In a private conversation with actor Terrance Stamp, Krishnamurti said:
“What you are… what you actually are, is being. Being is not the mind
thinking. Thinking is a movement, a motion. Being is the silence that
precedes the motion. You cannot see it; you cannot grasp it because you
are it. The feeling that you are. The unadorned naked awareness that is
always there, rarely heeded, is what you always have been, always will be.
Cannot not be. You can’t look for it, because it is what is looking. It is
like space, you can’t see it but everything is in it. Everything is it. So
I say to you, ‘be aware when you are unaware,’ let its presence warm you,
fill you. Be present in the Presence.”
(No matter how often I’ve read that, the feeling of happiness it leaves me with never diminishes.)
I have the feeling that Krishnamurti had a special affinity for Terrance to say that to him. He never said anything nearly that profound (that I am aware of) in his public talks.
To quickly recognize the “know you are aware” state… Pay close attention to your mental state at the end of the following question: Two days ago, what did you have for lunch?
Did you notice the pause into silence at the end of the question? That’s it right there… the pause into silence. When the thought, or “answer” appears, it will be witnessed.
Again and again, remember to pause into silent knowing-presence.
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The feeling of being present, of being aware, is not a sensory perception.