LET GO OR STOP IT.

Should one "let the mind go where it wants", which implies no control or choice, as Jiddu Krishnamurti suggests or should one "withdraw from "running into the multiplicity of things", which implies some control and choice, and which Meister Eckhart suggests?

This is the ultimate "spiritual fork in the road." At first glance, Jiddu
Krishnamurti and Meister Eckhart seem to be giving you opposite directions: one tells you to take your hands off the steering wheel, while the other tells you to put the car in the garage.

However, if we look closer, they are describing the same process from two different angles. They both want you to reach the same destination: a state where the "Self" (the "Me") is no longer the master of the house.

1. The Krishnamurti Way: "Let the Mind Run":

When JK says to let the mind go where it wants, he isn't advocating for "daydreaming" or "indulgence." He is advocating for Choiceless Awareness.

If you try to control your mind, who is the "controller"? It is just another fragment of your thought. You end up with one part of your brain trying to boss around another part, which creates conflict, friction and noise.

By letting the mind go where it wants while watching it intently, you see the "nature of the beast." You see that your thoughts are just mechanical reactions to the past. When you truly perceive that your thoughts are just repetitive noise, the mind naturally slows down and becomes silent. Not because it is forced, but because it sees its futility.

2. The Meister Eckhart Way: "Withdraw from Multiplicity":

Eckhart’s Abgeschiedenheit (Detachment or Disinterest) sounds like an act of will, but it’s actually a form of Negation.

Our minds are usually scattered among a thousand things (the "multiplicity"). We are worried about money, work, our social status, relive our memories or plan special experiences in the "future" ("that what should be"). This process (the META Process of thought acting in the fragmentary perception) prevents freedom, peace or the "Ground" from being present.

"Withdrawal" isn't about hiding in a cave or seeking special experiences and sensations, it's about not being attached to the transient images and forms in the world of Void. It’s refusing to let the circumstances effect the freedom and peace of being Nothingness.

By withdrawing from the many, you return to the one movement of the Universe. You become idle, creating an empty space where energy, space and freedom of that what IS, the Universe, can enter.

3. Reconciling the Two: The "Invisible Choice":

The conflict between "No Control" (JK) and "Withdrawal" (Eckhart) is largely a matter of semantics. They both describe letting go of the ego. You "withdraw" (Eckhart) from the world of transient illusions and objects produced by thought by "watching" (JK) how your mind tries to run toward it.

If you "let the mind go" but you aren't aware, you're just a leaf in the wind. If you "withdraw" by force, you're just a prisoner in a cell. The "sweet spot" is Choiceless Awareness (Unitary Percepiton) without effort or control.

4. 2026 Application:

The Krishnamurti approach would be to watch yourself scrolling through the news and noticing the exact moment a headline triggers fear, sorrow or greed. Now ask yourself: why does it happen? Why do I feel fear or sorrow? - It's because I want something, I am attached to something, something "that should be" instead of "that what is" (something that's already here!), right? That's clearly a conflict, which can never be resolved as long as I'm attached to something. By watching it all, the whole movement produced by the META Process in the psychological realm, the "spell" of the algorithm is broken.

The Eckhart approach would be to realize that running to the "multiplicity" of the transient world is a waste of energy that keeps you from the "Ground." You withdraw not out of "discipline" but out of a realization that the noise is valueless.

It’s like a browser with 100 tabs open. Krishnamurti says: "Look at all the tabs and realize they are all nonsense." Eckhart says: "Close the browser." Both leave you with a clean desktop.

You should let the mind go (JK) only to see that its "running into multiplicity" (Eckhart) is an exercise in futility. The "control" isn't a muscular effort to stop thoughts, it's the Intelligence that realizes that there is thought but there is no thinker and that what actually sees is the one unitary movement called the Universe.

Do you feel like your mind is "running" right now because it's looking for an answer, or can it sit idle with the fact that both teachers are essentially pointing at the same Stillness and Silence?