So, it all comes down to this basic question
That human beings have, for a long, long time been concerned about transforming their minds
Is there any way in which one's mind can be transformed
Or is it simply a process which is nothing more than a vicious circle?
I could ask
[Chorus]
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Would it be too presumptuous of me to say that you were looking for help?
That you hoped you would hear somebody who had something to say
That would be of help and relevance to you, as members of a world
Which is running into the most intense difficulty?
A world beset by a complex of problems, any one of which would be bad enough
But when you add together all, all the great political, social, and ecological problems with which we are faced, they are appalling
And one naturally says, "The reason why we are in such a mess is not simply that we have wrong systems for doing things, whether they be technological, political, or religious."
[Woman] Hallelujah!
But we have the wrong people
The systems may be all right, but they are in the wrong hands because we are all
In various ways, self-seeking, lacking in wisdom, lacking in courage, afraid of death, afraid of pain, unwilling, really, to cooperate with others, unwilling to be open to others
And we all think that's too bad
It's me that's wrong
[Chorus]
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
[Outro]
Yeah, boy!
Yeah, boy!
That human beings have, for a long, long time been concerned about transforming their minds
Is there any way in which one's mind can be transformed
Or is it simply a process which is nothing more than a vicious circle?
I could ask
[Chorus]
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Would it be too presumptuous of me to say that you were looking for help?
That you hoped you would hear somebody who had something to say
That would be of help and relevance to you, as members of a world
Which is running into the most intense difficulty?
A world beset by a complex of problems, any one of which would be bad enough
But when you add together all, all the great political, social, and ecological problems with which we are faced, they are appalling
And one naturally says, "The reason why we are in such a mess is not simply that we have wrong systems for doing things, whether they be technological, political, or religious."
[Woman] Hallelujah!
But we have the wrong people
The systems may be all right, but they are in the wrong hands because we are all
In various ways, self-seeking, lacking in wisdom, lacking in courage, afraid of death, afraid of pain, unwilling, really, to cooperate with others, unwilling to be open to others
And we all think that's too bad
It's me that's wrong
[Chorus]
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
Why have you come here? What were you looking for?
[Outro]
Yeah, boy!
Yeah, boy!
And so, that is a nice little tangle
If I put this in the language of oriental philosophy and religion
It would be something like this
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
One who abandons that desire attains nirvana
Which is supreme peace
Liberation
Nirvana means, in Sanskrit
Blow out
That is, exhale the breath
Exhale the breath
The opposite, desire, is to breathe in
Now, if you breathe in, and hold it
You lose your breath
But if you breathe out, it comes back to you
It comes back to you
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
So the principle here is if you want life, don't cling to it
Let go
Let go
But the problem is if I desire not to desire, is that not already desire?
How can I desire not to desire?
How can I surrender myself
When myself is precisely an urge to hold on
To cling?
To cling to life, to continue to survive
To survive
To survive
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
I can see rationally
That by clinging to myself, I may strangle myself
I may be like a person who has a bad habit
As a result of which he is committing suicide
And he knows that
But can't give it up
Because the means of death are so sweet
If I put this in the language of oriental philosophy and religion
It would be something like this
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
One who abandons that desire attains nirvana
Which is supreme peace
Liberation
Nirvana means, in Sanskrit
Blow out
That is, exhale the breath
Exhale the breath
The opposite, desire, is to breathe in
Now, if you breathe in, and hold it
You lose your breath
But if you breathe out, it comes back to you
It comes back to you
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
So the principle here is if you want life, don't cling to it
Let go
Let go
But the problem is if I desire not to desire, is that not already desire?
How can I desire not to desire?
How can I surrender myself
When myself is precisely an urge to hold on
To cling?
To cling to life, to continue to survive
To survive
To survive
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
I can see rationally
That by clinging to myself, I may strangle myself
I may be like a person who has a bad habit
As a result of which he is committing suicide
And he knows that
But can't give it up
Because the means of death are so sweet
The title of these talks that I'm giving here is "Mind Over Mind."
And I'm going into
All the various problems
Which have to do with the control of the mind
And so, I might
Introduce what I'm going to say by saying it from different points of view
For example, if you're interested in communications
It will be the problem of feedback
Or if I may put it in theological terms
How does man follow the will of God
If the will of man is perverse?
The theologians say
You cannot do this without having divine grace
Or the power to follow the will of God
How, then, do you get grace?
Why is grace given to some
And not to others?
If I cannot follow the will of God by my own effort, because my will is selfish
How will my will, which is selfish, be transformed into an unselfish will?
If I cannot do it, because I am already the selfish will
Then grace must do it
Then grace must do it
If grace has not already done it, why not?
Because I didn't accept it?
But by definition, I have no power to accept it because my will was selfish
Must I then become a Calvinist
And say that only those people
Who are predestined to receive grace will be able to live the good life?
The good life
Then, we come back to the inadmissable position
That people who live evil lives do not get grace because they are not predestined to it
Out of the infinite wisdom of the Godhead
Then God himself must be held responsible for their evil deeds
And I'm going into
All the various problems
Which have to do with the control of the mind
And so, I might
Introduce what I'm going to say by saying it from different points of view
For example, if you're interested in communications
It will be the problem of feedback
Or if I may put it in theological terms
How does man follow the will of God
If the will of man is perverse?
The theologians say
You cannot do this without having divine grace
Or the power to follow the will of God
How, then, do you get grace?
Why is grace given to some
And not to others?
If I cannot follow the will of God by my own effort, because my will is selfish
How will my will, which is selfish, be transformed into an unselfish will?
