few. We think we are longing for it, but the moment suffering comes we shrink back. We prefer to be of the multitude which goes on slowly, century after century.

You may smile and nod your heads in agreement with what I say, but the stage of passive acquiescence has passed; it has lasted for the past ten years. What is wanted to-day is action. A sword must be put into us. This is the truest compassion. Compassion must hurt if it is to rouse the Divinity within. You cannot kindle a fire by covering it with damp wood and dirt, and, metaphorically, this is what we have been doing; we have quenched the Divinity within us by covering it with all kinds of impurities, with little smallnesses, with little pleasures which we call happiness. We have been children, content to play with toys. Do not let us be children any longer, but with powerful effort set ourselves seriously to climb the mountain without looking back. At present we are always looking back to the things of the world, because we do not understand the things of another world. All the books have taught us that perfection is to be reached by looking within ourselves, yet is our gaze ever turned outwards.

Now, we have all joined the Order of the Star in the East, and the Theosophical Society, because we are looking for happiness which is not of this world, and yet, when the other happiness looms for a moment in front of us, we are incapable of seizing it. We are afraid, because we are not quite sure that it is really happiness, and because we like to cling to something that is near and that we know.

Every member of the Order of the Star in the East should develop a special attitude towards life. He should look at all things pleasant or unpleasant, through impersonal eyes. Most of us are inclined to take a personal view about people and questions we do not like, and yet to pride ourselves about our impersonal attitude towards what pleases us. This is the first attitude to develop - to be impersonal towards all questions of life, and I should like us to exercise it every moment of life; for that is where the test comes. The great opportunities are rare. It is in training ourselves in daily life that we can compass the great things. We cannot be great suddenly; through slow and painful processes only can we become great.

Now, the second point is that we all realise that the World-Teacher is the personification of Compassion and Wisdom. We know it instinctively; and, consequently if we are to imitate that Supreme Being, we must develop the qualities which He Has. First let us take the quality of pity. We must develop that peculiar kind of pity, the pity that changes what needs changing. We all pity people from a distance. We pity the poor, and we pity the suffering; but what are we doing for them? We get up on platforms, and we read books; but what are we *really* doing to abolish this abomination of starvation which exists all around us? What do we do as a body, as the Order of the Star in the East?

What we want, and what we must have, is a body of people able to go to the root of the evil. It is not sufficient just to give food; you must also bring inspiration to the man who is at present starving - mentally, as well as physically. We have so to change social conditions that this same man may not only be fed, but may have leisure to think and to develop himself. This brings us back, as always, to education. We, as a body, must proclaim this principle, that education is the right of every person born into the world, and we must work to realise it.

If you do not deal with the root, how can you kill a poisonous thing? Therefore I hope the National Secretaries will occupy themselves with this question: you must help them, not by merely subscribing to the principle, but by doing, in your little places, where you are, great things; by being active, not passive. "Passive as the Indian" - that must cease. We must be active - like the Americans are, like the Western people are. They are far more Theosophical than we are, for they are trying to remove this suffering of the poor. What are we doing in this country ? As you go down the streets of Benares you see some awful and painful sights, and we Star members have existed years in this country, yet that sight of pain has not been stopped. It will be stopped, because compassion and pity will conquer everything in some far-off future. But do not leave the suffering man to the far-off future. He does not want his suffering to last so long; and it is our duty, who are a little happy, to share our happiness with the man in the street."

The main thing that we want to develop is the pity that understands, that is dominated by tolerance - a tolerance that is full of imagination. We all are tolerant towards those with whom we agree. That is easy. It is because we have no imagination that we lose tolerance. We Indians boast that we have imagination, but I am sorry to say that the majority of Indians are intolerant people. We are all about the same - English and Indians, East and West. We must evolve together. We must train this imagination along particular lines, the line, that makes us realise another person's feelings, look at questions from another's point of view - not through our own eyes. We have been too long accustomed to that habit.

We must train ourselves to look from an English point of view from time to time. The moment has come when there is surging a wave of international feeling throughout the world. We must show to people that there is a greater ideal than nationalism. That is our duty - to show to the world that the goal of internationalism is eventually the goal for humanity. India must, naturally, pass through nationalism, but let that nationalism be clean, be devoid of bloodshed.

