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Happiness and fear-the basic characteristics of this era
Speech at Berkeley University, from You Are the World, translated by Krishnamurti and Hu Yinmeng.

If we delve into our inner fears, we will often find that our entire social structure is based on hedonism, because most people are pursuing pleasure, but as long as people pursue pleasure, they will certainly breed fear. Obviously, fear and happiness go hand in hand.

Being able to listen is the most important thing, not only to listen to the speaker, but also to be aware of his inner reaction, because the speaker does not want to deal with any philosophical problems, nor does it represent India or any philosophical school in India. We are concerned with the problems of mankind as a whole, not any philosophical or religious problems. We care about human suffering, the pain, anxiety, fear, hope and despair of most of us, and the chaos that exists all over the world. We must be responsible for these chaotic situations and the Vietnam War, because all these chaos are caused by us. As members of different countries and societies, we must be responsible for what is happening. I don't think we really realize how important this responsibility is. Some people may have felt this responsibility and want to do something, such as joining a specific organization or a specific belief and contributing everything to this ideal or action. But this does not solve our problems, nor does it absolve us of our responsibilities. Therefore, we must first try to understand what human problems are, not how to solve them; That's for the future.

Most people really want to do something, and we all want to devote ourselves to some kind of reform, but unfortunately, this often leads to greater confusion, confusion and arrogance. I think these problems must be regarded as a whole, not a part, including work, family, love, sex, conflict, ambition and understanding of life and death. In addition, there are so-called "what is God" or what is truth and so on. We must look at all this as a whole, but it may be a little difficult for us, because we are used to taking immediate action and responding to troubles, so we can't see that all human problems are interdependent. So, it seems that psychological revolution is far more important than economic or social revolution? For example, establish some kind of system, whether in the United States, France or India? Are much more important, because human problems can never be solved by becoming a social activist, joining a certain group, retreating to a temple to meditate, practicing Zen and practicing yoga. Let's check before you ask the speaker a question. This is not the kind of question that is completely forgotten after listening to the speech for more than an hour. What we are going to talk about now is the problem of all mankind. You and I will definitely try to explore it tonight. You are not only here to collect some opinions that you can agree or disagree with, nor to find out what the speaker will say. You will find that he doesn't want to say much, because we must look at these problems together, not to draw any conclusions but to understand them; Understanding can bring your own actions. So please allow me to make a suggestion, but I can't hear the conclusion. Listen but don't have any prejudice or prejudice. For centuries, we have been playing word games and concept games, and all kinds of ideologies have kept us in the same place, so we are still suffering and still in turmoil. We are still pursuing extraordinary happiness.

? As we have said, we are concerned about the whole life problem, not a certain part of life, so we must first find out what our problems are, not how to solve them and how to treat them. Because once you know what the problem is, that kind of understanding can bring your own actions, which I think must be clarified first. Most of us look at problems with conclusions and assumptions. We lack the freedom of observation, so we can't look at the facts in front of us freely. However, once you have the freedom to observe and explore problems, you will gain knowledge from that observation or exploration. This understanding is an action in itself, but it is not an action produced by a conclusion. Let's discuss them in depth one by one, and maybe we can get to know each other gradually.

You know, wherever you go, people are the same. Their attitudes, manners and external behavior patterns may be different, but psychologically, their problems are similar. People all over the world are full of confusion, which is the first thing I observed. Due to the sense of uncertainty and insecurity, people constantly pursue and seek outward, trying to find a way out in the chaos. So he went to a teacher, a yogi or a guru, or even a philosopher; He is looking for answers everywhere, which may be why you are here, because we all want to find a way out of this trap, but we don't know that we caused it? It's ourselves, not others. The society and the world we live in are ourselves, and this world is no different from us. The world is us, we are all confused, ambitious and greedy, and we are all pursuing power, status and prestige. Because we are cruel, competitive and aggressive, we will build a cruel, violent and aggressive society. For me, our primary responsibility is to know ourselves, because we are the world. This is not a self-centered controlled view. Once you start to delve into these problems, you will naturally understand.

What problems do we see when we observe the outside world and the inside? Is it an economic problem, a black-and-white race problem, an opposition between capitalism and capitalism, or a religion opposing another religion? Are these questions? Or are the real problems much deeper than these, mostly at the psychological level? Obviously, the problem is not external, but mostly internal.

