31 January 2009

The Core of Krishnamurti's Teachings

The following statement was written by Krishnamurti himself on
October 21, 1980 in which he summarises the teachings. It may
be copied and used provided this is done in its entirety. No editing
or change of any kind is permitted. No extracts may be used.

The core of Krishnamurti's teaching is contained in the statement he made in 1929 when he said: "Truth is a pathless land." Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, 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 or introspective dissection. Man has built in himself images as a fence of security -- religious, political, personal. These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden of these images dominates man's thinking, his relationships and his daily life. These images are the causes of our problems for they divide man from man. His perception of life is shaped by the concepts already established in his mind. The content of his consciousness is his entire existence. This content is common to all humanity. The individuality is the name, the form and superficial culture he acquires from tradition and environment. The uniqueness of man does not lie in the superficial but in complete freedom from the content of his consciousness, which is common to all mankind. So he is not an individual. 

Freedom is not a reaction; freedom is not choice. It is man's pretence that because he has choice, he is free. Freedom is pure observation without direction, without fear of punishment and reward. Freedom is without motive; freedom is not at the end of the evolution of man but lies in the first step of his existence. In observation one begins to discover the lack of freedom. Freedom is found in the choiceless awareness of our daily existence and activity. 

Thought is time. Thought is born of experience and knowledge which are inseparable from time and the past. Time is the psychological enemy of man. Our action is based on knowledge and therefore time, so man is always a slave to the past. Thought is ever-limited and so we live in constant conflict and struggle. There is no psychological evolution. When man becomes aware of the movement of his own thoughts he will see the division between the thinker and the thought, the observer and the observed, the experiencer and the experience. He will discover that this division is an illusion. Then only is there pure observation which is insight without any shadow of the past or of time. This timeless insight brings about a deep radical mutation in the mind. 

Total negation is the essence of the positive. When there is negation of all those things that thought has brought about psychologically, only then is there love, which is compassion and intelligence. 

4 comments:

  1. "Truth is a pathless land."-----one of my favourite quotes of Jk:-).

    Jk, is the original thinker. He never imposes anything on us, including his views. He just make us think seemlessly, logically. And the beauty of his writing is that it touches us like a gentle rain..

    Your posts gives me the satisfaction of reading a JK's book.

    Do keep writing ((more n more))on JK!

    Btw, one of my friends asked me to figure of JK's answer to "When a man is born"...I could not get it so far....If you come across JK's response on that one, pl do post it!!

    Thank You.....Viji

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  2. Dear Viji,

    Thanks for your warm message. Its my favourite quote too.

    Its similar to " The Gateless Gate" zen koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Mumon Ekai. Each koan epitomizes one or more of the polarities of consciousness that act like an obstacle or wall to the insight.

    I will surly add more posts on JK's philosophy.

    Regarding "when a man is born" I need some more input from your side as I have not understood, what exactly your friends wish to know.

    Thanks again and wish you all very best in your meaningful endeavor .

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  3. Hi Aditya,

    Your blog certainly indicates one thing to me.."Knowledge is ocean"! A good reading material!

    On "When is a man born ?", it is a question for which JK has answered.I could not find out yet, though!

    Would continue reading your posts.

    Best Regards,
    Viji

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  4. Dear Viji,

    Thanks for your encouraging expressions. Its indeed my pleasure and joy to share the existing knowledge to wonderful readers and friends like you.

    I am still trying to locate the answer by JK.

    Thanks once again. Best Regards. Aditya

    ReplyDelete