Then I want to deal with politics here for a moment, if you will allow me. We must be able to co-operate with the Co-operator and with the Non-Co-operator. I myself am a Co-operator, but I respect the man who non-co-operates, because that is his point of view; I respect him because he has grit enough to think for himself. I do not want you to think that, because I am a Co-operator, the Order is expected to adopt that point of view. It cannot; it is international body, and I, who am for the moment at the head of the Order, cannot, and will not, make the Order either one or the other, and you will not force me I am sure, to put myself in a very awkward position.

There are people in the Order of many nationalities; English, French, German, etc.; and if we make the Order either one or the other through our little foolishnesses, the Order will crumble: it will cease to be the fountain of inspiration to so many, as it is now. So I beg you to be careful. Do not make the Order sectarian, either Co~operator or Non-Co-operator. Let each individual choose for himself; and leave the other, respect the other, who thinks differently from him. This is what I mean by tolerance. He is as big as you are: do not make him as little as you are. And from those who are Non-Co-operators I would ask the same. What we want in the Order is Co-operation with all the world. We cannot stand alone. If we stand alone we shall fall. We cannot evolve without guidance from all people. Consequently I beg you to be very careful about this. Do not rush to conclusions with unnecessary precipitation. Think carefully over what you should do and what you should not do; and if you decide one thing or the other, respect the man who thinks the contrary, and treat him like a gentleman and not like an inferior being, but as your equal. Treat him as you would treat a God; respect him as you would respect yourself.

Next, to find in the Order throughout the world - it does not matter where a lack of common sense. People think that they can leave common sense outside when they join the Order. When we are dealing with spiritual force, you must have all the common sense which you can, and more. You must be positive and not negative. And if you want to be spiritual - and each one of us must be spiritual - we must have common sense, for without common sense we are apt to be credulous, to believe anything that comes along. And if the Order is to be a body of great spiritual force - which I hope it will be it must possess more common sense than the ordinary business man of the world possesses. If we had more common sense, we should laugh at ourselves from time to time. At present we take ourselves too seriously. We do not laugh at our ideas. I laugh at my own ideas very often. It does sometimes help to laugh at one's self. It brings us down to realities and makes us face the truth. Sentimentality and grave faces do not imply spirituality; but common sense we must have, or we shall fall, and fall heavily.

The other day a French member told me that the coming Teacher would certainly be a white man, probably a Frenchman. I smiled and wished it as a joke; but I want to ask you a question. Would you receive the World-Teacher if He was in a white skin, if He put on trousers instead of a dhoti and kurtha? Think it out. Would you? We are full of little prejudices that stand in our way. What does it matter of what nationality He is, of what colour, so long as He is great and shows us the Path? But unfortunately we are so carried away by our little emotions that we forget all these things when the moment of trial comes - like a friend of mine, who is a great Theosophist when a friend of has died - a very dear friend - he was so overwhelmed with sorrow that he forgot Theosophy and all its teaching, and crumpled up like a flower in the sun. That is where we must be careful. When the moment of trial comes, we must stand up like Theosophists and Star members, and not like the snow that disappears with the ray of sunshine.

Therefore, I'd would ask you: Would you receive the Christ, the World-Teacher, if He were in a Chinese body? People may laugh, I know; but I want you to think it over, to examine yourselves, and think it out. What will be your attitude? I do not know what He is going to be. He may be a woman; and I can see men smile, especially Indians, who treat women - well, I will not go into it, because it is a painful subject. What will they think? So be prepared; that is what we want. Be prepared to look at everything from an impersonal point of view.

There here is a vague idea throughout the Order that it is sufficient to put on a star, and to believe vaguely in the Coming of a World-Teacher. I tell you it is not enough. Symbols are outside things. Do not put them on and look sentimental. That is not enough. What we want is that we should have the Star impressed on the heart, where it can bleed and make us suffer, and make us realise that there is a World-Teacher Who looks at us every moment of the day, from the far-off mountain top, Who watches every moment of the day our daily life. Imagine that He is standing beside you every moment as, indeed, I am sure He is. And with that point of view, with that idea in your mind, behave as though He were standing by you, as though His blessing, His compassion, were always with you. Do not put Him on the top of the mountain and merely look at Him from time to time. Treat Him as your friend, treat Him as a Man. Do not always put your head down and look at His big toe. That will not help you. Ask Him, as a man should ask a man, to give you strength, to give compassion. We have not lived enough: our soul is little, and we must be great to understand greatness.

