there is no tomorrow

... we must stop thinking in terms of gradualness. This means there is no tomorrow for us to be peaceful in.

This quote from Krishnamurti contains another great challenge. Whenever reading Krishnamurti, I feel this is his style. He challenges us, challenges us to think differently, and not just in some small superficial way, but he gets right to the bottom of things. And this is a good example.

He says we must stop thinking in terms of gradualness. Usually, when we're thinking about life – about our own life, about other people's lives, about the state of the world – usually we think of change as being a rather gradual process. It takes some time. For example, if I want to become a doctor, I study for five years, six years, seven years, and only after that gradual process am I qualified. And of course, in some aspects of life, that's very appropriate. I don't think I would want to go to a doctor who had not spent a few years studying.

But here on the spiritual journey, we're interested not so much in these technical things like being a doctor. We are interested in more fundamental things. Who am I? Or what am I? How do I relate to other people than the rest of existence? Can I live my life in a better way, more in harmony with my surroundings, more peacefully? This is one of the things that many people are seeking: to find peace. Because in our heads, we're in such turmoil, anxious, angry, perhaps jealous, disappointed, frustrated, confused. Only rarely do we feel at peace.

And ordinarily, if we seek to find peace, we might think in terms of a gradual process. Perhaps if I practise yoga for several years, I will become peaceful. Here, Krishnamurti is saying, we must stop thinking in terms of gradualness, and then there is no tomorrow to be peaceful in.

This is really suggesting that we should change the whole way we think, the style, the pattern of thinking, about ourselves, about this spiritual journey, about any ideas of self improvement. If we don't think of a gradual process, then really, it throws the entire focus right back on the here and now. Who am I, as I am? Not how I would like to be more peaceful, more tranquil, more in harmony with surroundings. No, just as I am right now, perhaps angry, frustrated, irritated, feeling separate – whatever is there.

Krishnamurti's suggestion is basically saying, face oneself as one is right now in this moment. Because in a sense, even these most lofty, noble, spiritual aspirations are still an attempt to escape. In it, there's a great rejection of who I am right now. There's an implicit conflict in wanting to become better, to become more loving, to be more peaceful, to become enlightened. Whatever our goal is on our personal journey, it's a rejection of who we are right now, in this moment. And this rejection of who we are is a great blasphemy.

And in the end, it does not work, trying to escape, trying to change into some idea. What we can do is really focus on what is here and now, try and see everything that we are: the beautiful and the ugly, the spiritual and the profane, everything. And oddly, if we can really face everything that we are right now, as we are without wanting to change it, in that very acknowledgement and acceptance of who we are, change can happen, but not because we're asking for it, not because we're wishing it. It can simply happen spontaneously. But here is the great paradox. As long as we are wanting peace, wanting harmony and love, wanting self realisation or enlightenment – as long as we're wanting these things, that very wanting tends to be enough to stop such changes happening.

So I agree with Krishnamurti. We need to stop thinking in terms of gradualness, stop thinking about tomorrow. Stop thinking about who we feel we should be, and take a good, long look at who we actually are today, right now, in this moment, and stop escaping into thoughts of tomorrow.