Wednesday & Saturday Dialogues

Wednesday and Saturday Dialogues

The first step, which is really the last step, is to willingly surrender, or suspend, what we know to be our old ways of thinking and feeling, which separate us from life as it actually is.

Wed Dialogue

7:00 – 9:00pm

Sat Dialogue

2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Saturday
4:00 – 6:00 pm (doors open at 3:45)

Sat Video Dialogue

1st Saturday of the month 6:00-10:00 pm
Monthly Video Dialogue: Looking, Listening and Shared Inquiry
(begins Feb 2023)

All dialogue programs are free and held in the KC Library (Pine Cottage)

What to expect

Presentations by the facilitator
Insightful discussions
Expansive questions
Respectful group environment in which to explore questions

Who is this for

Anyone interested in J.Krishnamurti
Interest in asking and exploring fundamental life questions
Those who are interested in philosophy

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Where could I learn more about this program?
The Krishnamurti Center in Ojai would be happy to answer any questions you might have.
I’ve never participated in Dialogue. Will the program be suitable for me?
This program is suitable for individuals who are interested in Krishnamurti’s teachings and are new to the approach.

Program Description

The Intention

In honor of Krishnamurti’s wish that Pine Cottage, now the Krishnamurti Center Library, become a place for those serious and intent upon exploring the teachings, we hold regular dialogues every Wednesday night and Saturday evenings. The 4th Saturday of the month is a video dialogue. The intention is to give guests to the KC, both new and old, one more way to engage with the teachings, perhaps for the first time, in relationship with each other.

What to Expect

The dialogues are held in Pine Cottage and will be facilitated by Terry O’Connor, Howard Ward or Nandini Patnaik. (Bios below). The first few minutes will be dedicated to a brief explanation by the facilitator of what dialogue is intended to bring about. A Krishnamurti passage, audio or video on a dedicated theme, will then be shared, followed by a brief period of silence, after which point, we will begin the open dialogue.

The monthly Saturday video dialogue also held in Pine Cottage is facilitated by Eric Hassett (Bio below). The group will watch a video together before the open dialogue.

What is Dialogue?

“A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continues till a question is left without an answer. Thus the question is suspended between two persons involved in this answer and question. It is like a bud with untouched blossoms. If the question is left totally untouched by thought, it then has its own answer because the questioner and answerer, as persons, have disappeared. This is a form of dialogue in which investigation reaches a certain point of intensity and depth, which then has a quality which thought can never reach. It is not a dialectical investigation of opinions, ideas, but rather exploration by two or many serious, good brains.”

“In dialogue, we can discover the need to completely set aside our personal conditioning—to die to our own beliefs and formulated experiences—making it possible to see in that unique mirror of relationship the whole truth of “what is”. Then, if we share in the same spirit of inquiry, intensity and affection, we may actually find ourselves “thinking together”—not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing but, seeing, understanding and, thereby sharing as one the same reality.”

“In exploring the limitations of our conditioning, perhaps together we will be able to create a new culture, spontaneously and effortlessly, in which we can live with sensitivity, insight and love. The first step, which is really the last step, is to willingly surrender, or suspend, what we know to be our old ways of thinking and feeling, which separate us from life as it actually is.”

Quotes by — J. Krishnamurti

Facilitators

Eric Hassett: A lifelong appreciation of Krishnamurti’s teachings and a longtime passion for dialogue and inquiry make me want to bring people together from all walks of life to share in the kind of open-ended exploration in which Krishnamurti invited us to partake. Whether taking the form of in-person gatherings or online discussions, when people come together to inquire into fundamental questions of living and attempt to observe not just the content of thought but its process in operation, it not only has the potential of deepening one’s mere intellectual understanding (in part by hearing others’ perspectives), but also offers a unique opportunity to see oneself in ‘the mirror of relationship’ — and possibly open the door to insights heretofore inaccessible during solitary contemplation.

Terry O’Connor is a retired psychotherapists who found Krishnamurti’s teachings invaluable in his work. He and his wife Kathy Franklin 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.

Nandini Patnaik has been associated with the work of J. Krishnamurti for more than four decades. A longtime teacher of English language and literature, Nandini has authored four books on Krishnamurti in English, including two biographical works, J. Krishnamurti: The Making of a World Teacher, Beyond the Pathless – Anecdotes from the Life of J. Krishnamurti, Living Is Not a Choice: You, Me, and Krishnamurti, and Awareness in Daily Living. Her latest book, Living Is Not a Choice is a collection of short stories that are seamlessly appended by excerpts from Krishnamurti literature. The stories highlight universal existential relationship problems and offer to approach them nontraditionally.

Nandini has also written several books in Odia (an Indian language including a biography of Krishnamurti.

A member of KFI, Cuttack Centre, Nandini has contributed to the dissemination of the Teaching by translating into Odia a total of twenty-five publications of Krishnamurti. She is passionate about bringing the Teaching to people in self learning by offering them opportunity to ‘try it’, ‘do it’, and ‘see it’. She is now building a series of workable models that can be used in Krishnamurti Study Centers to let people live the teaching.

Howard Ward was first introduced to Krishnamurti Dialogue in the Fall of 1986 at the first KFA Dialogue Weekend after K’s death. Since that time he has been regularly attending and facilitating Krishnamurti dialogues in Ojai as well as in the Los Angeles area. He also attended a number of the David Bohm Seminars on dialogue and the nature of thought given by Prof.Bohm at the Oak Grove School in Ojai in the late 80’s and early 90’s.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Where could I learn more about this program?
The Krishnamurti Center in Ojai would be happy to answer any questions you might have.
I’ve never participated in Dialogue. Will the program be suitable for me?
This program is suitable for individuals who are interested in Krishnamurti’s teachings and are new to the approach.

About the Center

The Krishnamurti Center LLC is part of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America Trust (KFA). The KFA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to disseminate and preserve the teachings of J.Krishnamurti and run schools and centers based upon these teachings. More info on the KFA can be found at www.kfa.org.

The Krishnamurti Center LLC is the operational arm of the KFA. The Center runs the retreat, library, orchard, development office, programs, archives, and publications.

Wednesday and Saturday Dialogues

What to expect

Who is this for

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Program Description

Facilitators

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