Treat the World-Teacher as an example to be followed not as an image to be looked at. He is the Leader, and you must show that you are His followers, but not the blind followers that we are at present. We shall into our turn be leaders, great leaders; and to be His followers to be His real friends, we must be great ourselves, not small. We must be an example to others who do not see the World-Teacher. We must be a lighthouse on a dark and perilous shore; we must give light to others. Then only shall we be worthy of really being a member of the Star.

 

Sananda Maitreya speaks:....

THE FOOL OFFERS MORE (welcome to my foolitarium!!):

April fools' day is one of my favourite days of the year! Welcome!

I am certainly one of the biggest fools I know and commit myself anew each day to surrender even more to it, everyday it seems by Divina's grace I become less of an idiot and more of a fool. Hallelujah!

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I cannot and do not subscribe to one religion (although I used to consider myself a "booty-ist") for in truth my heart is too big for just one, a single religion would die of loneliness inside the womb of my heart. Many of them I am very fond of, they sparkle like stars in the night velvet sky. My religion such as can be ascribed to a name is the religion of humanity. All of the prophets whether Moses, Buddha, Malcolm or Beethoven came to remind humanity of its grace and power and were all humanitarians to their core, whatever marketing labels were left behind in their wake to sell their concepts to the people.

Jesus offered his services to his time not in the view that it would later be called 'christianity', I doubt whether he cared what it would be called, the gardener drops the seeds and leaves the naming to the florist. He came to elevate humanity's view of itself and to prove that the power of love triumphs over all doubt and that without the value of ethics we are all but a hierarchy of monkeys attacking one another at the slightest provocation. We all need harmony to hang our melodies on and to conduct ourselves with balance and mercy. Whatever you call your religion or spiritual practice, it is an empty bell if it is not ringing the chorus of humanity and right conduct between neighbors.

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It is in this same spirit that I refuse to sit idly by whilst the Angels of Mercy, gifted with the power of song and who are fueled consciously or unconsciously with the desire to praise God's humanity and to keep the people's vibe up are continually co-opted, strangled and raped of their reason by the thieves who have corrupted the temple of music and charge an ungodly fortune for the priviledge of reaching the public.

Too many Angels have to all but sell their souls for the service they wish to provide and are forced to even change their natural keys is order to accomodate small-minded views of them and are being choked by the indifference to their original aims, until they lose even their voices, followed by their desire and somewhere in between the belief in their magic and Divina's will for them.

It is an abomination unto God and we are naive if we believe that the Divine Mother whose Grace all Angels serve shall continue to sit passively by and allow the infidels to moult the feathers of her children and drain them of their blood simply for the sake of quarterly profits. To name but a few: Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Earth-Wind-and Fire, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Patti Smith and the MC5 have proven that prophets can be profitable when the bankers stand behind them and not in front of them.

I say a change is in the wind.

Let the Angels regain their form and sing in their true unforced and inspired keys and their desire will be replenished and everyone wins, including the same industry now handcuffing them and ripping them off in the exchange, and the people once again shall come back in great numbers to get their vibe lifted for nothing excites us more than when the choir of Angels are singing from their hearts and not just from the charts.

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It shall be clearer and clearer that Angels do not work for industry, although with respectful conditions they are willing to work with industry. Angels work for whom they receive their gifts, Heaven, through the offices of their intuition. They work in all of their myriad ways to uplift God's children and not for profit margins alone.

This would put the cart in front of the horse which causes the goods in the cart to spoil and frustrates the hell out of the horse. When industry forgets this it loses its spark which slowly loses the people they are trying to reach. But when they begin listening to the Angels once again, their flowers bloom once more and the large numbers they lust for return as well.

The recording industry faces greater fragmentation for no other reason (despite the many excuses) than the fact that they have stopped listening to their artists and expect the artists instead to listen to them.

They determined at some point that they were more important than their stars (and became in the process much bigger divas than we are!). Because of this they have lost their sparkle not because of DVDs, videogames, the internet or the conjunction of Pluto with Jupiter. It also doesn't help that they are largely accountants and lawyers now and putting these types in charge of creative enterprises always rubs the skin off the golden goose eventually and is like having a vegetarian run a butchers' shop, it just doesn't make sense and dwindling profits prove this.

Clive Davis continues to have success wherever he goes because he is a music man, (though that has become a novel idea in the music business).

Sign fewer 'producer' driven acts and more 'artists', give out smaller advances and reduce the number of years artists are tied up for, provide more equity and better incentives, allow more creative flexibility (be honest most of you executives know nothing about music and are even afraid to have your own opinion) and a renewed commitment to nurturing (once upon a time called A and R) and support them so that the public can get to know and develop a relationship with them and then stop cheating them!

As well it is the height of immorality to sit on top of an artist's work, seeking to bully them into submission by refusing to release the work or the monies due simply because you can. If you have no faith in the work let it go,  this is fair.

Artists' lives are invested in their work.

The film industry has 'play or pay' contingencies, it is time for the recording industry to bring a conscience into play and to stop screwing with people's lives just because they can. The fortunes of a company can change overnight just as it can with a single person.

Principles of fair play are simply good karma.

Spirit will not continue to bless an industry that continues to curse and bind its Angels.

Turn the beasts of inspiration loose once again and let them weave their spell, and the public will once again be beguiled in the numbers you lust for.

Grace is not seduced by pre-packaged and chained boxes and all that other tired, stifling baby in the cradle killing demographic researched bullshit, for Grace like the wind prefers open rooms, and your rooms have grown stuffy to the point of allergy, (and its cousin lethargy) and for God's sake, put musical people back in charge of the day to day operations.

To the exceptions who continue to serve the Angels graces I salute you, we hope to see you in charge soon. To the rest, you are the problem, not radio (who are also looking for revitalisation) and all the other scape-goats you blame for your lack of heart, courage and vision.

COPYRIGHT SANANDA MAITREYA, APRIL 1ST 2002.

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BUONA PASQUA, MORE FOR YOUR GRACE AND CONSIDERATION:

I remember once as a child being asked : "Why are you so out there?"

I replied : "because it's less crowded and I have more room to breathe".

Yes, I have walked a very hard road my angels, but praise God it was my road.

And no one else's and there was always enough space for me since it wasn't overcrowded with other people expectations and ready-to-wear attitudes.

One can only find one's self on one's own road anyway and if you are looking to avoid your truth then I envy you for in reality I had no choice. The unsettling traumas of my childhood opened my eyes completely to how heavily damaged our psyches are and the tight bandages we wear around our hearts just in order to survive our own wounded self opinions and the hard glare it casts upon our shadows.

Therefore I did not wish to just survive my life, I wished to heal it because I was 'cursed' with the vision to see through our fractured images just how God blessed beautiful we really are and just how big a thing a heart is and that yes love is just as powerful as we fear it is and is a great great threat to the darkness we hide ourselves in simply because we do not feel worthy.

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It is a certain rite of passage for any poet, philosopher, artist or anyone who wishes to serve the healing of humanity, that they must first survive the public's hostility before they are then accepted as sincere . This scares a great many of them off, but the ones who survive become our heroes.

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If you do not feel worthy of healing (love)

you will lash out against what offers it.

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To survive your life and yet still believe in love

is the greatest act of heroism any of us can commit.

Bravo!

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The true 'Red Badge of Courage' is the heart.

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We fear that opening our hearts to others will cause us more pain not realising that in not fully opening our hearts we fulfill the prophecy of our fear by drawing to us those who share the same fear. A heart can never heal by remaining closed, the light and the air must get to it and this requires trust ( as all processes do ).

Besides, an open heart heals itself and is its own reward and draws other open hearts to it.

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Never fear chaos,

it is the father of all beauty

as simplicity is the mother of all beauty

and when it arrives it's not so much all hell breaking loose

as all heaven breaking in

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True nobility lies not in genetics

but in ethics

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Focus your meditations on what your passions are and the rest is cake

Your passions ARE your meditations, your passions define your life

To live a life suppressing your passions is to live a life suppressing the truth

Is to live a life suppressing your dreams , is to live a life apologising for being,

is to live a life as an apologist for suffering

Everyday we murder our dreams with logic

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Be careful of too much 'logic',

It robs us of our magic

besides what often passes itself off as 'logic'

is just a code word for lack of faith in God

and even more betraying

a lack of faith in yourself

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The profound loneliness of God is that his own people are the one's most afraid of him

and feel the least worthy of the truth of his complete and unwavering unconditional love.

