The book of listening

344 Pages·2016·1.72 MB·English

by  Klein

OTHER WORKS BY JEAN KLEIN
Be Who You Are
Who Am I?
Beyond Knowledge
Living Truth
I Am
Open to the Unknown
Transmission of the Flame
The Ease Of Being
In Spanish
Quien Soy Yo?
Translations also available in French, Italian, German and Chinese
First published November 2008 by Non-Duality Press © Emma Edwards 2008,
2013
© Non-Duality Press 2008, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information or retrieval system without written permission
by the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
Non-Duality Press, PO Box 2228
Salisbury, SP2 2GZ
United Kingdom
eISBN: 978-0-9553999-4-7
www.non-dualitybooks.org
Acknowledgements
With deep gratitude to Mary Dresser for her invaluable contributions to the
preparation of the original journals as well as her assistance in editing this
compilation, and to Nancy Moshe who designed and oversaw the printing of the
original issues. Thanks also to Philip Goldsmith for encouraging the publication
of the journals in book form and for his useful comments, and to all those who
have been of assistance along the way.
Introduction
This book is a compilation of Volumes 1 – 10 of Jean Klein's journal Listening,
published on a limited basis between 1989-1995. The articles whose sources are
not otherwise identified, are based on private conversations with Jean Klein
usually around a single topic. I made notes as we talked, occasionally recording
the conversations, and sometimes, as in the prose poem On Love, the “echo” of a
conversation was later distilled into a few lines.
Each original volume was loosely arranged around a theme and included an
original private discussion or a transcription of a public talk with Jean Klein,
various favourite articles, one question answered in depth (Your Question) and a
brief description from different angles of Jean’s unique approach to the role of
the body in his teaching.
Most of Jean Klein’s teaching was simply through his presence and through
question and answer dialogues where he “answered the questioner, not the
question”. Jean emphasised the direct approach to liberation, an approach free
from emphasis on the attainment of progressively subtle psycho-somatic states.
However, in this book there are ten short chapters dealing with Jean Klein’s
approach to the body. These will be clear to readers of the original journals who
may have attended seminars, but a word of explanation is perhaps needed for the
majority of readers.
In conjunction with dialogues Jean offered a unique form of what he called
body-work or yoga. This was not taught as a requirement for understanding or
realisation, but as a useful tool for getting to know one’s conditioning. Our
thought processes affect the body and mind and vice versa. The body-work was
introduced to help clarify this relationship and bring an awareness that our real
nature is neither the body nor the mind. The aim of this “yoga” was to bring
about sensations of relaxation, expansion, light, space and energy which, when
noted and welcomed, can deepen understanding of our real nature. This
understanding in turn brings about a letting-go in our psycho-somatic structures.
Insight and relaxation or letting go can bring about apperception as a total body-
mind experience. While the understanding of our real nature is not dependent on
anything, for many people Jean’s philosophy came to life and light when
experienced in this approach to the body.
The blend of mind and body had interested Jean since his early medical and
musical studies. He was also an accomplished violinist and as a young adult was
a voice coach and choral director. He combined a knowledge of music with his
knowledge of the effects of muscle and mental tension on performance. Later he
developed this psycho-somatic relationship when he added a Kashmiri style
subtle energy yoga to his studies of traditional yoga learned in India with
Krishnamacharya.
Jean experienced life free from memory, with an openness and freshness as if
every event were new. He greeted old friends as if for the first time and
welcomed those he had just met as if they were old friends. He took nothing and
no one for granted. He might stop abruptly, taken by the shape of clouds or the
play of light or the eyes of a baby or animal. What struck those in his company
was how free from preconceptions he was and how he experienced everything as
if for the first time and with a sense of exploration like a young child. He had a
boundless energy for living and seeing things in a new way and it made his
companionship a real joy, no matter the activity. Spending time with him always
had the quality of a new experience.
This was all the more impressive considering Jean Klein’s complex and often
difficult life and his considerable intellect and many talents. He was widely
educated and widely travelled and spoke four languages (Czech and German in
his youth and French and English in adult life). After his return from a long
sojourn in India he was invited to hold meetings in many countries including
England, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia,
and the United States. He was not a simple sadhu by any means and yet his
presence conveyed utter simplicity.
Jean Klein had a great appreciation and knowledge of the Arts—painting,
sculpture and poetry in particular. He enjoyed all expressions of beauty, both
man-made and natural. Most of all he loved humankind and his adult life was
devoted to helping in any way that he was asked and able.
I hope this compilation captures a little of the multi-cultural interests and
tastes of this truly remarkable Renaissance man.
E.E.
Table of Contents

1C. over Image
2T. itle Page
3O. ther Works by Jean Klein
4C. opyright & Permissions
5A. cknowledgements
6I.n troduction by Emma Edwards
7V. olume 1
1T. he Disciple and the Guru
2J.e an Klein
3G. itanjali
4R. abindranath Tagore
5Y. our Question: How can I become more effective in my
enquiry?
6J.e an Klein
7E. xcerpts from Transmission of the Flame
8J.e an Klein
9T. he Body Work: Yoga and Advaita
10J.e an Klein
11S. ayings of Atmananda Krishna Menon
8V. olume 2
1L. iving With the Question
2J.e an Klein
3P. lato’s Journey through Unknowing
4S. in-Sin Ming
5S. eng-Ts’an
6E. xcerpt from the Prologue to Transmission of the Flame
7J.e an Klein
8S. ayings of Old Man Tcheng
9Y. our Question: Is writing fiction compatible with spiritual
enquiry?
10J.e an Klein
11T. he Body Work: You are what you absorb
12J.e an Klein
9V. olume 3
1T. he Great Forgetting
2J.e an Klein
3T. he Grief of the Dead
4R. umi
5O. n Silence
6J.e an Klein
7S. ermon, “Blessed are the Poor”
8M. eister Eckhart
9E. xcerpt from Four Quartets
10T. .S. Eliot
11D. ialogue in New York: April 27, 1990