-Krishnamurti, Bombay, India, l965

Why do we fear death? Is it because we are so seldom in the unknown that the great unknown is terrifying? Do our attempts to create psychological security increase our fears? We have countless ways of distracting from death, what happens when we truly look at it?

Krishnamurti says we must die every day, every moment. Is such a thing possible? Memory creates continuity, and our reactions arise instantaneously and reverberate in the body. Is it possible to end things completely? How would that come about? Is there a genuine dying to each moment that is not suppression or escape?

We will meet each day for a 2 1/2-hour session that will include but not be limited to discussion/dialogue, some short video clips and short excerpts from texts.

Daily online sessions (these sessions will not be recorded)
10:00am-12:30pm PACIFIC TIME

“To go far, you must begin very near, but to begin near is very difficult for most of us because we want to escape from “what is,” from the fact of what we are.” – Krishnamurti

This dialogue is an attempt to begin very near by exploring the nature of our own selves as they express themselves in our daily lives. We look at the personal in the context of the universal and question the limits of the personal. Krishnamurti’s teachings are a point of departure, but the inquiry is our own. We seek understanding not through external sources but through observation of the subjective experience through which the world appears and the expression of that in our relationship with the natural and social world. Inquiring together as a group creates a microcosm of the larger society and a mirror in which we can see our conditioning reflected as we expose ourselves to one another and to ourselves. The aim of group inquiry is not problem-solving or self-improvement but self-discovery. As the self tends to become defensive and resistant to examination when threatened it is important to create an environment in which everyone is respected. A dialogue rooted in affection is vastly different from a dialogue of the intellect. This affection is an outcome of listening and requires a suspension of judgment.

We begin with a reading on the topic followed by five minutes of silence. After the silent period, we go around the circle and check in with a question, observation, or personal sharing related to the topic. People who don’t want to speak may pass. After the go around, the group is spontaneous. We like to stay close to the topic for the whole dialogue and to keep the dialogue in the here and now as much as possible.

Kathy Franklin and Terry O’Connor are retired psychotherapists who found Krishnamurti’s teachings invaluable in their work.  They have hosted a dialogue in their home since 1992, and have organized the annual Memorial Day Krishnamurti Dialogue and Gathering in Maryland since it began in 1995.