Choiceless Awareness: Moving from Doing to Happening

An article by a student Rahul

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Choiceless—having no choice.

 

Awareness—the state of being fully alert and observant of everything.

 

While reflecting on the profound discussion of Doing versus Happening, by accident, I came across a captivating concept introduced by J. Krishnamurti: Choiceless Awareness. Only Krishnamurti himself could fully grasp the depth of his own insight, but here is my humble understanding of what it entails.

 

To me, Choiceless Awareness bridges the shift from doing to happening. It reveals a reality where events unfold on their own, independent of our intervention. In this state, we are left with only two options:

 

1. To be aware and accept the flow of events.

 

2. To remain unaware and futilely attempt to alter them.

 

When we choose awareness, we become humble and open to the natural unfolding of life. We no longer resist or fight reality; instead, we witness its interconnectedness. Everything begins to feel like one continuous, unified flow.

 

Imagine life as a movie. We can watch it, laugh, cry, smile, feel anger, sadness, or joy. We can even fall in love with its scenes. But no matter how we feel, we cannot change the script. You might argue that we can leave the theatre or destroy the projector, but this misses the essence of the metaphor.

 

The theatre is merely the space in which we observe—a parallel to meditation. And even if we were to burn the projector, the movie would remain unchanged. The only difference is that by destroying the projector, we deprive ourselves of awareness, leaving us disconnected from the story's beauty and depth.

 

In life, we face a similar choice:

 

1. To surrender, be aware, and witness everything as it happens.

 

2. To remain unaware, lost in desires, endlessly trying to reshape reality.

 

Choiceless Awareness is not a technique or a practice. It is not something to achieve or strive for. Instead, it is a realization—a state of being that emerges when we let go of control and simply observe.

 

By embracing this awareness, we become spectators of life’s grandeur, perceiving its interconnected events without resistance. In this state, we see life as it is: a dance of interwoven moments, unaltered by our will but enriched by our presence.

 

Thanks and Regards,

Rahul 

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Thanks for sharing.