I was reading a book by Krishnamurti the other day. It is entitled “The Last Talks.” This person contributed valuable insights to all who seek to live life to the fullest. Its dialogues are spectacular and a great trigger to start thinking of your life.

So, I was reading a chapter in which he discusses the following with a scientist. The latter mentions that we need a different brain to change many of the world’s important problems. This brain’s “software” and “wiring” must be new and different in order to think differently and act accordingly.

So, K (as he likes to refer to himself) said they should get down to that and examine what it takes for the brain to change now.

The scientist maintains that there must be a process where the brain gradually changes and starts working differently. However, K asks if the brain can change instantly, immediately. To forget the concepts of process and thought that implies time.

The following is K’s approach to how an instant change can happen.

Before I refer to it, I would like you to search, ask or recall when someone close to you (or yourself perhaps) radically and instantly changed something in their lives due to specific circumstances.

For example, a lifelong smoker goes to their doctor, and the doctor says that unless they quit smoking immediately, they will die in -maybe- 3 months.

I have plenty of relevant and similar examples from people I know. One day, they were smoking 3 packs of cigarettes on a daily basis. The next -after hearing it from their doctor- they quit smoking entirely and never asked for it again. It seems possible to change something, even if it is a year-long habit in a day. If the shock is big enough, you can.

So, a type of shock is usually needed. It may be a shock like the one mentioned, a broken relationship, a financial crisis, or another.

So, K introduces the following. When planning in terms of time and thinking of a process to change/do something, we use our experiences from the past. That is, our own experiences or the collective experiences of others. So, we plan according to our past knowledge. That is memory. We use thought based on memories, even if we don’t realize it on the spot.

However, the point where we say we want to change is now. The past is us in the present, thinking of the past. Our goal seems to be in the future, but it is not. It is us now thinking about something to be achieved in the future. So, the future doesn’t exist. We are thinking of the future. The past doesn’t exist either since it is gone.

The only tangible thing we have is this exact moment. So, if we want our brain to move towards the X direction, we can only do it from “The Now” since the past and the future do not exist. They don’t.

How serious are we when we say we want to “change”? If we are serious and determined, then the time is now. There is no “in a month or a year” and whatnot. Thought implies time, and thought uses past experiences.

But now is the time to change. Exactly now. This instant. The decision to think differently is right now. There is no point in postponing this for the future, as there is no existing future. It is a constant instant moment of “now.” We have no other option. We may think we have, but we do not.

Every single moment is now. No moment is passed (as the past does not exist anymore), and there is no moment “coming up”, as the future does not exist.

Psychological fear seems to exist via memory in thoughts. So, while we are in the present, we are conditioned to use thoughts of the past and the future to make decisions. Yet, what is the point of doing so unless it relates to matters such as driving or a profession?

And if we want to extend this to a profession, where is genuine creativity and creation when we act through limiting memories and existing personal and collective consciousness?

So, to start living, I think we need to realize and understand that deeply.