Take for instance the hurt that each human being suffers from childhood. One is hurt by one’s parents, psychologically; then hurt in school, in university, through comparison, through competition, through saying one must be first-class at this subject, and so on. Throughout life there is this constant process of being hurt. One knows this, and that all human beings are hurt, deeply, of which they may not be conscious, and that from this all forms of neurotic actions arise. That is all part of one’s consciousness—part hidden and part open awareness that one is hurt. Now, is it possible not to be hurt at all? Because the consequences of being hurt are the building of a wall around oneself, withdrawing in one’s relationship with others in order not to be hurt more. In that there is fear and a gradual isolation. Now, we are asking: Is it possible not only to be free of past hurts but also never to be hurt again?
J.Krishnamurti/The Flame of Attention, pp 87-88
