Can There Be Complete Freedom from Thought?

Is thought detrimental? 15 August 1965. Duration: 63 minutes. Why does one seek pleasure? Can the mind face only facts and not thought? Why have I never said, 'Thought is poison' to myself? Meeting something one doesn't know, facing something which has no answer. Acting without knowing. What is a state of mind which is silent? Time is detrimental. Are we twisting everything to our core of pleasure?

To look without a concept is to be aware of the observer and the thing observed. 20 May 1967. Duration: 88 minutes. Violence and sorrow are not limited to the West or the East; they are parts of the human structure psychologically. Is it possible to bring about a change radically, a total revolution in the psyche itself, not through time? The first and last freedoms are when the mind is totally free from concepts and the mechanical process of building a formula.

A radical transformation in the psyche itself. 8 November 1968. Duration: 80 minutes. To communicate we must know that the word is not the thing and also be in that state of mind whose quality is attention, care. That can take place only if we are serious. We are the world, and the world is us. To bring about a radical transformation, which is so essential in society, there must be radical transformation in ourselves.

The roots of psychological conflict. 1 April 1980. Duration: 82 minutes. Has humanity taken a wrong turn? What is the root of this tremendous inward conflict of humanity? When I am trying to become something, it is a constant battle. Can the brain itself see that it is caught in time and as long as it is moving in that direction conflict is eternal, endless? Can the mind realise, resolve a psychological problem immediately?

Living with a sustained seriousness. 21 February 1970. Duration: 91 minutes. What does it mean to be serious? Becoming. Why do I compare myself with you or with somebody else? Do I look at people through images? Can the brain operate without recourse to the past? 22 February 1970. Duration: 92 minutes. Is there self-progress? Conflict. Security. Any form of division within oneself is a source of conflict. Can the brain be quiet?

Attention implies the total abandonment of the 'me'. 6 March 1971. Duration: 100 minutes. Can the mind undergo a radical revolution? How do you observe the world? What solves our human problem is observing the whole process of ourselves without judging, condemning, translating or rejecting - just to observe.

Why are you being educated? 1 December 1965. Duration: 75 minutes. What is the function of education? Some people say that we must live now, and others say that we must be concerned further, beyond the present. Can man really be human without any effort? What is the difference between affection and love? How am I to know that I am bad? How am I to improve? Why does nature attract us?

Can the mind be free? 3 February 1969. Duration: 99 minutes. The society in which we live is the result of our psychological state. Where there is fear there is aggression. For most of us, freedom is something that we don’t want. Inaction is total action. What is the machinery that builds images? Questions from the audience follow the talk.

What is truth, and what is reality? 18 May 1975. Duration: 70 minutes. What is truth, and what is reality? Anything that thought thinks about or reacts upon or projects - that is reality. And that reality has nothing to do with truth. The art of seeing is to place reality where it is and not move that in order to get truth. You can't get truth. How am I to empty that consciousness and yet retain knowledge - otherwise I couldn't function - and reach a state which will comprehend reality?

To perceive 'what is' is the basis of truth. 7 February 1971. Duration: 86 minutes. Where there is division, there must be conflict. A mind in conflict must inevitably be distorted, and therefore it cannot possibly see clearly what is truth. We need a total change, a deep revolution, psychological revolution, the inward revolution, without which you cannot possibly create a new society. Is it possible to observe, to perceive without the observer?