Krishnamurti Information Network
Yann le Polain de Waroux - Personal Profile
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- Yann le Polain de Waroux
- Male, 28 yrs. old, PhD Student
- Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
- Birthday: September 19
- Member since: Thu, 11 Jun 2009, 4:31pm
- Last visited 7 months ago
Member Statement
I am young and I am experiencing the pains and pleasures of life, wondering what I actually want my life to be - if there is any such thing as wanting. I came accross a book of Krishnamurti by chance some years ago and it triggered something in me that hasn't left me since. I am involved in demanding intellectual work with my PhD, where the challenge for me is to be able to do and enjoy this work while not getting "swallowed" by it in an environment where overworking and competitiveness are the norm. As for daily life and relationships, it has been a period of rapid changes, trial, experimenting with things and lifestyles I am not used to, challenging myself in some way, and actually enjoying it most of the time. One issue that is present to me and may be related to my age is that of the relevance of couple relationships and family, and the whole social and inner pressure around this topic. Another is the desire to fulfil and to become (for instance, better my skills in some domains, etc.), as opposed to the feeling that it is just more of the same. Yet another is the pervasiveness of judgement in my culture and education, the apparent necessity to categorize everything as either good or bad, desirable or undesirable, to position oneself, a trend which is very deeply inscribed in the conditioning, and though seems irrelevant as one starts to consider spiritual matters. I started recently to take part in the yearly meetings in Switzerland. The most exciting and curious feature of K's teachings at the moment for me is this notion that there is no "me", which seems simultaneously totally logical and totally counter-intuitive.
Interests and Recommendations
Books
The Snow Leopard (Peter Matthiesen), At Play in the Fields of the Lords (Peter Matthiesen), Là où les tigres sont chez eux (Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès), Far Tortuga (Peter Matthiesen) Kim (Rudyard Kipling), The Summer Book (Tove Jansson), Siddartha (Hermann Hesse), Guns Germs and Steel (Jared Diamond), René Leys (Victor Segalen), 1984 (George Orwell)
Movies
Saraband (Ingmar Bergman), Mononoke Hime (Hayao Miyazaki), Lola Rennt (Tom Tykwer), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Disney), Black Cat - White Cat (Emir Kusturica), Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze), Wer früher Stirbt ist Länger Tot (Markus Rosenmüller), Mulholland Drive (David Lynch), Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly), Les Convoyeurs Attendent (Benoît Mariage), Panique Au Village (Vincent Patar et Stéphane Aubier), Le Roi et l'Oiseau (Paul Grimault), The Game (David Fincher)
Music
Bluebeard's Castle (Béla Bartók), Sonata for piano and viola (Dmitri Chostakovitch), Along an overgrown path (Leos Janáceck), Turangalîla Symphonie (Olivier Messiaen), La Llorona (Lhasa de Sela), Boards of Canada, Drowning in a sea of love (Nathan Fake), Orchidée (Locodice), Märtini Brös, Mensch (Herbert Grönemeyer), Schöne Neue (Extrawelt), A Mouthful (The Dø), Mud Stories (An Pierlé), Fábula (Maria João), Balkan Big Beatz (Äl Jawala), The Magic of the Klezmer (Giora Feidman), Yol Bolsin (Sevara Nazarkhan), En Argentina (Mercedes Sosa), Préludes (Claude Debussy), Johannes Passio (Johannes Bach), Different Trains (Steve Reich), Moments Musicaux (Franz Schubert), Deutsches Requiem (Johannes Brahms), Sonatine (Albert Roussel), Für Alina (Arvo Pärt)
Other interests
Aïkido, hiking, traveling, piano
Interview Answers
Does the phrase "living the teachings" have any meaning to you?
If this phrase has any meaning to me, it is certainly not to integrate the teachings in my conditioning, though this seems to inevitably happen. To me "living the teachings" means inquiring, with or without the support of the words said or written by K. It means to observe and to doubt, not take anything for granted ; to be curious about everything.
View all answers to this questionAre there any aspects of Krishnamurti's teaching that you find implausible or difficult to accept?
There are no aspects I find implausible. I find the following difficult to accept or understand :
- The idea of action without cause seems very remote to me, and is hard to conceive ;
- Similarly, observation without desire and motive seems tricky
- The idea that ego, psychological time and choice are illusions seem perfeclty logical to me intellectually, but I hardly ever (or never ?) perceive these as such directly / completely ; thus if they are illusions, they are very pervasive ones !
Has coming into contact with Krishnamurti and his teachings had any perceptible effect on your life and/or relationships?
My first contact with the teachings triggered a strong reject reaction against what I perceived to be my conditioning (particularly familial/educational ; it probably had to do with adolescence as well ;-)). In practice, I rejected much of what I was doing at that time of and the image I was giving to others. In the meanwhile I have come back to some of these activities but at that time it opened up the horizon quite a bit. One effect on relationships is I that I now see humanity as a whole, with its problems, joys, etc., and thus have dropped some of my earlier arrogance that I think cut me off from people that did not share my interests. Another obvious fact is that I can no longer hold to some ideas or illusions as deeply as I used to. There will always be something in me that knows I'm lying to myself. That, I think, was not there before. Otherwise the functioning of the brains has not changed : it is still all about creating and using images, and I am still persuaded that I exist as an individual ;-) !
