Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895 – 1986) was an Indian speaker and writer on philosophy and spirituality. His subject matters included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation, inquiry, human relationships and bringing about radical change in society.
He stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasized that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political, or social … that change has to come from within, and it has to occur in every human being.
There is an instructive new website The Life of Krishnamurti, published by the Krishnamurti Foundation of America (KFA).
The reason Krishnamurti resonates so well with me is simple: For much of his early life he was built up as a teacher, a guru or master, even a messiah (by Theosophists C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant) but he eventually discarded the Theosophical baggage (in 1929, aged 35) in a speech before the Theosophical Society, and thus is one of the few “gurus” who returned from being idolized to becoming an independent proponent of his very own teachings, un-aligned with any organisation … when teaching Krishnamurti sought to give people the tools to think and learn, rather than teaching them knowledge.
This speech Krishnamurti gave before the Theosophical Society in 1929 to denounce his membership – when he was 34 years old – summarizes his work:
“I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally.
“Man cannot come to it through any organisation, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through the mirror of relationship, through the understanding of the contents of his own mind, through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection.
“Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organised; nor should any organisation be formed to lead or coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organise a belief. A belief is an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organise it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallised; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others.
“This is what everyone throughout the world is attempting to do. Truth is narrowed down and made a plaything for those who are weak, for those who are only momentarily discontented. Truth cannot be brought down, rather the individual must make the effort to ascend to it. You cannot bring the mountain-top to the valley.”
J.K.
The key-message for me here is this:
“I am concerning myself with only one essential thing: To set man free. I desire to free him from all cages, from all fears, and not to found religions, new sects, nor to establish new philosophies.” Most pointedly, Krishnamurti expressly frees us from being followers:
“Enquire … without accepting any kind of authority … especially the authority of the unfortunate speaker sitting on this platform. It doesn’t give him any authority because he sits on a platform and talks. There is no authority in so-called … spiritual matters. I do not want followers, and I mean this.”
Krishnamurti had previously described his awakening thus:
“I woke up early with that strong feeling of otherness, of another world that is beyond all thought … there is a heightening of sensitivity. Sensitivity, not only to beauty but also to all other things.”
He talks here about something I am familiar with, in Zen it is referred to as SATORI … I write about that experience also in my essay WHY MEDITATE? in my book with no title but instead three definitions for the term en.light.en.ment
Furthermore, on the subject of meditation:
“Joining one group after the other, this practice, that practice … for me all of those are totally unnecessary, because then meditation becomes religious … meditation implies freedom from this method, that system … discard all that, have no burden. That is meditation.”
“Meditation is your daily life without any outside influences, any ‘wisdom’ of others. To have that sense of total freedom, to deny everything that man has ever taught about meditation, about silence, about truth, about eternity … to be free of other people’s knowledge completely. To deny your gods, your sacred books, your traditions, your beliefs … everything wiped away. Which means you are totally independent of anything … which means you are free of fear. Without love and compassion there is no meditation.
So life, living everyday in this world – which is corrupt, immoral, destructive, without integrity – living in this world, you have that sense of total, absolute freedom, because you have denied everything that man has thought out. When the mind is totally free from all psychological accumulation, when there is absolute denial of this, when the mind has become absolutely quiet, that illumination is to see things clearly as they really are … that is meditation. That is benediction, of living a life which is whole.”
“Krishnamurti constantly emphasizes that he is in no sense an authority. He has made certain discoveries, and he is simply doing his best to make these discoveries accessible to those who are able to listen. His work does not contain a body of doctrine, nor does he offer techniques or methods, for obtaining a silent mind. He is not aiming to set up any new system of religious belief. Rather, it is up to each human being to see if he can discover for himself that to which Krishnamurti is calling attention, and to go on from there to make new discoveries on his own.”
Krishnamurti, when asked about the secret to his enlightenment, said:
… the most profound saying ever; as retold by Jim Dreaver who talks about a meeting with Krishnamurti when the well known words were uttered … great story, Jim.
Here is the original article on Krishnamurti by Oliver Burkeman
“Krishnamurti rarely ever talked about himself or his own process, and now he was about to give us his secret! He was in many ways a mountaintop teacher – somewhat distant, seemingly unapproachable, unless you were part of his inner circle. Yet that’s why we came to Ojai every spring, to see if we could find out just what his secret was. We wanted to know how he managed to be so enlightened, while we struggled with conflict and our numerous problems.
“There was a silence. Then he said in a soft, almost shy voice,
‘You see, I don’t mind what happens.’ “
Here is a link to a most wonderful essay Krishnamurti wrote in 1909 when he was fourteen years old (well, it is attributed to him, the provenance of the essay is disputed) … At The Feet Of The Master … it is an initiation to The Path.
Buddhism likewise refers to The Noble Eightfold Path:
1) right seeing and understanding, 2) right thought or intention, 3) right speech, 4) right action, 5) right work or livelihood, 6) right effort, 7) right mindfulness, 8) right concentration
Here are some rather randomly selected quotes:
