Storms and crises...

"One observes the storms and crises that are multiplying in the world, the economic catastrophes, and so on. We go through these incidents and experiences almost unthinkingly. What is our life, as it is lived daily, all about? Where is it we are going? It is important to understand the question of what is living - the days we spend in constant strife, the battle, one against the other, the everlasting struggle, accumulating, losing, frightened, pursuing pleasure and stimulation, the physical and psychological pain, the utter empty loneliness of one’s life, the escapes that thought has invented as religion and politics. Behind all this, there is fear and great anxiety, untold misery. This is what we call living, with occasional flashes of joy which is uninvited, a feeling of happiness that soon fades into pleasure. 

This life, we know pretty well. Outwardly there are increasing storms coming, and each one is concerned with one’s own life. We don’t think beyond our particular agony, frustration, misery and confusion, but all this is the lot of most people. We don’t seem to be able to change ourselves or outward circumstances. It is difficult to change the economic and political structure, but perhaps we could, if we apply our minds, our thought, our energy, bring about a change in ourselves, a change which is so immensely necessary. Unless one transforms oneself completely, we are going to have a dreadful time ahead of us. 

This is not a prophecy; this is what one observes actually going on, with things getting worse: overpopulation, lack of food, and the devastation when there is no rain. Poorer countries are going to peacefully or violently demand that the rich should give and not hold everything to themselves. Observing this, one asks whether you as a human being living in this mad chaos, can change, not through necessity, compulsion or the demands of another, but whether you can change yourself, put away your all-consuming selfishness, the pursuit of money, demanding more and more and more, and whether you can end your suffering, not only the physical pain but also the inward, unresolved suffering" (Krishnamurti)...