Part of the profound loneliness of Man is that since he spends most of his time judging himself, he is left alone a lot, for in this God will not join him .

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This concludes this transmission,

I now turn you back

over to your regularly scheduled program

enjoy it while it lasts!



Your eternal friend

Sananda Maitreya

Ps: when in doubt, just put it between two pieces of bread and call it a sandwich!

Pps: when you are really in doubt there's always The Beatles!!!

COPYRIGHT SANANDA MAITREYA MARCH 31ST, 2002

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Dearest compadres,

         One of the reasons I’ve come to my full senses and decided to sever all ties with the octopus that is Universal records (specifically Universal Germany) is because I discovered that they were illegally shipping my records into unlicensed territories behind my back and profiting from them. Yet the industry are the first to conveniently pin the blame on ‘pirates’ when they are routinely the biggest pirates artists have to deal with every day. This act of course is just the tip of the iceberg and is why they prefer to deal with young artists with more stars in their eyes than sand in their shoes who are ‘looked after’ by managers who function as apologists for the industry, by business managers who are themselves skillful at hiding things and discouraging the ‘wrong’ questions and by lawyers who are loyal to the industry that will continue to feed them as long as they play ball. It is understood by these men that by and large artists have  a shelf life of 3 to 5 years as long as they smile or emote for the camera and don’t ask any intelligent questions and who are supposed to be content with the once in a life time opportunity they are given to be on tv and seen by the ‘homies’ back in the ‘hood’, work with top producers hoisted upon them whether they fit or not, hang out with supermodels or other various starlets and allow themselves to be drained by the vampires of the industry until they actually have something to say or until the wrinkles show through all the strain. Sony during my nightmarish experience with them (for I did not sign to Sony, I signed to Columbia and was not given a choice when the bigger fish swallowed the smaller fish ) screwed me so deeply (and then internally laughed about it as they were wiping the blood from the blade) that for a while I couldn’t see past my own trauma and by the time the wound in my back had healed I was finally able after an 8 year tug of war to free myself from their grossly immoral ‘standard’ contract simply because they, in their infinite wisdom, assumed that I had nothing left and wouldn’t embarrass them with success elsewhere, after defaming my name with reports of destructive activities and other outright lies and gross exaggerations. All of this to keep one of their other artists happy, who of course himself buckled under the strain of then having to make up in the balance sheet for two careers : his and mine ( and the poor thing was already under a great deal of pressure already). In the mean time shadowed in the dungeon of their Darth Vader like empire I continued to count my blessings, nurture my wounds and hone my craft whilst they continued to Count Dracula. Artists are routinely screwed and expected to just be grateful for the crumbs that are begrudgingly  passed on after everything has been charged back to them anyway, due to the smug assumpion that we have no other choice and even what is contractually owed to us is often withheld and later enticingly presented as an ‘advance’ on future work obligating us to them even longer when it was in fact money owed to you anyway. Their ‘books’ are a mockery, they are allowed enough time to hide whatever was not already hidden and you are expected to pay in order to audit them (as well as risk being ostracized by the company). The law allows them to get away with it as they cry the same tired refrain about financial risks when it’s a fact that once you have a distribution network a certain amount is required anyway just to keep it operational and paying for itself. They are also allowed to get away with it because they have a lobby and we have not. For the most part and with all due respect to the exceptions , they are pirates and leeches to their core and the end (such as they now exist) is in sight. All praises be to Prince, George Michael, Courtney Love, Chuck D, Alanis Morrisette and other brave soldiers who have sacrificed a great deal of their careers in order to help liberate the slaves and grant us all a more equitable piece of the pie that we bake in the ovens of our passion and in the interest of bringing more of God’s light and truth into the hearts of humanity, since without the artists they have nothing to promote except the sound of their own bullshit. As it now stands record company accountants are far more creative than their artists are allowed to be . There is a new blade in the guillotine and it is getting sharper by the day and will be coming to you more directly, no longer under the illusion, that in order to get what belongs to us, we have to go through robbers in pinstripes in order to receive it.

