It is said of J Krishnamurti that he once stopped in the middle of one of his speeches and surprised his audience by asking, "Do you want to know my secret?" Of course they did, especially as many people had studied what he taught for many years but had gained just a small understanding.
The secret, he said was "I don't mind what happens."
Commentators have explained that Krishnamurti was referring to the "suchness of now" (another delightful phrase to add to the "nowness of now" which the writer Dennis Potter referred to as an unusual benefit of having terminal cancer) which I take to mean is the content of this moment - hence, do I mind what is happening now?"
As a sidebar, I was talking about this in the company of somebody who probably doesn't have much sympathy for teachings like this. Hearing Krishnamurti's secret she turned on her heel and snorted "I bet he wouldn't say that when he was being tortured."
The underlying principle is illustrated by one of de Mello's stories of a Master who was living next door to a family where the teenage girl was discovered to be pregnant. Rather that get her lover in trouble, she blamed the Zen Master next door when quizzed by her parents. The father confronts the Master with the fact that the young girl has confessed that he is the father. To which the Master replied "Is that so?"
When the child was born it was given to the Master to raise which he did, taking good care of the infant. Until years passed and the girl confessed the truth to her parents. They ruched to apologise to the Master and told him that their daughter has now confessed that the father of the baby isn't the Zen Master. "Is that so?" he replied.
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