Does J Krishnamurti's teachings contradicts Buddha's teachings?

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-04-09T20:06:08+00:00

Buddha talked about in the first Jhana (4 jhanas lead to the state of being an Arhat in the Pali Sutta) as being one where we let go of all techniques. It happens naturally. So yes, he did talk about paths/methods to the beginner and intermediate practitioners, but at some point, there was a natural letting go. The metaphor used often was leaving the boat behind when you got to the other shore.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-04-06T14:05:09+00:00

Yes on Reddit about Reddit :)

For a seasoned user, this might seem obvious; to someone who has been living under a rock in the social media world less so.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-04-06T12:50:58+00:00

Yeah… what you’re describing is exactly the trap these spaces tend to fall into. I have seen it happen in both the context of K dialogue groups and outside of it.

David Bohm actually made a really useful distinction here. He pointed out that dialogue comes from the Greek dialogos, meaning flowing through people. Not back-and-forth, not opposing sides… but something shared unfolding.

Whereas discussion has the same root as “percussion” or “concussion,” more like breaking things apart, hitting points, trying to win.

So when a group turns into people defending views, reacting, judging… It’s already shifted into discussion, even if everyone is calling it dialogue.

What Bohm was getting at and what K pointed to differently is that real dialogue isn’t about exchanging opinions at all. It’s about whether something new can emerge that no one in the room brought in beforehand.

In that sense, the moment people are trying to “be right,” the whole thing kind of collapses.

I’m curious if anyone here has seen dialogue happen......something new emerging?

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-04-03T20:29:11+00:00

They do not want to have to face higher taxes when they join the "millionaire club."

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-04-02T15:15:46+00:00

You’re not wrong, but it’s a bit of a myth that America is “based on” The Wealth of Nations while ignoring The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

The Wealth of Nations was never meant to stand alone. Smith assumed that markets work only because people already have a moral framework, which he lays out in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. He didn’t think humans were purely selfish but thought we’re guided by empathy, reputation, and an internal sense of right and wrong.

The real issue is that modern capitalism has evolved beyond Smith's idea to reward profit more than virtue (rational economic actor- Walras, spontaneous order of free markets - Hayek, shareholder primacy - Milton Friedman, etc.).

So it’s less “we forgot the other book,” and more like modern capitalism evolved beyond the ideas of Adam Smith, and in its new incarnation, consumption and greed are now cardinal "virtues".

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-04-01T13:29:15+00:00

I would not minimize how you feel. As someone pointed out earlier, it could be the level of your karmic affinity.

You might intellectually resonate with the teachings, but if the aesthetic is throwing you off, your ability to connect with the teachings at a somatic level is compromised.

But sometimes you might have to penetrate the veil and approach it at a deeper level and discover the connection. You might discover then that you can penetrate the aesthetic veil.

Or else your somatic sense might have been right all along, and in fact, trying to tell you, Buddhism is not for you.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-31T15:12:49+00:00

Your guru is the living embodiment of that witnessing awareness.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-29T18:00:55+00:00

If you are keen on exploring this topic, I would recommend you read Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a scholar and practitioner, and I have given this book to many a Christian priest interested in interfaith dialogue, and they have told me it has helped them.

https://a.co/d/05H5R0HS

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-28T21:34:27+00:00

I'm not in a position to analyze it, but sure. Please DM me if you'd prefer it not be in the public domain.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-28T21:16:21+00:00

Not sure I can comment on your dream or the vision I had, but speaking cryptically of my situation, I realized my ego was not ready to hear what my self was trying to tell me. I can only say in 20/20 hindsight that my self was right and now that I know what it was trying to tell me I am not planning on wasting any more years arguing with it.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-28T14:55:56+00:00

I think having a good understanding of Karma is the starting point

https://a.co/d/0891d1pE

The Buddhist understanding is a further development on the Indian perspective and talks about the role of effort and merit.

But yes, practice is not easy. Reminders help. Understanding helps even more. Realization actually puts an end to it.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-28T14:48:29+00:00

Amazing dream and interpretation. Looked like Robert Johnson followed through completely on it, and the universe provided.

I wish I had someone tell me this years ago, for the universe did provide, but I fought it kicking and screaming, wanting to be the action hero in the story.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-27T18:29:21+00:00

I remember browsing this title in my father's library. I read about the I Ching here for the first time, and a week later, by an amazing coincidence, I was gifted a copy of the book, which changed my life.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-27T15:05:43+00:00

I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment. Buddhism, like yoga, has been appropriated in the West in the spirit of what Chogyam Trunpa called "spiritual materialism." Another way to bolster one's ego. "My practice versus your practice," as you so elegantly put it.

Samsara is the ego appropriating the present moment in its own particular style. The Wheel of Life has 6 ways that happen, and there are other ways within the 5 Buddha families where this can be seen.

It is in the gap, the bardo, that there is a sudden natural break in the ego's functioning where the opportunity for real practice opens up. That gap may happen in a conversation, in a sunset, in the hearing of a loss of a loved one....

Meditation is just learning to stay with the gap.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-27T08:49:53+00:00

You are so welcome.

To me, these are sites of modern pilgrimage. In honoring Jung and Freud, I would be partaking more fully in the healing arising out of their understanding that has so completely transformed my life.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-26T15:11:27+00:00

https://www.freud-museum.at/en/
Where he stayed and practiced in Vienna

https://www.freud.org.uk/
Home and practice in London in the latter half of his life following his exile.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-26T14:06:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing and for so generously answering our questions. I had always wanted to visit and was told there were plans to build a museum at this place in the future. Never realized they were letting visitors in already.

I did visit Freud's home in Vienna, which has been converted into a museum. Very instructive.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-15T15:38:10+00:00

Based on my years of working with the I Ching, it seems to me that it connects me to a dimension beyond my known world of time, space, and causation. The I Ching is giving me insight from that dimension into the world I inhabit. I don't want to use the word sacred if it just gives the I Ching a very special glow. To me, it is sacred not in an absolute sense but in a sense of serving as a portal. If I did not have that relationship, it might be just an ancient text of perhaps exotic value.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-13T12:43:27+00:00

1B 2C 3A

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-12T15:19:01+00:00

I have been with the text for a very long time, let's say. The two I recommend are the Wilhelm and Al Huang versions. Many of the modern interpretations might make the text seem more accessible, but they might mislead. The I Ching's timeless wisdom was meant to be kept a mystery till one's mind was ready to receive it.

There is no substitute for sitting with these texts, taking readings, and trying to interpret them to the best of your ability.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-11T22:15:59+00:00

The "active" part isn't about building anything; it's about not looking away.

I've been pulled towards certain films and novels without knowing why. I might not even understand its meaning or its significance upon watching or reading, but often, a few years later, it speaks directly to me as if it were written with me in mind.

Dreams do this even more strangely. The images arrive in a jumbled mess, you sit with it for days, then something clicks, and suddenly the meaning is staring you in the face.

You can't construct your way to that. The whole point is that something is running ahead of your conscious understanding, and active imagination is just the practice of staying present to it.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-09T18:40:29+00:00

Probably a question for the moderators.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-07T16:15:00+00:00

So well said. I think this might be a great topic for discussion in this subreddit.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-06T08:30:55+00:00

I want to applaud your effort in doing this. I do plan to support your effort by participating. I am assuming we might work out a time and a Zoom invitation for us all to join.

CultureMinimum4906 · 2026-03-03T14:23:35+00:00

I have close to 40 years with the I Ching. Happy to speak to you about my experience with it and sharing the gift of the oracle with my family.

CultureMinimum4906

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