Lightly Child, Lightly.

Posted on by Live & Learn

it’s terribly important that I understand this.
Because, you see, sir,
students rush from one class to the other,
because the period is short,
run from mathematics to geography,
from geography to history,
chemistry, biology – you follow? – run, run.
And if I was one of the professors, teachers, I would say,
Look, sit down.
Be quiet for five minutes.
Be quiet.
Look out of the window, if you want to.
See the beauty of light on the water,
or the leaf, and look at this and that, but be quiet’.

— J. Krishnamurti, from Dialogue 16 with Allan W. Anderson in San Diego, 27 February 1974

Notes:

  • Photo: DK @ Daybreak. 5:19 am. July 1, 2021. 73° F.  Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT.
  • Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”

30 thoughts on “Lightly Child, Lightly.”

  1. It’s funny and sad that looking out the window and seeing the beauty of light is discouraged instead of encouraged. Perhaps the world would be a better place. Lovely photo, lovely light!

  3. Can you imagine living by keeping your head down and never looking out or up or around? It hurts to think that all this wonder would go unnoticed – or worse – not integrated into one’s thinking about the world.

  4. Guilty as charged. It took a while for me to come to. Or, is it come up for air. For some of us maniacs, it’s a process

  7. Wouldn’t that have been grand to have teachers like that? To realise that students would be better students if they were allowed to regroup and recentre…

  9. Such sage advice. When I walked out the door with the pups this morning, the sun was rising in the most breathtaking fashion. A simple one-minute gaze filled my heart and set the tone for the entire day. 🙂

  10. I taught at a Krishnamurti school for a couple of years. Nice to see you’re reading him. He’s a deep one. My favourite quote: Truth is a pathless land.

      1. Thanks, David, but not a celebrity in any way. Just a very minor cog. I only heard him speak twice. Being a pretty dim twenty-one year old, most of it went over my head!

  11. I noticed the year 1974…Students rushed since they had accountability to be in their classroom on time…/// I was a good student even-though, I glanced out the windows at school – day dreaming…having grown up in a state of full of beauty, it was hard not to glance out…In my elementary school some of the classrooms had views of glorious Mt.Hood in the Cascade Range. Mt St Helens was visible from most of the city, too. Some of the teachers would sense students being to fidget so everyone would get to stand up clap hands, stretch, shake legs etc to get the wiggles out. Sometimes we’d go outside to see the trees, too. I think that our district was the 1st to have a outdoor school program. In 6th grade we went to Outdoor School – away to a sleep over-camp in the Spring to learn of the environment & science -for the entire school week! In 8th grade our class went to an overnight camp might have been a school week or 4 nights 5 days. This camp was Hancock field station for discovering rocks, fossils, snakes, lizards, etc it was in a desert setting -our state had so much amazing geology….in Fossil Oregon- the home of Bill Bowerman of Nike Fame.He developed the first Nike shoe with the waffle sole and co-founded Nike, with Phil Knight. When he coach track at the U of O he lived up the Beautiful McKenzie River He passed away 12/24/99 in Fossil…We also visited a ghost town either on that trip or a day trip…we also had the enrichment of many day field trips. We were fortunate to have community interactions & a yearly week where we could other types of learning other than traditional classroom teaching…so many cool subjects….One choice on the high school level was to climb Mt Hood -those students had to be vetted and take physical fitness training for several months prior to week climb -since it could be a life or death situation…In all the opportunities given us as students opened our minds, are world view and we became more independent as people and learned to think for ourselves… So l appreciate what J Kirishamurti said….
    Be quiet for five minutes.
    Be quiet.
    Look out of the window, if you want to.
    See the beauty of light on the water,
    or the leaf, and look at this and that, but be quiet’.

    — J. Krishnamurti

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