Krishnamurti often spoke about self knowledge or self knowing; it’s a theme he came back to again and again. Sometimes he would say the same thing in a new way or sometimes say something completely new and the listener would miss it if they were not fully listening. During this dialogue weekend we will examine what we understand to be listening and self knowing alongside the practice of Yoga.

 

“What is self-knowing? How do you know yourself? What is it to know oneself? Do you know yourself from observation – observation of an experience, observation of a thought? In the observation of one thought, another thought springs up, and we are reluctant to let go the first thought, and so there is conflict between the first thought and the second thought. but self-knowing is to relinquish the first thought and pursue the second thought. Then a third thought arises. Drop the second, follow the third. Drop the third and follow the fourth. So there is a constant alertness or awareness of the movement of thought,” (Explorations and Insights). 

Francesca Michelle Gold (she/her) has had deep and lifelong contact with the work of J. Krishnamurti. She lived at the Krishnamurti Foundation in Ojai for a year in 2012 to engage deeply and honestly with her own conditioning. Her curiosity about herself and her quest for truth led her to visit five of the Krishnamurti retreat centers in India where she stayed off and on for two years. Francesca has been teaching Yoga and embodiment practices for over 14 years and has facilitated retreats at the KFA for over a decade. She holds a Master of Arts in Yoga Studies and a Yoga Therapy certification through Loyola Marymount University; her advanced teaching certification is through the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy. Her teaching style is methodical, intuitive, and somatic in nature. Expect to be pointed inward again and again towards practices rooted in direct observation, compassion, and meditation. She was voted best Yoga teacher in Ojai in 2022 and owns a Yoga studio and community hall in town called Breathe Ojai which houses her private practice: Namēnah Yoga Therapy.