Summary of Prof. Samdong Rinpoche’s Discourse on the Occasion of the KFI Annual Gathering 2024

Fortunately, I have the opportunity to participate in the ‘KFI Annual Gathering-2024,’ organized by the Krishnamurti Foundation at Rajghat, Varanasi, from November 9 to 12, 2024. The theme is “Meeting Life: An enquiry into the fragmented self.” Today is the first day, and I had the chance to listen to Professor Samdhong Rinpoche’s address in the morning session. His entire address was extensive, but I am attempting to share a few points that I understood. Certainly, these are the points Professor Rinpoche made, but I am presenting them as I perceived them. I do not deny the possibility that he may have meant something different, and I may have understood something else. For this lack of understanding, I sincerely apologize.

A conditioned mind will always be incapable of self-enquiry because its tendency will always be to look outward. All five of its senses will be directed toward the external world.

Here, we are talking about the ‘I’ that is free from all existing concepts. Only the ‘I’ can see the ‘self’; for the rest of the world, this ‘self’ is the ‘other.’ In other words, enquiry into the ‘self’ can only be done by me, and for this, I must be free from all forms of conditioning.

When you begin self-enquiry, identifying the ‘I’ in it becomes quite a challenging task. Generally, it appears that the body is ‘I’ or the mind is ‘I,’ or that the voice I am speaking is my voice. In this way, you cannot identify the ‘I.’ Some people refer to the ‘soul’ as the ‘I.’ Buddha and Charvaka do not believe in the soul. However, the concept of the soul does provide a foundation for understanding oneself.

The one who is conducting the enquiry must be free from the subject of that enquiry.

Knowledge gained from reading and listening is verbal knowledge. It is a form of information, borrowed knowledge. With such information, you feel that you know, but in reality, you are merely believing. Belief is blind faith.

When the knowledge gained is then contemplated upon and examined in relation to one’s own experience, it becomes intellectual knowledge. Knowledge that we can directly observe or experience firsthand is known as experiential knowledge. In this way, we come to truly know. To know is true devotion. Such devotion arises within you naturally; it is not something you do.

The ‘self’ is not an independent entity. There is a universality within it. It is connected to all of existence and possesses a continuity. In the intrinsic nature of the ‘self,’ universality and continuity are present. If we are talking about the ‘fragmented self,’ it means we are unaware of the true ‘self.’ Once we start understanding the ‘self,’ we see that it is singular and unfragmented. This understanding of the ‘self’ will also lead us to a similar understanding toward all of humanity.

Studying in a group is more powerful than studying in solitude.