Full Heart, Empty Mind

Full Heart, Empty Mind

A Moving Passage

I don’t think I have to introduce J. Krishnamurti to all of you. Anyone who is serious about spirituality and self-discovery must have heard about him. But for those who are new to him and to his teachings, this article can be the beginning of a long-lasting friendship with him. 

I am fortunate in my life to have come across his teachings. Though he is no more among us, I feel he is very much here. Slowly he has become a part of my consciousness. He was a phenomenal being. The Dalai Lama called him: “One of the greatest thinkers of the age.” And another time he regarded him as a ‘great soul’. 

The other day, I was reading this book—The Book of Life: Daily Meditations With J. Krishnamurti. It has 365 daily meditative themes, developed thematically over seven days, dealing with various topics, such as freedom, truth, love, beauty, liberation and so on.

I came to the passage which is at the beginning of the chapter titled ‘August’. Every chapter is actually named after the months. So there are twelve chapters. And every chapter deals with four topics, spread over seven days. The first topic of August is ‘Truth’. The passage really touched me. Here it is: 

Full Heart, Empty Mind

"There is no path to truth, it must come to you. Truth can come to you only when your mind and heart are simple, clear, and there is love in your heart; not if your heart is filled with the things of the mind. When there is love in your heart, you do not talk about organizing for brotherhood; you do not talk about belief, you do not talk about division or the powers that create divison, you need not seek reconciliation. Then you are simply a human being without a label, without a country. This means that you must strip yourself of all those things and allow truth to come into being; and it can come only when the mind is empty, when the mind ceases to create. Then it will come without your invitation. Then it will come as swiftly as the wind and unbeknown. It comes obscurely, not when you are watching, wanting. It is there as sudden as sunlight, as pure as the night; but to receive it, the heart must be full and the mind empty. Now you have the mind full and your heart empty."

How beautifully he has captured the truth—that our hearts are empty and minds are full. But only when our hearts are full with love and minds are empty of the things of the world, does Truth come to us.

We have to be simple to see the Truth, because Truth is simple. It is not complicated. And to be simple, this is the formula: have a heart full with love, but a mind empty of the self. 

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Thank you for your patience.

With Love, Alok 🍁