Action without conflict
CHENNAI: The more one observes the world’s condition, the more it becomes clear that there must be a totally different kind of action. One sees in the world - including in India - the confusion, the great sorrow, the misery, the starvation, the general decline. One is aware of this, one knows it from newspapers, reading magazines, books, but it remains on the intellectual level because we don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. Human beings are in despair, there is great sorrow in themselves, frustration, and there is chaos about one. The more you observe and go into it, not intellectually, not verbally, but actually discuss, observe, act, enquire, examine, the more you see how confused human beings are. They are lost. And those who think they are not lost because they belong to a particular group, a circle, and feel the more you practise, the more you do certain things, the more you do social work, or this or that, the more they are sure that the world is going to be saved by their particular little actions.
The world is at war, and you think by particular prayer, a few of us people gathered together repeating certain words will solve this enormous question which has remained unsolved for over five thousand years, by words, prayer. And you keep on repeating, though knowing that wars can never be stopped that way. So each one belongs to a certain group, to a certain political party, to a religious sect and so on, and remains in it, more and more holding on to the past, to what has been. And one is caught in this. One admits, when it is pointed out, that there is chaos, general decline, deterioration outwardly and inwardly, and one realises man is lost. And without finding out why he is lost, why there is so much chaos, misery, without examining, going into it very deeply, we answer superficially, saying that we are not following god, or that we don’t love - give superficial platitudinous answers that have no value at all.
And during these talks, if one has listened to them at all, one must have come to the question, why? - why this mess, why this confusion. If you enquire very deeply, you will find, I think, that man is lazy. The chaos is brought about through man’s laziness, indifference, sluggishness. Because he accepts, because that’s the easiest way to live, to accept, to adjust to the environment, to the condition, to the culture in which he lives - just to accept it. And this acceptance breeds dreadful laziness. And I think it is important to understand this, that we are as human beings very lazy. We think we have solved the problem of living by a belief, by saying, I believe in this or that. That belief essentially is based either on fear and therefore the incapacity to solve that fear, which indicates deep-rooted laziness.
You observe in yourself, you fall into a pattern of thought, of action, and there you remain because that’s the easiest way - you don’t have to think. You have thought a little bit about it perhaps and now you don’t have to think, you are there, you are carried along by outward events, or by the push of your own little group. That gives you a great deal of satisfaction, you think you are doing extraordinarily good work. And you daren’t question it because that is very disturbing. You daren’t question your religion, your community, your beliefs, the social structure, nationalism, war. You accept. Please look into yourself, because we are so lazy, and this chaos is due to this laziness because we have ceased to question, ceased to doubt, not accept.
And being conscious of this terrible mess that is going on outwardly and inwardly, we expect some outward event to bring about order. Or we hope some leader in a guru, or this or that authority will help us out. And that way we have lived for centuries upon centuries, looking to somebody else to solve our problems.
-Jiddu Krishnamurti