J. Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti ( May 11 , 1895 - February 17 , 1986 )was "discovered" as a young boy by C.W. Leadbeater in India on the beach at Adyar in Chennai . He was subsequently brought up world-wide by members of the Theosophical Society - Adyar , who believed him to be aprophecied (see Second Coming ; Maitreya Buddha ) incarnation of God or Messiah .

Eventually Krishnamurti ended up disbanding the Order of the Star of the East, in 1929 ,of which he had been made the leader, and which was founded to support him. He spent the rest of his life teaching his ownphilosophy. Although Krishnamurti himself did not accept followers, his teachings have many followers to this day.

Central to his teachings is the idea that truth is being free of self and being aware without judgement. Basic themes includethe unity of observer and observed, fear, love, nature, meditation , thought,tradition and evolution, and choiceless awareness.

Krishnamurti believed that the act of meditation brings order to the activity of thought. By reducing the usual noise andchaos in the mind through meditation, he believed that the mind would remain quiet, without thought, unless it had a validpurpose. He believed that ordering mental activity like this is one key to ending mankind's sorrow and confusion.

A tremendous volume of material exists documenting the philosophical investigations of Krishnamurti (or simply "k" how hepreferred to be called) mostly in the form of recorded conversations and talks, although k also wrote several series of shortessays and kept a personal journal at least twice in his life. Of particular importance are a series of conversations recorded in1980 with theoretical physicist David Bohm that resulted in the publication ofThe Ending of Time and The Future of Humanity.

Quotations

• "Truth is a pathless land. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest orritual, not through any philosophic 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 orintrospective dissection." [1] , [2]
• "If one can really come to that state of saying, 'I do not know,' it indicates an extraordinary sense of humility; there isno arrogance of knowledge; there is no self-assertive answer to make an impression. When you can actually say, 'I do not know,'which very few are capable of saying, then in that state all fear ceases because all sense of recognition, the search intomemory, has come to an end; there is no longer inquiry into the field of the known."
• "Obviously what causes war is the desire for power, position, prestige, money; also the disease called nationalism, theworship of a flag; and the disease of organized religion, the worship of a dogma. All these are the causes of war; if you as anindividual belong to any of the organized religions, if you are greedy for power, if you are envious, you are bound to produce asociety which will result in destruction. So again it depends upon you and not on the leaders – not on so-called statesmenand all the rest of them. It depends upon you and me but we do not seem to realize that. If once we really felt theresponsibility of our own actions, how quickly we could bring to an end all these wars, this appalling misery! But you see, weare indifferent. We have three meals a day, we have our jobs, we have our bank account, big or little, and we say, 'ForGod’s sake, don’t disturb us, leave us alone'."
• "Freedom from the Known is death, and then you are living."

Partial list of published works

• First and Last Freedom, The. ISBN 0060648317 .
• Commentaries on Living. ISBN0835603903 .
• Think on These Things. ISBN0060916095 .
• Freedom From the Known. ISBN0060648082 .
• Light in Oneself, The. ISBN1570624429 .
• Awakening of Intelligence, The. ISBN 0060648341 .
• Meeting Life: Writings and Talks on Finding Your Path Without Retreating from Society. ISBN 0062505262 .
• The Ending of Time (with David Bohm). ISBN 0060647965 .
• The Future of Humanity (with David Bohm). ISBN 0060647973 .

See also

• Annie Besant

External links

• J. Krishnamurti -International Website
• Disbanding the Order of the Star of the East
• Bernie'sKrishnamurti page
• Krishnamurti Foundation of America
• Krishnamurti Information Network
• The Krishnamurti Catalogue
• Wikiquote - Quotes by J. Krishnamurti