Stay tuned

Your eternal friend

Sananda Maitreya

 also on behalf of Terence Trent D’Arby

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These thoughts I share with you for your easter week-end, may the Christs within yourselves be nurtured by your mercy and the boldness of your recognition and may the Buddhas within you get fatter with your laughter and growing sense of self compassion:

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What keeps a man young is not the lack of tension in his life but the lack of pretension, the letting go of all ideas of who he is supposed to be, expected to be and surrendering to just being who he is whether it is in or out of fashion, sanctioned or unsanctioned, approved or disapproved. These are the meek who shall inherit the earth.

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We often lose what we have by falling under the illusion that having more will give us more, when it often takes away the satisfaction of experiencing what we have already.

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In truth what are we after all but monkeys in denial?

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Your ‘demons’ are not chasing you, you are running from them. They are only trying to give back to you what you have judged and left behind. Slow down and let them catch you. Anything looks scarier when you are running from it!

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It is no one else’s responsibility to recognise you or respect you. Recognise and respect yourself and others will be inspired to return to you what you are already giving yourself.

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I have to admit, sometimes it does get a little lonely waiting for you but what else can I do but wait? I was designed for this and it takes as long as it takes, after all this is what Heaven pays me for and it pays me in grace.

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What else is a cloud but cream free of the gravity of doubt and therefore able to float high above its judgements and negative self assumptions and blot the blue sky with vapour trails of bliss?

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I am not worried about your prejudice against others, it is insignificant. I am concerned only with the prejudice you carry against yourself, for all forms of prejudice have their root in this first cause. Address this and gradually your other prejudices will evaporate into preferences  and you have a birth right to your preferences.

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In truth whether it be for racial, tribal, political, religious or gender reasons and whether in quantities large or very small we all carry some prejudice, and yet I have seen consistently that given even have a chance we are all willing to make an exception whenever it moves us to do so. Our biases do not make us any less divine, only more human. Expecting people to give more than they are willing to give in any given moment breeds resentment. Accept the graces as they come and more will surely follow. That you are willing to make an effort at all moves Heaven to tears.

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I have had the profound priviledge of being loved by women from very many tribes ( for there is only one race but many tribes ) and I can honestly say that it is all very very good and was very appreciated in its turn. All praises be to all the flowers in the garden and to the bees of grace who have pollinated each with the pungent scent of God’s mercy.

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What distinguishes whether a man is a poet or not is not how well he writes or indeed whether he can write at all, but in how he looks at the world and how much he invites of the world back into his soul. Generosity of vision is what separates a poet from a miser, misers see weeds where poets see necessity.

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Lighten up on yourselves, your choices always reflect your judgements of yourself and those who judge themselves harshly draw hard consequences and place more pressure on themselves on making the ‘right’ choice in the belief that each choice is an ultimate one. Opportunity does not knock only once, this is a misers view of the world, it knocks as often as you invite it. Life is not the lottery, you are .

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May you be blessed by yourself with permission to arrive at the place where your choices are based not on what you think you should do but on what brings the most joy to your heart, the most excitement to your existence, the most inner satisfaction, for all the rest places you in bondage and deeper servitude to ideals that do not serve you and therefore sap you of your strength.

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Writers, do not be discouraged if you are experiencing what some call ‘writers block’, it’s just an incubation period for a new expression. You are just in a cocoon formulating your next birth, within a butterfly stirs. Be patient with your self and be encouraged, Heaven still needs you, there is no shelf life on a gift given by providence, she does not let her Angels go to waste. She just sometimes closes her wings around you  for a spell so that the bankers don’t bleed you dry and strip you of all of your wine  before it matures into the golden age you are promised if you are willing to hold your faith.

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Answering the question others often challenge us with: ‘WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?‘ is a part of the divine priviledge of being on this planet. It is indeed your life purpose, get on with it and bless you for being here.

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...a rose cannot proceed to blossom until it asks itself the question: ‘JUST WHO DO I THINK I AM?’ while it ponders its thorns protect it

                               the scent you smell beneath your nose

                       is the question mark that produced the rose

so trust God and your own divine curiosity, your question marks (?) 

                 always straighten out into exclamation points (!)

....and remember: if you are a grape don’t wine, everything happens for a raisin!!

HAPPY EASTER

(and for those of you on the other side of the world ... HAPPY WESTER...!!!!!)

Bless you all

Your Gods love you