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1 Three Pious Egoists 2 Identification 3 Gossip And Worry 4 Thought And Love 5 Aloneness And Isolation 6 Pupil And Master 7 The Rich And The Poor 8 Ceremonies And Conversion 9 Knowledge 10 Respectability 11 Politics 12 Experiencing 13 Virtue 14 Simplicity Of The Heart 15 Facets Of The Individual 16 Sleep 17 Love In Relationship 18 The Known And The Unknown 19 The Search For Truth 20 Sensitivity 21 The Individual And Society 22 The Self 23 Belief 24 Silence 25 Renunciation Of Riches 26 Repetition And Sensation 27 The Radio And Music 28 Authority 29 Meditation 30 Anger
31 Psychological Security 32 Separateness 33 Power 34 Sincerity 35 Fulfilment 36 Words 37 Idea And Fact 38 Continuity 39 Self-defence 40 My Path And Your Path 41 Awareness 42 Loneliness 43 Consistency 44 Action And Idea 45 Life In A City 46 Obsession 47 The Spiritual Leader 48 Stimulation 49 Problems And Escapes 50 What Is And What Should Be 51 Contradiction 52 Jealousy 53 Spontaneity 54 The Conscious And The Unconscious 55 Challenge And Response 56 Possessiveness 57 Self-esteem 58 Fear 59 How Am I To Love 60 The Futility Of Result
61 The Desire For Bliss 62 Thought And Consciousness 63 Self-Sacrifice 64 The Flame And The Smoke 65 Occupation Of The Mind 66 Cessation Of Thought 67 Desire And Conflict 68 Action Without Purpose 69 Cause And Effect 70 Dullness 71 Clarity In Action 72 Ideology 73 Beauty 74 Integration 75 Fear And Escape 76 Exploitation And Activity 77 The Learned Or The Wise 78 Stillness And Will 79 Ambition 80 Satisfaction 81 Wisdom Is Not Accumulation Of Knowledge 82 Distraction 83 Time 84 Suffering 85 Sensation And Happiness 86 To See The False As The False 87 Security 88 Work
COMMENTARIES ON LIVING SERIES I CHAPTER 1 'THREE PIOUS EGOISTS' THE OTHER DAY three pious egoists came to see me. The first was a sannyasi, a man who had renounced the world; the second was an orientalist and a great believer in brotherhood; and the third was a confirmed worker for a marvellous Utopia. Each of the three was strenuous in his own work and looked down on the others' attitudes and activities, and each was strengthened by his own conviction. Each was ardently attached to his particular form of belief, and all were in a strange way ruthless. They told me, especially the Utopian, that they were ready to deny or sacrifice themselves and their friends for what they believed. They appeared meek and gentle, particularly the man of brotherhood, but there was a hardness of heart and that peculiar intolerance which is characteristic of the superior. They were the chosen, the interpreters; they knew and were certain. The sannyasi said, in the course of a serious talk, that he was preparing himself for his next life. This life, he declared, had very little to offer him, for he had seen through all the illusions of worldliness and had forsaken worldly ways. He had some personal weaknesses and certain difficulties in concentration, he added, but in his next life he would be the ideal which he had set for himself. His whole interest and vitality lay in his conviction that he was to be something in his next life. We talked at some length, and his emphasis was always on the tomorrow, on the future. The past existed, he said, but always in relation to the future; the present was merely a passage to the future, and today was interesting only
because of tomorrow. If there were no tomorrow, he asked, then why make an effort? One might just as well vegetate or be like the pacific cow. The whole of life was one continuous movement from the past through the momentary present to the future. We should use the present, he said, to be something in the future: to be wise, to be strong, to be compassionate. Both the present and the future were transient, but tomorrow ripened the fruit. He insisted that today is but a steppingstone, and that we should not be too anxious or too particula