We have said that human nature is cruel, competitive, aggressive and controlling; If you look at yourself, you will find these truths. Allow me to make a suggestion. What we are going to talk about tonight and the next three nights is not a series of indoctrination. What the speaker really wants to say is some psychological facts that you can observe in yourself, so you can do self-observation with the speaker's words. You can take the speaker as a mirror, observe yourself truly, and know your truth without any distortion. The most important thing in the world is to know yourself, not according to an expert's opinion, but to really observe yourself. Then you will find that you are the world: hatred, fear, nationalism, religious differences, believing this and not believing that, and so on. By observing these problems, we will realize our truth. However, what is the problem that each of us faces? Is it an independent issue, such as economic or racial issues, or a specific fear, mental illness, belief in God or belonging to a certain Sect? Do you regard life as a whole, or do you just lock in one problem and put all your energy and thoughts into it? Can we regard life as a whole? Life includes economic pressure, religious beliefs and dogmas, ethnic division and racial prejudice. Life is full of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, torture and pain. Life also includes love, pleasure, sex, death, and the question that people keep questioning: Is there a so-called reality, a "transcendental realm", something that can be discovered through meditation? Humans have been questioning this matter, so we can't put it aside and only care about things in daily life as if it has no legitimacy. We really want to know whether there is an eternal thing, a reality beyond time. All these are our thoughts, so it's not just a specific problem. When you observe this, you will find that all the problems are interdependent. When one problem is thoroughly understood, other problems will naturally be understood.

Therefore, from the perspective of people, you will find that our biggest problem is fear. Not a specific fear, but all fears: for example, fear of life, fear of death, fear of dissatisfaction or failure, fear of being controlled and suppressed, fear of insecurity, fear of being lonely or unloved. Once you have fear, you will be aggressive. Fear can make people very active, not only to escape fear, but also to bring aggressive actions. If you like, you might as well observe for yourself. Fear is one of the most important topics in life, but how to alleviate it? Can people lift their fears once and for all, not only on the level of consciousness, but also on the level of inner secrecy? Can this fear be alleviated through analysis? Can escape be swept away? So the real question is: how can a heart that is afraid of life, the past, the present and the future get rid of fear completely? How to eliminate fear bit by bit is the first problem to be discussed. A repressed heart that thinks it is necessary to spend time analyzing or introspection to alleviate its fears, how can it get rid of its fears one by one? This is the traditional way. For example, some people tend to be violent, but they emphasize the ideal of non-violence. They said: "We will gradually reach a state of non-violence, and then there will be no violent tendency in our hearts." But it takes time, maybe ten years or even a lifetime to reach this level, but you have been very violent in the process; You have been sowing the seeds of violence. Therefore, there must be a way to stop the violence immediately; It doesn't have to take time or analysis to achieve it, otherwise we humans are doomed to be violent all our lives. Similarly, can fear stop completely? Can the heart completely get rid of fear? Not until the end of my life, but now? I don't know if you have asked yourself such a question. If so, you may say "how to achieve this" or "I don't know how to do it". So, you have been living in fear. You live with a violent tendency, but at the same time you want to cultivate courage, or resist it, suppress it, escape it, and pursue some non-violent idea. In fact, all ideas are stupid, because when you are pursuing an idea or an ideal, you are running away from the truth, and when you are running away from the truth, it is impossible to know what the truth is. Therefore, if you want to understand fear, the first thing is not to escape, which can be said to be the most difficult: don't try to escape fear through analysis, and don't try to escape fear through drinking, going to church or other activities. In fact, whether we escape through alcohol, drugs, sexual intercourse or God, it is essentially the same. Therefore, whether we can stop escaping is the first thing we should recognize in the process of understanding and relieving fear.

Guess what? For most people, freedom is not what we really want. We just want to get rid of certain things, such as the current pressure or entanglement. However, freedom is a completely different thing; Isn't freedom what you want to do and what you like to do? Freedom requires high discipline, but it is not the discipline of soldiers, nor the discipline of repression or submission. The word "discipline" means awareness, and its root is awareness. If you want to realize something. Whatever it is. It inevitably needs some discipline, and consciousness itself is a discipline; It's not about establishing discipline before you perceive anything. In fact, the activity of consciousness is discipline, which can help us get rid of all repression and imitation. So can you be free from fear, from the boundaries between religion and nationality, from the boundaries between me and your family? When you recognize fear, you will find it is a terrible thing, it will make everything dull, your heart will lose clarity, you can't see what the truth of life is, and you can't see what the real problem is. Therefore, I think, first of all, we should ask ourselves whether we can really free ourselves from fear, whether it is physical or psychological. When your body is in danger, you will react, which is an instinctive wisdom; This is not fear, otherwise you will probably destroy yourself.

However, when there is psychological fear? Fear of the future, the past and the present? Wisdom doesn't work. If we delve into our inner fears, we will often find that our entire social structure is based on hedonism, because most people are pursuing pleasure, but as long as people pursue pleasure, they will certainly breed fear. Obviously, fear and happiness go hand in hand.