If I cannot do it, because I am already the selfish will
Then grace must do it
Then grace must do it
If grace has not already done it, why not?
Because I didn't accept it?
But by definition, I have no power to accept it because my will was selfish
Must I then become a Calvinist
And say that only those people
Who are predestined to receive grace will be able to live the good life?
The good life
Then, we come back to the inadmissable position
That people who live evil lives do not get grace because they are not predestined to it
Out of the infinite wisdom of the Godhead
Then God himself must be held responsible for their evil deeds
I'm sorry, I don't want to be an emperor
That's not my business
I don't want to rule or conquer anyone
I should like to help everyone, if possible
Jew, Gentile, Black man, White
We all want to help one another
Human beings are like that
We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery
We don't want to hate and despise one another
In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich
And can provide for everyone
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way
Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate
Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed
We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in
Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want
Our knowledge has made us cynical
Our cleverness, hard and unkind
We think too much and feel too little
More than machinery we need humanity
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together
The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men
Cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all
Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people
To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people
And so long as men die
Liberty will never perish
Soldiers, don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think, or what to feel!
Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder
Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines!
You are not cattle!
You are men!
You have the love of humanity in your hearts
You don't hate, only the unloved hate
The unloved and the unnatural
Soldiers, don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St. Luke it is written, the Kingdom of God is within man
Not one man nor a group of men, but in all men, in you!
You, the people have the power
The power to create machines
The power to create happiness
You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure
Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power
Let us all unite!
Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power
But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise, they never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!
Now let us fight to fulfill that promise!
Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance
Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness
Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
That's not my business
I don't want to rule or conquer anyone
I should like to help everyone, if possible
Jew, Gentile, Black man, White
We all want to help one another
Human beings are like that
We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery
We don't want to hate and despise one another
In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich
And can provide for everyone
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way
Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate
Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed
We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in
Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want
Our knowledge has made us cynical
Our cleverness, hard and unkind
We think too much and feel too little
More than machinery we need humanity
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together
The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men
Cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all
Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people
To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people
And so long as men die
Liberty will never perish
Soldiers, don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think, or what to feel!
Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder
Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines!
You are not cattle!
You are men!
You have the love of humanity in your hearts
You don't hate, only the unloved hate
The unloved and the unnatural
Soldiers, don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St. Luke it is written, the Kingdom of God is within man
Not one man nor a group of men, but in all men, in you!
You, the people have the power
The power to create machines
The power to create happiness
You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure
Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power
Let us all unite!
Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power
But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise, they never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!
Now let us fight to fulfill that promise!
Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance
Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness
Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
Do you mind what happens not?
I don't care what happens
I don't care is
It's dismissive
It's a loving indifference, a benevolent indifference as Pontius used to say
It's not an indifference that is cold
Because awareness is not an aloof, separate witness of experience locked up in an ivory tower of indifference
It is intimately one with all experience, so intimacy is its loving aspect
It doesn't know the meaning of the word resistance or rejection so it is intimately one with
And at the same time free of all experience
So it is both loving
And indifferent
So it is both loving
And indifferent
So it is not a cold indifference
It is a loving indifference
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
We're speaking about awareness, awareness, awareness
We talk about mind
That's a different matter
Because mind's experience is always divided into polarities
Good and bad, right and wrong, true and false
And at the level of mind those categories are valid
They don't pertain to consciousness
Consciousness doesn't know the difference between good and bad, there is no good or bad or right or wrong
But when consciousness assumes the form of mind
It divides itself
Into two and at that level there are differences, there are distinctions, and there is a meaning to the words
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
So in terms of ethic
What is right and what is wrong
I would suggest what is right at the level of the mind is behavior that expresses
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
Another name for awareness is love
So behavior that is loving is an expression of the inherent quality of our true nature
The inherent quality of our true nature
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
Cruel or unkind
Unjust, unloving behavior are behaviors that
Whilst they come originally from awareness, there's no else they could come from, they are filtered through the belief in separation and as they are filtered through separation they are perverted – or distorted
So hatred, for instance, is love distorted by the sense of separation
So hatred, for instance, is love more distorted by the sense of separation
I don't care what happens
I don't care is
It's dismissive
It's a loving indifference, a benevolent indifference as Pontius used to say
It's not an indifference that is cold
Because awareness is not an aloof, separate witness of experience locked up in an ivory tower of indifference
It is intimately one with all experience, so intimacy is its loving aspect
It doesn't know the meaning of the word resistance or rejection so it is intimately one with
And at the same time free of all experience
So it is both loving
And indifferent
So it is both loving
And indifferent
So it is not a cold indifference
It is a loving indifference
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
We're speaking about awareness, awareness, awareness
We talk about mind
That's a different matter
Because mind's experience is always divided into polarities
Good and bad, right and wrong, true and false
And at the level of mind those categories are valid
They don't pertain to consciousness
Consciousness doesn't know the difference between good and bad, there is no good or bad or right or wrong
But when consciousness assumes the form of mind
It divides itself
Into two and at that level there are differences, there are distinctions, and there is a meaning to the words
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
So in terms of ethic
What is right and what is wrong
I would suggest what is right at the level of the mind is behavior that expresses
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
Another name for awareness is love
So behavior that is loving is an expression of the inherent quality of our true nature
The inherent quality of our true nature
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
Cruel or unkind
Unjust, unloving behavior are behaviors that
Whilst they come originally from awareness, there's no else they could come from, they are filtered through the belief in separation and as they are filtered through separation they are perverted – or distorted
So hatred, for instance, is love distorted by the sense of separation
So hatred, for instance, is love more distorted by the sense of separation