Silence comes ... when you know how to observe

 

 

Silence of the mind comes naturally—please do listen to this—it comes naturally, easily, without any effort if you know how to observe, how to look. When you observe a cloud, look at it without the word and therefore without thought, look at it without the division as the observer. Then there is an awareness and attention in the very act of looking; not the determination to be attentive, but looking with attention, even though that look may last only a second, a minute—that is enough. Do not be greedy, do not say, “I must have it for the whole day.” To look without the observer means looking without the space between the observer and the thing observed, which does not mean identifying oneself with the thing that is looked at.

 

So when one can look at a tree, at a cloud, at the light on the water, without the observer, and also—which is much more difficult, which needs a greater attention—if you can look at yourself without the image, without any conclusion, because the image, the conclusion, the opinion, the judgement, the goodness and the badness, is centred round the observer, then you will find that the mind, the brain, becomes extraordinarily quiet. And this quietness is not a thing to be cultivated; it can happen, it does happen, if you are attentive, if you are capable of watching all the time, watching your gestures, your words, your feelings, the movements of your face and all the rest of it.

 

Krishnamurti - Beyond Violence