View all answers to this questionHow important do you consider group dialogue to be in understanding the more subtle points of Krishnamurti's message?
To me it is very important but not sufficient. Important because it seems that a good dialogue provides a certain kind of stimulation through common inquiry that prevents thought to get caught as easily in its own illusions or to simply fall asleep. Dialogue can also help through people expressing their understanding in ways that may be more easily understood by some than K's words themselves. But the core of the teaching can probably not be communicated, and I doubt that awareness can be triggered by the dialogue itself, though it is not clear to me how it comes about. So dialogue is a good tool, but it does not make for understanding by itself.
View all answers to this questionDo you think it advisable to introduce Krishnamurti to people you know? Have you ever done it and if yes, what are your experiences?
If the teachings are part of one's life, they should be talked about openly, just as one would talk about other things. But I think what really should be communicated is an attitude of inquiry, of questioning. Encourage people one knows to look at the conditioning, at life, to question, share this inquiry, if one has it, is I think the important thing, not having people read the books. I have given K's books to friends and family and I notice that no deep interest is raised from there. They either find it stimulating and interesting, and then put it aside, or just don't get into it at all. I do still give books away sometimes, but I think the thing one really can communicate, if and when it is there, is this passion for inquiry.
View all answers to this questionHow do you personally go about exploring the Krishnamurti's teachings (through personal study, dialogues, dvds)?
I sometimes read talks or dialogues, or excerpts of it. I like the JKOnline daily quotes as well. I have been participating the last few years in the gathering in Switzerland, which I find very stimulating. Otherwise I simply observe the "inner" and the "outer" landscapes - and sometimes I don't do anything at all and just live my "little mechanical live" without further question ;-).
View all answers to this questionCan dialogue - in the sense of sincere inquiry - be organized or can it only come about spontaneously, unprompted?
What is then the difference between dialogue emerging "spontaneously" and it being organized ? Maybe that when it is "spontaneous" one is more likely to be "sincerely inquiring" ? If this sincere inquiry is not a product of thought, then it can obviously not be organized. So the question seems to be whether inquiry is a product of thought or not. Rightn now it seems to me that it is not. Thus a dialogue can be organized but not the quality of inquiry in it. But it still seems a bit obscure to me.
View all answers to this questionWhat future do you foresee for Krishnamurti's works? Do you think they will grow in importance or will they just gradually die away?
I think there is good chance for both. This world in crisis raises lots of questions to which K's works are very relevant, and I think with each new crisis ever more people question the path we have taken, which might make for increasing interest in the teachings. But the overwhelming majority of humans seem more interested in keeping the statu quo, so I wonder whether this simple fact will not deem K's work to oblivion in the end. I also see a potential for creating a new kind of religion out of K's works, something we have to be aware of, if we want to prevent it from happening. The desire for authority seems very pervasive, in the K community as elsewhere.
View all answers to this questionDo you think Krishnamurti was exceptional, or is the transformation he spoke of universally accessible?
I think he was exceptional in the sense that some things that seemed natural to him do not seem so for most of us. I really don't know if the transformation he spoke of is universally accessible. But I wonder, why would we bother at all to listen to the teachings if we did not feel there is some element of truth in this, some other part of the brains that really are capable of this transformation ? Or is that just another trick of thought ?
View all answers to this questionDo you ever feel that you have been conditioned by Krishnamurti's teachings?
Yes, definitely. The language, the analysis, these are part of my conditioning. The question is whether it is a problem. The teachings are communicated through words, thought. These inevitably become a part of experience and memory. But I do not feel this prevents the "living" of the teachings, meaning awareness and observation. It is just another thing to be aware of.
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4 Comments
dear, dear,Yann,
thank you for sharing your concern, your questions, observations
Just now, I can observe how "identified" we are with whatever we are doing.
In Muerren this summer somebody gave the image of a big month swallawing whatever comes in order to "feed and sustain" the me. This great activity is of course going on without awareness..... but maybe not fully.
In his talk of July 74 K. talks of making the difference between FUNCTION AND STATUS
Can we do whatever we do fully studying, getting a degree, organizing a meeting, just as a function not a status?
dear, dear,Yann,
thank you for sharing your concern, your questions, observations
Just now, I can observe how "identified" we are with whatever we are doing.
In Muerren this summer somebody gave the image of a big month swallawing whatever comes in order to "feed and sustain" the me. This great activity is of course going on without awareness..... but maybe not fully.
In his talk of July 74 K. talks of making the difference between FUNCTION AND STATUS
Can we do whatever we do fully studying, getting a degree, organizing a meeting, just as a function not a status?
hello, hello
did you get my message, just sent from Bourg-St-Pierre ? Gisele
I got your lovely message accidentally.
gb